ARC Review: The Problem with Forever by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Title: The Problem with Forever
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout  
Genre: Contemporary 
Source: ARC via InkSlinger 
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Publication Date: May 17th 2016
Summary: 

For some people, silence is a weapon. For Mallory “Mouse” Dodge, it’s a shield. Growing up, she learned that the best way to survive was to say nothing. And even though it’s been four years since her nightmare ended, she’s beginning to worry that the fear that holds her back will last a lifetime. Now, after years of homeschooling with loving adoptive parents, Mallory must face a new milestone—spending her senior year at public high school. But of all the terrifying and exhilarating scenarios she’s imagined, there’s one she never dreamed of—that she’d run into Rider Stark, the friend and protector she hasn’t seen since childhood, on her very first day. It doesn’t take long for Mallory to realize that the connection she shared with Rider never really faded. Yet the deeper their bond grows, the more it becomes apparent that she’s not the only one grappling with the lingering scars from the past. And as she watches Rider’s life spiral out of control, Mallory faces a choice between staying silent and speaking out—for the people she loves, the life she wants, and the truths that need to be heard.

Trigger warning: Abuse 

I've read a good number of Armentrout's books by now and I can easily say that this is the one I have connected with the most. I also want to hate her because she literally breaks my heart over and over and repairs it. The Problem With Forever deals with a tough issue that I have seen in many YA's but none of them handled like this.  

Mallory hasn't had the easiest life. Being in the foster care system you never know where you are going to end up and who are going to meet. Jumping from home to home with Rider, her best friend she managed to escape the worst of her troubled until Mr. Henry. Mr. Henry is the definition of the devil living on earth. He is a abusive phycopath that used any excuse to beat on Rider. Rider was always Mallory's cushion. If she got in trouble Rider stepped in and took the physical beating. She was always told be quiet and never make a noise.  After a tragic night and four years of seperate on they never expected to see each other again, especially in high school. 

Mallory is such a complex yet simple character that I have no words to describe her. I admire her strength of character and as well as everything she been through. Through out the novel we see Mallory progress from a shy quiet girl who is terrified to use her voice to someone who could stand up in what she wanted and believed in. Her anxieties with certain aspects of her life also made her an easy character for me to related to. Rider is quite a hard book to read, he is still in the system and though in a more stable home with people who consider him family. He doesn't talk about how Mr. Henry affected him. He just wants to know how Mallory, or too him "mouse" handled the aftermath.

The romance is a real slow burn in the book, nothing really happens until the last half of the book. But it's a believeable romance. Both characters have their own doubts and demons that they are battling that conflict with each other. But Armentrout wove a beautifully complicated romance into an already complicated story line. 

All in all I am so excited for this book to hit shelves and for everyone to experience what I did in the novel. Filled with a heart renching story line, a tender romance and the charm that most Armentrout books hold The Problem with Forever is a story that you will never forget.