ARC Review: Everlast by Alex Grayson

I know I said this about the last book I reviewed as well, but this book has instantly made it to the top as one of my favorite books. I can’t wait for it to release so everyone else out there can read this, too. It was kind of unexpected and not at all what I truly imagined it to be but it was beautiful, nonetheless.

The purpose of bloggers getting ARCs and reviewing them is to obviously convince more and more people to pick up the book once it releases and since I’m utterly obsessed with this book, I’m going to try my best to do just that. And no matter how hard I try not to, when I love a book so much, I end up writing a lot about it and so now this review is really long but PLEASE bear with me🙄

Everlast || Alex Grayson

Releases on February 23rd, 2021

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

From USA Today Bestselling Author, Alex Grayson, comes an emotionally captivating love story that rivals time…

I met him when I was eight and he saved me from the bullies on the school playground. The next day, he called me his girl. When we were thirteen, we began to look at each other differently. At fourteen, we shared our first kiss. We were sixteen the first time we made love and promised to always cherish each other. The night before we graduated high school, he asked me to marry him, and the day before we left to attend college, I did. Our first child came when we were twenty-three. Our second, when we were twenty-eight.

Lincoln was my once in a lifetime, my destiny. I was his happily ever after, his kismet. Our future was forevermore written in the stars. The indescribable kind of love everyone searches for, but rarely ever finds. A love so strong, one lifetime wouldn’t be enough. His soul was my mate, and mine was his. Our life was perfect. Until it wasn’t. Fate brought us together. Now it will tear us apart.

Thank you to Grey’s Promo for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for a honest review. This did not affect my opinion and all opinions on the book are my own.

“I love you.” “Love you too.” “Always,” “And forevermore…”

I went into this book blind. I knew the story intrigued me because let’s face it, I’m obsessed with love stories but I didn’t know what to actually expect from the book and I have to say that I wasn’t disappointed in the least.

If you’ve read the prequel to Everlast, called Forevermore, you’d know what they (Lincoln and Molly) are about, how they met and the buildup for this book. If you haven’t read Forevermore, you absolutely should, it’s free everywhere but I’ll tell you the basic gist of what it’s about anyway. The story revolves around Molly and Lincoln, who meet when they’re 7 years old. Molly’s a little girl being bullied and Lincoln just moved to town with his parents. He thinks she’s the prettiest girl he’s ever seen and as in an 8 year olds mind, he wants to be friends with her. He comes and kind of “rescues” her from the bullies. They both feel an instant connection and instantly become best friends. They stay that way and they start to feel more for each other and kiss when they’re 14, get married when they’re 18, right before college and have their first kid at 23. The second comes when they turn 28 and Forevermore ends there at a cliffhanger.

Everlast starts off a few years after that and this is the main story. Forevermore is more just for the readers to know the background of Lincoln and Molly’s life. How they met, etc. so the readers aren’t completely lost (I also think it’s because Alex wanted us to see what they were like so we can relate to it and want it, because I totally want what they had now).

“It’s crazy and maybe a little excessive, especially since we’ve been married for so long, but I always miss him when we’re not together. Like there’s some vital part of me lying dormant until we’re together again.”

I loved the relationship Lincoln and Molly had. They were perfect for each other, complimented each other’s personalities and were made for each other and loved each other so much, makes me wish I had that haha. Lincoln always loved art since he was a kid and so eventually he opened his own company and Molly became a vet for exotic animals. An important aspect in the book was that Molly wrote in a journal all the time and who got her the journal? Lincoln, of course. They were eight when Lincoln painted her a beautiful artwork on the cover of a journal as her birthday gift and she’d been writing ever since. Every time a journal would end, he’d design her a new one and the journal always contained their stories and adventures. Even when they were kids, these journals would just have things written about them.

“I love you. I have from the day I first met you when I didn’t even know the meaning of the word. Many people aren’t lucky enough to fall in love with their soulmates, let alone find true love, period. Im lucky because I’ve not only been blessed with a wonderful wife who I love with every single piece of my heart, but I get to keep falling in love with there every day over and over again. I’ll love you until the last breath leaves my body and my heart no longer beats.”

I must say, Alex Grayson is an amazing writer. The way she writes, especially in Forevermore, changing from a kids point of view (when they first meet) to when they’re teenagers and then adults. The writing style was very unique and unlike any book I’ve read before. Since you’ve probably read the blurb, you know it’s not all happy and something bad happens. That something bad not only broke my heart, I sat in the bathroom and cried for a good 45 minutes over it. (And that was just the first time) I wondered why someone would want to add something like that to a love story as beautiful as theirs but, it isn’t really a relevant love story if everything’s always been perfect, is it? Because real life isn’t like that and what they go through is heartbreaking and something I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. (Even though I don’t have one)

“You always hear about the groom having cold feet the day of his wedding. I never experienced that. I never doubted we were where we were supposed to be in that moment. The day you married me, you made my life complete.”

I don’t really know to phrase this without spoiling anything but I think Alex wrote what happened to Molly very well. It was considerate and just very well written so as to communicate the idea but also not cause anyone pain who might go through it in real life. We saw what it was like everyday for her and for the people around her. Knowing what was going to happen, watching it get worse and not being able to do anything about it despite how much they loved her, especially Lincoln.

“She grins, and my whole world lights up. My wife might be […], and effectively destroying my heart, but my love for her has only grown stronger.”

The book is all about fate, lost opportunities but sometimes realizing you lucked out over something that once seemed like the worst thing ever. It’s also about love and family and being happy with what you have. I don’t know how she did it, but Alex compiled all the themes into one and gave us this book that’s absolutely beautiful and not what I think I expected when I first decided to sign up for the ARC (I can honestly say, it was one of the best decisions of my life.)

“Eternity with you wouldn’t be enough for me, Molly. I could be with you in every lifetime there’s ever been, and I’d still want more. There’s no beginning or end to our love. It’s simple always existed, and it always will.”

I’m not sure I liked the ending but that just might be the emotional side of me talking because I don’t see how relevant and impactful their story would’ve been if the end hadn’t happened the way it did. That doesn’t mean I’m not heartbroken and crying right now though, because I’ve been crying since I finished the book. I was happy at the Epilogue and Extended Epilogue but also not because I don’t know what’ll happen to Aiden and Clayr. Of course, even after all the stories, Charles and Clara’s gives me hope that it’ll be alright for Aiden and Clayr, maybe.

“I know you were joking when you mentioned it, but what if… What if we really are reincarnations of these people?”
here, my mind was blown and this also makes me very, very, very happy.

Then we have the amazing characters, I loved Molly and Lincoln, there’s not doubt about that but I also loved the supporting characters like both their families, Jenna, even their kids. There are so many feelings I have about this book and I want to rant and smile and cry but I can’t do that because that would entail me spoiling pretty much everything. Maybe I’ll do another post a few weeks after it releases and just rant everything out. That seems like a great idea right about now.

“Douglas was right. No matter how little time has passed, Nancy always acts like it’s been months since the last time she saw her family. Now that I’m complaining. It’s amazing to be so close to your family. My own parents are the same, maybe just a little tamer.”

Overall, this book was absolutely amazing and beautiful and there wasn’t any part of it I could criticize much to be honest because I truly loved it even if it broke my heart. I’m probably going to read all the books Alex Grayson has written now because if this book was that good, I’m guessing her other books 100% are, too.

My rating for this book is a 5/5 and it hasn’t released yet, it releases on the 23rd of February, in three days so I’m posting the pre-order links below and you have to go buy them because…well I just gave a whole review of justifying why I love this book without trying to spoil it because that’d be terrible so just go do it!