The Truth About Forever



The Truth About Forever is the sixth book written by Sarah Dessen.

Summary
Info

Plot
Rising Action: At the beginning Macy's boyfriend Jason, went to Brain Camp for the summer. As he is gone she offers to take Jason's job at the library. But her two co-workers make her feel very dumb and left-out. Her mom constantly drownds herself with work trying to forget about Macy's dad's death.

Climax: Two weeks after Jason leaving, he send Macy a message saying that he thinks it is best if they take a break off their relationship. Macy thinks it is all her fault, just because she said that she loved him. Macy's older sister, Caroline, decides to re-model the families old town-house that they used to stay in before their father's death. Macy's mom becomes freaked out, saying that there is just too much going on right now.

Falling Action: Macy starts working at the Wish catering company. She realizes that it wasn't her fault and that it is okay if she isn't absolutely perfect. She meets a guy there named Wes. Macy and Wes become very close as they play a game called Truth. Her mom becomes worried that Macy is hanging out with the wrong crowd, as she stops taking her job at the library so seriously.

Resolution: Macy breaks up with Jason and gets together with Wes. Her mom and sister start to get along and they decide to visit the beach house for a weekend.

Characters
Macy Queen

Debra Queen

Wes

Kristy

Monica

Delia

Bert

Caroline Queen

Jason Talbot

Characters
Macy and Wes appear in Just Listen as fellow customers eating at the the World of Waffles.

Jason makes an appearance in both Along for the Ride and What Happened to Goodbye

Places
Wildflower Ridge

Things
Things that were important throughout the book were Macy's running shoes, the library, her mom's real estate business, the game Truth, and Wes's metal sculptures.

Sarah's Words from Sarahland
When I began The Truth About Forever, I knew that I wanted to write about the idea of being “perfect,” and what that does and doesn’t mean. I was also interested in seeing a character go through a loss, and how that affected the way she viewed the world. When the story begins, Macy is scared, and she deals with her fear by trying to control as much as she can: her appearance, her behavior, how others perceive her. She narrows her life, shutting out everything that could possibly be a risk to her. It isn’t until she meets a group of people who have a total opposite approach—courting, enjoying, and surviving chaos—that she realizes that in reacting to her dad dying, she’s stopped living herself.

During the time I was writing this book, there was a lot happening. The movie based on my first two novels was getting ready to come out, I was under a deadline…the list goes on and on. While at first I felt a certain amount of pressure, Macy and her story soon became a sort of solace for me. I’ve never been so immersed in the writing of a book before, and I had a hard time pulling myself away from it, even when I most wanted to. I think that’s a good sign, although it sometimes meant that my house got dirty and the laundry piled up. But to really disappear into a story is never a bad thing, for writers or for readers.

There’s a lot happening in The Truth About Forever. In fact, I think it’s the most complicated book I’ve written, and it was definitely the hardest. Part of this may be because I suffer from a terrible case of perfectionism myself, which led to this awful irony of realizing that I was writing a book about embracing imperfection, and yet I wanted it to be perfect. So, as often happens in my books, I was learning right along with my narrator, struggling with the same issues. I think we both came out okay at the end, though.

Whenever I hear from readers about this book, I’m always interested in what struck them the most. With some people, it’s how Macy deals with the death of her father, how it makes her angry. Others like Kristy’s humor and outfits. But overwhelmingly, I’ve heard the most so far about Wes. I think that in a lot of ways, he was the kind of guy I was always looking for: one who wasn’t so interested in the “perfect,” girl, whoever she might be. A boy who likes flaws, who sees potential in everything. While Delia’s company may represent chaos, Wes to me is hope. To him, nothing is ever finished, or broken. It’s just waiting to be incarnated, to begin as something new, again. And that, to me, is what Macy’s story is all about. How life is a continuing series of beginnings and endings, losses and gains, all folding into one long stretch, one lifetime, and one forever.