"Maybe this is what 'love is forever' means: it's not timeless, but it leaves a mark so deep that it accompanies us all our life."

Forever follows Viola and her friends on a summer holiday to the south of Italy. We see their different experiences of love at a young age, and the different displays of love within relationships of others around them.

There are some heavy topics explored including domestic abuse, terminal illness, sex education and strained parental relationships. I feel these are all done in a really nice way, and attempt to show the aspects of a healthy relationship.

There are aspects of this graphic novel I didn't enjoy, in particular some homophobic language used and instances of 'slut-shaming' behaviour.

Overall, I did enjoy Forever, and the illustrations are really beautiful and really allows you to put yourself into an Italian summer.

What is it with being perfect? Look good, talk to everyone, keep smiling, don't talk to people who are 'different', don't do things you love. When do we get out of these confines?

We get out when we stand up for ourselves.

'Forever' is a graphic novel that is more than just comics and speech bubbles. It is a book that teaches us to embrace ourselves and just be the person we aspire to be, not the one our parents, peers and society have envisioned for us.

Most of the story happens on a beach trip, one that forged and rewound many relationships. Of course, for the protagonists, it must have been a life changing trip, but for the readers, it's a lesson.

A lesson in just existing.

The graphic novel follows Viola and her family who always go to the same place with the same arguments and long car journeys. However this year they are finally going to Punta De Sole, a tourist destination that all of Viola's friends go to. Viola has always heard about a gorgeous guy there called Fabrizio. She's excited to get to the resort but when they arrive there has been a mixup meaning that they are no longer staying in the bungalow at the resort but instead in a apartment in town.

All of viola’s friends seem more ‘experienced’ with love and relationships and she feels like she's doing something wrong/not good enough. She also has body image issues - comparing herself to others. She tries to get their advice to help her to finally have experiences she'll never forget.
The graphic novel primarily follows the holiday adventures but is also broken up by diary entries/letters about the trip that express what is going through Viola’s mind, for example, what love means based on her thoughts/what friends have said. Viola seems to have a challenging relationship with her mother, who wants a girly, feminine daughter.

This also explores abusive and manipulative relationships. One of Viola's friends Valeria has a controlling boyfriend who after she decides she wants a break from talking to him, turns up out of the blue as a ‘surprise’ and sees her hanging out with another guy and hits her but then turns it around on her and says that if she behaves he wont need to do it again. Viola and the others try to explain to her how this isn't ok but she won't hear it and stops hanging out with them to hang out with Gabriele instead. However, we learn in the end that gabriele assaulted her again and she left him and told her parents what happened so that they can help her keep away from him.

Viola meets Ireneo and starts hanging out with him while he fixes his boat. From here their friendship grows and it turns into a summer romance. Ireneo helps Viola to accept herself while also allowing her to explore love. We also see Viola at a party where Fabrizio shows interest in her and they go to his tent. However she freaks out and leaves and the next day he pretends nothing ever happened to her face and boasts about what he got up to his friends (aka a prick).

Alongside all of this, Viola meets Lili and Paola a lesbian couple who are camping. A friendship blooms and they help Viola with advice and support. Viola later learns that Lili has a terminal illness and this is their last holiday together before she goes to America for assisted death. At the end we see Viola writing a letter to Paola expressing condolences after Lili's death and summarising how she felt about the summer. This felt like the perfect end to the story (although it would have been nice to see Lili survive and get a glimpse of the following summer with hopefully them altogether, includeing Ireneo).

“Maybe this is what “love is forever” means: it’s not timeless, but it leaves a mark so deep that it accompanies us all our life.”

It was a nice quick read! I liked it and the drawings were nice :)
It wasn't really long but it managed to talk about some pretty relevant subjects. Among others: emotional abuse, sex, misogyny, identity and not-so-great relationships with family. However, I felt that it didn't focus as much on them as I would have liked and it didn't went in depth in any of them. Regardless, I enjoyed the story and how the MC changed a bit from start to finish.

This book is about teenage love, and how in this fase we can understand love as something so much different of what really is. In this comic, a group of friends go to the beach with their family and there Viola, out main character, discover what really love is. But don't think that this book is about romantic love, because actually is about all types of love. And this was what most caught my attention: the relationships in this comic are beautiful, all of them are so powerfull.

Other thing that was really well portraied in this book is the feminism, and how it is something important and empowerful to young woman. Honestly, I would say this book should be read for any girls in their teenage years.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher to give me the opportunity to read this book in exchange of an honest review! It was a really powerful and beautiful history!

'Forever' is a cute graphic novel about love. That is the short version. The long version is:
'Forever' is a graphic novel that deals with many important issues. From body image, toxic relationships, abuse, queer relationships, negative effects of tourism, love, self doubt, grief and death so many topics are covered and still it doesn't feel rushed. Everyone can relate to at least one aspect of this story or see themselves in one character and I think that is the special thing about it.

I would have loved it to be longer, but that is an issue I have with every graphic novel I read so far. Besides that I really don't find anything I dislike. On the contrary, I'm pretty sure the longer I think about it the more I will realise and understand. I will definitely have to reread this and I will probably buy myself a physical copy as well!

I am grateful to have received an e-ARC of this book through NetGalley.

What is this “love” everyone talks about? Viola doesn’t yet know. On vacation with her parents, during the idle hours of the afternoon while everyone is sleeping, Viola’s encounters and experiences will help her grow as a person and get answers to the hard questions that everyone has to face sooner or later, and she will reshape her identity, in a summer she’ll never forget.

I absolutely loved this graphic novel. It gave me all the feels. Young Viola goes on holiday with her family to South Italy. There she meets Ireneo, whom she builds a relationship and he becomes her first love. The book shows Viola just being a typical teen on holiday with her friends, exploring, going to dances, and chilling on the beach. She is also trying to understand what love is and how relationships work. We see various examples of different relationships including an older lesbian couple who Viola quickly makes friends with. The book also discussed self-image, abuse, gender roles, sickness, loss/grief. I loved the messages taught in this book. It was a very quick read too.

"Maybe this is what 'love is forever' means; it's not timeless, but it leaves a mark so deep that it accompanies us all our life"

Thank you to NetGalley and Europe Comics for providing me with an e-arc in exchange of an honest review

4/5

I really liked this graphic novel. It's light, interesting and has this summer vacation theme that I love.
All the situations and characters were painfully and beautifully real, also can we have a special mention to the real bodies here? The art is cute and simple but realistic.
I read it in two nights because of my insomnia, and I think this is a really great reading before sleeping.
Thank You NetGalley for the digital copy!

Forever is a beautiful coming of age story centering about Viola’s family holiday in Italy. Within this one summer Viola explores what love is through learning about it from those around her including her parents, her friends, and the people she gets to know during her stay. Viola’s journey leads her to follow her heart, where she ends up meeting Ireneo, a Greek boy repairing an old boat. The art in this novel is atmospheric and enchanting, making you wish you were dancing on a beach, or sitting in a sun dappled forest with your summer love. Although the novel captures the feeling of a teenage vacation that you’d never forget, I found that narrative was at times disjointed and would’ve benefitted with more transitions from one part to the next. Overall, this is a fantastic summer read that felt reminiscent to the sisterhood of the traveling pants.

I read a digital arc of this graphic novel that I’d received from NetGalley.
This was beyond mind blowing, in every positive way.
I’ve never felt so many emotions from a single graphic novel, lol.
At times, you’re empathic with the characters and other times you’re angry at them, and there are the very deep moments of the story and the very lighthearted funny ones too.
The art was absolutely gorgeous, and the storyline quite epic. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this and will definitely be buying the book.
If a young woman who had suffered with confidence was asking for recommendations, this will be on the top of the list, any young woman actually.
I enjoyed the fact that the main character was searching for the meaning of love and found great things in return, also I love this quote so much I couldn’t not leave it here, I still can’t believe I read it in a graphic novel, lol.
<spoiler>”Maybe this is what “love is forever” means; it’s not timeless, but it leaves a mark so deep that it accompanies us all our life.”</spoiler>

Received this as an E-arc from NetGalley for an honest review.

Such a sweet story about a teenage girl finding love for the first time. She spends the summer learning how to love herself and meets new friends. The ending was not what I wanted, but loved it none the less.
Artwork is amazing and I was left wanting more.... (which is a good thing)

This was a cute and quick read! I liked the main story and the characters and thought the ending was beautiful. My only issue with this book (the reason why I rated it 3 stars) is that I thought it tried to discuss a too wide range of topics. Even though I really appreciate it when books discuss important topics, this book took on too many, which resulted in some of them not getting enough attention. The book discussed love, self-image, abuse, gender roles, sickness, loss/grief. Some of these topics were worked out really well, but some of them, like gender roles, were only briefly mentioned throughout the book. I would've liked it better if the book had been longer so all of these topics had got the attention they deserve. For this small book, I think it would've worked better to focus on a smaller range of topics. Still, I really enjoyed the read and, as I said before, I do really appreciate authors trying to discuss important topics!

Thank you to NetGalley and Europe Comics for providing me with an e-arc. This did not affect the honesty of my review in any way.

This book was just ok in my opinion. I feel like there were certain themes the author wanted to address and that drove the story more than the plot and the characters. It didn’t always feel cohesive. Also, I can’t help but scream inside every time I read/hear the same toxic BS that you can’t love or be loved by someone else until you love yourself - there are plenty of people with mental health issues who do not love themselves, who are not happy, but they are not unloveable. This was a small part of the story but it irks me. It was a quick read, it was fine, I’ll probably forget it in a week or two, though, and it’s not re-read material for me.

Thank you NetGalley, author and publisher for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

Forever is a great read for summer that focuses on love and coming of age.

What I liked:

* I loved the realistic view of what it is like to be a teen during the summer - spending time with your friends, falling in love

* Viola was actually a level-headed teen. You don't see as many of them in stories anymore. Her friendship with Lili & Paolo and her relationship with Ireneo were more mature than some girls her age would have

What I wish was a little different:

* At times, I felt like this too fast paced. I would have liked more relationship building and saw more with these relationships (can we have another book?!)

Overall, I really enjoyed the story, the artistry, and I hope there will be more!

Thank you to NetGalley and Assia Petricelli for letting me read an advance copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

I would like to thank the author, the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with this copy of eBook. 

Forever by Assia Petricelli, Sergio Riccardi is another coming-of-age graphic novel but more enjoyable than my previous reads. I finished this in one sitting and I found the illustrations very good.

A simple and quick read that touches different issues through the eyes of a teenager on vacation.
This summer will allow Viola to better understand who she is and what love and relationships mean.
The story is sweet and moving, albeit a bit too fast. I would have loved for some topics and characters to be explored deeper. For example, I feel that a window was opened with the character of Viola's mother and further exploration would have enriched the story.

The book reminded me of all those Italian summers spent at the camping resort as a teenager. The first crushes, the need for freedom and discovery, the nights spent at the beach.
I particularly loved the characters of Paola and Lili, the lesbian couple who teaches Viola and her friends what love and, most importantly, self-love and respect are.

A perfect lockdown read -- you have the beach and young love, two things you wish you could go back to.

An honest and real coming-of-age story featuring Viola and her journey to understanding what "love" is. The characters are fleshed out well, flaws and all and I adored Viola and Ireneo's story.

The story felt like it could have explored its characters more, like Viola's friends or her parent's relationship. It had a lot of underlying themes which I liked. The ending tied it really well though and the art is STUNNING.

Would recommend you read this while sun bathing on the beaches of Italy or your own backyard, I won't judge.

This book was very heartfelt - a meaningful exploration of the different ways people try to find love.
The relationships between the characters are honest and complicated, with each interaction leaving room for character growth.

Viola asks the age old question, what is love? Her summer break is spent trying to answer the question, taking advice from friends, watching relationships and meeting Ireneo, a local boy, she is met with different answers. Despite all these big questions this is a great summer read, fun in places serious in others.

This book mixes traditional graphic novel/comic spreads with notebook style entries so we watch the action but also see Viola's game on events. The colour palette is gorgeous, with a real summery glow.

I received this book free from netgalley in exchange for a fOr review, all thoughts are my own.

A beautifully illustrated coming-of-age story that explores a young woman discovering love (be that familial, friendship, romantic, or self-love) and the many pressures facing young people. I loved the style of illustration, although I think the way Viola was drawn made her seem like a woman in her mid-twenties rather than the naive highschooler she is. I especially loved the little touches like the inclusion of Viola's diary pages, daydreams, and popular song lyrics and tv shows - this really grounded the story in the setting and personality of our main character. I also loved the way many different issues were touched on, I just think this graphic novel suffered a little from being so short! So much more could have been said and done with the themes, and I felt like we barely got to know any of the characters. An enjoyable read, and I'd recommend for older teens as a summer read!