Wow, thank you for this wonderful book! Upon reading the book, I just find the flow of the story similar to the book called You've reached Sam. Took me a week before finish this since I cannot contain my emotions because of the characters, I just get emotionally attached to them to the point I always cried every time I read throughout the pages. Thank you Net Galley for giving me opportunity to have this book <3

I have come to the unfortunate realization that young adult contemporary is not a genre for me anymore. A very sad realization by the way. I used to love the genre, but now as a 23 year old woman it just isn't hitting the same as it used to. Reading about teenagers in high school is just not something I can relate much to anymore, sadly. I do still recommend this for young teens though, especially ones that may be dealing with grief and not knowing how to process it

The cover is super cute but so many plot holes that I couldn't ignore.

Thank you Netgalley for providing an ARC in exchange of an honest review.

This paranormal romance explores the bounds of grief and the power of love. When Hart dies before his time, he is given a second chance. He is desperate to get back to his old life, and especially Ruby, the girl he’s loved for forever. Unfortunately, his old body is … no longer available, so he has to take on the life of someone else. And he’s physically unable to tell anyone who he truly is. To make matters worse, he’ll eventually forget his old life completely, including Ruby. Meanwhile, Ruby has been dealing with grief and guilt over Hart’s death and she doesn’t understand the pull she’s feeling toward a guy she’s never liked, at all. This is one of those romances where you basically know how it’s going to work – there aren’t a ton of surprises – but the addition of Hart’s fading memories and his integration with his “new” identity does add an element of suspense that you wouldn’t otherwise get in a book like this. It’s enough of a twist to keep you wondering how it will all work out. This twist is what kept me turning the pages, and had me rooting for Ruby and Hart the whole way!

Heartwrenching YA romance. Ruby and Hart are soulmates. Their love is the stuff of legends, until a tragic accident takes Hart's life. Ruby doesn't know how to go on without him. Meanwhile, Hart wakes up in a twilight realm, with an angel who calls herself Lourdes. Lourdes tells him that he can have a second chance at life, in the body of someone else who is close to death. Of course he jumps at the chance, even though she tells him that he has to let his old life go, including Ruby. He comes back as Jameson, a bad boy who Ruby totally despises. Hart will fight through all odds to be with Ruby again, and she feels a strange draw to him as well. Can this young love survive even after death?

I got so much enjoyment, and quite a few tears, out of this sweet YA love story. The depth of love between these two... amazing. You have to root for Hart; he's fighting the universe to get a second chance with Ruby. Along the way he also is able to improve Jameson's relationships with his family and friends. I really liked the subplot involving Lourdes and her struggle to get back her angel status, as well as the inclusion of Ruby's family's mystical connections. I wasn't sure how the story would end until I got there, though I knew how I wanted it to. An emotional read that I thoroughly enjoyed.

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

Thank you netgalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam for allowing me to read this book. This book was so sweet and heartbreaking at the same time. I loved the true love that Hart and Ruby shared and the twist in the beginning was so shocking! This book got me so anxious every time I thought the secret was going to be revealed! I absolutely adore the characters and loved how emotionally deep this book was! This book put me through a roller coaster of emotions in the best way! The ending was so beautiful and had me in tears!

I wanted this arc so bad. I hoped and hoped I would get approved. But once I started it reading it just felt off to me.

The MCs love for each other is just kind of shoved at you from the start. Which is fine. And then the tragedy happens and from there we are just supposed to accept based on very little interaction the girl hates this “bad boy” and that at the drop of a hat this guy can inhabit and swap with the bad boy? But like…… what happens to the bad boys soul? It’s just gone?

I just couldn’t get past some of the holes in the plot and then on top of that it’s again just lackluster and left me wanting more, unfortunately.

As someone who loves second chances, friends to lovers romances, and anything with a supernatural element I thought for sure I would love this one, but sadly it missed the mark with me. The story started off intriguing and I was waiting with bated breath for the MMC to die to see the characters grow with the obvious conflict, however, then things slowly started to shift in a not-so-great way and I never fully got on board with how the reincarnation aspect worked.

The MMC inhabiting the body of a local bad boy felt like full erasure of the other boy's character and made him feel incredibly one-dimensional. The way Hart would be willing to give up everything including his father to possibly get Ruby back felt so off to me and the way he started to assimilate parts of the other boy's identity (enjoying football, disliking coffee and tortillas) but ultimately got to stay himself just made no sense. It also left a bad taste in my mouth that the MMC was originally POC and came back as a white boy.

I felt like the FMC fell so easily for the new version of the "bad boy" that her MMC was inhabiting and their romance just didn't do it for me. They had such little interactions for the enemies-to-lovers portion to make sense and before Hart died their love felt obsessive versus genuine.

Maybe I finally have aged out of YA rom-coms, because while this one had some cute moments, it could have had a great larger-than-life message and instead it ultimately missed the mark. I really wanted to enjoy it more. Things I did like: an exploration of grief and how grieving affects those directly impacted but also the peripheral network as well, discussions around substance use and abuse, the sisterly love and relationship.

Thank you Netgalley and Publisher for providing this arc in exchange for my honest review!

When I first heard of Always isn’t Forever, it was described as “perfect for fans of ‘You’ve Reached Sam’,” which initially made me a little wary of it. I was not a big fan of “You’ve Reached Sam” I felt that it did not live up to the hype or my expectations of what I was hoping it to be. However, I did love the idea presented in “You’ve Reached Sam”, of second-chance goodbyes, of a love pressing past the boundaries of even death to get that goodbye. So I decided I wanted to give Always isn’t Forever a chance, and I put my request in on Netgalley. When I was approved, I started reading it almost immediately, excited to give it a try.

Not only did the plot draw me in, but so did the beauty of the writing, and the many layers to the story. The love between Ruby and Hart, the grief Ruby feels, and Hart’s desperation to keep as many memories as he can before it is too late. The way despite the messiness of it all, in some way they still know each other. I know that if I were to read it again, which is likely considering my adoration for it, I know I would notice more layers and hidden meanings, (especially in the Hart/Jameson chapters).

This book begs the question what makes up the love we have for a person? Is it the memories we made with them? Or is it something deeper? Is it something that would make you recognize them even if they were in a different body?

I absolutely loved this book, and enjoyed so much of it. This book had me sobbing and laughing. It is a book I will think about for a long time. Thank you to Penguin Teen and NetGalley for the digital arc!

Hart and Ruby were best friends and soulmates in this young adult romance. Hart dies in a tragic boating accident and somehow comes back in the body of the town's bad boy, Jameson. Fighting to continue remembering and keeping Ruby in his life, he tries to get closer to Ruby, who can't stand Jameson. It's an interesting tale of life, death, and afterlife.

This book sent me into an emotional rollercoaster. The love story between Ruby and Hart is truly wonderful and heartbreaking at times. Hart's fate is just tragic and he does finally get a second chance. The only complain I had was that I really wanted them to spend more time together and it was a little complicated to know how a soul, spirit and heart works in the book lore.


If you want a heartwarming and second-chance(different body same spirit?) romance this book is for you!

3.5 stars

I don't mean for it to sound harsh, but this is the better version of You've Reached Sam - it's more of what I expected You've Reached Sam to be. I didn't find it as emotional as I was expecting it to, but I think that was more of my personal circumstances than the emotional impact of the book. So much of this book is about grief, coming to terms with losing someone, learning how to let go when you didn't get to say goodbye, and I think it was a really beautiful story.

My biggest struggle was with the ending - it's difficult to explain without spoiling it, but it just felt very convenient. The problem that the book had been dealing with the whole time, was just able to be conveniently solved? I would've preferred if the ending had been more bittersweet and had been continued with how the plot was going. I feel like it would have made the whole story much more meaningful. It basically rendered the entire story beforehand pretty much meaningless, and it was really frustrating.

Overall, it was a really beautiful, youthful outlook on grief and could've been so important in the YA genre, but I feel that the ending went in the wrong direction for this kind of story.

thank you to netgalley and penguin group for providing me with an arc of thsi book in exchange for an honestly review

2⭐️

this book started out great for me but somewhere in the middle it lost its appeal. as a huge fan of “you’ve reached sam” i was more than excited when i received this arc in hopes that it would be at least half as great. sadly, not everything goes the way we want it to.

my biggest problem with this book was the body swapping thing that happens. i understand that this was a second chance at life story but i couldn’t stop thinking about the other dude that also died. this was a huge ick.

i’m devastated that i couldn’t enjoy the rest of it.

I really enjoyed this story, It was a bit of a slow start for me but then it began to pick up and I became more invested in Hart/Jameson and Ruby’s lives. I liked the different character perspectives, including Lourdes. A solid effort from J.C. Cervantes.

Tears tears and more tears

Wanted the book off of the cover alone and it didn't disappoint. Their relationship was just too cute they were amazing characters. The grief was very well written and it had me in tears

*I received a free copy of this ebook from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.*

I can't quite put my finger on what I didn't love about this book, but it maintained a middle-of-the-road position for me throughout my reading of it. It wasn't fantastic, and it wasn't terrible. The title attempts profoundness but doesn't really mean anything.

Ruby (16/17) and Hart (17/18) have been friends since they were children, and their relationship evolved naturally from there. Hart was generally good and very thoughtful. Even after dying, he had a kind of laser focus on Ruby, which is what drove him to accept the offer of living out his life in Jameson's body. (Btw, it's never explained why Jameson's spirit passed on even though his body was okay.) Ruby's personality didn't come across as definitely as Hart's, in my opinion. She loves Hart, she wants to travel, she freed ladybugs when she was six. And that pretty much sums her up. She was grieving--I get that. But I don't feel like she was developed very well.

There wasn't a whole lot to the story: Hart dies, inexplicably gets a second chance in a different body, and tries to win Ruby back. Ruby has to learn to live differently than she had planned. Lots of things were never explained, and the reason given was basically "I don't know--that's just the way things are." Or something along that line.

I'm sure some readers will love this book, but it failed to impress me. I didn't love it, and I didn't hate it.

Note: Some swearing, including a handful of f words.

1.5 stars
Ahh I don’t know where to start really… the positives? I really liked the cover, the premise of the story seemed interesting; Hart dies and he negotiates with an angel to take the body of another guy who's in a coma and about to die. However, the body he takes on is someone they don’t really like.

However, even though the book did seem interesting I was finding it hard to concentrate and really get into the book. The book was also advertising for people who enjoyed “You’ve reached Sam” and as someone who has read it and was crying nonstop…lets just say I was massively let down lol and no I do not agree with those who are saying it's better than you’ve reached Sam because it isn't.

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin group young readers group for this ARC!

I knew I was going to love this book based on the cover alone, and I was so freaking right. It was so good, so emotional and I was just utterly invested in the story.

Idk why I've been gravitating towards YA contemporaries that I know (for a fact) are going to wreck me, but I am, and this book is no exception. While it has a happy ending, the journey getting their is fraught with pain and heavy emotions and even though I was prepared based on the synopsis, I wasn't ready for THAT PART. Ruby and Hart are so perfect and I loved them together so much. I loved the journey they go on together.

I'm obsessed. I loved this so much and if I could, I'd wipe it from my mind, so I could read it again for the first time.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
4 stars

I’d like to thank the author for providing me with a free e- copy of this book in return for an honest review.
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.
 I cried 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.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

𝙁𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙉𝙚𝙬 𝙔𝙤𝙧𝙠 𝙏𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙧 𝙅.𝘾. 𝘾𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙨 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙖 𝙨𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙠𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙪𝙣𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙜𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙔𝘼 𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚, 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙛𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙛𝙖𝙣𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙔𝙤𝙪’𝙫𝙚 𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙙 𝙎𝙖𝙢.

I read 𝗙𝗹𝗶𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗪𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗙𝗮𝘁𝗲 by this author last year and enjoyed it so much, so I was excited to pick this one up. I also saw it being compared to 𝗬𝗼𝘂'𝘃𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗱 𝗦𝗮𝗺 - I just knew this was going to be an emotional read… and it definitely had its moments.

It’s best to go into this one not knowing much, other than it’s sad and deals with themes of grief and death. This is a YA story, but it’s so impactful and didn’t feel too juvenile. There is also a magical realism sort of element to it, which I actually enjoyed.

Ruby + Hart have my whole heart, I was rooting for them to find their happily ever after. There’s so much character development in this author’s stories that I am picking up on - and I am loving it! The writing style is also impactful and beautiful at the same time.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. At times it definitely was emotional, but I liked the magical realism vibes. Grief was such a major theme in this book, but the romance aspect sort of overturns that and lightens up the story. This was an enjoyable read.

Thank you so much NetGalley and Penguin Teen for the review copy in exchange for my honest review!

•𝗧𝗪/𝗖𝗪: Grief, Death, Alcoholism, Cursing, and Toxic Relationship