Review: Little Forevers by Katie Kaleski

Summary/Cover Image from Author's Website:

Phoebe likes Gage, but there’s a problem—he’s her brother’s best friend.

For three months, Phoebe Bautista goes to stay with her dad’s family. As she tries to find her place and navigate the rocky relationship with her half-siblings whom she’s never met before, she begins to spend time playing music with her brother, Oliver, along with his best friend, Gage.

Gage is cute, smart, has selective mutism, and makes Phoebe’s heart skip a beat, but she knows she has to fight her feelings for him, so she doesn’t ruin her growing bond with Oliver. But the more time the three of them spend together, the harder it becomes to ignore what she feels for Gage, especially when she learns he might like her too.

And with her dad pretending everything’s fine, the fact that she might never belong anywhere, and knowing that she only has so much time with her new family, Phoebe might not make it out with her heart intact.

Review:

I'm always on the hunt for a good YA contemporary (seriously, if you ever any suggestions, suggest them!) so when I caught wind of Katie Kaleski's Little Forevers, I knew I had to read it! Also, I was having serious cover love over the cover. Isn't it gorgeous? As it turns out, Little Forevers was a great YA contemporary. Containing likable characters, swoon worthy romance, and an addictive plot, Little Forevers contains so many aspects you can't help but utterly love!  

One of my favorite aspects of this book was the characters. 

My favorite out of the entire assortment would have to be Phoebe, the main protagonist. Phoebe is the typical teen. She doesn't know what she wants to do with her life when she graduates. She has a hobby that she loves but her mother hates. She has family drama. From the first page, I was captured by Phoebe's voice. It was honest as well as realistic. I enjoyed watching her come to peace with her new family. When the book begins she views them as just a stepping stone until she can return home, but as the book progresses, she begins to see that they may be what she's have been missing all along. Besides Phoebe, I loved Gage. Gage was such an interesting guy as well as fully lovable. He has his own big issue in being partially mute, but there's so much more to him than that. He's a great friend, an awesome bandmate, and wickedly smart. I loved the fact that Phoebe was able to get Gage out of his shell, and in turn, he also helped her find what she enjoyed and loved in life. They were an incredibly cute couple to say the least. In addition to Gage and Phoebe, I loved Phoebe's family. They were also so unique and brought a lot to the table regarding not only great one-liners but heart. 

Little Forevers is at its heart a coming-of-age story. It introduces an interesting storyline - daughter from an extramarital affair moves in with her dad's family that only learned of the affair and child years after the fact. Katie Kaleski did a great of making this storyline realistic but never too overly dramatic. Over the course of the book, Phoebe goes through the motions of having a new family, one containing a two brothers and a sister who have a lot of hate as well as hurt over what she means to their family. In the beginning, the transition is somewhat rough - her older brother Oliver gives her a particularly hard time - but as the book progressed, Phoebe becomes one with the family, she becomes the girl her sister can talk to her late at night, the supporter her brother Oliver so desperately needs, and the extra daughter her stepmom can love and make embarrassing but good natured gifts for. I just loved the family dynamic here. There was so many horrible ways this could go - with them not accepting Phoebe or making her life a living hell - but instead, they work together and make the best of the situation albeit with a few hiccups. It was so wonderful to see the progress that was made by the end, and the bond between the siblings? Untouchable! 

As mentioned above, the romance this was swoon worthy. There was so much tension between Gage and Phoebe that made the page almost melt at times. However, what I loved the most about their romance was that it wasn't insta-love; instead, it developed naturally as time went on. Additionally, I liked how while it did cause some drama towards the end, the drama never become Romeo and Juliet esque. 

Perfect for fans of Sarah Dessen and Jennifer Echols, Little Forevers is sure to make some forever fans.  Sorry, I couldn't resist the pun. :) 

Grade: A-

Little Forevers is now out!

Source: eBook provided by YA Bound Book Tours

Add to Your Wishlist: 

Amazon | Goodreads 

Learn More about the Author: 

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Author Website | Pinterest | Goodreads