Review – We Are Inevitable by Gayle Forman

Posted June 25, 2021 by Carole in Reviews / 9 Comments

I received this book for free from the publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Review – We Are Inevitable by Gayle FormanWe Are Inevitable by Gayle Forman
ISBN: 9780425290804
Published by Penguin on June 1, 2021
Genres: Books & Libraries, Family, Multigenerational, Social Themes, Young Adult Fiction
Pages: 288
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
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four-stars

No one writes about love like Gayle Forman. Lose yourself in her passionate mash note to rock music, indie bookstores and best of all, the miracles that can happen when you take chances on other people. -- E. LOCKHART, #1 New York Times bestselling author of We Were Liars and Again Again

A poignant and uplifting novel about the power of community, from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of If I Stay.

Aaron Stein used to think books were miracles. But not anymore. Even though he spends his days working in his family's secondhand bookstore, the only book Aaron can bear to read is one about the demise of the dinosaurs. It's a predicament he understands all too well, now that his brother and mom are gone and his friends have deserted him, leaving Aaron and his shambolic father alone in a moldering bookstore in a crusty mountain town where no one seems to read anymore.

So when Aaron sees the opportunity to sell the store, he jumps at it, thinking this is the only way out. But he doesn't account for Chad, a best life bro with a wheelchair and way too much optimism, or the town's out-of-work lumberjacks taking on the failing shop as their pet project. And he certainly doesn't anticipate meeting Hannah, a beautiful, brave musician who might possibly be the kind of inevitable he's been waiting for.

All of them will help Aaron to come to terms with what he's lost, what he's found, who he is, and who he wants to be, and show him that destruction doesn't inevitably lead to extinction; sometimes it leads to the creation of something entirely new.

This was a great book! I loved I Have Lost My Way by this author when I read it a couple of years ago so I jumped at the chance to read this book. I had no idea what to expect but I was pretty sure that this book would be a good bet since I have enjoyed the author’s work in the past and part of the story takes place in a bookstore. There’s just something about stories about books and bookstores. I found this book to be a very enjoyable read from beginning to end.

Aaron feels like he is kind of stuck and things are just going to happen because they are inevitable. He runs a struggling bookstore with his father, Ira, but he doesn’t have a lot to look forward to on a daily basis. He decides to try to sell some of his brother’s records to make some money and he runs into Chad. Chad quickly inserts himself into Aaron’s life and he meets Hannah. This starts a chain of events where things are changing at the bookstore and he has some really big issues to deal with before it gets too late.

I was hooked by this story right away. I felt really bad for Aaron and wanted to see things start working out better for him. I understood the decisions that he made and liked seeing him work through some of the big things in his life. I really loved the cast of characters in this book. Chad was such a positive influence and I love the fact that he didn’t let his disability stop him from doing anything. Hannah was great and has overcome a lot in her life. Ike and the crew at the bookstore were fantastic and usually brought a smile to my face when they showed up on the page.

I would recommend this book to others. I found this to be a very well written story with wonderful characters that dealt with some very big issues. I will definitely be reading more of Gayle Forman’s work in the future.

I received an advanced review copy of this book from Penguin Teen via Bookish First.

9 responses to “Review – We Are Inevitable by Gayle Forman

  1. A story with a bookstore, sign me up. Glad you enjoyed it, Carole. I definitely have to check this one out.

  2. I read and loved her first series, but her second one was lackluster for me so I haven’t revisited her writing. This sounds like a great story so I should try her out again. Glad to hear you enjoyed it!

  3. Chad and the lumberjacks made this story special for me. I adored the way they supported this family and the community aspect was definitely one of my favorite things about this book.

  4. The only book I’ve read by Gayle Forman is The Wickeds (a short Amazon/Audible original about the wicked stepmothers in fairytales). Absolutely loved that one so I’d be inclined to try this one, too 🙂 Thanks for the recommendation!