My feelings about this book are really confusing to me. For the first 15% or so, I was really bored and absolutely terrified that this was going to resemble I Was A Bitch because it really seemed headed in that direction. You've got the car accident, the confused identity, the god forsaken brother love triangle... and I was not happy about all of this. Whatsoever.

But, I'll give it to the book. It took a nice turn by bringing some deeper, darker story lines and I really believe that it saved the whole story for me. No matter how fun it might be to ogle between two very attractive brothers, I'm just not interested in reading an entire story revolving around trying to pick one. And I'm not sorry for it, either.

So, it definitely picks up and even though I think that this could've been written a little differently to possibly give it a sequel, I'm not disappointed. All of the secrets that get unveiled in this story are one's that I definitely didn't expect, even up until the end (this means good mystery writing). However, there were some things that kind of seemed thrown in at the last minute with no closure or much explanation, which is another reason I thought that maybe this was headed toward a cliffhanger to get me uber excited for the next installment. But it definitely ended on a note that makes it feel finished, so I guess maybe the author just wanted to try and spice some things up a bit and it just kind of fell short. I can only speculate.

As for characters, I actually found that I liked the way that they were written. For whatever reason, I find myself hating main characters often, but I thought that Olivia's story was very unique and I stayed interested. There was a very sweet connection between her and Clay and even though Nathan was basically just a sad drunk the entire time, I didn't blame him for it, because... well, he thinks he's at fault for his girlfriend being dead (not a spoiler, so don't hate me). No one had an attitude that I couldn't stand or a stubbornness that was just annoyingly unrealistic. The characters felt solid.

Overall, I'm glad I stuck with it because in the beginning I was definitely considering just giving it up. I'm not sappy enough for a story solely based on a love triangle. But, the book picks up and I think that it has a nicely paced plot with just enough mystery to keep you going, even when the brotherly love triangle feels pretty awkward.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC.

I wanted to like this book more. The premise sounded intriguing. I thought the book was okay. I felt the author had too many stories thrown in together and neither story had a well developed conclusion.
The love triangle was annoying. I did not like Morgan/Liv. She was all over the place. There were a lot of unanswered questions when it came to Jack. There were also unanswered questions about the dead girls. I am still confused as to what kind of relationship did Morgan and Clay have prior to the accident. Too many loose ends in my opinion.

Clay was probably the most decent character. I liked his understanding and compassion, always protecting his brother and Morgan/Liv.

The ending was sweet. I enjoyed the fact that Liv’s parents became Morgan’s guardians. That was a nice touch.

I received a copy of this ebook from Netgalley and Tor Teen in exchange for an honest review.
I really enjoyed this book. I loved Clay and how kind and sweet he was. I couldn’t read it fast enough to figure out what would happen between Liv and Morgan. There was always this drama going in to that added an extra layer. This was a very pleasant surprise and I would definitely recommend it

"Like Never and Always". When this book was slated for release I put it on my "To Read" shelf. I have always liked Aguirre's writing and I find her to be extremely talented. The first series I ever read of hers was the dystopian series "Razorland" which takes place in a world ravaged by plague, humanity is struggling to survive, and there are scary creatures called "Freaks". A current fantasy series she is writing that I triple love is, "Ars Numina". Aguirre has series I have never read, one that takes place in space and one about the paranormal. To say Aguirre spans all genres of writing is to put it mildly.

"Like Never and Always" follows a young woman, Olivia(Liv) Burnham, who along with three friends, Morgan Frost, Clay Claymore, and Nathan Claymore, are involved in a horrific car accident. At some point while her body was dying, Liv, who had an intense will to live transferred her memories/thoughts/persona into Morgan's body. Upon waking from a coma, Liv discovers that she really didn't know her best friend as well as she thought she did. Olivia suddenly discovers herself in a web of lies,a criminal lifestyle, and involved in a murder mystery. Olivia tries to untangle the messes that Morgan had created in an effort to etch a new place for herself in the world; kind of creating a new Morgan/Olivia persona.

So, why did I put a book by a favorite author on my "To Read" shelf and not pre-order it like I do with all Aguirre's books? Now that I have finished the book I wonder that too. "Like Never and Always" was a roller coaster ride of emotions. Each character at some point in the book had done something I hated them for but then they would make up for it pages later. I initially struggled with the premise of transferring one mind from one body to the other. I am going to blame it on the book description; I don't think it did the story line justice. Aguirre manages to take this basic premise of mental exchange and build in an element of mystery, romance, and suspense in such a way that the book is no longer about Olivia being in Morgan's body, it's about how she is going to rescue herself from the mess she has found herself in. I think this story will be one that I think about for quite some time to come.

I read this book in a couple of sittings. It was a pleasant surprise that I will recommend to friends.

Ann Aguirre's Like Never and Always is a dark, romantic, Young Adult suspense novel edged with a bit of paranormal. There's plenty of angst for those who love that sort of thing, mixed with layered secrets, a screwy love triangle, and the underlying story about how well we really know the person we claim to know best. The plot centers on a supernatural soul-switching/body-switching theme achieved a perfect balance between being goosebumps-inducing, fascinating, and singular.

One summer evening, best friends Olivia (Liv) Burnham and Morgan Frost are passengers in a car along with their boyfriends, brothers Clay and Nathan Claymore, when an accident changes all their lives forever. Liv wakes up in the hospital, but the visitors by her bedside are not her parents or her boyfriend Nathan, but Mr. Frost, Morgan’s father, and Clay, Morgan’s boyfriend. They all call Morgan by Liv by her best friend’s name, which frightens and confuses her—especially when they break the news that Liv did not survive the crash.

Any hopes that this is just a horrible case of mistaken identity are dashed, however, when they remove Liv’s bandages and it is Morgan’s face starring back at her in the mirror. Not wanting to appear crazy or upset anyone further, Liv decides to go along with it in order to buy some time to figure out what’s going on. But, becoming Morgan and stepping into her life is turning out to be more difficult than Liv realized. Her best friend, heiress to her father’s successful tech company, has lived in privilege and luxury, but her life had not been as well put together as anyone thought.

Liv also discovers that, despite being popular and beautiful, Morgan Frost was a lonely girl with not a lot of close friends. And underneath that perfect and happy exterior, she was hiding all kinds of dangerous secrets, including an underage affair with a married man. All of it was part of Morgan’s plan to uncover the truth behind her mother’s mysterious death ten years ago, and now it is up to Liv to finish what her best friend started.

I was conflicted at times and not because the story was boring. I was trying to cut through the cliche of whether this was a YA Romance novel, or a YA Suspense novel, or a combination of a whole bunch of genre's, including a bit of paranormal when Morgan has to decide whether or not she is really Morgan, or Liv, or a combination of the two characters mixed together. Liv (trapped in Morgan’s body) is a very compelling narrator, not the self-centered and overly dramatic teen we’ve come to expect in YA contemporaries.

Liv is a relatable character. Totally out of her depth, in an unimaginable situation, she manages to survive, and do the one thing her best friend asked her to do. With no one who truly understands her situation, she is alone in dealing with her grief, both for her best friend and for her own life. She's caring and considerate, but also smart and strategic. I agree with others in that the best parts of this book were when Liv/Morgan had to decide who she really was, and how she is expected to move forward. Then there is the dreaded love triangle.....nope, I'll skip it, but thanks! I will say that there is definitely an edge that stands behind Clay, while wanting to totally dismiss Nathan who just doesn't do anything to help the story along.

I loved Like Never And Always. I think the author did a great job of conveying just how a person would feel after going through such a traumatic experience and waking up in a body that's not their own.

I loved that it was a mix of a few genres,YA, Suspense, Thriller and Romance. I think what I loved about it most other than the way it was crafted was the forbidden nature of the love triangle, it was almost illicit.

I highly recommend this book to all, especially those who love weird, edge of the seat page turners.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the E-Arc copy of this novel.
Okay. I really like Ann Aguirre and her books, but this one just didn't do it for me. It is an odd read and the characters never really pull you into the story. The book is just missing something for me personally, but I think it will find an audience with teens who like romance.

This is just a good, suspenseful story. Weird, yes. And hard to wrap your brain around at times, sure. But it’s gripping and page turning even while making you scratch your head. Imagine waking up in the hospital, your first thought being that you’re lucky to be alive. Then imagine that you’re not you. Well, you are but you aren’t. You’re you but in your best friend's body. So your best friend is dead but you’re not. You do, though, have to live in her body, with her family, in her house, kissing her boyfriend. All the while watching “your” family and boyfriend mourn your death. Confused yet? Yep, I thought you would be.

I enjoyed this book and found it to be quite different in the premise of a girl waking up as her best friend after a horrific car accident. The way the author wrote the character, it was easy to be swept into the stress of her situation, the confusion and the twists. I liked the way the love triangle was developed, and how it worked in such a different premise. This will be a good thriller to recommend to my students because of the mystery left behind that needs to be unraveled. Thank you netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

Liv wakes up recovering in a hospital bed. Everyone is calling her Morgan and she doesn’t understand how she could be mistaken for her best friend. That is until the bandages come off and she realizes that she is not Liv at all. Liv thought that Morgan had a perfect life, but as she literally has to walk in Morgan’s shoes, she quickly learns that Morgan was hiding many secrets. It doesn’t help that she is torn between the boy she has learned to love as Morgan and his brother (the boy she loved as Liv). Is Morgan going crazy or was Liv’s essence imported into Morgan’s body?

Like Never and Always is a stand-alone novel that gives readers many things to think about. Aguirre has included many plausible scenarios next to the primary unbelievable story. As the book moved along I couldn’t help but wonder how it was going to end. I will tell my readers that there is a twist and you will be left satisfied with part of the ending and not quite sure about the rest. I recommend Like Never and Always for those who enjoy a good mystery and adventure that doesn’t take too much mental power on the reader’s part.

I wasn't sure what to expect when I started this. Mystery? Thriller? But it was a bit of that and more. There were some heavy topics embedded in this story, giving the theme an overall heavy feel.

At times I didn't know how to connect to the MC and what she was going through, and others I understood her completely.

Good story overall.

I absolutely love this book! This gripped me from the first page. I can’t imagine waking up and seeing me as someone else and having to live their life or someone would think I was crazy! I loved this journey and how she grew as a character while living the life of her best friend. From deciding who to be with and wondering if anyone is going to notice that it’s her. So touching when she went into her bedroom and saw her real parents. But she learns things about her best friend that leads her to realize that she is here to help expose dark secrets. This has everything. Murder, awkward romance, betrayal. What a journey! I’m in love with this book! I must read more by her! Thank you!

Like Never and Always had me at the first sentence. It's a mild thriller/mystery that involves a bit of a supernatural twist and some romance. The best thing about this book to me isn't really the mystery aspect of it, but how Liv learns to live her life as Morgan and all the repercussions that involves, including dealing with feelings for two brothers, one that Liv was dating at the time of her 'death' and the other one that Morgan was dating. This would be one of those times a love triangle adds to the story in a good way.

The lack of thrills in this book may disappoint some people since it is billed as a thriller. Normally I would agree with that, especially since it seems like most thrillers aren't nearly as thrilling as they promise to be, but this time around I was able to appreciate other aspects of the book and that was ok. I do feel like there was a sub plot thrown in that should have either been left out or expanded upon because it got lost in the story. I don't want to spoil what it is but it's something we learn about Morgan's father near the end of the book. It felt kind of random and tacked onto the story to me. There also seemed to be some political bias that seeped into the story and I didn't really care for that. I don't get political in my reviews because that's not what they are about, and I also prefer my reading material to not be about that either.

Overall I liked this a lot. Some things about it reminded me of Parallel by Lauren Miller, but this is a lot better.

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge for providing me with an advance copy of this book.

It’s an interesting premise – and that intriguing title comes from a Pablo Neruda poem. So does this YA thriller live up to the promise of a cracking read? Oh yes. I enjoy Aguirre’s writing and her dramatic beginning hooked me in as I slummucked in bed, reading this offering in one greedy gulp. Liv’s first-person narrative is well realised. Although she suffers serious physical injuries and keeps encountering nasty discoveries of the knee-buckling sort, Aguirre manages to avoid her becoming some put-upon victim. Given the nature of some of the secrets that float to the surface, as she continues investigating Morgan’s life, that is harder to pull off than you might think.

I found myself rooting for Liv throughout and was even able to endure the dreaded love triangle. In fact, it actually made sense within the story’s premise. The character progression also works well and I was also pleased to see that while Liv initially dreads getting any kind of professional counselling, when it becomes crucial she does avail herself of it. I would have liked to see her make more use of it – and have her still attending some ongoing counselling sessions for the foreseeable future.

Other than that quibble, I thoroughly enjoyed this YA adventure, which had me turning the pages to find out what happens next. It’s an entertaining thriller that delivers plenty of surprises featuring a well-realised, sympathetic protagonist. Recommended for fans of family-based mystery thrillers. While I obtained an arc of Like Never and Always from the publisher via Netgalley, the opinions I have expressed are unbiased and my own.
8/10

I am a big fan of the enclave series, so when I found this book I was very excited. I liked it so much I have already read it twice!! I like all the angles, and the fact that when you read it you think you know what will happen, but it ends completely different than you expected. I like you could feel Morgan's emotions and how she tried to be true but ended up just being her.

I received an advance reader copy from NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.

Like Never and Always is like a spy/undercover book because she is one person in another persons body. There are so many secrets and the reader gets a glimpse at the reality that no one truly knows another person beyond what they are willing to share. The mystery that is at the root of this book is crazy and I did not predict how that was going to end. The love stories that are everywhere in these pages are layered with so much grief, shame and guilt with more secrets that cannot be shared and makes this story so much more complex. I recommend this book for ya and mystery fans and thanks to Macmillan-Tor/Forge for a copy of this book to review because it was enjoyed thoroughly.

I liked this book for what it was - a YA suspense novel. There is a very basic love triangle that I was happy didn't feel TOO MUCH or too forced because I hate that. The ending was a little OTT with the drama and then tied up with a perfect little bow which dropped a star off the rating for me.

I am a huge fan of Ann Aguirre's RAZORLAND series, and was excited to read this new mystery/romance/suspense YA book from her.

And it was an odd one, don't get me wrong, but I was hooked from the beginning. The story is strange, and the characters are, as well, but I had to know what would happen next. I don't know if I'd say this is a perfect book--I wish it went a little darker--but I loved the characters and couldn't turn away.

Read the book if:

You like complex romances of epic, triangular proportions.

You have enough time to plough through in one sitting (I started and did not want to stop, I was completely engaged).

Steam and angst are your best friends. The romance will make you want to melt. It builds and blossoms and it feels like you’re sinking into a really comfy blanket on a cold night. Clay is AMAZING. Where can I find one of those? He’s loving and supportive, and OH SO SEXY. Clay is definitely new book boyfriend material.

The review:

I liked Liv. She freaked out for a bit, understandable, but she turned it around. Her emotions were raw and confused, and so authentic. The voice was super strong and believable despite the unbelievable situation.

Morgan was a fierce and compelling character, for someone who wasn’t actually alive. She had a huge part because Liv took over her life and had to sink into her lifestyle, uncovering all of the lies and things she hid from her best friend. It really makes you think about how well you know your loved ones.

The plot itself was confusing at first. It was hard to tell what the book was supposed to be-contemporary, drama, paranormal, romance, murder mystery, thriller? It had elements of all of these. Genre-bending.

The mystery was intriguing. It was complex and full of two generations of scandal. The twist surprised me.

If you’re looking for a love triangle with a blend of mystery, pick this up.

Let me just say…

HOLY FUCKING SHIT! MIND BLOWN!

This is my first book by Ann Aguirre, and I loved every minute of it. Like Never and Always offered a bit of everything! Suspense? Yes! Intrigue? You bet! Romance? Yep! Heartache? So much! Best part? Every bit of this story is blended seamlessly.

Like Never and Always is an engrossing-fast-paced story that delves into the world of secrets, crime and friendship. With many mysteries for a girl in the wrong body to solve, a conflicting romance that equally excites and thrills, and a resilient heroine hellbent on making the best of her new life, you won’t be able to put it down!

For a story with an intricate premise, and with a slight supernatural flair of soul transferring it read beautifully! Aguirre’s wrote and handled the subject matter so skillfully she skipped any and all things outlandish and instead presented a novel so incredibly engrossing it had me hooked from the first page. I devoured Like Never and Always and fell in love with everything it had to offer. I was truly captivated by every twist and turn thrown at Liv/Morgan. All-in-all this book made for a compelling and quick summer read!