Now & Forever by Susane Colasanti: Review

Title: Now & Forever
Author: Susane Colasanti
Publisher: Viking Juvenile 
Buy This Book: Amazon / Book Depository 

What if your boyfriend was the world's biggest rockstar?
Sterling is crazy in love with Ethan. Not only is he the sweetest boy she's ever met, but he's an incredibly talented guitarist, singer, and songwriter. And since forever, he's believed he has what it takes to be a star.
When Ethan becomes an overnight sensation, he's thrown head-first into the glam world of celebrity-and so is Sterling. Before she knows it, she's attending red-carpet premieres, getting free designer clothes, and flying around the country to attend Ethan's monumental sold-out concerts.
It's a dream come true...but whose dream is Sterling living? And what do you do when "forever" comes to an end?

I find it quite amusing that Viking Juvenile is the publisher of this book because juvenile is a word that sums up this book for me. It felt juvenile, and not in a good way. It has content that you would expect from a YA novel but the characters and the writing make it seem like it's aimed at 10 year olds. I should have learnt my lesson from the first book by the author I read, Something Like Fate, which I absolutely hated. But, I thought this sounded good and had potential. I was wrong.

My main and biggest issue with this book, and the one I could not get over as hard as I tried, was that the main character was one of the most annoying characters that I have ever come across. I have never felt so much unexplainable rage for a completely fictional character. I really should have DNFed this one because it wasn't worth my time and it probably did terrible things to my blood pressure. Sterling was just such a ridiculous character, I wish she actually existed so that I could bitch slap the crap out of her. Seriously, my rage is too much to handle when it comes to this girl.

I concur!

Sterling is like the worst grammar Nazi in the world. I feel like the author thought that this would make you connect with her, anyone who's used the internet knows what a Grammar Nazi is. But, that's not how it works out. She takes her to the absolute extreme and I just couldn't stand it. I think most bloggers and readers will admit to hating it when they see a grammatical error or spelling mistake. But, we don't go comment about it in the comments on a blog post or email the author about it because we have probably all made mistakes ourselves. I have checked and double checked a post and been satisfied, only to go back and read it after I have posted it and find a bunch of mistakes I didn't spot. So, I just found Sterling's high and mighty attitude to be utterly pathetic, juvenile and ridiculous. She emails authors to let them know that they made a mistake in one of their books, and moans that the editors must be idiots for not spotting them, she keeps a sharpie on her so she can correct ANY mistake she sees on signs. WHAT THE HELL? GET A LIFE.  She also wants to be a publisher and thinks that she is better than everybody else.

Here's a few quotes:

'As a publisher, I'll have the ability to share quality work that can change the world.'

'I take out the book I'm reading. I've already marked two typos. I'll email the author to let her know about them and any others I find when I finish the book.'

Having to sit and read this for the whole book just really got to me. I just could not like this girl at all. Then there is her relationship with Ethan, another thing I absolutely hated. She just talks about him like he is the most amazing, brilliant thing to happen in the world EVER. Seriously, here are a few quotes:

'He has a unique sound no one else has ever created before.

'Ethan makes the kind of music generations have been waiting for.'

'He was strumming a new chord when he suddenly knew he was meant for insane fame. He was too young to comprehend the scope of his epiphany.'

'Melting.On.The.Floor.'

'Melting.Into.My.Chair.

'Melting.In.The.Foyer'

'Melting.At.Serendipity'

Her gushing about Ethan gets old pretty fast and just really got to me. Also, the constant use of the whole melting thing really bugged me as well. I seemed to absolutely hate nearly everything about this book and it's really hard for me to try and sugar-coat that, so I just won't bother. Ethan, to me, seemed like the most ridiculous romantic male lead ever. He is made out to be absolutely perfect, the author even makes him that way. He's super sweet, loving and treats Sterling so well. But then the author tries to just 180 him and it doesn't make much sense and just seems really silly, at least to me.

For me, the only good part of the book was the end. And that wasn't just because I had finally got to the end and didn't have to read any more. It was because the author didn't go for the stereotypical ending and it wasn't the ending I was expecting either. I enjoyed that aspect of it but it wasn't enough to save this book for me. This was quick to get through but didn't make much of an impact on me at all. 

0.5/5 Butterflies

The surprising end earned this book a .5 rating. Other than that, I honestly couldn't find one redeemable part of this book. I couldn't stand the characters, Sterling is one of the worst protagonists I have ever seen. Ethan does a complete 180 as a person and I just didn't buy it. She made him too perfect and then too much of a dick. This just wasn't for me at all, it seems like a very immature story with very immature characters. 

*I received a copy of this novel from the author/publisher/publicist via Edelweiss in exchange for a free and honest review and received no monetary compensation for this review.