Monday, March 7, 2022

We Are Inevitable by Gayle Forman - OPTIONAL

We Are Inevitable by Gayle Forman, 288 pages. Penguin, 2021. $19.

Language: R (80 swears, 17 ‘f’); Mature Content: R (descriptive talk about paraplegics and sex, implied sex); Violence: G

BUYING ADVISORY: HS - OPTIONAL

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE

Aaron is done with the bookstore opened by his parents.  In fact, he’s pretty much done with everything.  So now that he’s made the decision to sell the store and signed the contract, why are all of these people trying to help him – him and his socially anxious father.  He doesn’t need Chad, the paraplegic who drags him to see a band with a very attractive lead singer.  Nor does he need the jobless lumberjacks who want to improve everything around the store. But he can’t seem to find the right time to tell his father, first, or even anyone, that the store is no longer theirs.  Is there any way he can raise $13,000 in less than a month and cancel the contract? Maybe – but it would involve selling off his deceased brother’s record collection that he left in Aaron’s trust.

Since I listened to this, I have to mention that every time I heard the father’s voice, it was like fingernails on a chalkboard for me. I wanted Aaron to sell the store and run just so that I didn’t have to hear it again. But I really liked Chad and the lumberjacks – Aaron really found better friends in him than he deserved.  A little bit about living with a parent with a mental illness, a little bit about the importance of confronting grief head on, and a lot about being honest – with yourself first and then with others.

Book was loaned from libro.fm for an honest review; narrated by Sunil Malhotra

Cindy, Library Teacher, MLS


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