No Such Thing as Forever

No Such Thing as Forever, is the newest offering from Ali Cronin, author of Skins: The Novel. As soon as I received the galley I dove straight in and finished the book within hours!

What’s it about? Sarah has always been the safe, dependable member of her group of friends, and has earned a reputation as ‘Ms Monogamy’ due to her lack of action with the opposite sex. When she meets cute older guy, Joe, while holidaying with her parents in Spain, Sarah is surprised by his attentions, and even more amazed that she is so readily willing to give him her virginity. Sarah falls hard, but does Joe feel the same?

Sydney Says… This book revolves around the lives of teenagers so there was bound to be drinking and sex involved, but Cronin approaches it in a manner not at all confronting. Actually, I think she handled the sex scenes very well and in just the right amount of detail. The book reads very realistically and it’s hard not to feel as if you have met these people before, in your own life. Heck, you probably were/are one of them! I found myself continually relating to Sarah, especially her blind perception of the relationship with Joe, and how a boy can so drastically affect your logical thinking, and your friendships.

While No Such Thing As Forever, reads exactly as a contemporary YA novel should, it hasn’t yet offered anything really unique (although, as a series, it could have any myriad of twists in the future) and I found that a few of the characters lacked individuality. However, it was a nice, easy and entertaining read, and was everything I expected it to be. Cronin has a style of writing that keeps the pages turning, and I’m definitely looking forward to the next installment!

Rumour Has It, the second book in Cronin’s Girl Heart Boy series, is expected to be released later this year.