Review: Forever - Judy Blume

Where I got it: Library
Rating: 3 stars  
Cover Rating: 4 stars (It's cute.)
Genre: Young Adult
Publication Date: April 24, 2007 (1975)
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Page Count: 192 p.
Add it: Goodreads

Katherine and Michael are in high school, and in love. Michael wants to have sex with Katherine. He feels like it would be a good move in their relationship. Katherine resists at first, but then decides to give in. It changes their relationship a little bit, but the bigger change comes that summer when they are forced apart by camp and work. Can their love really survive forever?

Despite the fact that this book was first published about forty years ago I didn't feel like it was all that dated. Katherine just seemed calmer than the girls of today. I think this book totally works for kids today and is still completely relevant.

I had expected this book to be a bit more...a bit more scandalous, a bit more insightful, just a bit more. It wasn't really that graphic or insightful. It was moderate. This is where I can see it being a bit dated. It was scandalous in the 1970's, but fairly tame now. I'm not saying that we need graphic sex in YA, but I think that through Katherine's feeling and maybe a bit of dialogue it would help girls know a bit of what to expect.

It seemed strange to me that there was so much focus on the guy aspects of sex. Blume seemed to go into a lot of the experience that Michael had whereas I didn't feel like there was much from Katherine. It would be nice to get a little more perspective from her angle since I imagine it's mostly girls who would read this. Instead, we have Michael's penis problems. Maybe that would have been pushing it too far in the 70's to add a girl's perspective about sex in this book.

I really liked how realistic the relationship was. They fell in love fast, had sex, it didn't change their lives in some earth-shattering way and then things didn't totally work out for them and neither of them felt the same way. That's how relationships work. There doesn't have to be some big drama surrounding these things either. Life happens and things don't always work out. Especially when you are young, you fall in and out of love.

I read this because it's kind of a classic and thought it would be a good idea. Maybe if I was younger I would have found it more scandalous or something. It's a short read, so definitely check it out if you haven't. I would love to know what you guys thought of it. So if you read it, leave me your thoughts in the comments!

First Line:
"Sybil Davison has a genius I.Q. and has been laid by at least six different guys."

Favorite Line:
"Then I went to the bathroom, sat down on the toilet, and cried."