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A review by ryanpfw
More Than Forever by Jay McLean
5.0
2022 Update: I’m getting too old for this much angst, but the rating holds!
While this is the fourth book in the series, it's my first review. I've rated the prior three four stars each, and this one deserves a higher rating. It's not perfect, but even knowing what formula to expect going in, I enjoyed the hell out of it.
I picked up the series for the fish-out-of-water promise of More Than This, and while I struggled with the twist ending of that book and felt it went on for fifty pages too long, I am a sucker for ad hoc families and deceivingly strong characters. That scene in the limo in the first novel always stuck with me. When I come back to a series a year or so later I often have to reread the past installment or bring myself back up to speed. I didn't need to do so with these people.
The formula Jay McLean seems to lean on involves characters building themselves up from tragedy and then toppling apart for maximum angst before rebuilding. In the first novel I remember feeling like the story organically ended and another hill was padded on unnecessarily. In the next two I felt she sucked every ounce of angst out of the story with big, huge roadblocks. Here it is the most understated and it feels the most organic. There's tragedy and misunderstanding, but more of everyday variety. Heavy topics of murder, home invasion, sexual assault, and abandonment behind us. The characters had more room to breathe this time.
Lucy has been my favorite character all along, and along with Mark and surprisingly Minge, the characters popped off the page. There was the emotional repetitiveness common to this type of story, but the humor absolutely made up for it. I was never bored, and the continuity was very impressive as the prior novels happened in the background.
I shouldn't have liked this as much as I did. I really, really did.
While this is the fourth book in the series, it's my first review. I've rated the prior three four stars each, and this one deserves a higher rating. It's not perfect, but even knowing what formula to expect going in, I enjoyed the hell out of it.
I picked up the series for the fish-out-of-water promise of More Than This, and while I struggled with the twist ending of that book and felt it went on for fifty pages too long, I am a sucker for ad hoc families and deceivingly strong characters. That scene in the limo in the first novel always stuck with me. When I come back to a series a year or so later I often have to reread the past installment or bring myself back up to speed. I didn't need to do so with these people.
The formula Jay McLean seems to lean on involves characters building themselves up from tragedy and then toppling apart for maximum angst before rebuilding. In the first novel I remember feeling like the story organically ended and another hill was padded on unnecessarily. In the next two I felt she sucked every ounce of angst out of the story with big, huge roadblocks. Here it is the most understated and it feels the most organic. There's tragedy and misunderstanding, but more of everyday variety. Heavy topics of murder, home invasion, sexual assault, and abandonment behind us. The characters had more room to breathe this time.
Lucy has been my favorite character all along, and along with Mark and surprisingly Minge, the characters popped off the page. There was the emotional repetitiveness common to this type of story, but the humor absolutely made up for it. I was never bored, and the continuity was very impressive as the prior novels happened in the background.
I shouldn't have liked this as much as I did. I really, really did.