B.T. Gottfred – Books & Cleverness

I am so excited to be a part of the blog tour for Forever for a Year! I had the amazing chance to interview the author, B.T. Gottfred about his debut novel, and get some insight on the book! I’ve already reviewed the book on the blog here, so be sure to check that out after you’ve read this post to hear my thoughts!

INTERVIEW

First, congratulations on the release of your debut novel and thanks so much for being on the blog today! For those that have yet to read Forever for a Year, can you describe what the book is about and why they should pick it up?
Forever for a Year is about two freshmen – Carolina and Trevor – who meet on the first day of school and the amazing, crazy, terrifying chemical connection they feel almost at once. The book alternates between Carolina and Trevor chapters as they go from strangers to a couple to beyond. The book is for anyone who likes really, really intense character voices. It taps into every tiny thought both of them have. If you download the first twenty pages for free online, you’ll know if it’s a book for you almost right away. (And if it’s not, no worries. I’ll write another that hopefully you like better;)
Forever for a Year is a book about first experiences and being young. What inspired you to write about such an important and impressionable time in a person’s life?
Old people (i.e. anyone over 20;) might not all admit this, but your first love (and often the first sexual experiences that accompany first love) never, ever leaves you. They inform almost every future relationships and relationships inform all aspects of your life. So I think the better question is why did it take me so long to write about first love?;)
Were any of the events in the book based off of real ones from your life? And are any of the characters inspired by those that you knew and/or loved at that age?
Yes, I definitely pulled from the emotional adventures I had when I was first falling in love 100 years ago but I also had to turn the book over to Carolina and Trevor so that they could experience whatever they needed to experience authentically without me getting in the way.
Forever for a Year is told from both Carolina and Trevor’s point of views. Whose perspective did you enjoy writing from the most, and who did you find more difficult to write?
I have just as balanced of a feminine side as I do a masculine side so neither one was easier than the other. But there were days or parts of the book that were harder. For instance, Carolina’s scenes with her father were sometimes very hard for me because he is such a complex guy and she has such a complex relationship with him. Same goes for Trevor and his mother. I also hated writing scenes where the characters were making TERRIBLE choices. I love them but sometimes you just have to let your characters do bad things so you can see how they grow (or don’t grow) from those choices.
I found the ending of Forever for a Year to be extremely bittersweet. What were you hoping readers would feel during and after they read the book?
This may sound strange but I don’t want my readers to feel anything in particular. Feel something, yes, but not one thing for all people. I just want to be loyal to what Carolina and Trevor’s story had to be. Every person is going to be reading this book with different things behind and ahead of them. So it could mean something differently to every person. All I really hope for is the reader to end the book feeling, “those characters felt real and their choices felt real.”
Thanks so much for being here on the blog today! Any last words to share with readers about Forever for a Year, and any advice to give readers who may being going through similar situations as Carolina and Trevor?
First off, thank you to everyone for (1) being a human being. It’s a tough job so I appreciate you sticking with it;) (2) being a human being with a passion for books.
I could give a bunch of bad advice – trust me, I have plenty – but the only good advice I can every give anyone is ‘listen to your gut and follow it… no one knows you better than you.’
good luck to everyone in everything — b.t.g.

About the Book

When Carolina and Trevor meet on their first day of school, something draws them to each other. They gradually share first kisses, first touches, first sexual experiences. When they’re together, nothing else matters. But one of them will make a choice, and the other a mistake, that will break what they thought was unbreakable. Both will wish that they could fall in love again for the first time . . . but first love, by definition, can’t happen twice.

Told in Carolina and Trevor’s alternating voices, this is an up-close-and-personal story of two teenagers falling in love for the first time, and discovering it might not last forever.

Giveaway!

The lovely publisher is offering up a copy of FOREVER FOR A YEAR for you to win!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

You can follow the rest of the tour HERE!

Before I get into the review, I wanted to mention that you should keep a look out on the blog later in July for my blog tour stop where I will be interviewing B.T. Gottfred and also have an awesome giveaway of Forever for a Year!

Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
Release Date: July 7th, 2015
Series: N/A
Pages: 432
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher (part of blog tour)
Genre(s): Contemporary Romance
Synopsis from Goodreads:

When Carolina and Trevor meet on their first day of school, something draws them to each other. They gradually share first kisses, first touches, first sexual experiences. When they’re together, nothing else matters. But one of them will make a choice, and the other a mistake, that will break what they thought was unbreakable. Both will wish that they could fall in love again for the first time . . . but first love, by definition, can’t happen twice. Told in Carolina and Trevor’s alternating voices, this is an up-close-and-personal story of two teenagers falling in love for the first time, and discovering it might not last forever.

my rambles

Special thanks to Henry Holt and Co. (BYR) for providing me with a copy of the book for review!

Forever for a Year is a book that tells it like it is: the good, the bad, and the ugly included. When I first started reading this book is was unsure if I was going to like it. There’s a very distinct writing style for both Carolina and Trevor’s chapters. Both include their every detail and thought, as if they were talking to you as a friend, or to themselves in their own head.

Carolina and Trevor are young, and therefore their internal monologues could be seen as annoying, which I did feel at some points, but I really liked Gottfred’s integrity of keeping their thoughts realistic. Unfortunately, the two main characters were my least favorite part of Forever for a Year. Both seemed younger than their age, and their actions showed that, which was frustrating for me, being close in age to both of the characters. I pictured them as young teens who were attempting to fill the shoes of adults, but failing. (But if you think about, all teens do that at some point, thinking they’re adults, I mean.)

While the naïevety of the characters was something I had to overlook, the relationship between Carolina and Trevor was hard to, as it was the main storyline. That being said, after their relationship got past the insta-love, awkwardness, and silliness, I didn’t mind it that much. Their relationship was realistic of one happening in high school, and I really liked how Gottfred didn’t shy away from the serious topics.

While I was happy that Gottfred tells it like it is, there were some points where he included a little too much information for my liking. It made me kind of uncomfortable and grossed me out, which I wasn’t really expecting from this book.

At a whopping 432 pages, Forever for a Year was an extremely quick read for me. While the relationship between Carolina and Trevor wasn’t my favorite, I really loved the incorporation of the realistic and equally as difficult family dramas, friendship troubles, and high school problems such as popularity. No matter how cliché it may seem to you while reading, you know those are things that cross everyone’s mind at some point.

Overall, Forever for a Year is a difficult book for me to rate. There were certain parts that I just couldn’t fall in love with, while there were other parts that I respected for their realism. I wouldn’t recommend this for younger YA readers, but those with the maturity to handle more serious topics would certainly enjoy Forever for a Year by the pool or at the beach!