Forever, Interrupted

Forever, Interrupted by Taylor Jenkins Reid (2013), narrated by Tara Sands

I've been reading all of Taylor Jenkins Reid's books, mostly on audio, and all I had left was this one, which I believe was her first book. All I knew going into it was that it was about a young woman whose husband is killed. It turns out they were only married nine days - though I don't know if that's better or worse than if they were together longer - and the story goes back and forth between the current time period and the time before he was killed, starting on the day they met. It was a whirlwind romance and one of the things Elsie needs to deal with after Ben's death is the fact that he never told his mother about Elsie at all.

Elsie is a librarian, and it is clear that Reid did not do even 10 minutes of research about what that means. It is implied that her library degree is a bachelor's (rather than a master's), and because she went into library science she was making more money right out of school than her peers. (HAHAHA.) At her job, she doesn't work on the reference desk because that is left to those without degrees. (What?) Instead, Elsie appears to spend 95% of her time researching topics for displays, and the rest of it shelving or filing things. None of this is based on reality. Reading a few job ads or a short career profile online would have cleared that up right away. I tried to ignore all of this, but my god it was so annoying. And I hate to spoil things by talking about things that happen late in the book, but I'm going to. Elsie literally punches a library patron and doesn't get fired. In fact, although she's arrested she doesn't even get disciplined at work. She works for a municipality - this is completely unrealistic. I could go on about how laughably ridiculous everything was that related to her job.

I also had some minor issues with the aftermath of Ben's death. Like, why did nobody from his life appear aside from his family? Didn't he have friends? Coworkers? Someone outside of family who cared about him enough to go to the funeral or contact Elsie? And I thought his mother handled his death a little too well for someone who was still getting over losing her husband three years ago. It seems like this would have compounded her grief, but instead she was a pro at it because she had just gone through this all not long ago.

I didn't hate it all. If I had, I would have just stopped listening. I liked the whole premise of the story, and having such a young woman lose a spouse is unusual. When you add all the complicated circumstances surrounding their whirlwind relationship and 9-day marriage, there is really a lot to think about. After Ben's death, Elsie met his mother and I really like how the relationship between these two women evolved. Elsie also had a friendship with an elderly library patron named Mr. Callahan, and I also really enjoyed their relationship.

In many ways, it was much like her other books (except The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, which is very different from all of them), but not as good. It's got her trademark breezy style and relationship story with a bit of a twist, but it just wasn't as convincing to me somehow. I just couldn't get into the story of their relationship because it went so fast it was bordering on insta-love. Also I am a super-cynical middle-aged married lady and while I love a good romance, I can't take young people falling instantly in love super seriously. Come on, you barely know each other.

If you are not a librarian and not a cynic, you might like this book more than I did. Some of my criticisms are more about me than the book (except the poor research - you should always do research) and even with those, I still finished it. I still listened every day on my commute, wanting to know where the story was going. I also just like Reid's style of writing, the relationships and the emotion in all her stories. The narration was good too, which made it all go down easier. It was her first book and I've read and enjoyed everything she's written since then, so it really doesn't affect my overall opinion of this author. In fact, I also just learned that she has a new book coming out in 2019 and I'm already looking forward to it!

After I Do

After I Do by Taylor Jenkins Reid (2014), narrated by Tara Sands

Lauren and Ryan have been together since college, around eleven years when the story opens. Their rock-solid relationship has crumbled and they have come to resent one another. So they resort to desperate measures. They decide to be apart for one year. No seeing each other, no talking on the phone, no emailing, nothing. They don't know what will happen at the end of this period, but they both hope this break will give them a chance to figure out what they actually want.

Lauren stays at the house with the dog, and Ryan moves to an apartment. It's rough, but Lauren has her best friend and her sister to support her. I loved Lauren's sister Rachel, who is an expert baker, and I like that they have such a close relationship. Including strong female friendships is so important to making characters real, and it's sadly left out of some books that focus so much on the primary romantic relationship that you'd think there's nothing else in the protagonist's life at all. Here, Lauren was given a chance to grow as a character and get to know herself better, while also having more energy for other relationships. Storywise, this also meant I had no idea whether or not she and Ryan would get back together in the end or not, and I liked that uncertainty a lot.

An unexpected consequence of the couple's separation was how it affected Lauren's family, especially her brother Charlie who has always looked up to Ryan. Her family has some pretty major events happen during this separation, and it was strange to not have Ryan there. Even just explaining what they were going through was difficult, especially to her grandmother, a lively lady who describes things she doesn't like as "farcical" and is convinced she has cancer and brings the subject up regularly, but is suspiciously vague on the details. Come to think of it, Lauren's entire family was a whole lot of fun to read about and I'm very glad they were all such well-developed characters.

One of the things I loved most about this book is the way it portrays different ways of having relationships. Not just in terms of the people involved - though there was a relationship between two women and another involving older people embarking on a new romance - but in a more philosophical way. Lauren was in the same relationship for years and valued the stability over passionate romance. Her mother only wanted the romance, and would end relationships when that wore off. Her sister was happily single and felt like her life didn't need to revolve around her relationship with romantic partners at all. Reid didn't present any of these as the right or wrong way, just laid them out as different ways people in this story viewed relationships. It was pretty cool.

My only tiny little criticism is not really a criticism, but more of a question. Without saying too much about it....is it normal for people to have their spouse's email password? I know there are couples who share an email or Facebook account (which I also don't get) but do people share passwords when they have individual accounts? That seems so very weird to me, and I may have gotten a little too preoccupied with this minor point.

All in all, I really enjoyed the book a lot! This is my second Taylor Jenkins Reid book, after One True Loves, and I really dig the unusual way she has of writing novels about relationships. They all seem to have such interesting little twists to them. I listened to this one on audio also, and although it was a different narrator, she was just as good. I feel like I may try to plow through Taylor Jenkins Reid's books in a way I haven't done with any author in a while, so I'm glad she still has two others. It looks like she has another coming out in June, and it sounds quite different from her other books, but I'm very intrigued! If you like books about relationships with a fairly light writing style but that still make you think, I recommend checking this author out.