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Forever, Interrupted

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3.74  ·  Rating details ·  28,827 ratings  ·  3,749 reviews
Have you ever heard of supernovas? They shine brighter than anything else in the sky and then fade out really quickly, a short burst of extraordinary energy. I like to think you and Ben were like that . . . in that short time, you had more passion than some people have in a lifetime.

Elsie Porter is an average twentysomething and yet what happens to her is anything but ordi
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Paperback, 1st Edition, 321 pages
Published July 9th 2013 by Washington Square Press
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Katie Dyett I loved it. I laughed and cried (happy tears and sad tears).
Elysa There are references to sex, but there are not explicit scenes that detail it happening.

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Average rating 3.74  · 
Rating details
 ·  28,827 ratings  ·  3,749 reviews


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emma
This book has already caused me irrevocable damage.

Confession time: I am someone who orders an indefensible amount of pizza.

My roommate and I just moved into our new apartment last month, and already we have had to desperately attempt to limit ourselves to two orders per week. We eat pizza for approximately five meals every seven-day period. (Dinner, breakfast, and second dinner, most frequently.)

I hate to sound like a quirky girl on Tumblr circa 2014, but pizza is a big part of my life.

And now,
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Michael David
Nov 18, 2020 rated it liked it
Hey TJR,

It’s me.

I’ve been flooding Goodreads with your books this past year...ever since I read DAISY JONES AND THE SIX...and have unconsciously read your whole collection backwards.

In this one, you write about Elsie and Ben. They meet at a pizza place, fall in love almost instantly, and get married in less than 6 months. Right after the wedding, Ben gets hit by a truck and dies. Elsie never met her mother-in-law, Susan. Ben’s mom wasn’t at the wedding, and didn’t know Ben got married.

I loved
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Larry H
Dec 03, 2019 rated it really liked it
4.5 stars.

Taylor Jenkins Reid does it again—she weaves a beautiful story and tears my heart out in the process!

"Things happen in your life that you can’t possibly imagine. But time goes on and time changes you and the times change and the next thing you know, you’re smack in the middle of a life you never saw coming."

When Elsie meets Ben at a pizza place one night she has no idea how significantly her life will change. The two are attracted to each other instantly but their connection goes far b
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Kezia Duah
Apr 04, 2022 rated it really liked it
TJR’s first novel!

Elsie’s husband died after nine days of getting married. Ben never told his mom that he got married, or even told them about Elsie at all. You can imagine how awkward that would have been to meet your mother-in-law at the time of your husband’s death. Susan, her mother-in-law, was also in a tough position meeting her daughter-in-law for the first time in a horrible situation. As she is also grieving she puts a lot of her frustration on Elsie. Will these two women ever learn to
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Aestas Book Blog
Sep 18, 2015 rated it really liked it
Shelves: favorites
::: FULL REVIEW NOW POSTED ::: 4.5 stars :::


*wipes tears* Woah, this book really just hits you right in the feels. My heart feels like it's just been run over. Truthfully, I've had this book sitting on Kindle for over a year while I worked up the courage to read it. But recently I read another (unrelated) book by this author Maybe In Another Life and really fell in love with her writing style so I decided to make this my next "emotional" read. As it turned out, earlier today I was in the mood
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Gabby
It fucking kills me to say this, but I wasn't a fan of this book. I consider Taylor Jenkins Reid one of my favorite authors of all time, so I am completely shocked that I didn't like this book. This book follows a twenty-six year old named Elsie who marries Ben after only knowing him for six months. Nine days after Elsie and Ben are married, Ben is killed in an accident. The book follows Elsie after Ben's death as she mourns her husband and in alternating chapters we see how she met Ben and fell ...more
Warda
Nov 08, 2019 rated it really liked it  ·  review of another edition
Shelves: i-fell-in-love
Taylor Jenkins Reid is the one.

————————————

A long-ass, decades overdue buddy-read happening with Sara! 😍

Taylor Jenkins Reid, rip my heart out. ✌🏾
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Brandice
Nov 10, 2019 rated it really liked it
Elsie Porter experiences great loss when her Forever is interrupted just 9 days after marrying Ben, the love of her life. She meets her mother-in-law, Susan, at the hospital for the first time following Ben’s death. Susan’s reception toward Elsie is far from pleasant.

Forever, Interrupted is Elsie’s story of grief, now a widow at 26 years old. The book features several chapters of earlier times, giving context and background to Elsie and Ben’s relationship. While their marriage, and even their w
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Reading_ Tamishly
Sep 12, 2019 rated it really liked it
I deliberately took lots of time to read this one because I don't want to rush through it. Reading about grief is painful and real. But helpful.
I dont want this book to end yet at the same time I just want to get over with it.
Feeling alive.

I totally loved reading this one.
As always as is with her books, you get to know the characters like they are real people and you accept them for who they are no matter how flawed they are just like you accept some people as your friends and family just like t
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Elyse  Walters
Nov 05, 2017 rated it really liked it
Audiobook: Narrated by Tara Sands

This was Taylor Jenkins Reid’s debut novel..... not her strongest .... but that’s great news in my opinion. I still enjoyed it! All the human qualities I enjoy in Reid’s books were right there. Her talent for natural conversational dialogue makes for easy engaging audio listening.
Having read most of her other novels - I can vouch for TJR’s ongoing sophistication and bigger hit wonders!

I’m definitely in the thrones of beginning stages of recovery from surgery -
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Rachel Reads Ravenously
4.5 stars

“No matter how strong you are, no matter how smart you are or tough you can be, the world will find a way to break you. And when it does, the only thing you can do is hold on.”

This book completely wrecked me, in a good way. I won't say this often but boy I was I glad I was single when I read this, because if I had been married, I feel like it would have been even tougher. But this book is so worth reading, like all of TJR's books, it's different from the typical chick lit/romance
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Jennifer Kyle
Apr 29, 2015 rated it really liked it  ·  review of another edition
4 ~ 4.5 Stars

”…those nine days, those six months, they are a part of your life now, a part of you they may not have been enough for you but they were enough to change you.”

description

Wow this story packed a powerful punch as the author takes the reader from present as Elsie looses her husband Ben and the past as they meet and fall in love all in the matter of six months. Elsie and Ben have been married a total of nine days when she looses the love of her life. To make matters difficult Ben didn’t tell
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April (Aprilius Maximus)
Mar 03, 2018 rated it really liked it
Shelves: made-me-ugly-cry
brb, crying for all eternity
chan ☆
Nov 02, 2018 rated it liked it
"what's the rush, honey? we have all the time in the world.

cue the tears, a bitch is emotional... ok just sort of.

this book was about a woman's whose husband passed away after a whirl wind romance. so quick, in fact, that the woman's mother in law doesn't even know her son was married. the story pretty much follows the MIL and widow as they grieve together.

if it sounds boring, that's cause it kind of was. it was told thru the past and the present. we get the widow falling in love with her de
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KAS
Dec 15, 2016 rated it it was amazing
IT'S OFFICIAL! I AM A TOTAL TJR FANGIRL!!!

This author Blows. Me. Away. Every. Time.

Do you ever yearn to read a romance where the relationships are messy and complicated, never of the nice and tidy variety? Do you yearn to FEEL all the emotions, both joyful and painful, which a complex relationship can evoke? That is exactly what you are guaranteed when reading a Taylor Jenkins Reid novel. Exposed are the inevitable curve balls thrown around those rosy corners of life. Exposed are the highest hig
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Trina (Between Chapters)
Hello, 911? I'm having a feels-attack.

This was extraordinarily difficult for me to read. The book opens with the death of the main character's husband in a way that preyed on my personal fears. (I didn't know what this was about before starting, I was just picking up anything I could get by TJR.) I got about 20 minutes into the audiobook and was just sobbing and became really fearful and had to take a few days break. But that small portion stayed with me and I came back to it needing to know the
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Lucy
Nov 20, 2021 rated it it was amazing  ·  review of another edition
Shelves: 2021, romance
"Things happen in your life that you can't possibly imagine. But time goes on and time changes you and the times change and the next thing you know, you're smack in the middle of a life you never saw coming."

Elsie and Ben dated for six months and were married for 9 days before his unexpected death. This is a story about grieving, healing, and friendship. In vivid detail, we experience Elsie's tremendous pain of life without Ben and her happiness when she was with him.

The story takes place over t
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Lucie
Mar 30, 2018 rated it really liked it
Elsie and Ben have been married just nine days when a tragic accident shatters their love story....

This book deals with the aftermath of life kicking you hard and unexpectedly right in the gut. It's about pain and profound loss, the loss of a spouse, the loss of a future you envisioned. It also delves into the complexities of family dynamics, as the surviving spouse is now meeting (for the first time) the family of the spouse who passed away. Are they even really in-laws? Elsie and Ben were only
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Layla
Forever Interrupted is Taylor Jenkins Reid's debut book, but the 5th book I have read by her. Admittedly, though she is one of my favorite authors of all time, I just didn't vibe with the writing here. But of course, that is a testament of her growth, and I respect that.

This book follows Elise, a widow, who was married less than 2 weeks to a man she had only known for only 6 months, before he died. Ben, despite having only known him a short while, was the love of her life. This follows her path
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Steph
reading this while on the brink of a breakup was truly self torture but i'm glad i did it.

but it's about a death, not a breakup. and hopefully it isn't insensitive of me to mention the parallels between those things. they're certainly different, and the grief elsie faces is on another level of brutal and devastating. but losing someone you love hurts no matter what.

i like the novel's structure because i think it matches the mindset of someone coping with the loss of a partner. it's half grief st
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Erin
Aug 24, 2019 rated it really liked it  ·  review of another edition
3.5 stars

Audiobook narrated by Tara Sands 8h 45 minutes 41 seconds

I am a bit in mourning because now I've read everything that TJR has written (six novels and a short story) and now I must wait until her next release. To my fellow reading buddies, I envy all of you just starting her back catalogue.

The debut novel of Reid's was definitely one of the most heart wrenching tales I've read recently. Actually who am I kidding? TJR consistently ties my heart up in knots more skillfully than a sail
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Lady Vigilante (Feifei)
DNF at 44%

I guess I'm not in the mood for an emotional read right now. The past/present scenes are giving me whiplash and the writing is very immature - full of short, telegraphic sentences. It's a little hard to believe that this is the author who wrote one of my all time favorites After I Do.
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Jennifer
★★★★½
Forever, Interrupted is a standalone, women’s fiction novel written by the fabulous Taylor Jenkins Reid. It addresses grief and loss, but also discusses how complex family dynamics can be. It explores if loss is the same whether you knew a person for three months or three decades, and it shows how people grieve and heal in very different ways. I so enjoyed Forever, Interrupted and found it to be a very moving novel about surviving death and how even in the depths of sadness, tenderness and
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Katie B
I can't say I loved this book, but the story kinda grew on me. Taylor Jenkins Reid is a favorite author of mine and this book is her first published novel. I don't think her writing talent is on full display with this book and therefore it belongs more in the average read category.

On New Year's Day, twenty-something librarian, Elsie Porter, meets Ben Ross. They have an instant connection, fall in love, and get married all before the month of June. Nine days into their marriage, Ben is hit by a t
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Chelsea (chelseadolling reads)
I think this is my least favorite of TJR’s books that I’ve read, but I still completely adored it. I even cried a few times. What a story.
Nina
Apr 13, 2018 rated it really liked it  ·  review of another edition
Shelves: read-in-2018
This was a very enjoyable read!
“Forever, Interrupted” is such a sad story but at the same time, the parts about how Elsie and Ben met and got to know each other made me smile so much. It was a great book! And I’m also officially in love with Taylor Jenkins Reid’s writing style now and can’t wait to read the rest of her books!
NILTON TEIXEIRA
Rounded down to 3 stars.
This is my third book by this author, who stole my heart with “Daisy Jones & The Six” and with “The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo”, and for that I had big expectations (I even bought two others books, still unopened).
I don’t particularly care for romances, but, as the cover of the book announces, this is “not your average love story”.
If you are looking for the meaning of life then this is not for you.
I absolutely loved the first part of the book (there is a scene with the
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Lily Herman
May 31, 2020 rated it liked it
As much as I love Taylor Jenkins Reid's work as a whole, I think Forever, Interrupted was the only slight miss for me.

I've read every TJR book except for Daisy Jones and the Six at this point, so it was really fascinating to finally pick up her debut novel and the book that started it all. I can actually see the threads of how the male love interests in her other early novels (After I Do, One True Loves, and Maybe in Another Life) were slightly more evolved versions of Ben Ross.

I think there jus
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Darlene
Dec 27, 2021 rated it really liked it
3.5 stars rounding up. I wanted this story to go somewhere and kept holding out hope, but it does not.

It is a great exploration of the stages of grief of a young widow. Thus, it is a very depressing book. Keep the tissues handy. You're going to need them more than once.

I had a hard time with the characters. They were well developed, but they just weren't that interesting. I could not really rally behind anyone, and to really enjoy it, you need to be invested in the main character, Elsie.
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Jillian
Aug 27, 2016 rated it it was amazing
this made my heart ache and while this story is not anything new, it's still moved me so deeply. i really like stories about grief, and how people can go on living life after tragic, unexpected loss. i can't wait to read the rest of reid's books. ...more
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68,231 followers
Taylor Jenkins Reid is the New York Times bestselling author of Malibu Rising, Daisy Jones & The Six, and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, as well as four other novels. Her newest novel, Malibu Rising, is out now. She lives in Los Angeles. You can follow her on Instagram @tjenkinsreid. ...more

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