The Truth About Forever
The Truth About Forever is Sarah Dessen's sixth novel. It was published in hardcover on May 11, 2004, and in paperback on April 6, 2006. In 2006 the audiobook adaptation of "The Truth About Forever" was one of the Young Adult Library Services Association's selected picks for that year. Plot summary. The novel begins with Macy, who is trying to recover from the sudden loss of her father, saying goodbye to her boyfriend, Jason, who is going away to Brain Camp. Since her father died during one of their habitual morning runs, Macy gives  up running and keeps all of her feelings to herself. Her overwhelming grief keeps her from moving forward in most aspects of her life. Macy is filling in for Jason at the library, and when she attempts to communicate with him about her unhappiness with her coworkers, he is not supportive. At the end of one of their e-mails, she tells him that she loves him, and he replies saying he thinks it would be for the best if they took a break until he returns in August. Upset and hurt, Macy goes for a ride and sees a  van for Wish Catering, which catered to one of her mother's realtor parties. She applies for a job, which she gets. Macy enjoys this new job and her new coworkers. While working for Wish, she meets the artistic Wes, who she later discovers lost his mother to cancer and attended reform school for breaking and entering. During this time Macy's older sister begins to renovate their father's beach house despite reluctance from the other family members (mainly from her mother). Her mother refuses to talk to Macy about the sudden death of her husband, Macy's father ; therefore she proceeds to put all of her time into her work. Macy attends a party with some of her coworkers, where a drunk, former friend from the track team reveals to Macy's friends Wes, Kristy, Bert, and Monica that she had to witness her father's death. Ignoring this information, everybody returns to the party. There, she bonds with coworker Kristy, who advises her to enjoy her life because forever keeps changing. Later Wes and Macy end up stranded together after their catering van runs out of gas, where Macy opens up to Wes about all of the  issues in her life during a game of "Truth". They continue to play the game later during work, where Macy discovers that he is also in an "on a break" relationship with a girl named Becky. As Macy and Wes grow closer together, Macy's mother advises against the job and any possible relationship with Wes after Macy misses one of her mother's parties due to the birth of Avery, Delia's daughter. Macy later ends up deciding to confess to Wes that she cares about him, but sees him with Becky (Wes's girlfriend) and ends up heartbroken  again. Her mother has Macy helping her with preparations for a party but eventually has to have Wish Catering assist her. It is during this time that Macy succeeds in being able to comfort her mother. Macy realizes that there's more to life than just sticking to the rules and trying to please everyone around her. She realizes that she's the only one in control of her future. Macy gets together with Wes. Reception. Critical reception to "The Truth About Forever" has been positive, with The Celebrity Cafe giving the book 4.5 stars and the Star Telegram calling  it "eternally inspiring". Publishers Weekly and Teen Ink also praised the book, with Teen Ink writing that it was a "must read" for summer reading lists. The Otago Daily Times stated that although not all of the characters were as fully developed as the main characters, they enjoyed the book overall. Kirkus Reviews criticized the plot as "too conventional" but wrote that "the Wish team is lovable, the romance clicks, and readers will be entertained". Of the audiobook, AudioFile Magazine cited narrator Stina Nielsen's "appealing tone and cadence" as a highlight. Film adaptation. In June 2021, it was announced  that the novel was added to the Dessen books obtained by Netflix to be adapted into a feature film.