03/07/2016
Seventeen-year-old Mallory Dodge is as meek as her old nickname, “Mouse,” and Armentrout (the Dark Elements series) layers her backstory with significant challenges: Mallory lived in foster homes, was abused, and is nearly mute and trying to learn to speak again without fear. Mallory’s present is filled with equally remarkable fortune: she has been adopted by kind doctors; sparks fly when she runs into Rider, her one-time foster home protector, at her new school; and people are generally patient, welcoming, and kind to her. Though Armentrout creates a diverse cast of characters (Rider, Mallory’s parents, and several other characters share Latino backgrounds), they tend to be short on dimension. Rider is an ever-understanding hero, his girlfriend is cartoonishly mean, and Mallory’s adoptive parents are nearly perfect. Mallory spends the bulk of the novel shrinking in the face of everything, and at times her innocent demeanor feels contrived. But Armentrout’s effort to gradually coax her protagonist from her shell via a supportive, loving community succeeds, and readers looking for an inspirational comeback story will find Mallory’s to be satisfying and hopeful. Ages 14–up. Agent: Kevan Lyon, Marsal Lyon Literary Agency. (May)

"The intensity between Mouse and Rider is palpably sizzling... romance aficionados [will] lose themselves in Mouse and Rider's smoldering glances and steamy kisses." -Kirkus Reviews

"Armentrout's effort to gradually coax her protagonist from her shell via a supportive, loving community succeeds, and readers looking for an inspirational comeback story will find Mallory's to be satisfying and hopeful" -Publishers Weekly

"[THE PROBLEM WITH FOREVER is] an amazing book that doesn't pull any punches. And, it will make you look at the world just a little differently." -Krista's Dust Jacket

"A beautiful story about family, friends, falling in love and finding yourself" -The Reading Geek

"Another Armentrout masterpiece." -Mundie Moms

"[THE PROBLEM WITH FOREVER has] burrowed itself deep in my heart." -Love Between the Sheets

"Beautiful and perfectly heartbreaking." -K-Books

"Far more than a contemporary romance, it's a lesson in life." -Once Upon a Twilight

"Well-worth the tears and Kleenexes." -The Book Swarm

"A story that you will never forget." -The Book Bratz

01/01/2017
Gr 9 Up—Having survived too many violently nightmarish years in foster care, Mallory knows how lucky she is to finally have two unconditionally loving parents. After years of intensive therapy, she's ready to try something most teens expect to experience: her senior year of high school. Mallory's first day goes well enough until her last class, when she recognizes a face she hasn't seen in four years—the boy who saved her life again and again as they were growing up. "Mouse?" Rider asks, using the childhood name he gave her to remind her to stay quiet as he endured the beatings that kept Mallory as safe as possible. This older Rider is more bad boy than little boy lost, yet despite the years they spent apart, their reconnection is immediate—and threatens the peace Mallory has finally achieved. Prodigious, best-selling Armentrout's ("Dark Elements" series, "Lux" series) latest stand-alone novel is achingly narrated by Amy Landon, who infuses a somewhat predictable love story with empathy and charm. VERDICT Even the most reluctant teen readers will find this aural Problem an effective lure.—Terry Hong, Smithsonian BookDragon, Washington, DC

04/01/2016
Gr 9 Up—Engaging characters and real-life drama make for a potential hit with teens, if they can overlook the stock, repetitive romantic descriptions. Mallory (aka Mouse) is living with successful, caring adoptive parents after a horrific childhood in foster homes. She decides to attend public high school after years of homeschooling. Her world is rocked when Rider enters her speech class; Rider was her lifeline in the foster home, taking many beatings for her and teaching her how to hide and stay quiet to avoid Mr. Henry's wrath. While the protagonist seems shackled by her past, Rider appears to have moved forward, complete with a swagger and a laissez-fair attitude. They spend time together, and their relationship starts to grow from Mouse and her white knight to much more. Unfortunately, Rider's lifestyle and family link him with some unsavory characters. Mallory and Rider must evaluate their relationship—who really has changed, and is it for the better? The situations are gritty but presented in an accessible manner. One frankly depicted sex scene makes this more appropriate for high school readers. VERDICT An easy sell to teens wanting to experience a frank if predictable coming-of-age romance.—Lisa Ehrle, Falcon Creek Middle School, CO

Amy Landon’s narration is emotional and breathy. These qualities make sense for the heroine, Mallory, as she recalls her traumatic youth. Mallory spent a significant part of her first 13 years fearful of her abusive foster parents. She was often hidden in a closet by Rider, a protective older boy who spent his childhood in foster homes as well. Landon’s breathy, emotional tones are still appropriate hen timid 17-year-old Mallory recovers enough from her selective mutism to enter public school, where one of the first people she meets is none other than Rider. The story is predictable in terms of romance, tropes, and clichés, but the characterizations of the protagonists become deeper as they shed their traumas and help each other reclaim their true selves. S.W. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine

2016-03-02
After surviving a horrific foster home together, a girl is reunited with the boy who always sought to protect her. Mallory—dubbed Mouse due to her selective mutism—grew up in a foster home with two abusive addicts. The white girl relied on biracial Latino/white Rider, another ward in the home, to keep her safe and serve as her protector. When the violence in the foster home came to a head, 13-year-old Mouse and Rider were removed from it and ultimately separated. When the novel opens, four years have passed, and Mouse has been adopted by Carlos and Rosa Rivas, wealthy physicians, who have dedicated themselves to helping her heal from past trauma and have home-schooled her. Rider, however, is still in foster care and lives a more dangerous life on the wrong side of the tracks. When Mouse enrolls in high school for her senior year, she is reunited with Rider, and though they've gone in opposite directions, their mutual past—and their blazing chemistry—pulls them together. Although the intensity between Mouse and Rider is palpably sizzling, the all-too-conventional trope of the quiet girl and the bad boy is played out in classic formula fashion, sinking in its own clichés. However, die-hard romance aficionados may be able to overlook the boilerplate plotting and simply lose themselves in Mouse and Rider's smoldering glances and steamy kisses. A mainstream romance that covers well-trod territory. (Romance. 13 & up)