Agent: Meredith Kaffel Simonoff, DeFiore & Company. I’ve never been in a dangerous relationship like Betts, and I’ve also never personally known anyone who has, but I could tell that the author was d Heads up: If you can’t handle, or don’t want to read stories with physical, emotional and verbal. Further elevating the story are romance rendered alongside a Bechdel-Wallace Test reference, female sexuality written without shame, and a group of funny, authentically written teens. My thoughts Always Forever Maybe wasn’t an easy book to read, because of its dark nature. This emotionally resonant YA debut by Rissi ( The Teacher’s Pet) meaningfully highlights known patterns of intimate-partner abuse and speaks to the joy and importance of enduring friendship. Betts’s best friend, Jo, and her twin, Eric, show kindness and concern, playing an effective foil to obsessive love-even as an explosive public incident shows everyone, including Betts, the truth. Mouse, for example), and an earth-shaking attraction strikes: “I felt like whatever he wanted me to be, I’d be it.” When Aiden’s affection turns toxic, Betts gives him the benefit of the doubt, trying to demonstrate selfless love as his behavior becomes jealous and controlling, reveals an undercurrent of simmering anger, and turns physically abusive. In western New York state, high school senior Betts meets a handsome boy at the Sugar Shack where she works and immediately falls for him. At the candy store where Betts works, she meets Aiden, a boy with a difficult past and endearing qualities (a motorcycle named after Ralph S. In western New York, high school senior Betts is tired of her parents’ micromanaging and of always playing it safe.

Always forever maybe book