I idea was appealing but the actual product dragged from early on in the book and the writing didn't engage me as a reader or pull me into the characters stories.

This was compared to Forever by Judy Blume, and said to be inspired by it as well. It's YA but errs on the adult side of things. Some of it was cringe-worthy, as it is YA, but a lot of it is a modern version of Forever. Again, something you could read in a day or two while relaxing in the summer.

I Never by Laura Hopper was definitely a must considering it was inspired by Judy Blume's Forever, which by the way just so happens to be my all time favorite book!

Janey is a young adult who, like everyone at this age, is finally starting to experience what the big deal is about sex, and how a boy can change the game. She realizes that relationships change and as do friendships. I thought Laura Hopper did such a good job making this book into its own, but also keeping Forever alive!

I have already recommended this book to a group of friends and I will continue to recommend it to young adults!

No this did not work for me at all, was bored, maybe it was a bad day to read this novel

I thought this was a typical book in the YA verse. It had to do with divorce which can be upsetting, but it dealt with so much more than that. I really enjoyed it.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

When Janey's parents announce their divorce while on a fabulous vacation, her world is rocked. She used to know who she was, but now she's not so sure. Add in golden boy Luke Hallstrom, and Janey realizes she has a lot to learn. Self confidence becomes an issue Janey never realized she had as she experiences many firsts. Navigating uncharted territories (for her), Janey learns how to be who she wants with her family, her friends, and her boyfriend.

THOUGHTS: As an adult who works in a high school, I was uncomfortable at times while reading this book. I'm not saying I'm totally naive about what goes on, but I don't necessarily want to read the details. Saying this book doesn't shy away from the details is an understatement. Though I've never read it, Judy Blume's Forever has stood the test of time as a challenged modern classic. I recommend you read I Never and gauge your audience before adding it to your school library. Descriptions of casual sex make this more suited for mature readers.

The runner in me doesn't believe that a high school track season would end in late March...

But the reader in me read this book as a modern-day version of Judy Blume's Forever...

I Never was the perfect book to read while I was on the couch resting my sprained ankle because this was fast paced and kept me hooked until the very end. I was so happy to read this straight through with no interruptions.
I love going into a book not really knowing what the book is about and this was certainly one I was happy no knowing. This was eye opening and I admit at certain parts I was thinking about how things have changed in YA books from the time I use to read them a long time ago and its nice because so many authors make it see taboo or skirt around it. We need to realize that things aren’t like they use to be and to have a author talk about it head on was really nice. Its realistic and relatable.
This is definitely a mix kind of book where is light and funny but serious at the same time if all that makes sense?
Our main character is Janey and she is a high school junior. She is smart when it comes to school but she is really naive socially when it comes to boys. I think most girls could relate to Janey in that situation because girls always wonder if the boy they truly likes suddenly starts showing an interest in us that we wonder what their true intentions really are. More so when your crush just happens to be one of the most popular boys in school. Why would the most popular kid be interested in you?
Luke is that boy. He has it all the looks, the confidence and the popularity. I loved that Luke wasn’t who he appeared to be on the outside. There was more to Luke and I loved finding that out about him. He does come off as the jerk joke and at first I thought his intentions weren’t true and he was up to something. I loved that Luke was honest with Janey and laid it all on the line. We all want our first high school love to be that happy fairy tale ending and sadly it doesn’t always go as planned.
The only negative thing I have to comment on is I wouldn’t share this book with the younger young adult because it does get a little explicit and at times.
Over all I am happy I got to read this and looking forward to reading more from this author in the future.

A sweet, endearing, and honest portrayal of first love and all of its complications. I loved it.

Judy Blume’s Forever has always been an important book to me. It was my first Blume book and a really old tattered copy was handed down to me by an older cousin with all of the juicy parts marked with post-it notes when I was in middle school. I was instantly intrigued by I Never when I saw it being compared to Forever.

Unlike Blume’s main character, Janey is dealing with a lot more than just her first love. Janey is blindsided by her parents separating and breaking up her easy life. She has to quickly adjust to a new life of two homes and two sets of rules. The beginning of the book focuses on Janey trying to adjust to the idea that her parents haven’t been happily in love like she thought. Hopper perfectly captures the moments of turmoil that come from being a teenage child of divorce and realizing your parents are people too with their own hopes and desires. Janey has to reimagine her family’s future and the things she’s always believed to be true about love and living happily ever after. I Never follows a year of Janey’s life that has many ups and downs.

Enter Luke Hallstrom, the most popular guy in school who Janey happens to see on a plane home from vacation. Luke notices Janey at the perfect time in her life when she needs a distraction from her home life. Luke, a senior, has never paid any attention to Janey before but they have a believable meet-cute on the airplane that jumpstarts their relationship. The two are quickly inseparable and the relationship provides the perfect vehicle for Janey to try to find her own definition of love in the wake of her family breaking up. Janey also has three best friends in various stages of their own sexual development. Danielle is in a committed relationship and the first friend of the group to have sex. Sloan has earned a nickname of “E.B.” because she’s known to do everything but have sex. Brett, Janey’s male best friend, serves as Janey’s biggest foil because of his outspoken views on how girls should look, think, and act. Each friend provides an alternative to Janey and serves to show multiple point of views about sex.

Like Blume’s Forever, Hopper explores the first time and includes detailed descriptions of sex. Luke, who turns out to be a caring and considerate first boyfriend, lets Janey take her time to feel ready before they have sex. I Never is ultimately a sex-positive book where Janey feels comfortable exploring what she wants. Her mother and Janey’s best friend, Brett, (a not-all men type) both criticize Janey at first for her “fast” relationship. By the end of the book she develops a mature outlook on sex and is able to have an open dialogue with her mom. She realizes that just because she doesn’t want to have a hook-up or a one night stand, it doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with girls who do.

I Never is a contemporary version of Forever but it certainly stands on its own for readers who have never read or heard of Blume’s classic 1975 novel. I Never will appeal to teen readers of romance and contemporary. Pair I Never with a book like Moxie or Cherry to give readers a well-rounded feminist and sex-positive repertoire.

I was unfortunately unable to access this title on my kindle in order to leave review.

This is a book about the things Janey had never experienced before, and it was quite a wistful walk down memory lane for me. It is blurbed as being the modern day Forever, which I can agree with, as I read that book back when I was 15. It opened my eyes to a lot of new things I was feeling and thinking about, and I found some solace in knowing that I was not the only one.

•Pro: This book is very sex-positive. There were frank discussions about sex between Janey and her girlfriends, Janey and her mom, Janey and Luke. I really appreciated all the different angles from which Hopper approached the subject.

•Pro: Janey was not only experiencing first love, she was encountering a lot of other firsts: the first time seeing her parents as people, seeing them as flawed; she was starting to see that the world is not all black and white, but rather, there is a lot of grey, and this is a really pivotal time in a teen's life.

•Pro: Hopper showed how the dynamic changes in one's other relationships, when they begin a romantic relationship. Janey's friendships changed, as did the way she related to her parents. She had to adjust. There were bumps, but she evaluated and made the adjustments necessary to make it all work.

•Con: The ending was tough for me. I am an HEA girl, and although the ending was pre-determined from a very early point in the story, and is true to its inspiration, I still found it a little sad.

•Pro: This was a story about Janey exploring her autonomy. That time in a teen's life, where they pull away a little from their parents, and begin to keep some things to themselves, while they make some of their own decisions. It was very realistic and relatable.

•Pro: I liked Luke and Janey together. I thought he pushed her in a lot of good ways. He was patient and caring, and smooth-boy said all the right things.

•Pro: I did think Janey grew some over the course of the story. She had quite a few ideological shifts with respect to her parents and sex. She was not totally over her insecurities, but she knew she wanted to work towards that. She knew she wanted to be able to feel wanted, beautiful, and desirable even if she was not attached to a man telling her that. I felt like she was moving in the right direction.

•Pro: This book is really honest and realistic. I worked in a high school for 12 years, so if you think this is not the stuff going on in some teens' lives, you are mistaken.

Overall: A bittersweet and honest story of firsts, which left me a little teary-eyed and wistful.

I've heard this book be called "Judy Bloom's Forever" of Today, but I have nothing to base that off of, because I never read Judy Bloom books. “I Never” is a book about a young girl’s sexual awakening. It follows the story of a girl from her first kiss through losing her virginity and beyond. The book talks honestly about Janey’s experiences and her insecurities. While she isn't perfect she questions why someone would be interested in her. Talk about a real experience there. I like that the characters talked about birth control and enjoying sexual activities.

I really enjoyed I Never. It was fast paced and relavant in so many ways to what life is really like as a teenager “in love”. I felt that the struggles were realistic and relatable which made me enjoy reading Janey’s experience as a high school junior.
I like that Janey is ambitious academically but naïve socially, especially when it comes to boys, because I feel like her focus has been on her future and I believe that happens to girls who are driven like that at that age. Laura Hopper did a great job of relating Janey’s internal struggle with herself and whether the boy she likes likes her back, if it’s really real because why would a popular jock like a no body like her, and the struggles she has accepting the changes that are happening in her life.
I really liked Luke. I thought that he was adorable but at times seemed a bit too mature for his age. Laura did a wonderful job at showing that people are not always what you seem and we saw that with Luke, especially when it came to Brett’s view of him as a stuck up popular jock who couldn’t possibly have true intentions. Luke’s honesty about what his intentions were with Janey when the year was over was refreshing for a high school love story because at that age we all believe we’ll be with our first loves forever, and that isn’t always the case. It was nice to read about a viewpoint like that.
The only issue I had with this book is that it leaned much more toward NA than it did YA due to the sexual content of the book. It was a bit too explicit when compared to what I see as being YA and because of that I probably wouldn’t recommend it to anyone under the age of 18. With that said I think that it has a positive view on sex and I believe that is important in society today, especially in YA. I thought that the way Janey’s parents handled the situation was positive and is how I believe parents should handle things when it comes to talking about sex.
I thought that this book was fun and refreshing. I would read more from Laura Hopper in the future.

Summary:
Seventeen year old Janey has never had a boyfriend and she has never really wanted one. But everything changes for Janey when she meets Luke Hallstrom. Luke is a senior superstar who not only notices Janey but he likes her and wants her. Janey enters her first relationship with her first boyfriend where she gets to experience many more firsts.

Review:
There were so many reasons I liked this book and only a couple reasons I didn’t. “I Never” is a book about a young girl’s sexual awakening. It follows the story of a girl from her first kiss through losing her virginity and beyond. The book talks honestly about Janey’s experiences and her insecurities. She is not perfect and she questions why someone would want her. That part felt very really. Also, Janey has a realistic reaction to sex. Hopper doesn’t shy away from talking about all aspects of sex from the emotions to the physical and the possibility of teens wanting to have casual sex. Characters talk about birth control and enjoying sexual activities. Yes, at times the book feels a little graphic for teen audiences however there is nothing more graphic than what they can see in the average R-rated movies. All of this comes together to make “I Never” a book that teen girls are going to want to read. However, I will admit that “I Never” is not the perfect example of teen lit. Janey never felt completely developed to me and her love story with Luke felt a little rushed. Plus, much of the dialog between the characters felt disingenuous. But, these are issues noticed by an adult reading the book and these issues would most likely not even be noticed by a fifteen year old reader.

Bottomline: “I Never” has some problematic aspects when considering character development and plotting but the novel intended audience will want to devour this book.

Final Rating: 3.5 our 5

When Janey King finds out her parents are getting divorced she starts to find disbelief in every area of her life. Good coming of age book.

Thank you to HMH books and NetGalley.

I Never is inspired by Judy Blume's Forever. However, it falls very short. The story drags. The writing lacks inspiration. Characters are boring. Too may stereotypes. I appreciated the sex positive story, but that is about it.

Also, ARCs that are not made for ebooks are a pain. Did not enjoy reading this on my laptop.

A fun, sex-positive, modern update of Judy Blume's "Forever" -- nothing terribly memorable or weighty, but a breezy read, and one that I think has some good messaging for girls about sex.

It was ok. A story about first love and first times for teens.

The story of Janey and Luke was a sweet love story. Featuring realistic teens this book will keep you interested till the last page.