Review: Forever by Judy Blume

 1.5 of 5 Stars
Publisher: Pocket

Goodreads Synopsis:

"Going all the way" is still a taboo subject in young adult literature. Judy Blume was the first author to write candidly about a sexually active teen, and she's been defending teenagers' rights to read about such subjects ever since. Here, Blume tells a convincing tale of first love--a love that seems strong and true enough to last forever. Katherine loves Michael so much, in fact, that she's willing to lose her virginity to him, and, as the months go by, it gets harder and harder for her to imagine living without him. However, something happens when they are separated for the summer: Katherine begins to have feelings for another guy. What does this mean about her love for Michael? What does this mean about love in general? What does "forever" mean, anyway? As always, Blume writes as if she's never forgotten a moment of what it's like to be a teenager.

Review:

I've heard some good things about it, about the author in particular, and was definitely curious after hearing about all the outrage at the 'explicit' sex in it. I find these things intriguing and good in a story, and find it ridiculous and interesting when people get all worked up about it. Plus, I found it for a good deal and decided to give it a go.

To say the least, I was disappointed. I've always been told that I should read her books, and with all the hype about her, I might have been expecting a bit too much. I don't think so, but I was at least looking for a good romance, good writing.

I don't think the book had either. The writing bothered me, especially how she wrote the dialogue. I don't think that it seemed like an actual story. All the book seemed to be about was a girl having sex in her first relationship; a naïve girl with her first love, expecting it to last forever, and what she thought about all of it. Katherine didn't seem to have much of an actual character, just some girl who doesn't know all that much while in her first relationship with a boy and having sex. And she didn't seem like a seventeen year old, maybe more like a fifteen year old. The sex scenes weren't even all that romantic, it seemed very distant and explanatory, not like they were a couple having an intense moment together.

The whole thing read to me like it was just a story to teach girls about sex, and to show what a girls first love is like. I almost want to say it was preachy, but that's not the right word because it wasn't trying to tell you a specific message, just tell you about sex in general, and that relationships don't last 'forever'. Almost text book-like. Even the side stories were about girls having relationships and sex.

It really bothered me that it didn't seem like an actual story about actual people in a relationship, but more like a stereotypical girl in a stereotypical first relationship and having sex for the first time. I am glad that it didn't talk about sex being bad and that you should wait and all that, because I don't think it is and I don't think that everyone should think that it is. And I don't think it's bad that girls get to read about it. That's probably the only part about it that I did like, how the book showed sex, that teenagers have it and enjoyed it but it isn't always amazing.

I might be a little biased about the character because I didn't have much of anything in common with her, and I don't think like she did, but I still don't think she was much of a character.

I don't know, I just don't understand what the hype is about.