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Forever is the Worst Long Time by Camille Pagan is one man’s story of his life, his love and his loss.
James’ life is pretty ordinary until he meets Rob’s (his best friend) girlfriend Lou. James and Lou have an instant attraction. The more James learns about Lou, the more fascinated he becomes and the more her wants to know. To James everything about Lou is perfect (even her imperfections) and he comes to love her. Then James and Lou do the unthinkable and they set out on journey that is filled with love and loss. The story is told from James’ perspective, his voice engaging and likeable, but is a little longwinded at times. This first person perspective is good for the story, which is essentially about the ups and downs of his life set over seventeen years. |
Use of this perspective made James’ voice, actions and motivations come across clearly. But for the same reason, left the reader feeling that other characters were lacking at times. Pagan could have improved the novel by switching to some of the other character’s perspectives.
The plot moved along at a reasonable pace. But because it was about James’ ordinary life, that mostly lacked anything extraordinary, it felt like not a lot happened. It also felt like reading a biography of someone who is a complete stranger and has done nothing to attract the reader’s interest.
The last few chapters are likely to elicit an emotional response from readers, which is a credit to Pagan’s writing.
The description and dialogue were excellent throughout. The idea was all right, but more thought and imagination could have been inputted into the story. I really wanted to like Forever is the Worst Long Time, but it just wasn’t for me. Perhaps because it was a story told by a mediocre main character.
Forever is the Worst Long Time is available to buy on Amazon and at all good book shops.
Review soon,
Antony
A great introductory article on candle magic :)
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