In a lot of ways I greatly enjoyed parts of this book. While I'm not a big mystery fan, I do go in for gothic atmospheric books and the dark undertones therein. Talkington sets the scene quite well - much better in hindsight then on first reading possibly. Things that Liv overlooks tend to stand out once you know the secret.

I was pleasantly surprised by the reveal of the secret and by the way it was handled. Talkington showed real talent in not only the slow build for the resolution, but also the inventiveness of her characters. Rules are firm and consistent. Its not surprising why it occurred, but its surprising how the origins came about.

My problem lay in the characters.

Eventually I enjoyed their interactions and their personalities, but a good chunk of the book I was waiting for something to happen. Liv, Malcolm and Gabe seemed to exist to inhabit their respective trope and push that trope to the max until Liv's death. Only then did they evolve and exhibit any traits that would make them interesting to the reader. And not coincidentally only then did I start to really care what happened to these kids.

Liv was just a little too out there for me. I've known some really artsy people--teens who didn't care about the established norms because their art always, always came first. Adults who have sacrificed every other connection in the world because of their talent. Kids who struggle to figure out whether their creativity is really worth alienating their peers. Liv is very much like them, but racketed up to an uncomfortable notch. I'm not sure if its because half her references go over my head so I had to struggle to understand some of her allegories or if Talkington overdid it in her intent to make Liv more then just a superficial artsy character.

Gabe and Malcolm started out fairly typical, but by the end I was happy to see that a bond had formed beyond their need to solve Liv's death. Its odd but as much as readers seem to complain about the lack of female friendships in YA, I can't name any male ones (especially none that don't become a love triangle).

I thought it was also clever of Talkington to write the "stories" of the other dead as their own separate "voice" and chapters. You can tell these folks apart very easily as they speak very differently fro Liv and from each other.

Overall I definitely recommend this for the mystery and caution patience. Its not a very long book (relatively speaking), so your patience is well rewarded. ( )

CW: It is believed that a number of girls had committed suicide. ( )

Interesting premise, scholarship student Olivia or Liv falls for popular Malcolm and winds up dead. They say she committed suicide and Malcolm doesn't believe it. Neither does Gabe who had told Liv that he can see ghosts when she was still alive and it freaks him out. The three of them team up to try to find out who killed Liv and why. Parts of this were lyrical and smart. Liv knows a lot about art and the author weaves some beautiful prose into the story. But as the story progresses there were some eye-rolling moments for me. Overall, a good listen, the reader was good with different voices for the different characters. ( )

This review can be found on my blog The (Mis)Adventures of a Twenty-Something Year Old Girl).


A book with a setting of a boarding school and involving ghosts? Yes please! This was one of those books I really had to have. Luckily, it was a great read!

I like the title. It's very cute, and it's mentioned in the book and is the total opposite of what actually happens to Liv.

I'm not really a fan of the cover at all. I don't like the outfit the girl is wearing, and it really irks me for some reason.

The world building is fantastically written! There were a few times I was confused, but later on in the book, it would be explained. I did feel that Live and Malcolm fell in love a little too suddenly, but I do know that when I was a teenager, the word "love" came so easily to everyone. I really loved the setting of a boarding school. Books that involve boarding schools always make me want to read them for some reason.

The pacing was done really well. In fact, I finished the book in one setting. It was just that good, and I really wanted to know what was going to happen next. The chapters flowed very well into one another.

I loved, loved, loved the plot! Okay, so it's kind of been done before, but it didn't make this story any less interesting. The boarding school side of it was pretty typical - rich elitists, token mean girl, the less privileged kids there on scholarship or some other reason, and the boy/girl who strays from his/her rich friends. However, I loved the secret society part of it and the whole mystery of this secret society as well as the ghosts that were stuck at Wickham Hall. I loved reading about each ghostly girl's story of their demise, and I loved how Hilton explained why the ghosts did what they did. I think there's supposed to be a plot twist towards the end about who murdered Liv, but it was really easy to figure out even before I'd gotten half way through the book.

I loved the character of Liv. I felt she was easy to relate to and very down to Earth. I loved her persistence and her determination. She had a very good head on her shoulders. I also liked Malcolm and how he was disregarded his social status for Liv. I liked how he didn't really care what anyone thought of him. I liked Gabe, but I wanted to know more about him. I felt like he was a little bit of an underdeveloped character. I would've liked a bit more back story on him.

I enjoyed the dialogue and felt that it flowed smoothly. The dialogue does suit a young adult book although there were a few times when the teenagers used vocabulary that even I didn't know the meaning of. I put this down to their privileged upbringing though. There is violence in this book although it's not really too gruesome and there are a few swear words but nothing over the top. As for anything sexual, the only thing is when a girl runs out of her school naked and it talks about her being fondled by a few boys, but it's nothing really graphic.

Overall, I found Liv, Forever by Amy Talkington to be a really fast and enjoyable read. It has a fantastic plot and a great main character. I'd love to see this book be made into a movie at some point.

I'd recommend this book to those aged 15 who like books that aren't really scary but still interesting as well as those that are fans of paranormal mysteries.


(I received a free paperback ARC of this title through the Goodreads First Reads program in exchange for a fair and honest review). ( )

Insta-love and paranormal all rolled into a ball at boarding school. I nearly broke something with the strength of my eye rolling, but it was ok overall. The main character is annoying and unrealistic--a Mary Sue of an artist who got into a prestigious boarding school based on her extreme talent in--get this, COLLAGES. Really? She has bad grades but they want the collage maker to come as a scholarship student? Ok, sure. I'll overlook it, but I'm subtracting a star. Spoiler alert: she doesn't get less annoying in death. The two male main characters are stereotypical, but I liked them both by the end.

Ok but definitely not great. Overall 2 stars of "meh". ( )