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A review by nicolemhewitt
Never Always Sometimes by Adi Alsaid
5.0
3.5/5 Stars
This review and many more can be found on my blog: Feed Your Fiction Addiction
Never Always Sometimes is a YA contemporary romance with a bit of a twist. It’s the type of romance where you’re not exactly sure how things will end. Will Dave and Julia end up together or are they truly better as friends? It’s not a simple answer, and this isn’t a simple romance.
What I loved:
Dave and Julia.
I really loved the relationship between Dave and Julia. They fit with each other and had a sort of easy friendship, even though Dave was hoping for more. Dave and Julia understood each other on a level that no one else seemed to. They spent all of their time together, and they liked it that way – until they decided to try to complete their Never list.
Never always sometimes.
The concept of the list of things that Dave and Julia were never supposed to do was really fun – even if it did feel a bit pretentious at times. But that was kind of the point. Julia spent her life trying to prove something to her biological mother, who was living but a typical, ordinary life. Julia wanted to feel a kinship with her mother, so she strove to avoid normality. It made sense. I could see why Julia struggled with being a typical teenager when she felt like her mother would much more easily love her if she was atypical. So when Dave and Julia decide to actually live out their Never list, it’s interesting to see how the results are not exactly what they expected – especially for Dave, who was kind of always living this unordinary life for Julia anyway. Dave starts to realize that maybe the fact that he was fixated on Julia caused him to miss out on other people and experiences – even if those experiences are “typical.” I liked this aspect of the story.
Dave and Gretchen.
While I loved Dave and Julia together as friends, I was kind of rooting for Dave and Gretchen as a couple. Gretchen is a girl that Dave gets to know once he starts actually interacting with other people. While Gretchen was sometimes almost a little too good to be true, it was hard not to want happiness for her – and for Dave, with her.
Family ties.
I loved the fact that this book explored the relationship between Julia and her dads (who she adored) and her birth mother (who she sort of worshipped in a way). Julia had so much yearning when it came to her mom, but that didn’t take away from the positive relationship that she had with her dads. I loved the complexities of these relationships.
The negatives:
Not sure which romance to root for.
My only issue with the book was that it was hard to know which couple I should be rooting for. On the one hand, Julia and Dave had history and really understood each other. But once Dave started to get to know Gretchen better, she seemed to make him really happy, and I started to think that maybe Julia limited him a little bit. I really liked the first half of the book, but once things switched to Julia’s POV (in the second half), I kind of felt torn and I wasn’t sure whether I could really get behind Julia and Dave OR Dave and Gretchen. Since this book was a romance (of sorts) that left me feeling conflicted – and I wasn’t enjoying the book as much. I will say that everything worked itself out in a way that I was happy with in the end, but I wasn’t always sure about the journey there.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book, even if it wasn’t perfect. I liked the characters and I appreciated the message. I give this one 3.5/5 stars.
***Disclosure: This book was provided to me by NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. No other compensation was given and all opinions are my own.***
This review and many more can be found on my blog: Feed Your Fiction Addiction
Never Always Sometimes is a YA contemporary romance with a bit of a twist. It’s the type of romance where you’re not exactly sure how things will end. Will Dave and Julia end up together or are they truly better as friends? It’s not a simple answer, and this isn’t a simple romance.
What I loved:
Dave and Julia.
I really loved the relationship between Dave and Julia. They fit with each other and had a sort of easy friendship, even though Dave was hoping for more. Dave and Julia understood each other on a level that no one else seemed to. They spent all of their time together, and they liked it that way – until they decided to try to complete their Never list.
Never always sometimes.
The concept of the list of things that Dave and Julia were never supposed to do was really fun – even if it did feel a bit pretentious at times. But that was kind of the point. Julia spent her life trying to prove something to her biological mother, who was living but a typical, ordinary life. Julia wanted to feel a kinship with her mother, so she strove to avoid normality. It made sense. I could see why Julia struggled with being a typical teenager when she felt like her mother would much more easily love her if she was atypical. So when Dave and Julia decide to actually live out their Never list, it’s interesting to see how the results are not exactly what they expected – especially for Dave, who was kind of always living this unordinary life for Julia anyway. Dave starts to realize that maybe the fact that he was fixated on Julia caused him to miss out on other people and experiences – even if those experiences are “typical.” I liked this aspect of the story.
Dave and Gretchen.
While I loved Dave and Julia together as friends, I was kind of rooting for Dave and Gretchen as a couple. Gretchen is a girl that Dave gets to know once he starts actually interacting with other people. While Gretchen was sometimes almost a little too good to be true, it was hard not to want happiness for her – and for Dave, with her.
Family ties.
I loved the fact that this book explored the relationship between Julia and her dads (who she adored) and her birth mother (who she sort of worshipped in a way). Julia had so much yearning when it came to her mom, but that didn’t take away from the positive relationship that she had with her dads. I loved the complexities of these relationships.
The negatives:
Not sure which romance to root for.
My only issue with the book was that it was hard to know which couple I should be rooting for. On the one hand, Julia and Dave had history and really understood each other. But once Dave started to get to know Gretchen better, she seemed to make him really happy, and I started to think that maybe Julia limited him a little bit. I really liked the first half of the book, but once things switched to Julia’s POV (in the second half), I kind of felt torn and I wasn’t sure whether I could really get behind Julia and Dave OR Dave and Gretchen. Since this book was a romance (of sorts) that left me feeling conflicted – and I wasn’t enjoying the book as much. I will say that everything worked itself out in a way that I was happy with in the end, but I wasn’t always sure about the journey there.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book, even if it wasn’t perfect. I liked the characters and I appreciated the message. I give this one 3.5/5 stars.
***Disclosure: This book was provided to me by NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. No other compensation was given and all opinions are my own.***