This is another one of those books that have been on my shelf for a long time, but I was putting off reading this one for a reason. Since I was in high school, everyone told me that this was the best Sarah Dessen book. That put a lot of pressure on this book, and I have been putting off reading it for the right time. It seems though, I put it off for so long that I may have outgrown the target audience for this book. That being said, I still had a great time reading this book, and I do think it is one of Sarah Dessen’s best books. 

     This book is the definition of a coming-of-age story, and it is done in the right way. Throughout a summer, Macy steps out of her comfort zone and finally comes out of her shell to be the person she has always been too scared to be. It is a testament to how one situation can completely change you as a person, whether that be an experience, a new job, a relationship, or anything in between, we all have that one significant situation that can allow you to become the person you were meant to be. This is not to say that any experience can change people, as it took this particular job and group of people to pull her out of her shell. Her new catering job changes her in ways that no other company could. 

     The interesting thing about this book is that there is nothing about it that particularly stands out to me as the reason why this book is so good. It is very similar to a lot of other young adult contemporary books and tends to follow the same formula that the others do, especially when you consider the formula of every other Sarah Dessen book. Dessen has a formula in her books of taking a quiet protagonist that has been through something traumatic in their life and having them find a new person or some new friends that teach them how to deal with the consequences of that event, and they realize some new inner strength they never realized they had. It’s a predictable formula, but evidently, it works for Dessen time and time again. This is not me saying that this is a bad thing in any way; most authors have formulas. Cassandra Clare, Sarah J Maas, Rick Riordan, they all have a formula that works for them, this just happens to be Sarah Dessen’s formula. 

     I think the most intriguing thing about Macy’s story is that she never really felt unhappy. At the beginning of the book, she was happy to be working at the library because she knew how much it meant to Jason. But by the end of the book, her priorities have shifted so much that what made her happy from the beginning is no longer enough. It’s an interesting way to look at Macy’s character because her entire life could have turned out so differently if she had not walked into the kitchen the night of her mother’s party. 

     The other characters in this book are pretty good, but they are definitely also stereotypes and kind of caricatures of themselves. Kristy, Wes, Bert and Monica are all very important to Macy’s story, but they are an exaggerated version of one characteristic that clearly defines them. Wes is the family man bad boy, Kristy is not like the other girls, Bert is the girl-crazy teenager, and Monica is basically April from Parks and Recreation. These characters are effective and necessary to be so exaggerated for this story, as everyone in Macy’s life beforehand is so subdued. This is what makes this story so clever when you sit back and really think about it. 

    While I think this book is the best that Sarah Dessen has written, of the ones I have read, there is not much that makes it stand out as better than other young adult contemporary books I have read. This does tend to be a run of the mill, fun summer contemporary book, and I really did have a good time reading it. Although it is not outstandingly different, that does not mean that I did not enjoy reading it. 4/5 stars to The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen.