I'm not usually an emotional reader but I bawled my eyes out with this one.

Reminiscent of You Reached Sam - but executed much better. I adored both Hart and Ruby so much, their relationship was so heartfelt it was difficult to keep myself together, and as respective characters they were both incredible individuals. The depiction of grief felt very real, I almost felt like I was going through it myself.

I did appreciate the direction the plot took and that it was more than Ruby just trying to move on. It made for a very intriguing storyline. I can't recommend this book enough.

The book is easy to read and fast paced contains sensitive topics like grief and death. This book got so emotional for me.
I felt like this was so well written i really loved Hart and Ruby.

I bawled my eyes out with this one.

This is similar to what You Reached Sam was trying to do, except this was done really well. I loved both Hart and Ruby so much it felt like MY heart was going to burst. They were both such incredible individuals and their relationship was so cute. I did cry for a significant portion of this book, the grief was written really well, I felt like I was going through it myself. I did appreciate the direction the plot took and that it was more than Ruby just tried to move on. It made for a very intriguing storyline. I can't recommend this book enough.

TW: grief, drowning, substance abuse

I received an e-arc of this title from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

3.25 Stars

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book.

I had a rollercoaster of emotions while reading this ARC. Some were good, some were not.
I really liked the idea and the premise of the story, and the last 3rd of the book completely reeled me in and almost got me choked up at times, which is a huge feat.

I absolutely loved Jameson/Harts interaction and relationships with Victoria and Gabi. And I really enjoyed seeing Hart navigate his new life and the limits he had with communicating with others.
With Ruby, you felt her heartbreak and her anger after what she had been through. Her journey felt believable and not too rushed.

The writing style wasn't my favorite. Sometimes it was hard to follow along if it was a flashback or not, or who was talking at times. The writing also felt juvenile at times. I know we are in the POV of teenagers, but the gen z language felt forced and took me out of the story. Due to that, it took me a long time to get into the story and to start caring about the characters.

4.75/5
Okay, so this book was a lot but all in good ways. It made me bawl my eyes out in the beginning. I had thought it'd be more sad after that but it wasn't. It's a very sweet, quick yet painful read. This is one of those books that make you believe in love and that love overpowers everything if it's true and strong to the core. Lourdes will be one of my favorite characters. She's kind beyond thought and I loved her so so much. Gabi is that one sweet, jolly character that everyone cherishes and I loved how she was always there for her sister, Ruby. Her and Ruby's bond is unconditional.
Now, coming to Hart and Ruby, I loved them and more so I loved how they loved each other. So much that they both won each other back defying death. A love like that is pure and only ever exists in books.

If you love books that have sweet romance, makes you believe in the power of love, concepts of after life and the universe, reincarnation, hea and you want to cry too - then you should definitely read this book!

What an absolutely beautiful journey! I loved every minute of it! I was afraid this was going to be a knock off of "You've Reached Sam" because of the title and the description, but I loved that book so I decided to give this one a chance. I am happy I did because it was completely different and very unique! I think I even enjoyed this one more! Highly recommend this book. I'm so thankful for my ARC copy from Netgalley and the publishers ❤️

First, I love the name ;)
Second, this book was very enjoyable.

Always Isn't Forever by J. C. Cervantes is a moving, touching and lovely YA romance.

The storyline is clean and charming, and the characters are endearing. Ruby, the protagonist, is particularly relatable.
This book was well written and takes you through the emotions….. all the damn emotions!
I was so wrapped up with emotions these characters went through, I found it really hard to put this book down.
While it’s a young adult book, it’s still beautiful. It makes you think.
This is my first book by this author and it was a truly great experience.
Cervantes writing is engaging and pulls you into these characters world.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

Thank You NetGalley and Razorbill for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

Reviewed for NetGalley:

I get what the book was trying to do. Two kids so in love, even the greatest of obstacles could not separate them.

Without spoiling, just didn’t work for me and how it was “overcome.”

Such a beautiful book you will love this if you loved You've reached Sam. this book was such an anticipated read for me this year and I can say the longing and heartbreak I felt throughout the story made the wait all the more worth it. You made need some tissues just a heads up btw.

4.5/5 stars

“Down to Earth”, the teenage version?! I’m in!

Ruby and Hart are in love. They have plans, a future, until they don’t. Hart drowns in a boating accident and Ruby is overcome with grief. What’s the point of life anymore when the one person you’ve shared everything with for practically your whole life is gone in an instant?

Hart ends up in the in-between five months after his death where he meets a Zendaya look alike angel who tells him she took his soul too soon and can have a second chance if they find him a body. Sounds easy enough, right? 🙄

Jameson Romanelli is an asshole with a sordid past and a drinking problem. Ruby hates him. He also happens to be in a coma. Unfortunately, he’s not going to make it. With Jameson being the only fitting body, Hart takes over. As he becomes Jameson, his only goal is to get Ruby back. How is he supposed to do that when he’s forbidden from telling her who he is and he loses his real memories with every passing day?

An angel Zendaya? Yes. I couldn’t stand her at first, but without giving too much away, she was the glue in this story. Nothing but love for that girl. 😇

Some things I didn’t like…

❤️Parts of this were discombobulated and sometimes hard to follow, but I didn’t care that much.

❤️“Hip” language felt forced at times.

❤️Not enough build up regarding Hart and Ruby’s love story before he became Jameson.

Those few tiny things didn’t deter me though and I absolutely loved this. It was gut wrenching and magical. I’d be lying if I said this book didn’t make me tear up. Okay, fine, I cried. Fully balled. This completely broke me. Happy? Read it.

“Hearts will burn before they break.”

Huge thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for providing me with an ARC of this book. 🙌🏻

I find it interesting that Hart was transferred to the guy Ruby hated, and because of that, I expected more struggle. The biggest problem here was how would Hart tell Ruby he was in Jameson's body, and it focused on that, forgetting how Ruby couldn't stand Jameson.

The writing was good. It also had several fun and funny moments that I find this book very entertaining. Doesn't lack in descriptions too. In fact, it looks like the author was afraid to miss out the descriptions. There's this thing with Miriam that goes like this:

"Miriam takes a swig of wine, setting the glass down with “authority.” She’s a fortysomething three-time divorcee, with this golden skin and black hair that makes her stand out in a crowd."

I'd understand if this was the first time Miriam was mentioned, but it's not, so it looks so random. How about instead of like "This is my friend. She's 5'2, redhead. Size 28 pants. Had 3 boyfriends", just drop some descriptions that's relevant to the scene, or do it the first time they appear, like an introduction? Like, just natural? Say, on this scene we talk about her eye and hair color because we're dressing up? Or bring up her ex boyfriends next time when we talked about relationships. Like that. But of course, that's just my take. You do you. Still good, tho. Just baffled me.

This is told in Ruby and Hart's POV (with occational Lourdes). Thing is, the MCs sound very similar when it comes to narrating that it just looks like we're still reading the same POV, just with different events. (Am I making sense?) The difference is that Hart was frustrated most of the time and Ruby had trust issues.

The first scenes with our lovebirds were cute, very inlove, very teenager-y.. there's just.. not much? I wish there were more backstory, scenes, to make the readers attached to the MCs. I didn't feel much connection between characters. Not just between Ruby and Hart, also with George, Martin, Serena, etc.. On the plus side, we got straight away to the point, which is Hart's journey as Jameson and we got enough on that part. (Don't worry, because we got to see their tender love for each other but it was after Hart died, i just wish to see that BEFORE he died).

All in all, I liked it. It's not something that made me cry but I ALMOST cried because it's sad and you see their longing, Hart holding on to Ruby and her ladybugs memory, and I love the throwbacks whenever they remember some old memories.

Always Isn't Forever left me in tears. I loved this book so much, I definitely can see the comparison to You’ve Reached Sam this book is something that everyone should read.

This book was honestly so amazing, i really enjoyed every minute of it and didn’t want to put it down. It was happy, sad, funny, heartbreaking but ended in the best way possible. I can’t get over how much i loved this book. Hart and Ruby are literally the cutest and i am so glad it ended how it did for them both. I highly recommend reading, you will not regret it!

I had such high expectations to this book, especially since it was recommended to readers who liked You've Reach Sam. Honestly this fell short for me. While Hart and Ruby character where okay. I really dislike Lourde, and felt like there was something I didn't really fully understand from her.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for a honest review

2.75 stars

So cute and wholesome! The characters were really lovable and the writing was easy to follow. The only reason I’m giving this a 4.5 instead of a full 5 stars is because I felt like some of the supernatural stuff wasn’t explained very well or characters ignored the rules sometimes.

But this book was so sweet and I was definitely hooked from the beginning. The idea is unique and I was definitely rooting for Ruby to figure things out. The last few chapters had me smiling so wide! I loved it and I definitely won’t forget this book any time soon

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was very emotional and it was definitely a rollercoaster ride. I cried many times while reading this and I wasn’t sure where the ending was going to go. I’m so glad I went into this book not knowing much about it because I feel like it definitely made it a better experience! If you enjoyed “You’ve Reached Sam” you would probably enjoy this book, although I felt this book was better.

I CHASED after the ARC of this book. It sounded utterly romantic and very interesting. All the reviews were saying how sad it was, and how it was so good.

I must ask - did we read the same book? How in the world was this book sad? How in the world was this good?

We were off to a great start, up until the ML died. Then it completely went off the rails.

- I get that the main character was going to inhabit the body of the rude guy... but honestly, the author built up the rude guy so horribly and one dimensional that there was no real enemies to lovers on the FL side. She is supposed to fall in love with the guy who was her enemy but we literally see a page of interaction with the two of them and we're supposed to accept that she dislikes him?
- As soon as the ML is given the choice to jump into the bad-boy's body, I started getting 'alert' bells. What about the bad-boy? Who was he? Where was his character development? Does he deserve character development? Why does the ML get a body of someone who basically can come back from the dead? The angel never really said that the guy was toast. Yet, if the ML jumps into the body he gets an entirely clean slate? Why? I don't understand?
- Which brings me to the FL - the love that the ML had for her was so lack-luster and full of 'tell'. We can never infer their love or obsession, it is literally shoved down our throats. At least the ML was trying to get her to - but with great difficulty - realize is him.

When she finally figures out who he is, their romance is still very lack luster and lack of real umpf. On top of that, the original soul of the guy never returns. It's like he just wanted to give up. Which made me wonder if the guy was depressed or something?

The whole thing was just really badly written and it just didn't sit right to me that at he very end of all this, he was rewarded the body and the life of his former enemy, the girl is going to be screwing said pretty boy (her boyfriend was a POC and the body he got placed in was a white boy with blonde hair), and their lives are all hunky-dory.

I felt nothing was gained or sacrificed. There have been other 'dead boyfriend returns from the dead' books, but I side eye this one.

If you want a book that will rip your heart out this one is for you! If you enjoyed You Reached Sam then you will definitely enjoy this book! The grief in this story was just so well written.

Can you imagine losing the love of your life, only to have them come back in another body and fight for their love against all odds? This star-crossed lovers' story, with its amazing cover and intriguingly promising plot, provides enough excitement to get invested in Hart Augusto and Ruby Armenia's journey. The book is easy to read with its short chapters, fast pacing, big mystery, and surprising twists that approach sensitive topics like grief, death, and therapy.

The story gives off vibes similar to You've Reached Sam, but with a different outcome. Although I didn't cry my eyes out, the mystery surrounding Hart's battle to reach Ruby in bad boy Jameson's body, as his memories slowly fade away, increases the pressure. Readers will be rooting for the soulmates to find their way back to each other. The book also includes spiritual elements, with an angel's touch.

For Hart, Ruby is his forever. Even though he's dead, his soul is still doing everything in its power to reach his soulmate. But can he win the war against divine intervention? Are they meant to be together forever?

The characterizations are excellent, and the plot is interesting enough to warrant a movie adaptation. Keep your napkins close and dive into this book blindly! You won't regret it!

Many thanks to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP/ Penguin Young Readers Group/ Razorbill for sharing a digital reviewer copy of this amazing book in exchange for my honest thoughts.

Can you imagine losing the love of your life, only to have them come back in another body and fight for their love against all odds? This star-crossed lovers' story, with its amazing cover and intriguingly promising plot, provides enough excitement to get invested in Hart Augusto and Ruby Armenia's journey. The book is easy to read with its short chapters, fast pacing, big mystery, and surprising twists that approach sensitive topics like grief, death, and therapy.

The story gives off vibes similar to You've Reached Sam, but with a different outcome. Although I didn't cry my eyes out, the mystery surrounding Hart's battle to reach Ruby in bad boy Jameson's body, as his memories slowly fade away, increases the pressure. Readers will be rooting for the soulmates to find their way back to each other. The book also includes spiritual elements, with an angel's touch.

For Hart, Ruby is his forever. Even though he's dead, his soul is still doing everything in its power to reach his soulmate. But can he win the war against divine intervention? Are they meant to be together forever?

The characterizations are excellent, and the plot is interesting enough to warrant a movie adaptation. Keep your napkins close and dive into this book blindly! You won't regret it!

Many thanks to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP/ Penguin Young Readers Group/ Razorbill for sharing a digital reviewer copy of this amazing book in exchange for my honest thoughts.