My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Building Forever, Book 1 was fantastic–one of my favorites of 2018. I adored Simon and Charlie. They make very brief appearances in Renewing Forever and I craved more of them.
I had trouble getting into Frank and Tom’s story. Frank is introduced in Building Forever, and I wanted to get to know him after reading the first of the series. Unfortunately, the build up was a bit of a let down for me. He just wasn’t that interesting. He seemed to have lived a fascinating life as a journalist traveling all over the world and publishing articles in magazine. I wanted to know more about his travels and his career…the people he met, the topics he covered. Jensen barely touches on his last assignment, reporting from the devastation in Puerto Rico, and how that experience made him want more from life. But I just didn’t feel it.
As for Tom, I had much difficulty liking and sympathizing with him. He was weird and awkward, and not in a cute, sweet way. His reason for pushing Frank away so long ago didn’t resonate with me. His actions and reactions rubbed me the wrong way.
Even their relationship as kids/teens didn’t feel right to me, and not because they were from two different social classes.
I really wanted to like this book. Here’s hoping Brian in Book 3 can win me over.