Now and Forever by Susane Colasanti
Release Date: May 20, 2014
Publisher: Viking Juvenile
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary Romance
ISBN: 9780670014248
Source: Hardcover from BEA 2014
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What if your boyfriend was the world’s biggest rockstar?

It’s a dream come true…but whose dream is Sterling living? And what do you do when “forever” comes to an end?

This is the third book that I’ve read by Susane Colasanti and even though the premise of this book appealed to me the most of the three that I’ve read, this actually turned out to be my least favorite read. (Click the appropriate links to read my reviews for Keep Holding On and All I Need.) Why wasn’t I a fan of this one? Well, I wanted something more fresh from the perspective of the girlfriend of a rock star. This book was everything I initially expected it to be but nothing more than that.

These characters, main and minor are all very memorable but not for any grand reasons or reasons worth mentioning. The entire book, I felt like Sterling was simply telling the reader about her life with her rockstar boyfriend and nothing really happened on her end. That’s a conflict in itself but I wanted more. And when the two were together, I wanted more. I wanted more than the typical things that I expect to see in this type of relationship, in this type of situation these two have found themselves in. There are not many people who can say that they seriously dated a rockstar before they were a rockstar and into their stardom. I wanted more dirt. But maybe that’s my own fault when it comes to expectations because not only is that not Colasanti’s style, it’s not like this is an older YA or even borderline NA where much more can be explored more freely.

The characters and relationship dynamics all around were fully fleshed out which I loved, I simply wanted more conflict and more grit. This is a rockstar’s life. We all know the rockstar’s girlfriend has some stories too. I wanted to hear those stories. Also, I connected and empathized with Sterling up to a point. I think I could have empathized with her more had this story had an extra layer of drama to it that really forced her to react more.

The emotional roller coaster was taken but I think this book could have had a little bit more heart. And that could have come to the surface better with more conflict. Because if you read the beginning of the book, Sterling is all over Ethan and vice versa. It’s almost sickening but I’m biased here because I’m not romantic and don’t really care for the romantic elements of any book really. But as the conflicts grow, there’s more of a detachment and distance that I understand is needed to show the distance and detachment between Sterling and Ethan but the same should not have dipped into the execution of the heart of the matter.

All of this said, I read this book in one sitting because the pacing is on point. Yes, the ending could have been more fleshed out but I’ve come to accept a certain type of ending with Colasanti books and I’m fine with that. Also, I loved that each chapter began with the number of (Twitter?) followers Ethan had, as each chapter, that number grew significantly and that was a great sign of what we could expect from Ethan moreso than from Sterling. Really, there were no boring parts of the book, it held my attention on every page. Still, this was all a tease to what I’m on the hunt for now… a good memoir by a girlfriend or wife of a rockstar. If you have any recommendations, let me know! Would I recommend this? Well, it’s a quick summer read so if you happen to see it on your summer vacation, pick it up and make your own judgement call.

Now And Forever by Susane Colasanti is available now.