Proof of Forever

Two years ago, when Joy, Tali, Luce, and Zoe were fifteen, they were inseparable. Now, at seventeen, they barely talk. A reunion at the summer camp they attended brings them back together and one click from the photo booth camera later, they find themselves back in time to that summer when they were fifteen. When they were all still best friends. Now they have to try to recreate that summer and the photo that was taken at the end of that year in order to, hopefully, get back to their own time.

This book was a fun read that ended up bringing back lots of memories of making friends during summer camp. It was told in alternating POVs from each of the four girls, some of them I liked right away and others took some time to grow on me, but I liked how different each of them were and it was sad to see how far they’d drifted apart in the two years.

Zoe and Joy were the ones I liked right away. With Zoe, she was a sci-fi lover and had a bubbly personality. Joy was shy and a peace-keeper. They had traits that I could easily identify with and drew me to them. Luce was a perfectionist and Tali came across as self-absorbed at first but both grew on me after they were sent back in time and more was revealed about them. Each girl had reasons for being the way they were and being forced to relive that last week of summer camp in their fifteen-year-old bodies but with their seventeen-year-old minds made for some amusing predicaments. It also made for some huge revelations for each girl.

It was fun to see the girls try to recreate the events of that summer. For the picture they were sure they needed to reproduce, Zoe needed a fencing medal, Joy needed a tiara, Tali needed a boy’s boxers, and Luce needed a certain merit badge. It was nice to see them able to enjoy themselves every now and then and remember that they were friends and camp was a fun place for them.

I thought the author juggled the multiple POVs very well. Each girl had such a distinctive voice that I was never confused as to whose chapter it was or which girl had which storyline. And each girl did have her own storyline to go along with the overall plot of trying to get back to their own time. There was definite growth in each girl throughout the book and I loved that they were realizing that growing up didn’t have to mean growing apart. I almost didn’t want them to return to their time where they could fall back into the habits that broke them apart in the first place.

This book has been called ‘The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants for the new generation’ and I can agree with that. The only thing that was a little off-putting, for me, was that there were times the girls seemed younger than the seventeen or fifteen they were supposed to be. I could get over that easily enough though since some kids act their age, some act older, and some act younger. It wasn’t a big thing and didn’t spoil my enjoyment of the book at all.

MY THOUGHTS
This book focuses on a group of ex-friends: Joy, Tali, Luce, and Zoe. After Joy moved without explanation, the friends drifted apart. It's when the summer camp they used to attend has a reunion that the girls see eachother again and end up accidentally transporting 2 years into the part. To their last summer as friends. The girls have to recreate their past, and their last photo, in order to get back to the present. But how can they live in the past when their older now? And what if they change things?

I was actually surprised by this book. For some reason I thought they metaphorically transported in time, so I was expecting a full-on contemporary. I was pleasantly surprised by the time travel aspect. Yet, this book is still very realistic. I think a praise on the book "Sisterhood of the (Time) Traveling Pants" is an accurate way to describe this book. The friendship and the summertime feeling to this book reminded me of the Traveling Pants book, though there are definitely differences.

There is the fact that this book is very very slow-paced. It makes sense considering the plot, but most of the book is the friends doing their separate things. Not that it was dull or anything. It was interesting seeing the girls try to recreate their summer, and not really recreate it. I actually really did end up liking seeing their different stories. This book is mostly about friendship and second chances, so there is hope and lots of drama in this.

This book also follows each of the girls individually. It's in third person, but it's like we're seeing the POV from each girl. I'm not a big fan of third person and some might find the switches confusing, but I think this worked out for this book! I really can't see how we could've gotten the story in any other way. Now, I did have issues with the girls. They seemed much younger. In fact, it seemed like they completely took over their roles of being 15 again, which kind of bothered me. It's not a huge problem, but I kind of wish that they seemed more their age. Besides this, though, these characters did grow so much throughout this book, learning about things about themselves and their past.

As for romance, some of the girls have their romances in the book, but I don't think that's important. This book is, again, about friendship. Whether it's a past friendship or a current one.

IN CONCLUSION
Overall, this was a great book with magical realism. I had issues with the characters and pacing, at first, but I grew into liking this book. I think this is a great summer read abouts second chances and friendship! I recommend this to fans of contemporary friendship reads!