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A review by freadomlibrary
Ever After Always by Chloe Liese
5.0
Trigger warnings: lying, betrayal, trauma, abandonment, therapy, injuries
This is my favorite book of the series so far! I have learned recently that I love "marriage in crisis" as a trope. There's something so beautiful and honest about admitting that marriage as a "happily ever after" is kind of unattainable. Sometimes people can love each other fiercely and still be hurting each other, but want to make it better. This book does all of that. Freya and Aiden were introduced in book 1, the latter more than the former and I immediately became interested to know more about them. Their love story is so cute and playful, but we find them in distance and coldness here. I really loved the way anxiety was portrayed; it was eerily similar to the ways it manifests within me so I connected a lot with Aiden and his desire to mitigate struggle and strife in anticipation. Like him, for me, sometimes it also causes more problems than it solves, but it was so heartening to see Freya hope and love him through those concerns and issues. I wish I would've been a little more clueless to the reveal at the end, because I peeped it right away, but I don't think it took away from the raw emotion of it which is great. I loved their re-connection at the end and how they reaffirmed their love. Such a good installment!
This is my favorite book of the series so far! I have learned recently that I love "marriage in crisis" as a trope. There's something so beautiful and honest about admitting that marriage as a "happily ever after" is kind of unattainable. Sometimes people can love each other fiercely and still be hurting each other, but want to make it better. This book does all of that. Freya and Aiden were introduced in book 1, the latter more than the former and I immediately became interested to know more about them. Their love story is so cute and playful, but we find them in distance and coldness here. I really loved the way anxiety was portrayed; it was eerily similar to the ways it manifests within me so I connected a lot with Aiden and his desire to mitigate struggle and strife in anticipation. Like him, for me, sometimes it also causes more problems than it solves, but it was so heartening to see Freya hope and love him through those concerns and issues. I wish I would've been a little more clueless to the reveal at the end, because I peeped it right away, but I don't think it took away from the raw emotion of it which is great. I loved their re-connection at the end and how they reaffirmed their love. Such a good installment!