A perfect realistic tween read! This has everything I look for when reading for tween recommendations: a sweet crush-based romance, friendship drama, and identity searching. The characters were well developed while also having significant character growth and felt realistic to the intended age group and the drama was believable. Definitely a top tier recommendation for the tweens.

One wrong text message can spark a romance and start a great story! This short and sweet novel hits just the right spot before Valentine's Day. Ingrid in real life is the opposite of her secret posting site: Bye Forever, I Guess (where she posts about the way more than average number of wrong text messages she receives and the resulting conversations) and she's not the same in real life as her gamer personality either. When all three areas of her life converge, a sweet and wholesome romance blossoms.

What I love most: how this novel shows that you can make safe and healthy connections online through video games that can result in beautiful online friendships, the love of books in this novel and the book signing (the book signing scenes just made my heart happy!), the humor and wit poured into this novel with the conversations between wrongly sent text messages and I LOVE that Ingrid has the courage to break off a toxic friendship - this is a super hard lesson for anyone in middle school to learn and I love how it's depicted on these pages.

Highly recommend and getting a copy for my classroom ASAP!

Just like always Jodi Meadows didn’t disappoint with this book. This is a great story about growing into yourself as you grow up. Ingrid is torn between remaining friends with her long-time friend and “mean girl” Rachel, or moving on and finding her own path with the friends she has made in the online video game she plays. I felt like it was a great way to explore the changes that happen in middle school as you potentially grow apart from friends, and discover who you are growing into. The book provides a realistic view of what it can be like to live through shifts in friends, and social landscapes while navigating all the social pressures of middle school. Ingrid’s grandma was a fantastic role model helping Ingrid to navigate the shark-filled waters of middle school. I thought the book provided a great way for middle grade readers to understand how to set healthy boundaries in their relationships, and models of what healthy and unhealthy relationships look like. I feel like there is a lot of literature in the YA/MG genres that glorify toxic relationships, so it was really refreshing to see this book giving examples of what healthy relationships should look like.

I LOVED this book! This is hands-down one of my favorite middle grade/YA (tween) books that I've read in the last year. I finished this book and then immediately purchased a copy for my classroom, as I couldn't wait to introduce it to my students. This is like You've Got Mail for middle graders, but instead of e-mail, the medium for conversation is a video game. Such a cute concept! The romance plot line was incredibly sweet, and I enjoyed the way the author let the reader in on the "twist" pretty much from the start. More than anything, though. I really appreciated the way Meadows explored the complexities of middle school friendships. So often the antagonistic "mean girls" in MG books are one-dimensional and clearly cruel, but this isn't the case in Bye Forever. The relationships are much more nuanced, and just like in real life, it's not so easy for the main character to just walk away from a toxic friendship. I think this book would resonate with so many young readers.

Thank you to NetGalley for my advanced copy.

Well, even after reading the blurb of this MG, I wouldn’t have guessed what this book was really about but the cover is very attractive and once I started reading, I quickly got hooked.

The narrative is engaging from the start, the voice age appropriate and fresh and I liked the surprise of discovering the depth of the story and its characters as I read along. All these elements made for a very entertaining, enjoyable, but also heartfelt read. And what else can one ask from a MG story if not to be entertaining and heartfelt? Well, just to make it even better, By Forever, I guess also has a lovely long distance friendship (so common among children in this age of internet connectivity), some facing-our-fears, a bit of stopping-bullies-from-bully in an effective yet not aggressive way and, as if that wasn’t enough, a budding very age appropriate and relatable romance.

It's hard to create a story around social media and the effects it has on children. It’s even harder to do it in a way that doesn’t come across as preachy or out of touch, but Meadows does exactly that, she creates a story where we see the two sides of the coin, the bad and the good, the alienating nature of technology but also the power it lends us to connect with others who are far from us.

There’s a small mystery at the center of this story, the mystery of a misdial message, which is a very special declaration of interest. The mystery is not all that difficult to unravel, especially not for the reader since we have been given all the clues, but the process of discovering what happened is only half the fun, it’s the reason behind the events that makes for the most satisfying conclusion.

I enjoyed this book as an adult, and I’m sure tweens and younger children will do too.

This was actually a super cute story and I think it was perfect for the middle school audience it's written for.

I really appreciated how thoughtful the characters were, and the way that they dealt with their insecurities or enacted kindness. Apart from the initial relationship that's toxic and the MC cuts out of her life, all the other characters and interactions were very wholesome. I think they'd be great role models to look up to.

There's also a lot of very normalized and safe ways that they engage in social media and making friends (like her grandma speaking on the phone with the parents of anyone the MC is interacting with long-term).

For the reading level, I think the most advanced vocab word I noticed was "prevailed," which definitely feels appropriate for what I remember of being that age.

Overall I highly recommend. Awkward kids unite!

Ingrid is 13, and as successful at running her secret social media site as she is awkward in person at school, where she is thoroughly overshadowed by her friend Rachel.

Things come to a head one day, as Ingrid finally gets tired of being treated with the lack of respect Rachel has fallen into the habit of meting out to her. Unfortunately, that also means friction with the wider group that Rachel is the queen bee of, including two new arrivals at their school.

As Ingrid increasingly retreats into her world as a gamer, she grows closer to her online friends, even though one of them she only knows by his handle...

This is an incredibly sweet story about coming of age and finding out who you are, as well as who and what you want to spend your time on. It gets 4.5 stars. Highly recommended!

Omg, this was such a cute book! Ingrid, Loreen, and Oliver are so charming, relatable, and fun, as is Ingrid's grandma. I loved the inclusion of fandom, online gaming, and internet safety in a very age appropriate way, as well as the "you've got mail" plot and the strong focus on friendship. The conflicts in this book felt so real and the finale was absolutely satisfying and wholesome. I flew through this story!

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this book. This is such a fun book. I feel like the troubled friendship and the anxiety would be completely relatable for young teens. But it’s so much more than that. It also shows what true friendship looks like and the innocent love story is so fun. A must read for middle grade.

DNF for now. This one was promising, but Ingrid's imbalanced friendship honestly just hit a little too close to home for me and I had to put it down. I do want to revisit it sometime in the future because I do love identity shenanigans.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the e-ARC of this book.

I think students will really love this one, and I look forward to seeing it on classroom library shelves.

I have read a couple other books that Meadows has cowritten with two other authors so this makes my first experience with one of her solo works. I really enjoyed this work. The main character is a middle school girl with a limited friend group who lives with her grandmother after the tragic death of her parents. She also runs an anonymous social media account inspired by the random wrong number text she keeps receiving. At the start of the book, she is in the midst of heavy regret over telling her friend, a typical, popular toxic "friend" that she is the one behind the anonymous hit social media account. The narrative starts to move forward with the introduction of two new kids, siblings, to the small town, and a wrong number texter that she develops a crush on. Some of the things that Meadows sets up in the narrative could have gone completely wrong but Meadows makes sure to model safe internet use and makes the grandmother a responsible, involved adult in the main character's internet activities. I definitely recommend this book.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, flew through it in a few afternoons, but could have done so in one evening if I had had the time. It was rather nice to look forward to the story across a few days though.

The grownup rom-com lover in me found this book to be charming. I often found myself smiling at sweet moments, and it's been a while since I've read a story that makes my heart pound and transports me back to the innocent romances of middle school. Part way through, I found myself thinking of You've Got Mail, and that hit an extra sweet spot for me!

As a high school teacher, this book offers ample opportunities to have students reflect on friendship, the challenges of social dynamics in school, and how social media/the Internet impacts them as well. The plot points / descriptions feel authentic and organic, not cheesy or cliche despite working with well known tropes, so I think students will enjoy talking about the book and the characters too. I'm sure I could think more about other opportunities to have students look at mystery building and romance as well.

A final comment: I have a 6 year old daughter that is very interested in romance and I struggle to find age appropriate options for her in books and shows - I will be purchasing a copy of this to read with her as I think she will enjoy it, and the opportunities to discuss friends even at her age is important too. Some of it may go over her head, but I was really excited reading the sweet moments of this book, thinking about the opportunity to share them with her. All this to say, I could see additional spinoffs or other opportunities to turn this into shows or lower grade books / picture books if possible. I know I'd love to read more from Meadows!

If you're looking for a charming romance with a build up, and are an online gamer or a fiber artist, you won't want to miss this book!

A refreshing read!

How can you not identify with Ingrid, an introverted girl in the real world but a star in the virtual world?
In this novel, we find the beginnings of adolescence with the rejection of difference, the separation between the "popular" and the "non-popular", the friendships, the first loves... all against a geek backdrop of video games that we can only appreciate.

In short, I really enjoyed my reading and I'm sure that a French translation would be a hit with young teenagers! ^^

A fantastic read! This novel can speak to anyone who has ever felt lonely and unsure of how to act. It is an exploration of what is a true friend and how different that can look in today's society. The characters feel so genuine and relatable. This is most obvious in the awkward moments and painful feelings they express. Additionally, the dialogue between the characters is witty, humorous, and quite fun. This book will take you through the gamut of emotions and end with you hoping that this will not be "Bye, Forever".

I received a copy of this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

Okay, well, not completely unbiased, because I love Jodi Meadows. I was so excited to get approved for this! I loved the You've Got Mail vibes from this, and as a girl who has had one of those "best" friends who makes everything about her, the Rachel situation felt very true and relatable to me. I'm trying to imagine myself meeting any of my most favorite authors and not having an Ingrid moment, but I know that I would be so awkward and excited! All in all, quick read and despite some of the tense moments, this was a light read that anyone who likes an awkwardly cute YA fmc will enjoy.

When Ingrid decides she has had enough of her "best friend" Rachel, she leans more into her online persona and friends. When a chance text starts turning into a friendship, Ingrid starts suspecting that the person goes to her school. Any online RPGer will love this awesome middle school story.

An utterly delightful MG novel with the sweetest romance at the core. 8th grader Ingrid runs an anonymous and very popular social media account, deals with a toxic friendship, loves video games and fantasy books, and has trauma in her past. There's a lot going on but the story comes together beautifully and is never preachy. This a great one for younger middle schoolers looking for romance. Loved loved loved!

An 8th grade romance that revolves around social media, fantasy books, and IRL friends. Meadows does a great job of incorporating good digital habits into the story without them being intrusive. Perhaps I'm showing my age, but I was a bit confused in the beginning about Ingrid's personal messages and her blog. I doubt young readers will have the same problem. Recommended for 5th-8th graders.

I rarely give a book 5 stars but as I thought about it, I couldn’t think of anything to complain about. The chapters were real and well developed, the plot held together and kept me turning pages, there were characters to love and like and yes, loathe - all in all everything I love in a story. .
I wish Alyx, Oliver’s sister had been more of a central character, she looked interesting, but you can’t have everything.
Ingrid was a great main character - not perfect but nicely flawed. The more I think about it, old fashioned or not, that name is starting to grow on me. By not having Ingrid and Traveler meet until the end I think the author was able to show young teenage “romance” without all of the drama and angst that so many similar books have. There was typical angst, after all they are teenagers, but not between the pair, which left room to examine Ingrid’s thoughts and feelings without having them get lost in the drama.
I hope to see this book on the shelves of our school’s library - I am pretty sure it will have a waiting list.