Good but could have been great - still recommending!

I originally watched the film adaptation of Forever My Girl not long after it was released and I really enjoyed it. I hadn’t realised at the time it was based on a novel and there are two whole series stemming from Liam and Josie’s story! Overall I really liked the book and I liked how it was as structured switching between the perspectives of once Beaumont golden boy Liam who gave up the life that was designed for him and unfortunately Josie the the love of his life to become a music star. Spoiler if you only saw the movie - the book differs a lot in the details but I really enjoyed the book. I thought the characters of Liam and Josie were well developed. Both are flawed, even Josie who easily could have been written as a long suffering saint. One thing I found odd was how Liam talks almost more about (American) football than music which is odd considering music became his salvation and career. There are some flashbacks indicating what caused Liam to run away to LA and I see there is a whole book based in the series on this chapter of his life. Personally, I think the book would go from good to great if the flashbacks had more meat and we are given all the details around Liam’s transformation from NFL hopeful to music superstar. There is a whole book dedicated to this later in the series. It seems weird it would be a book on its own and plenty of spoilers are given, so it seems a bit vague. Also considering the contrast between the lives Liam lived in Beaumont, Texas and Los Angeles- a sense of the places should have been better established. Particularly as this is the beginning of two Beaumont rooted series. The narration is good but why doesn’t Josie have a Texan accent? I buy that Liam’s has faded. I am nit-picking on all my complaints only because I really became invested in this story. Also often the characters of children in these types of romances can be shallow but Noah was a star! His intuition was very realistic of how children read situations adults find complicated. Would have been good to have explored more of the class differences between Liam and Josie and their parents. Sorry again for nit-picking - this was a good book that could have been great! I possibly could have been disappointed by the movie if I read the book first… Overall, if you like romantic drama - I recommend this - great for a vacation or a long plane ride.

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