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A review by ninegladiolus
Welcome to Forever by Nathan Tavares
challenging
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Welcome to Forever by Nathan Tavares was a thought-provoking, emotional read. With Inception-like layered complexity, the philosophical and relational questions posed by The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and a complicated queer love story worth the journey it takes you on, Welcome to Forever infuses familiar themes and arcs with fresh originality.
Fox, a memory editor who specialized in re-writing the realities of his clients, wakes up one day with perilously little recollection of who he is. At the Field of Reeds Center for Memory Reconstruction, he learns his own memory was damaged in a terrorist attack that also destroyed the memory archives of others—including his husband, Gabe.
Though it’s not an easy story to describe and nearly impossible without spoilers, Welcome to Forever got so many things right for me. I’ve been fascinated by stories that explore the permeable nature of memory and this novel spends its whole length doing exactly that. How much of who we are is intrinsic, how much is shaped by the experiences we have, and if we no longer have those experiences as a backbone, can we be someone different? Do we even want to be someone different at all?
Central characters Fox and Gabe are deeply flawed yet completely believable, which is also a huge point in this novel’s favor. In an era where character relationships are often distilled down to fanfiction tropes and suffer for the simplification, Fox and Gabe’s dynamic speaks to current-day relational struggles many folks will relate to while injecting nuance and human flaws throughout. If your experience is anything like my own, you will find yourself drawn down, down, down into the facets of their journey, staying up past bedtime following the outcome of a new reveal.
The prose in this novel was also highlight worthy and quotable. So many times I found myself pausing at an emotionally excavating line or profound yet breviloquent turn of phrase. The stylistic choices amplified the emotional beats of the story, which is something I always admire when it happens.
My only critique revolves around structure. Between the extremely unreliable narrator and switching between past and present, Welcome to Forever can be difficult to follow at times. Part of this I am sure is intentional; after all, Fox doesn’t know his own reality from the outset of the story, so to expect a clear and tidy offering would be unfair. But still, it was enough to give me pause at a few points, so it’s worth noting.
Overall, I’m still thinking about this novel on and off long after I read it. Welcome to Forever is a worthy entry into the subset of science fiction that examines personhood, memory, and the relational consequences of losing touch with either of those notions. If a dramatic, labyrinthine depiction of queer love with a backbone of philosophical considerations and thriller-like pacing sounds good to you, I’d recommend giving this one a try.
Thank you to Titan Books and NetGalley for an advance review copy. All opinions are my own.
Fox, a memory editor who specialized in re-writing the realities of his clients, wakes up one day with perilously little recollection of who he is. At the Field of Reeds Center for Memory Reconstruction, he learns his own memory was damaged in a terrorist attack that also destroyed the memory archives of others—including his husband, Gabe.
Though it’s not an easy story to describe and nearly impossible without spoilers, Welcome to Forever got so many things right for me. I’ve been fascinated by stories that explore the permeable nature of memory and this novel spends its whole length doing exactly that. How much of who we are is intrinsic, how much is shaped by the experiences we have, and if we no longer have those experiences as a backbone, can we be someone different? Do we even want to be someone different at all?
Central characters Fox and Gabe are deeply flawed yet completely believable, which is also a huge point in this novel’s favor. In an era where character relationships are often distilled down to fanfiction tropes and suffer for the simplification, Fox and Gabe’s dynamic speaks to current-day relational struggles many folks will relate to while injecting nuance and human flaws throughout. If your experience is anything like my own, you will find yourself drawn down, down, down into the facets of their journey, staying up past bedtime following the outcome of a new reveal.
The prose in this novel was also highlight worthy and quotable. So many times I found myself pausing at an emotionally excavating line or profound yet breviloquent turn of phrase. The stylistic choices amplified the emotional beats of the story, which is something I always admire when it happens.
My only critique revolves around structure. Between the extremely unreliable narrator and switching between past and present, Welcome to Forever can be difficult to follow at times. Part of this I am sure is intentional; after all, Fox doesn’t know his own reality from the outset of the story, so to expect a clear and tidy offering would be unfair. But still, it was enough to give me pause at a few points, so it’s worth noting.
Overall, I’m still thinking about this novel on and off long after I read it. Welcome to Forever is a worthy entry into the subset of science fiction that examines personhood, memory, and the relational consequences of losing touch with either of those notions. If a dramatic, labyrinthine depiction of queer love with a backbone of philosophical considerations and thriller-like pacing sounds good to you, I’d recommend giving this one a try.
Thank you to Titan Books and NetGalley for an advance review copy. All opinions are my own.