It was cute.

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We are Inevitable follows Aaron Stein on a journey to heal from the destructive forces his brother's addiction wreaked on his family and their bookstore. Along the way, he makes many mistakes and learns a lot about forgiveness and how it's possible to hurt the people we love most.

I thought the first several chapters of We are Inevitable were really strong. I was immediately hooked by Aaron's witty, sarcastic personality and the way he cares so deeply about his father. However, as the story progresses, I find that Aaron is more whiny than I can handle. He becomes insufferable. It's one thing for him to see the world in a dark, foreboding way given all that he's been through, but he just complains about everything. It's as if he needed to be a really terrible character so that he could have the redemption arc happening at the end. This is always a trope that rubs me the wrong way. Also, I found his dialogue increasingly unconvincing as the book went on. I just couldn't suspend my disbelief that this was a 19 year old male narrator.

The love story that is supposed to be the focal point based on the cover is short-lived and really didn't achieve much, in my opinion. I don't think it served a purpose. I loved the focus on found family, non-binary rep, and the homage paid to literature. The writing was also really strong, especially in the witty banter department and the tying in of relevant quotes.

All of the elements of the story just didn't come together the way I needed them to. I think Gayle Forman's other works are better. This one may be worth the read for a younger audience (even if it has a protagonist who has graduated from high school). All in all, I think it was an okay read, but not the great one I've come to expect from Gayle Forman.