Title: Forever Innocent
Author: Deanna Roy
Published by: Casey Shay Press
Published: September 26, 2014
Courtesy of Netgalley
From Goodreads:
Corabelle doesn’t feel like any of the other college girls. On what should have been one of the happiest nights of her life, she and her boyfriend Gavin watched a nurse disconnect the ventilator from their seven-day-old baby. During the funeral two days later, Gavin walked out and never returned.
Since then, her life has been a spiral of disasters. The only thing that has helped is her ability to black out whenever the pain gets too hard to bear, a habit that has become an addiction.
When Gavin shows up in her astronomy class four years later, he is hell-bent on getting her back, insisting she forgive him. Corabelle knows she can’t resist the touch that fills the empty ache that has haunted her since he left. But if he learns what she has done, if he follows the trail back through her past, her secrets will destroy their love completely. And once again, she’ll lose the only person who always believed she was innocent.
My Thoughts:
Oh man. I knew when I read the synopsis for Forever Innocent, that I just had to get my hands on the book. That short blurb alone managed to clench at my heart in such a way, that I could only imagine what other things Corabelle had to go through. I knew this would be a difficult book to read, but I felt like I had (and needed) to listen to Gavin and Corabelle's story. To be a listening ear of sorts. Sadly, so many couples have lost children. While I have lost people that I've loved over the years, I still cannot even fathom what it must be like to survive the death one's own child. What gives a mom or dad the strength and courage to go on? How do they pick up the pieces?
When Corabelle and Gavin were only sixteen years old, their one week old son, Finn, passed away. The couple had been there for each other and in love for most of their lives, yet after their son's death, Gavin left. Corabelle was of course devastated. They had made plans to spend the rest of their lives with each other, and she had believed Gavin would be there when she needed him the most.
One thing Forever Innocent teaches or reminds us is that we all deal with grief in different and unpredictable ways. Tie that in with guilt and it ways one down even more. Corabelle and Gavin were dealing with so much grief, anger, and pain, that they shut off from the world, and from each other for four years. I admit that I was angry at Gavin for leaving her when they both could have helped each other heal. I was mad at some of the things he did during their time apart. However, I did not know the whole story, and I had to remind myself that they were both so young. Then I thought to myself- who am I to judge him when I've never been in his shoes? Because this book was written from Corabelle and Gavin's point of view, we get a glimpse of what he had been going through emotionally and what he had been thinking. Then we learned about the secrets that they had both been hiding from everyone, and had eaten them up inside.
I have to admit, I was very curious as to why Corabelle and Gavin did not ask each other what they had been up to during their time apart. I know I would have wanted to know. It just shows what thin ice the two had been walking on, and how much time can change people. And when they did see each other again, it was like facing Finn's death all over again, as if it had just happened.
Once I started reading Forever Innocent, I had a hard time putting it down. The writing flowed as Deanna Roy took us to the past, as well as the present. While this book dealt with some sad topics, it was also a beautiful love story, and showed us how some couples are just destined to be together, no matter what. I was happy to see that there will be another book coming out called Forever Loved, where Corabelle and Gavin's story will continue.
Rating: 4 Stars
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