A review by ravensandlace
Now and Forever by Danielle Steel

3.5

Title: Now and Forever

Author: Danielle Steel

Genre: Romance

Format: own hardback book

Series: NA

Star Rating: 3.5 stars

tw: infidelity, parental death, charges of rape and assault, use of word oriental, use of word retard, sexual assault, attempted suicide mentioned, pill use, racism

So this was an interesting book, for lack of better words. This is one of the first Danielle Steel novels ever published and you can certainly tell. It hasn’t aged well. And the ellipses. So. Many. Ellipses. 

This book would absolutely not be published today. Especially in light of the Me Too movement. Throughout the book, it’s made very clear that the victim is a liar and Ian did not do anything wrong. It even sends out a message that the husband cheating is okay because that’s just what men do. It was just really gross to read. There were several times I had to put the book down to read something else because I just didn’t love how victim-blaming this was. 

As for Jessie, the main character, she had a ton of trauma she never dealt with and it’s obvious by how much she spiraled. I’m glad she did decide to work on herself but the fact she let Ian take advantage of her and let him cheat because his manhood couldn’t accept she was paying for everything since he refused to work. I honestly thought Jessie could do way better. 

I think the whole point of this book was if you love someone, the lengths you would go for that person should be endless. Which I think is a great thought in theory but how far do you go? Until your physical and mental health are broken I certainly think there is a limit. Also, when your loved one is accused of rape and it’s pretty obvious that he did, would you stay then? According to Danielle Steel of the 70’s you should. But luckily for us, I think Danielle Steel has matured and she hasn’t written another book like this since. 

Overall, despite my scathing review, this was an alright book. I think this book will have its audience for sure. Probably those who grew up with Danielle Steel and have been with her since the start. Overall, like I said, not a bad book but certainly not one of her best. It just had a lot of pretty icky tones that certainly would not fly with today’s standards.