Every now and then on my blog, I’ll review a book that I think may be of interest to college students. It’s also a crafty way of getting me to read for pleasure again. Ever since starting grad school, all my reading became purely scholarly, and I suddenly realized I lost my passion for fiction. As a result, For The Win Book Reviews were born!
Today’s book review is The Consequences of Forever, by Kaitlyn Oruska.
The Consequences of Forever is a story about a teenage girl named Lainey whose life changes completely after realizing that she’s pregnant at 15. The novel follows Lainey and her boyfriend Adam as they struggle with the idea that they’re going to have a child.
This is my first foray into this type of novel. I’ve always been a mystery and thriller reader, so I was hesitant at first to check it out. However, in an effort to expand my genre horizons, I pushed myself to get the book and see what it was about. I was very pleasantly surprised at the story the author told us through Lainey’s eyes. The plot itself is very straightforward: a girl she finds out she is pregnant, deals with the ramifications of being pregnant in high school. However, what really makes the book truly shine is the characters that the author brings to life.
I instantly found myself liking Lainey from the beginning of the book. She was grounded, idealistic, if a bit unsecure at times. She wasn’t angsty or annoying, traits I often found in stories starring teenagers. The emotions she felt and her reactions to her pregnancy seemed realistic to me. Her boyfriend, Adam, was very supportive of her upon learning about it, yet still exhibited enough flaws as a character to make him seem human, rather than an idealistic caricature he seemed like at first glance.
The author did a great job of developing their relationship. I could sense how much they’ve matured as individuals as well as a couple from the beginning of the book to the end. I noticed growth in not only them, but even the several supporting characters they interacted with. This attention to detail to every character introduced is what really made the story feel organic and engaging.
The title of the book seemed a bit cliché at first, but it makes a lot of sense within the context of the story. It really takes until the end of the book to appreciate the choice of words in the title. I thought that was pretty nifty, though I can see how it may scare away new readers of the genre.
The only things that bothered me in the book were the over-explanation of some things and their redundancy. A lot of times I felt the monologues were necessary, really driving the point across. But sometimes I felt as if Lainey kept making the same point over and over, and it seemed to slow down the plot progression. A lot of the chapters consisted of minute details that made it feel like I was reading a teenage girl’s diary, but I will admit some of those details really added to some of the revelations that came afterwards.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. Though I’ve never been pregnant, I felt I could relate to many of Lainey’s worries, such as dealing with a broken family, judgment from peers, and uncertainty of the future. Problems that may seem minor to others can mean the world to the individual facing them. We all face personal battles, and Lainey’s experience was inspiring, to say the least.
I would definitely recommend this book to readers looking for an inspiring read and like detailed character growth in their stories. You can buy the book online on Amazon and several other websites. You can also find the author’s website here.
My rating: 4 out of 5 stars