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Welcome to Forever
A sweeping, psychedelic romance of two men caught in a looping world of artificial realities, edited memories, secretive cabals and conspiracies to push humanity to the next step in its evolution.
For fans of Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, Ubik, The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Evangelion.
Fox is a memory editor – one of the best – gifted with the skill to create real life in the digital world. When he wakes up in Field of Reeds Center for Memory Reconstruction with no idea how he got there, the therapists tell him he was a victim in a terrorist bombing by Khadija Banks, the pioneer of memory editing technology turned revolutionary. A bombing which shredded the memory archives of all its victims, including his husband Gabe.
Thrust into reconstructions of his memories exploded from the fragments that survived the blast, Fox tries to rebuild his life, his marriage and himself. But he quickly realises his world is changing, unreliable, and echoing around itself over and over.
As he unearths endless cycles of meeting Gabe, falling in love and breaking up, Fox digs deep into his past, his time in the refugee nation of Aaru, and the exact nature of his relationship with Khadija. Because, in a world tearing itself apart to forget all its sadness, saving the man he loves might be the key to saving us all.
For fans of Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, Ubik, The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Evangelion.
Fox is a memory editor – one of the best – gifted with the skill to create real life in the digital world. When he wakes up in Field of Reeds Center for Memory Reconstruction with no idea how he got there, the therapists tell him he was a victim in a terrorist bombing by Khadija Banks, the pioneer of memory editing technology turned revolutionary. A bombing which shredded the memory archives of all its victims, including his husband Gabe.
Thrust into reconstructions of his memories exploded from the fragments that survived the blast, Fox tries to rebuild his life, his marriage and himself. But he quickly realises his world is changing, unreliable, and echoing around itself over and over.
As he unearths endless cycles of meeting Gabe, falling in love and breaking up, Fox digs deep into his past, his time in the refugee nation of Aaru, and the exact nature of his relationship with Khadija. Because, in a world tearing itself apart to forget all its sadness, saving the man he loves might be the key to saving us all.
432 pages, Paperback
First published March 12, 2024
40 people are currently reading
4269 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 105 reviews
March 6, 2024
Epic sf about archived consciousness, the virtual afterlife, with lots of feelings, reexamining a failed marriage.
This was one of my rare netgalley requests, thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the opportunity, my opinions are still unbiased (or just biased in the sense that I chose to read this because it sounded like my cup of tea. I had liked the author's writing before and the blurb sounded fascinating so I actually went looking for it).
It lived up to expectations while being full of surprises. In a future just a couple of generations in the future, a company invented and now controls personality archive (and editing), and as a result for their clients death has ended - just jump your consciousness to a new body. One of their memory editors finds himself amnesiac in memory rehab after a terrorist attack, and is particularly trying to remember his husband and his failing marriage...It is complex, borderline confusing but with a thread of feeling and some authorial handholding throughout, full of surprises and twists, and that big senseofwunda in the consequences and details of the worldbuilding. Lots of references to egyptian mythological parallels to our consciouness archiving and death destroying company, and lots of themes woven throughout.
The ending is interesting, rather open - made me think and I do like it a lot after thinking. I would love to talk about it to other readers but basically it feels right.
As criticism, I did think it was a tad too long but it never was boring, always action or feelings to catch my attention. It's very very good and and it feels very fresh and original. I am putting his other novel on my wishlist now!
Incidentally I read the e-ARC (things might change in the text and all) and I loved the book design work, both the cover and typesetting, it was already impeccable and beautiful. Good work on the book production.
This was one of my rare netgalley requests, thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the opportunity, my opinions are still unbiased (or just biased in the sense that I chose to read this because it sounded like my cup of tea. I had liked the author's writing before and the blurb sounded fascinating so I actually went looking for it).
It lived up to expectations while being full of surprises. In a future just a couple of generations in the future, a company invented and now controls personality archive (and editing), and as a result for their clients death has ended - just jump your consciousness to a new body. One of their memory editors finds himself amnesiac in memory rehab after a terrorist attack, and is particularly trying to remember his husband and his failing marriage...It is complex, borderline confusing but with a thread of feeling and some authorial handholding throughout, full of surprises and twists, and that big senseofwunda in the consequences and details of the worldbuilding. Lots of references to egyptian mythological parallels to our consciouness archiving and death destroying company, and lots of themes woven throughout.
The ending is interesting, rather open - made me think and I do like it a lot after thinking. I would love to talk about it to other readers but basically it feels right.
As criticism, I did think it was a tad too long but it never was boring, always action or feelings to catch my attention. It's very very good and and it feels very fresh and original. I am putting his other novel on my wishlist now!
Incidentally I read the e-ARC (things might change in the text and all) and I loved the book design work, both the cover and typesetting, it was already impeccable and beautiful. Good work on the book production.
December 15, 2023
✰ 3.25 stars ✰
“You are special, and you are loved. And you deserve to remember.”
If I were to describe the story of Welcome to Forever, I would use my favorite line from Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children - 'have we lost to our memories?' I don't think there is a better way to summarize the tumultuous and desperation Fox endured to successfully recreate the memory of his husband, Gabe.
“Memories are like scars. Way down, in your neurons. In the deepest part of you. Nothing is ever really gone. It just takes time to get back.”
At the heart of this novel is Fox and Gabe's sincere love for each other; as we travel through memories and time, we get glimpses into their relationship - the good and the bad moments that defined their dynamic. 'Our story’s not so much an epic—I had him and I lost him. Was he ever really there? Or was he a ghost?' It's a love that has witnessed its share of ups and downs and Fox's struggles and pain to find some truth to Gabe in his core was heart-breaking to witness - the ache to discover some part of the past that could bring him into existence. 🥺🥺 I can't say much about their romance, but in whatever version we were privy to, it was something sweet and endearing and honest - but also, very vulnerable, emotional and realistically flawed. 'He made me myself again. Now? I’ll take a million more Excerpts like bullets to the chest if that means finding him.' They brought out the best and worst in each other - and even if time has gone by, it won't erase how much they cared for each other. ❤️🩹❤️🩹
And yet, despite how hard, Fox was fighting to keep the memory of Gabe alive, I think what made it harder for me to empathize with him is because there was no consistency to his predicament; unreliable to a fault, I did not know for sure which version of the memory was the one I should express my sympathy for! 'Your punishment is that you deserve to remember. You don’t get to forget what you did.' It was jarring, and I get that it was relevant to the plot, but it still unnerved me - it may have been the primary reason for why Fox is participating in this experiment - to break down what is the actual truth of their relationship and other significant purposes, but I think what hurt me more was that it was a very bittersweet ending; there is no clear-cut explanation to the future, no complete closure, which makes me wish it could have been a bit more fleshed-out and explained in a bit more detail. 😞 I was not wholly satisfied or felt rewarded for all the efforts and trials Fox had to endure to get to where he was.
“We are memories, and memories are we.”
I also think what affected my experience about this was a personal grievance; I had recently read a Middle Grade book Show Us Who You Are that had certain similarities to this that I couldn't help drawing parallels with. Nothing can totally recreate the memories of one's real-life connection with others - that no matter how advanced technology will become, there will always be something lacking in effectively recreating the memory of someone. 'Some version of him is better than nothing.' Nothing can ever compare to the real thing - especially, when the scientific advances even limit themselves to certain key moments in one's life. It's a shame because, if not for it serving as a constant reminder, perhaps I could have appreciated it much more. 🙎🏻♀️
The timeline also shifts a lot between the past and present - sometimes making it harder to understand what is going on, but still somehow, keeping the momentum going. Is that possible? 🤔 Well, apparently, yes, it was, especially when there was one particular plot reveal that I really liked! It was something prevalent throughout the narrative, and when the situation became more dire and complex, the way it was revealed who was behind it, I was totally caught off by surprise! So, really kudos to that! And I also appreciated how much description and detail was given into the world-building; even though, set in the future, I believed that such a time could arrive. The writing had this distinct ethereal feeling to it, that made me feel like I was buoyed between two existences - it was nicely captured and it helped enhance how divided Fox's mind was at the time. The dialogue was also very easy to follow and I didn't feel overwhelmed at any time by the various interactions with the different characters. 👍🏻
“I wish the ocean of sand would pull me under. I wish I could delete this fight. Delete this moment. This moment thinking about that moment. This moment thinking about that moment, thinking about that moment, spiraling down into forever. ”
The overall message that I took away after reading it was that nothing truly can emulate the real deal; that no matter how much we try to bring the memories of our loved ones back, there will always be some defection, some deliberation, some innate hope to change something - delete a memory - change the perspective of an argument that didn't quite work in one's favor. And while Fox's experience gave him a better chance to reflect on his relationship with Gabe, it still gave him the much needed perspective that was missing when they were actually together. And while that's something we all truly desire - life doesn't work that way - we have to live with the memories, no matter how painful they are - it's what makes us who we are. 🥺 And despite my own personal issues, I still think it was an impressive debut, one which I think I will re-read, simply to better understand the points I may have overlooked before.
*Thank you to Edelweiss for a DRC in exchange for an honest review.
“You are special, and you are loved. And you deserve to remember.”
If I were to describe the story of Welcome to Forever, I would use my favorite line from Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children - 'have we lost to our memories?' I don't think there is a better way to summarize the tumultuous and desperation Fox endured to successfully recreate the memory of his husband, Gabe.
“Memories are like scars. Way down, in your neurons. In the deepest part of you. Nothing is ever really gone. It just takes time to get back.”
At the heart of this novel is Fox and Gabe's sincere love for each other; as we travel through memories and time, we get glimpses into their relationship - the good and the bad moments that defined their dynamic. 'Our story’s not so much an epic—I had him and I lost him. Was he ever really there? Or was he a ghost?' It's a love that has witnessed its share of ups and downs and Fox's struggles and pain to find some truth to Gabe in his core was heart-breaking to witness - the ache to discover some part of the past that could bring him into existence. 🥺🥺 I can't say much about their romance, but in whatever version we were privy to, it was something sweet and endearing and honest - but also, very vulnerable, emotional and realistically flawed. 'He made me myself again. Now? I’ll take a million more Excerpts like bullets to the chest if that means finding him.' They brought out the best and worst in each other - and even if time has gone by, it won't erase how much they cared for each other. ❤️🩹❤️🩹
And yet, despite how hard, Fox was fighting to keep the memory of Gabe alive, I think what made it harder for me to empathize with him is because there was no consistency to his predicament; unreliable to a fault, I did not know for sure which version of the memory was the one I should express my sympathy for! 'Your punishment is that you deserve to remember. You don’t get to forget what you did.' It was jarring, and I get that it was relevant to the plot, but it still unnerved me - it may have been the primary reason for why Fox is participating in this experiment - to break down what is the actual truth of their relationship and other significant purposes, but I think what hurt me more was that it was a very bittersweet ending; there is no clear-cut explanation to the future, no complete closure, which makes me wish it could have been a bit more fleshed-out and explained in a bit more detail. 😞 I was not wholly satisfied or felt rewarded for all the efforts and trials Fox had to endure to get to where he was.
“We are memories, and memories are we.”
I also think what affected my experience about this was a personal grievance; I had recently read a Middle Grade book Show Us Who You Are that had certain similarities to this that I couldn't help drawing parallels with. Nothing can totally recreate the memories of one's real-life connection with others - that no matter how advanced technology will become, there will always be something lacking in effectively recreating the memory of someone. 'Some version of him is better than nothing.' Nothing can ever compare to the real thing - especially, when the scientific advances even limit themselves to certain key moments in one's life. It's a shame because, if not for it serving as a constant reminder, perhaps I could have appreciated it much more. 🙎🏻♀️
The timeline also shifts a lot between the past and present - sometimes making it harder to understand what is going on, but still somehow, keeping the momentum going. Is that possible? 🤔 Well, apparently, yes, it was, especially when there was one particular plot reveal that I really liked! It was something prevalent throughout the narrative, and when the situation became more dire and complex, the way it was revealed who was behind it, I was totally caught off by surprise! So, really kudos to that! And I also appreciated how much description and detail was given into the world-building; even though, set in the future, I believed that such a time could arrive. The writing had this distinct ethereal feeling to it, that made me feel like I was buoyed between two existences - it was nicely captured and it helped enhance how divided Fox's mind was at the time. The dialogue was also very easy to follow and I didn't feel overwhelmed at any time by the various interactions with the different characters. 👍🏻
“I wish the ocean of sand would pull me under. I wish I could delete this fight. Delete this moment. This moment thinking about that moment. This moment thinking about that moment, thinking about that moment, spiraling down into forever. ”
The overall message that I took away after reading it was that nothing truly can emulate the real deal; that no matter how much we try to bring the memories of our loved ones back, there will always be some defection, some deliberation, some innate hope to change something - delete a memory - change the perspective of an argument that didn't quite work in one's favor. And while Fox's experience gave him a better chance to reflect on his relationship with Gabe, it still gave him the much needed perspective that was missing when they were actually together. And while that's something we all truly desire - life doesn't work that way - we have to live with the memories, no matter how painful they are - it's what makes us who we are. 🥺 And despite my own personal issues, I still think it was an impressive debut, one which I think I will re-read, simply to better understand the points I may have overlooked before.
*Thank you to Edelweiss for a DRC in exchange for an honest review.
June 13, 2024
I really wanted to like this more than I did. This quote from the book sums up my issues with the story pretty well: "With this many narrative levels, memory integrity is bound to collapse." The complexity of the narrative detracted from my reading experience and from the second half of the book on it felt like a chore to read. Also, the Greg stuff (trying to avoid spoilers) made me really not care for the main character anymore. Flaws are one thing but... yikes. The book had some charm to it and I appreciate what the author attempted to do, but it just wasn't for me.
June 22, 2024
This book had my name all over it. I haven't read any of the comparison titles, and I think Evangelion is a boring, over-rated piece of crap. But the ancient Egyptian motifs, the conspiracies, the f'd up gay protagonist who can't trust his own memories, his partner dead in a terrorist attack he might have been involved in... this has been my most wanted book all the months since I first heard about it.
And Fox and Gabe? I admit, it took me a bit to warm to Gabe, but I love them both. Two extremely traumatized men who deeply love each other, and yet can't help hurting the one they love the most. (I love me a toxic relationship, the healthy ones are so boring to read about.)
So imagine you've found this perfect, chef's kiss story. Checks all your boxes. And now imagine you can only read it through the frame story of a guy reading a series of Am I The Asshole posts, and that guy has the stupidest, idiotic, wrong-headed takes in the history of reddit.
How did it all go wrong?
Now, don't get me wrong, a lot of my issues with the book may be very specific me sort of problems, and I'm still giving this a net positive rating because the underlying story probably would have been a 6 star book for me without them. In fact the burrs on this story probably bother me more here than they would in a lesser book, because it's that good otherwise. (The relationship bits are fantastic.)
Looking at some other reviews, I see people had issues with the ending (I'll come back to that), the non-linear structure, and the levels/layers of unreality and unreliablity. (It's never 100% certain what's real and a lie, and I'm not at all sure it's possible to string all the events here into a single coherent narrative. If you were to try, there definitely would be big gaps with fuzzy edges.)
But by far the biggest problem for me was that stupid redditor. You see I often felt, after getting a big memory dump, that the author, through the voice of what I'll call "story-present" Fox, was telling me how to interpret what I'd just read. And I couldn't have disagreed more stridently with the asinine take he was feeding me.
You want me to believe that Fox was the one in the wrong in the sequence of events that lead up to his lashing out at the party? Excuse me? Could what he did potentially end the relationship? Absolutely. But the betrayal that was in response to was ten times worse. Hell, asking him to show up at that party was worse. And if the author really thinks anything in that sequence showed Fox to be a "selfish, controlling asshole", then I got news buddy, cuz you failed hard.
The second biggest problem for me, at least in the first half of the book, was another arguably authorial issue: the description.
I'm not a visualizer, I don't picture what's going on when I read, so I don't focus a great deal on description. But I do have a sort of sense of the space the characters are in, and with this book, especially the early parts in the clinic and the parts in New Thebes, I was conscious of a strong dissonance between the descriptions and the vibe of the space. The clinic for example was an old building, wood, lots of plants and nature around, and yet the vibe was featureless milky white plastic. (Think Logan's Run, heaven in Good Omens, or the Progressive commercials.) And that, combined with all the therapy/corporate newspeak was just incredibly repellent to me. For me to tolerate corporate dystopia, I think I need my cyberpunk neon and grit, and all I was getting was milky whiteness. (Cue Herman Melville.)
Thankfully this wasn't a problem with the scenes from their childhoods, or on Aaru, or in the Greg sequence, so less as the book went on.
As for issues with the underlying story: I did have to fight with some disbelief regarding the technology. Memories as the person does kind of fit with how I think about things, but not in a the hardware is interchangable sort of way. I was generally able to brush those thoughts aside when they came up though.
Where the story kind of let me down is in the characters never really sufficiently addressing the personhood of the copies. The question comes up, are they "real" or just "scrapes" or some other "lesser" thing, but I didn't feel like they ever really wrestled with it, much less answered it, despite a superficial sort of acceptance of their current selves as valid.
And the questions: If you copy a person's memories into a new body after death are they real? If you make a dozen copies of someone and run them all in their own bodies are they one person? Is one more valid than the others? Are some expendable? Or are they each their own independent person now with their own right to continue existing?
I really think how you feel about that is going to dictate how you feel about the ending here, and the coda.
As for that ending:
And Fox and Gabe? I admit, it took me a bit to warm to Gabe, but I love them both. Two extremely traumatized men who deeply love each other, and yet can't help hurting the one they love the most. (I love me a toxic relationship, the healthy ones are so boring to read about.)
So imagine you've found this perfect, chef's kiss story. Checks all your boxes. And now imagine you can only read it through the frame story of a guy reading a series of Am I The Asshole posts, and that guy has the stupidest, idiotic, wrong-headed takes in the history of reddit.
How did it all go wrong?
Now, don't get me wrong, a lot of my issues with the book may be very specific me sort of problems, and I'm still giving this a net positive rating because the underlying story probably would have been a 6 star book for me without them. In fact the burrs on this story probably bother me more here than they would in a lesser book, because it's that good otherwise. (The relationship bits are fantastic.)
Looking at some other reviews, I see people had issues with the ending (I'll come back to that), the non-linear structure, and the levels/layers of unreality and unreliablity. (It's never 100% certain what's real and a lie, and I'm not at all sure it's possible to string all the events here into a single coherent narrative. If you were to try, there definitely would be big gaps with fuzzy edges.)
But by far the biggest problem for me was that stupid redditor. You see I often felt, after getting a big memory dump, that the author, through the voice of what I'll call "story-present" Fox, was telling me how to interpret what I'd just read. And I couldn't have disagreed more stridently with the asinine take he was feeding me.
You want me to believe that Fox was the one in the wrong in the sequence of events that lead up to his lashing out at the party? Excuse me? Could what he did potentially end the relationship? Absolutely. But the betrayal that was in response to was ten times worse. Hell, asking him to show up at that party was worse. And if the author really thinks anything in that sequence showed Fox to be a "selfish, controlling asshole", then I got news buddy, cuz you failed hard.
The second biggest problem for me, at least in the first half of the book, was another arguably authorial issue: the description.
I'm not a visualizer, I don't picture what's going on when I read, so I don't focus a great deal on description. But I do have a sort of sense of the space the characters are in, and with this book, especially the early parts in the clinic and the parts in New Thebes, I was conscious of a strong dissonance between the descriptions and the vibe of the space. The clinic for example was an old building, wood, lots of plants and nature around, and yet the vibe was featureless milky white plastic. (Think Logan's Run, heaven in Good Omens, or the Progressive commercials.) And that, combined with all the therapy/corporate newspeak was just incredibly repellent to me. For me to tolerate corporate dystopia, I think I need my cyberpunk neon and grit, and all I was getting was milky whiteness. (Cue Herman Melville.)
Thankfully this wasn't a problem with the scenes from their childhoods, or on Aaru, or in the Greg sequence, so less as the book went on.
As for issues with the underlying story: I did have to fight with some disbelief regarding the technology. Memories as the person does kind of fit with how I think about things, but not in a the hardware is interchangable sort of way. I was generally able to brush those thoughts aside when they came up though.
Where the story kind of let me down is in the characters never really sufficiently addressing the personhood of the copies. The question comes up, are they "real" or just "scrapes" or some other "lesser" thing, but I didn't feel like they ever really wrestled with it, much less answered it, despite a superficial sort of acceptance of their current selves as valid.
And the questions: If you copy a person's memories into a new body after death are they real? If you make a dozen copies of someone and run them all in their own bodies are they one person? Is one more valid than the others? Are some expendable? Or are they each their own independent person now with their own right to continue existing?
I really think how you feel about that is going to dictate how you feel about the ending here, and the coda.
As for that ending:
March 2, 2024
Gabe and Fox forever.
March 5, 2024
I thoroughly enjoyed Nathan Tavares' 2022 debut novel, A Fractured Infinity, so I was eager to read this follow up. Sadly, after struggling to finish it, I have to conclude that Welcome to Forever is just not my cup of tea. While Fractured Infinity combined a love story with a fairly basic science fiction plot, this novel goes all in on the sci-fi, which baffled and frustrated me.
The book takes place on an exhausted, dying Earth. Fox is a memory editor, whose jobs at NIL/E Technologies involving erasing unpleasant memories from clients' brains and writing code so that entirely new (and always happy) memories can be inserted instead. His personal trainer husband, Gabe, can jump into clients' bodies and exercise for them so they look fit without the effort. In this brave new world, people can download their consciousness and plug it into a new body, forever averting final-death. But recently (maybe?) a bomb exploded near Fox's apartment, releasing a memory virus. Fox doesn't remember anything about his past, including Gabe. He finds himself at the Center for Memory Recovery, where he apparently checked himself in to recover his damaged "memory code" with the help of trained therapists.
That summary covers approximately 10% of the book. I'm not sure I could describe the other 90% even if I wanted to. The plot isn't linear, jumping from Fox's experiences at the Memory Center to flashes of the past that his brain is starting to remember. But some of the memories feel like they belong to someone else...okay, you officially lost me.
I struggled through discussions of memorystreams, mippers, sahusynics, and rez tech. Fox and Gabe are together. Now they're not. Now they're....other people? The Evil NIL/E Corporation, who operates all of this technology, is searching for Khadija Banks, pioneer of the technology turned revolutionary. But who are the true bad guys? Which parts of the narrative really happened, and which were dreams, fake memories, or something else? And, most importantly, what the hell does that ending mean?
The book raises seriously existential questions about whether we are more than the sum of our memories, but I couldn't comprehend Tavares' answers. I think if I tackled it again, I might get a clearer picture of what exactly was going on, but I'm not motivated enough to do so. YMMV if you are more of a sci-fi devotee instead of a casual (and befuddled) reader like me.
ARC received from Net Galley in exchange for objective review.
The book takes place on an exhausted, dying Earth. Fox is a memory editor, whose jobs at NIL/E Technologies involving erasing unpleasant memories from clients' brains and writing code so that entirely new (and always happy) memories can be inserted instead. His personal trainer husband, Gabe, can jump into clients' bodies and exercise for them so they look fit without the effort. In this brave new world, people can download their consciousness and plug it into a new body, forever averting final-death. But recently (maybe?) a bomb exploded near Fox's apartment, releasing a memory virus. Fox doesn't remember anything about his past, including Gabe. He finds himself at the Center for Memory Recovery, where he apparently checked himself in to recover his damaged "memory code" with the help of trained therapists.
That summary covers approximately 10% of the book. I'm not sure I could describe the other 90% even if I wanted to. The plot isn't linear, jumping from Fox's experiences at the Memory Center to flashes of the past that his brain is starting to remember. But some of the memories feel like they belong to someone else...okay, you officially lost me.
I struggled through discussions of memorystreams, mippers, sahusynics, and rez tech. Fox and Gabe are together. Now they're not. Now they're....other people? The Evil NIL/E Corporation, who operates all of this technology, is searching for Khadija Banks, pioneer of the technology turned revolutionary. But who are the true bad guys? Which parts of the narrative really happened, and which were dreams, fake memories, or something else? And, most importantly, what the hell does that ending mean?
The book raises seriously existential questions about whether we are more than the sum of our memories, but I couldn't comprehend Tavares' answers. I think if I tackled it again, I might get a clearer picture of what exactly was going on, but I'm not motivated enough to do so. YMMV if you are more of a sci-fi devotee instead of a casual (and befuddled) reader like me.
ARC received from Net Galley in exchange for objective review.
March 3, 2024
*3.75*
thank you to titan books for sending me a copy of this in return for a review.
I want to start this off by saying this book was so fucking cool, like imagine black mirror but make it gayer and way more complex. It had an amazing plot that was super unique and really hit hard with bringing sci-fi back into modern books and trends.
I loved fox (the main character) and the way he was written. he was flawed and had a long history in his life of fucking up, he made mistakes that he didn’t learn from until it was all too late. reading about him and following him on his journey of understanding, recovering and then accepting himself was truly beautiful and I really do think so many others will find themselves linking to him in many ways. there were a lot of side characters who always had great personalities and were written strongly, but fox was the star of it all.
the plot? so intelligently written that it was actually kind of hard to follow at times. we had flashbacks, memories, simulations, flashbacks, planted memories, re-lived experiences, side lives and new bodies and everything else you can imagine. even though it was super complex I was genuinely so hooked into trying to piece it all together and understand it all. I think the author intended to confuse along the way so you had to try and work it out for yourselves, the same way the main characters lost their memories and had to make it out themselves too.
I will just say this/ the ending??? I have no idea what the hell happened and if you offered me £1000 to explain it I couldn’t. my brain has been fried in a good way
thank you to titan books for sending me a copy of this in return for a review.
I want to start this off by saying this book was so fucking cool, like imagine black mirror but make it gayer and way more complex. It had an amazing plot that was super unique and really hit hard with bringing sci-fi back into modern books and trends.
I loved fox (the main character) and the way he was written. he was flawed and had a long history in his life of fucking up, he made mistakes that he didn’t learn from until it was all too late. reading about him and following him on his journey of understanding, recovering and then accepting himself was truly beautiful and I really do think so many others will find themselves linking to him in many ways. there were a lot of side characters who always had great personalities and were written strongly, but fox was the star of it all.
the plot? so intelligently written that it was actually kind of hard to follow at times. we had flashbacks, memories, simulations, flashbacks, planted memories, re-lived experiences, side lives and new bodies and everything else you can imagine. even though it was super complex I was genuinely so hooked into trying to piece it all together and understand it all. I think the author intended to confuse along the way so you had to try and work it out for yourselves, the same way the main characters lost their memories and had to make it out themselves too.
I will just say this/ the ending??? I have no idea what the hell happened and if you offered me £1000 to explain it I couldn’t. my brain has been fried in a good way
February 24, 2024
This is a hard one to review. Mainly: wow. An impressively executed symphony of theme, plot, character and excellent writing. Inventive, unexpected, and profound. The general concept is technically similar to The Binding, but the tone of this novel is so different that it feels incredibly unique.
I was all set to laud this as one of my favourite books of the year... and then I read the final chapter. Without spoilers, all I can say is that it undermines the whole book. I'd strongly recommend not reading the epilogue; if the author cut this, he would be left with a perfect ending.
So, I'm knocking one star off for that coda, but it's still four stars for blowing my mind up to that point.
I was all set to laud this as one of my favourite books of the year... and then I read the final chapter. Without spoilers, all I can say is that it undermines the whole book. I'd strongly recommend not reading the epilogue; if the author cut this, he would be left with a perfect ending.
So, I'm knocking one star off for that coda, but it's still four stars for blowing my mind up to that point.
did-not-finish
May 8, 2024I tried with this one and I was just about able to keep up with the sci-fi aspects but then stumbled at the weird client body thing? Was that cheating? What was happening there?
November 29, 2025
dnf @ 33%
a shame, because i did really like tavares' debut, but this wasn't doing it for me, i wasn't at all interested in where the plot was going, and i didn't feel like dragging myself through the full 550 ebook pages would end well for anyone.
a shame, because i did really like tavares' debut, but this wasn't doing it for me, i wasn't at all interested in where the plot was going, and i didn't feel like dragging myself through the full 550 ebook pages would end well for anyone.
April 6, 2025
I found I really wanted to like this book more than I actually did. The plot felt hard to follow when you jump between memories of different people at different times and it was pretty hard to tell where/what was happening. There were some really interesting concepts brought up about if a person’s memories makes them themselves or how many memories can you lose and still be you. I enjoyed this aspect as it reminded me of the idea of how many planks of a ship can be replaced before it’s no longer the original ship.
The idea of choosing happiness by editing out the bad memories of your life feels like a concept that would/should be easy to relate/feel compassion towards the characters for (since who doesn’t understand some level of escapism) but I found that I couldn’t really connect with any of the characters in the story. By the end of the book I found myself not really caring what happened since I didn’t really fully understand what was happening anyways and then the ending felt like it completely contradicted the purpose/take away that I assumed you were supposed to get from the overall story.
I’d say this book requires a lot of attention and effort to get the most out of and maybe I wasn’t in the right headspace for that or maybe it’s not meant to be a before bed book who knows. I’m also pretty new to science fiction though so maybe this one went over my head a bit
The idea of choosing happiness by editing out the bad memories of your life feels like a concept that would/should be easy to relate/feel compassion towards the characters for (since who doesn’t understand some level of escapism) but I found that I couldn’t really connect with any of the characters in the story. By the end of the book I found myself not really caring what happened since I didn’t really fully understand what was happening anyways and then the ending felt like it completely contradicted the purpose/take away that I assumed you were supposed to get from the overall story.
I’d say this book requires a lot of attention and effort to get the most out of and maybe I wasn’t in the right headspace for that or maybe it’s not meant to be a before bed book who knows. I’m also pretty new to science fiction though so maybe this one went over my head a bit
April 4, 2024
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Total Recall. Severance. Each of these have something in common with Nathan Tavares’s brilliant Welcome to Forever. They are each stories of what happens when technology advances to the point that minds and memories and perceptive realities are altered. Whether that is to the benefit or detriment of humanity is the depth and breadth of this story, and I don’t mind saying I spent the latter half of the reading begging this book not to hurt me. It leaves off emotionally at the threshold of happiness, and that promise was everything I needed.
Welcome to Forever left me in awe of its design to draw me into the story, thinking I understood what was happening only to discover I had no idea what was real and what wasn’t a fabrication embedded in a bit of memory code. The beauty is that it was both reality and unreality, and the esoterica is revealed as the characters take readers along on a journey that melds their mission with a love story that defies all artificial attempts to thwart it. Fox and Gabe come back to each other time and time again, only to continue the negative behaviors that forever doomed them. There is a lesson for each of them in the revelations of their shared pasts, and their enlightenment, while not perfect, is encouraging.
I can’t begin to imagine what it must be like to carry a story this big and characters this vibrant around in my head. For Nathan Tavares to be able to get them from his imagination onto the page is a stunning achievement to me, someone who could never dream this vividly let alone translate it into words. I was enthralled by and invested in this book from page one to done. It’s a story that not only made me feel but made me think about the morality of intention, if those intentions are good but not particularly ethical, and what love means in all its perfect imperfections.
Welcome to Forever left me in awe of its design to draw me into the story, thinking I understood what was happening only to discover I had no idea what was real and what wasn’t a fabrication embedded in a bit of memory code. The beauty is that it was both reality and unreality, and the esoterica is revealed as the characters take readers along on a journey that melds their mission with a love story that defies all artificial attempts to thwart it. Fox and Gabe come back to each other time and time again, only to continue the negative behaviors that forever doomed them. There is a lesson for each of them in the revelations of their shared pasts, and their enlightenment, while not perfect, is encouraging.
I can’t begin to imagine what it must be like to carry a story this big and characters this vibrant around in my head. For Nathan Tavares to be able to get them from his imagination onto the page is a stunning achievement to me, someone who could never dream this vividly let alone translate it into words. I was enthralled by and invested in this book from page one to done. It’s a story that not only made me feel but made me think about the morality of intention, if those intentions are good but not particularly ethical, and what love means in all its perfect imperfections.
February 29, 2024
As someone who reads quite a bit of scifi as well as queer fiction, I have become familiar with a lot of the tropes and narrative structures that tend to drive both genres. As such, it is not often I find myself at a loss for predicting how a plot may progress, even in the most minor of ways. Welcome to Forever was so completely unique and outside the realm of anything I had read before that I was pleasantly shocked to find myself blissfully disorientated.
The concept of being able to edit human consciousness and memory with lines of code and the ramifications, stagnation, and destruction brought on by that technology is one I found fascinating. Following Fox as he attempts to piece together his own feelings and thoughts of who he’s being told he was in the wake of his amnesia was a very trippy and eye-opening experience, but it was also an incredible vehicle to drive home this idea of self-improvement and learning through mistakes and embracing all facets of failure and emotion.
Normally, I don’t like stories where amnesia and day to day repetition are centre points. However, it definitely worked in this case because the non-linear and sometimes mutable flashbacks helped to throw the reader into the same sense of confusion that was affecting the characters.
Ultimately, Welcome to Forever was very slow-paced and slightly confusing, but it was also strange and amazing in its individuality. I highly recommend it if you’re into psychological mysteries.
The concept of being able to edit human consciousness and memory with lines of code and the ramifications, stagnation, and destruction brought on by that technology is one I found fascinating. Following Fox as he attempts to piece together his own feelings and thoughts of who he’s being told he was in the wake of his amnesia was a very trippy and eye-opening experience, but it was also an incredible vehicle to drive home this idea of self-improvement and learning through mistakes and embracing all facets of failure and emotion.
Normally, I don’t like stories where amnesia and day to day repetition are centre points. However, it definitely worked in this case because the non-linear and sometimes mutable flashbacks helped to throw the reader into the same sense of confusion that was affecting the characters.
Ultimately, Welcome to Forever was very slow-paced and slightly confusing, but it was also strange and amazing in its individuality. I highly recommend it if you’re into psychological mysteries.
February 16, 2024
The Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow comparisons are pretty accurate, based on the narrative jumps, though I found this one easier to get my head around, and enjoyed it more because it's not so emotionally destroying. Whenever I was confused for a bit a character seemed to pop up an offer an explanation, which was handy.
The central love story felt true to life and the gay experience, with a realistic take on jealousy and possessive feelings. The book's very cool Black female tech CEO character is like anti-Elon Musk. I'd read it again just for her sections.
I alternated between laughing and gasping often. A fun ride.
The central love story felt true to life and the gay experience, with a realistic take on jealousy and possessive feelings. The book's very cool Black female tech CEO character is like anti-Elon Musk. I'd read it again just for her sections.
I alternated between laughing and gasping often. A fun ride.
Read
March 8, 2024Ended up DNF'ing at 25%. I don't think I'm in the right mood for this book currently and will probably try again at some point.
September 2, 2024
Sci-fi usually isn’t my thing but this story is too beautiful to not love.
It’s complex and confusing - I think good sci-fi leaves you feeling confused at least 10% throughout the book - but the writing is beautiful. It’s very stream-of-consciousness. The love story at the core is messy and traumatic but also impactful and powerful. I couldn’t tell you if I wanted Fox’n’Gabe to be together forever or to run as fast as they can away from each other.
Another great book by Nathan Tavares! He’s getting me into sci-fi, one book at a time.
It’s complex and confusing - I think good sci-fi leaves you feeling confused at least 10% throughout the book - but the writing is beautiful. It’s very stream-of-consciousness. The love story at the core is messy and traumatic but also impactful and powerful. I couldn’t tell you if I wanted Fox’n’Gabe to be together forever or to run as fast as they can away from each other.
Another great book by Nathan Tavares! He’s getting me into sci-fi, one book at a time.
April 12, 2024
I came in without many expectations and it really blew me away. I can’t say right now that it’s going in my top 10 of all time, but I can say that I’m excited to revisit that prospect in a month when I have some more emotional distance from the story
This book is good for readers who like messed up characters, emotional rollercoasters, The Matrix and/or Inception, and making fun of therapists only to later grudgingly admit how much they’ve helped you.
Elevator Pitch: Fox is a memory editor. He tinkers in people’s heads to delete trauma, raise contentment, and smooth out rough patches. He’s also recently been left by his partner of 16 years. Oh, and he was the victim of a neuro-terrorist attack that killed his ex and left him with almost no memories. Now he’s at a memory therapy group home, struggling to call back his past and figure out who he was, only to discover that he doesn’t necessarily like that person very much. And then there’s Gabe, who seems to be at the center of his world, but whom Fox can barely remember at all. As he explores his memories and the brambles of his relationship with Gabe, Fox is forced to confront his past and carve a new path forward.
What Worked for Me
Honestly so much just felt like perfection in this book. But what really makes it work is how well-realized Fox and Gabe are (or rather, Fox’s memory of Gabe). Both of them have their own baggage from their lives as refugees, and both have incredibly unhelpful ways of coping with their trauma, their emotions, and their relationship. If you want characters who do the right thing all the time, this is not the book for you. But Tavares does a really good job of framing Fox as someone who is self-aware of his own shittiness and desperately wants to be better; he just doesn’t quite know how. And while I don’t find myself doing nearly as messed up things as Fox did, I certainly empathize with the feeling that I know something is a bad idea, but doing it anyways because of impulsiveness, the immediate hit of dopamine, or because sometimes its so exhausting to fight your emotions.
Gabe is presented through the lens of Fox’s memories, but I’m amazed at how Tavares was able to craft a picture of the the captivating personal trainer who hops into the bodies of his clients that works on so many levels. It simultaneously acknowledged that Fox is unable to objectively consider Gabe as a person outside of himself while also feeling like a character that could hop off the page and into real life.
Characters aside, the book does a great job of capturing the feeling of falling into and out of memories. This book is a mess of timelines, edited memories that hide even more edited memories, and dangled mysteries about the past. And while things do end up explained in a more-or-less straightforward manner by the end of the book, for most of it you’re doing your best to piece things together while knowing that your current theory isn’t right because these three things you know don’t fit. I’m sure if I sat down I could try to solve the mystery, but really enjoyed getting lost in the story that Tavares was telling. You’re left with this constant nagging sensation that something isn’t quite right with how you’re seeing the world. You become Fox.
Another high point was the ending. To avoid spoilers, all I can say is that the author had a lot of directions he could go with how this story ended. And I think he picked the version that completed the story best, even though it wasn’t the easiest option. The epilogue (coda) is probably one of my favorite epilogues of all time.
I do want to acknowledge my own biases here. This book really plays to my preferences. I love nested stories (The Spear Cuts Through Water), captivating characters who struggle with their baggage (Jade City) and books with gay characters that go beyond the romances and coming out plot points that gay leads are shoehorned into (A Choir of Lies). Even Fox’s personality flaws are more extreme versions of things I’m working to change about myself. But this book certainly resonated with me in a way that likely created a different experience for me than others might feel.
What Didn’t Work for Me
Honestly, precious little.
The cyberpunk aesthetics at first felt a little cartoony, but I think it got smoothed out throughout the book. The setting of the book never quite leaves the cookie cutter cyberpunk setting, but I don’t think the book is hurt by that since the focus is so squarely on the lead characters and tangled structure of the storytelling. Had some of the thriller elements been dialed up, I would have cared more. As it is, the generality of the setting helped keep your focus on other areas of the story.
If Tavares were to revise the story, I think I’d have liked to see some more explicit musings on the ethics of memory editing, and the slippery slope from ‘here’s a legitimately useful tool to help you forget the experience of drowning now that we’ve resurrected you because that would fuck you up unnecessarily’ to ‘here’s an exploitative system where we exploit your insecurities to make a quick buck because reality isn’t real anymore’
TL:DR This book about two messed up soul-mates. Is a labyrinth of memories, unreliable narrators, and people dealing with their own trauma (often badly). It is a beautiful book that made me feel so many things, but it’s not a breezy popcorn read. It was incredible.
This book is good for readers who like messed up characters, emotional rollercoasters, The Matrix and/or Inception, and making fun of therapists only to later grudgingly admit how much they’ve helped you.
Elevator Pitch: Fox is a memory editor. He tinkers in people’s heads to delete trauma, raise contentment, and smooth out rough patches. He’s also recently been left by his partner of 16 years. Oh, and he was the victim of a neuro-terrorist attack that killed his ex and left him with almost no memories. Now he’s at a memory therapy group home, struggling to call back his past and figure out who he was, only to discover that he doesn’t necessarily like that person very much. And then there’s Gabe, who seems to be at the center of his world, but whom Fox can barely remember at all. As he explores his memories and the brambles of his relationship with Gabe, Fox is forced to confront his past and carve a new path forward.
What Worked for Me
Honestly so much just felt like perfection in this book. But what really makes it work is how well-realized Fox and Gabe are (or rather, Fox’s memory of Gabe). Both of them have their own baggage from their lives as refugees, and both have incredibly unhelpful ways of coping with their trauma, their emotions, and their relationship. If you want characters who do the right thing all the time, this is not the book for you. But Tavares does a really good job of framing Fox as someone who is self-aware of his own shittiness and desperately wants to be better; he just doesn’t quite know how. And while I don’t find myself doing nearly as messed up things as Fox did, I certainly empathize with the feeling that I know something is a bad idea, but doing it anyways because of impulsiveness, the immediate hit of dopamine, or because sometimes its so exhausting to fight your emotions.
Gabe is presented through the lens of Fox’s memories, but I’m amazed at how Tavares was able to craft a picture of the the captivating personal trainer who hops into the bodies of his clients that works on so many levels. It simultaneously acknowledged that Fox is unable to objectively consider Gabe as a person outside of himself while also feeling like a character that could hop off the page and into real life.
Characters aside, the book does a great job of capturing the feeling of falling into and out of memories. This book is a mess of timelines, edited memories that hide even more edited memories, and dangled mysteries about the past. And while things do end up explained in a more-or-less straightforward manner by the end of the book, for most of it you’re doing your best to piece things together while knowing that your current theory isn’t right because these three things you know don’t fit. I’m sure if I sat down I could try to solve the mystery, but really enjoyed getting lost in the story that Tavares was telling. You’re left with this constant nagging sensation that something isn’t quite right with how you’re seeing the world. You become Fox.
Another high point was the ending. To avoid spoilers, all I can say is that the author had a lot of directions he could go with how this story ended. And I think he picked the version that completed the story best, even though it wasn’t the easiest option. The epilogue (coda) is probably one of my favorite epilogues of all time.
I do want to acknowledge my own biases here. This book really plays to my preferences. I love nested stories (The Spear Cuts Through Water), captivating characters who struggle with their baggage (Jade City) and books with gay characters that go beyond the romances and coming out plot points that gay leads are shoehorned into (A Choir of Lies). Even Fox’s personality flaws are more extreme versions of things I’m working to change about myself. But this book certainly resonated with me in a way that likely created a different experience for me than others might feel.
What Didn’t Work for Me
Honestly, precious little.
The cyberpunk aesthetics at first felt a little cartoony, but I think it got smoothed out throughout the book. The setting of the book never quite leaves the cookie cutter cyberpunk setting, but I don’t think the book is hurt by that since the focus is so squarely on the lead characters and tangled structure of the storytelling. Had some of the thriller elements been dialed up, I would have cared more. As it is, the generality of the setting helped keep your focus on other areas of the story.
If Tavares were to revise the story, I think I’d have liked to see some more explicit musings on the ethics of memory editing, and the slippery slope from ‘here’s a legitimately useful tool to help you forget the experience of drowning now that we’ve resurrected you because that would fuck you up unnecessarily’ to ‘here’s an exploitative system where we exploit your insecurities to make a quick buck because reality isn’t real anymore’
TL:DR This book about two messed up soul-mates. Is a labyrinth of memories, unreliable narrators, and people dealing with their own trauma (often badly). It is a beautiful book that made me feel so many things, but it’s not a breezy popcorn read. It was incredible.
March 18, 2024
What makes you, you? Is it the body that you walk around in or is it the memories that you hold and the experiences that you’ve had?
Welcome to Forever takes place in a futuristic world in which memory editing has become the norm. Death is essentially a thing of the past, as your memory stream can just be uploaded into a new, healthy body. But when the protagonist, Fox, wakes up in a rehabilitation centre for those with damaged memories, he doesn’t remember how he got there. He is informed by the staff that he was caught up in a terrorist attack and that his husband, Gabe, didn’t survive the attack and his memory stream was lost.
The novel explores Fox’s journey trying to piece together his fragmented memory, and grieving for the husband he thinks is lost forever. As time goes on, he starts to remember things that he wishes would stay forgotten.
Personally, I really enjoyed the beginning of the novel, learning about this interesting new world in which humans could never really die. I found Fox to be a likeable narrator, and I enjoyed the cast of characters that Tavares brought together. I especially liked Kadhija, the pioneer/ CEO of the memory editing business with her sparkly god-complex. I also loved seeing such a huge amount of LGBT+ rep in the novel, something that I think is still lacking in Sci-Fi, so kudos to the author for trying to queer up the genre!
Where this book fell down for me was the constant shifting between POVs and also the lack of impact some chapters had on the whole story. Early on in the book, the narrative shifts from first person to third person and I was so disorientated I had to put the book down for a few days before coming back to it.
By the end of the novel, I was feeling a bit deflated. The different layers of memory streams, the different characters who were actually the same character, and the contradicting motives all culminated in me feeling like I’m just not smart enough to understand the book. This was compounded by an ending which fell really flat for me. I won’t add spoilers here, but I will warn you that if you’re looking for an emotional payoff at the end of a book, this isn’t the title for you.
Overall, I liked the concept of the novel and I thought it was well-written and woven together but ultimately it was just too confusing for me. I’m grateful to NetGalley and Titan Books for allowing me to access an ARC copy. (3.5 stars)
Welcome to Forever takes place in a futuristic world in which memory editing has become the norm. Death is essentially a thing of the past, as your memory stream can just be uploaded into a new, healthy body. But when the protagonist, Fox, wakes up in a rehabilitation centre for those with damaged memories, he doesn’t remember how he got there. He is informed by the staff that he was caught up in a terrorist attack and that his husband, Gabe, didn’t survive the attack and his memory stream was lost.
The novel explores Fox’s journey trying to piece together his fragmented memory, and grieving for the husband he thinks is lost forever. As time goes on, he starts to remember things that he wishes would stay forgotten.
Personally, I really enjoyed the beginning of the novel, learning about this interesting new world in which humans could never really die. I found Fox to be a likeable narrator, and I enjoyed the cast of characters that Tavares brought together. I especially liked Kadhija, the pioneer/ CEO of the memory editing business with her sparkly god-complex. I also loved seeing such a huge amount of LGBT+ rep in the novel, something that I think is still lacking in Sci-Fi, so kudos to the author for trying to queer up the genre!
Where this book fell down for me was the constant shifting between POVs and also the lack of impact some chapters had on the whole story. Early on in the book, the narrative shifts from first person to third person and I was so disorientated I had to put the book down for a few days before coming back to it.
By the end of the novel, I was feeling a bit deflated. The different layers of memory streams, the different characters who were actually the same character, and the contradicting motives all culminated in me feeling like I’m just not smart enough to understand the book. This was compounded by an ending which fell really flat for me. I won’t add spoilers here, but I will warn you that if you’re looking for an emotional payoff at the end of a book, this isn’t the title for you.
Overall, I liked the concept of the novel and I thought it was well-written and woven together but ultimately it was just too confusing for me. I’m grateful to NetGalley and Titan Books for allowing me to access an ARC copy. (3.5 stars)
d-n-f
February 18, 2025I dont know why i didnt log this in but I picked this up some time ago and ended up getting pissed off because it reminded me wayy too much about The Ferryman
February 26, 2024
This book took me a very long time to read -- but that's not a bad thing. Being a review copy I didn't have the strength of other reviews or other reviewers to tell me to stick with the book and it was worth it. I have ADHD so sometimes if a book is a little slow to start then I can pick it up and put it down a lot before it gets me. It's a long book, but I don't think it's any longer than it needed to be.
I'll say, until about 35-40% of the book I ate it in little nibbles, picking it up, reading a chapter, popping it down. From about 40% I needed to know what the hell was happening and how it was going to end. I devoured the book from that point and don't regret the hours lost to it.
It's a beautiful picture of a relationship in a fucked up world. The relationship is, well, real. This is not a genre romance, this isn't wrote from step A, to B, with the third act breakup and all. This is a very heavy sci-fi dystopian with a love story at it's heart. The relationship between two men driving them through the story and through, well, no spoilers.
If you switched this story for a straight couple would it work? No, some of the experiences would lose their depth and their commentary on the gay community. If you changed this story to be about something other than a relationship would it work? No, this story works for Fox and Gabe, but I'm not sure if it would work for anyone else. If you changed this story to dial down the sci-fi would it work? No, it's intrinsic to them, their stories and the... everything. This story needs every element in it and every element just the way they are, and that's something beautiful about it. There's nothing pasted on. There's nothing added just to tick a box, or get a label on Amazon or Goodreads.
So, if you love sci-fi and spec fic, read this. It's a treat.
4.5* rounded up. Pretend the epilogue doesn't exist.
I'll say, until about 35-40% of the book I ate it in little nibbles, picking it up, reading a chapter, popping it down. From about 40% I needed to know what the hell was happening and how it was going to end. I devoured the book from that point and don't regret the hours lost to it.
It's a beautiful picture of a relationship in a fucked up world. The relationship is, well, real. This is not a genre romance, this isn't wrote from step A, to B, with the third act breakup and all. This is a very heavy sci-fi dystopian with a love story at it's heart. The relationship between two men driving them through the story and through, well, no spoilers.
If you switched this story for a straight couple would it work? No, some of the experiences would lose their depth and their commentary on the gay community. If you changed this story to be about something other than a relationship would it work? No, this story works for Fox and Gabe, but I'm not sure if it would work for anyone else. If you changed this story to dial down the sci-fi would it work? No, it's intrinsic to them, their stories and the... everything. This story needs every element in it and every element just the way they are, and that's something beautiful about it. There's nothing pasted on. There's nothing added just to tick a box, or get a label on Amazon or Goodreads.
So, if you love sci-fi and spec fic, read this. It's a treat.
4.5* rounded up. Pretend the epilogue doesn't exist.
February 10, 2024
This was a book with a very interesting premise but ultimately fell flat for me due to a narrative structure that felt muddled rather than engaging.
It will be hard to describe what didn't work for me without spoilers, so this may wind up being a shorter review than I would have liked. This book had me thoroughly hooked for the first 50% as we meet Fox, learn about his job as a memory editor, and his recovery to get his memories back after a bombing on a memory center. The memory editing technology was intriguing and I liked that throughout the book we got increasingly detailed descriptions of how it worked. To me, the memory editing technology, and its positives, negatives, and its possible side effects, remain the most interesting part of the story.
After Fox's time at the memory center, we start to uncover some secrets, that do first seem intriguing. However, as they unravel more and more, I found that the narrative structure was made up of too may flashbacks to be able to develop a fully cohesive story in the present. I also started to care slightly less about Fox because what started as a character with a fully-fleshed and gripping motivation turned into something where his end goals were much less clear, so I was less invested in his character.
I debated for a really long time what rating I wanted to give to this book because of how much I liked the first half, and ultimately decided on a 2, because generally for a 3 star, it would be a book that I would be willing to recommend to someone else, and I don't think I would do that in this case.
Thank you to the publisher for the gifted eARC!
It will be hard to describe what didn't work for me without spoilers, so this may wind up being a shorter review than I would have liked. This book had me thoroughly hooked for the first 50% as we meet Fox, learn about his job as a memory editor, and his recovery to get his memories back after a bombing on a memory center. The memory editing technology was intriguing and I liked that throughout the book we got increasingly detailed descriptions of how it worked. To me, the memory editing technology, and its positives, negatives, and its possible side effects, remain the most interesting part of the story.
After Fox's time at the memory center, we start to uncover some secrets, that do first seem intriguing. However, as they unravel more and more, I found that the narrative structure was made up of too may flashbacks to be able to develop a fully cohesive story in the present. I also started to care slightly less about Fox because what started as a character with a fully-fleshed and gripping motivation turned into something where his end goals were much less clear, so I was less invested in his character.
I debated for a really long time what rating I wanted to give to this book because of how much I liked the first half, and ultimately decided on a 2, because generally for a 3 star, it would be a book that I would be willing to recommend to someone else, and I don't think I would do that in this case.
Thank you to the publisher for the gifted eARC!
March 14, 2024
This story primarily follows Fox. It has an almost psychedelic affect that makes it a little difficult to follow at times. I really enjoyed the characterizations in this novel. Fox was a great main character, both flawed and root worthy. He’s living in a type of rehabilitation center trying to recover his memories after some type of terrorist bombing that shredded the memories of all the victims including his husband, Gabe.
I loved the concept of this story. Prior to the attack, Fox worked as a memory editor in a future where you can edit unhappy memories out of your life and replace them with happier times or even the life you want. You can even have the love of your life, whether dead or just gone, replaced with a construct with their memories and mannerisms or yourself when you want a new younger body, which raises all sorts of questions about the spirit or soul of a person and whether its lost or continues in the new body.
However, as Fox started to delve into the past and present and what really happened, the story became a little muddled for me. I spent a lot of time confused in the narrative and whether I was in the real world, if I was with Fox, if Fox or Gabe and anyone really was who they said in time and place. It just became a little too chaotic for me as the story progressed.
Despite my issues, parts of this story were beautiful and very innovative.
Thank you to Netgalley and Titan Books for a copy provided for an honest review.
I loved the concept of this story. Prior to the attack, Fox worked as a memory editor in a future where you can edit unhappy memories out of your life and replace them with happier times or even the life you want. You can even have the love of your life, whether dead or just gone, replaced with a construct with their memories and mannerisms or yourself when you want a new younger body, which raises all sorts of questions about the spirit or soul of a person and whether its lost or continues in the new body.
However, as Fox started to delve into the past and present and what really happened, the story became a little muddled for me. I spent a lot of time confused in the narrative and whether I was in the real world, if I was with Fox, if Fox or Gabe and anyone really was who they said in time and place. It just became a little too chaotic for me as the story progressed.
Despite my issues, parts of this story were beautiful and very innovative.
Thank you to Netgalley and Titan Books for a copy provided for an honest review.
March 14, 2024
A Joyfully Jay review.
4.75 stars
Welcome to Forever is an imaginative cyberpunk-esque, dystopian story. The book is organized into four “verses,” each containing several chapters. The verses are like mini-arcs through Fox’s life. The story is not exactly chronological, though that is probably the best fitting overall description of the organization. It’s an exciting story that breaks up the action into puzzle pieces for readers to fit together with helpful reminders, repeated imagery, and tantalizing snippets that point at a story much larger than just a lone man struggling to recover from a traumatic accident.
As noted in the summary, our main character lives in a world where people can and do edit their memories. For the reader, this means our narrator, Fox, is highly unreliable–and sometimes Fox knows that, sometimes he doesn’t. There is also a very fragmented quality to the story telling.
Anyone looking for an immersive, sweeping saga about a man obsessed with getting his husband back by any means necessary (even if it means becoming a better person) or readers who enjoy nuanced, layered stories that read like puzzle pieces to fit together, I think you’ll really enjoy this book.
Read Camille’s review in its entirety here.
4.75 stars
Welcome to Forever is an imaginative cyberpunk-esque, dystopian story. The book is organized into four “verses,” each containing several chapters. The verses are like mini-arcs through Fox’s life. The story is not exactly chronological, though that is probably the best fitting overall description of the organization. It’s an exciting story that breaks up the action into puzzle pieces for readers to fit together with helpful reminders, repeated imagery, and tantalizing snippets that point at a story much larger than just a lone man struggling to recover from a traumatic accident.
As noted in the summary, our main character lives in a world where people can and do edit their memories. For the reader, this means our narrator, Fox, is highly unreliable–and sometimes Fox knows that, sometimes he doesn’t. There is also a very fragmented quality to the story telling.
Anyone looking for an immersive, sweeping saga about a man obsessed with getting his husband back by any means necessary (even if it means becoming a better person) or readers who enjoy nuanced, layered stories that read like puzzle pieces to fit together, I think you’ll really enjoy this book.
Read Camille’s review in its entirety here.
March 21, 2024
I've read both of this authors gay sci-fi and I enjoyed this more than the first, so can't wait to see where he goes next. My main criticism of the first book was that I didn't believe in or really feel the relationship between the main characters, which was crucial for the story, but here I absolutely got the relationship.
The thing that was a slight negative on this one was that it was pretty difficult to follow at times.....at least for me. It was expected given it was a very much about lost memories etc, but I don't think the world building was fully there to allow me to grasp everything about the technology and how it all worked. It would definitely work as a film, where the visuals would go a long way to explaining things in a way, I don't fully think the book did.
However, it was still a great, enjoyable read. I've had a 3* and a 4* from this author now. I'll definitely be reading the next one, so fingers crossed for a 5* next time!
The thing that was a slight negative on this one was that it was pretty difficult to follow at times.....at least for me. It was expected given it was a very much about lost memories etc, but I don't think the world building was fully there to allow me to grasp everything about the technology and how it all worked. It would definitely work as a film, where the visuals would go a long way to explaining things in a way, I don't fully think the book did.
However, it was still a great, enjoyable read. I've had a 3* and a 4* from this author now. I'll definitely be reading the next one, so fingers crossed for a 5* next time!
Read
August 20, 2024ARC Review: Publish Date 3/12/2024
Thank you Net Galley for letting me read more books!
DNF 20%
What happens when you loose your memory? What happens when we don't like the person we remember we were? This novel has an incredibly interesting ScFi premise/plot and also, is a bit of a slog. I have had a hard time investing in characters and story and have been working on it for two months. So for now, I am setting it aside. Every time I pick it up and try to go all in, I immediately get distracted and stop paying attention. If I ever get back to it, I will update this. But for now, not for me.
Thank you Net Galley for letting me read more books!
DNF 20%
What happens when you loose your memory? What happens when we don't like the person we remember we were? This novel has an incredibly interesting ScFi premise/plot and also, is a bit of a slog. I have had a hard time investing in characters and story and have been working on it for two months. So for now, I am setting it aside. Every time I pick it up and try to go all in, I immediately get distracted and stop paying attention. If I ever get back to it, I will update this. But for now, not for me.
Read
December 17, 2023This is the perfect book for someone, but not for me. I never knew what was really going on (which is the point of the book, but it bothered me) and that was especially an issue near the end. However, I did really like the meditation on what makes up a whole person, and the difference between you and your memory. I would've liked even more detail about memory editing because that was the most interesting part. Overall, I just didn't feel smart enough to fully grasp everything that was going on.
ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
March 26, 2024
A realistic and moving long-term gay marriage story explored in a creative scifi setting.
August 25, 2024
I need to gather my thoughts. Hell, I need to gather the pieces of me scattered around the rooms.
So many WHOAs and BUTs and even more AAAAAGGHHHHHHs and WTFs and I’M A WHIRLWIND OF EMOTIONS.
I’m not sure about the rating yet, but then again, I HAVE NO CHOICE so maybe I am sure. About 4,5 or 4,75??
Yeah, later!
***
Gathering done. At least for the thoughts part.
It's just, the more I think about this book, the more confused I get :'D Alas, this review is even more confusing than the book it’s about.
Welcome to Forever was A LOT. What a masterpiece. How does a person come up with stuff like this - let alone put it in a neat little package that makes perfect sense when simultaneously it doesn't?? Beats the hell out of me. Initial annoyance aside (or maybe including that, specifically??), the ride was AWESOME.
Despite the brilliance, I had and have some buts and beef, thus the not-a-perfect-5 rating.
* MAJOR SPOILERS *
The ending??? I'm not sure what to think of the coda. I mean,
So yeah, all the uncertainties, the bright and blaring ethical and moral question marks and gray areas??? Issues of personhood? The science/tech/etc.? There was so much dodginess going on I'm really not sure what to think or whose side I'd take (well not the corporation's for sure, but other than that). Hmm hmmmm. But yeah whatever,
The plot and the pieces of the puzzle were revealed in perfect pace and style, and even if at times I felt Fox was holding my hand through it a bit much, I guess it helped with staying onboard with what was happening. Stuff was confusing af, but then not overly so, at least until the end.
The character arcs were so good. The way Fox describes and ponders his love for Gabe - TO. DIE. FOR. To have that, mutually. Gosh. 💔
Many of the side characters felt a bit cardboard-ish. Take Poppy for example, or Gabe's friends, or some of the residents in Field of Reeds. And yeah, the whole thing certainly was exasperating at times (if not all the time), plus there was the endless bickering and sarcasm, needling and self-loathing this way and that, especially in the beginning. But then, it made clear the point, in retrospect, that Fox and Gabe were in a pickle to put it mildly, things were hellishly painful, cue anger and hurt both ways.
In the end, even if the tone was a bit too much for me at times, after a while all I felt about any qualms I might have had was I DON'T FUCKING CARE. Because I CARED about Fox and Gabe. And Minou, and even Levi. And some others. I absolutely loved the story of Fox and Gabe together, their history and imperfections, hurt and the inexplicable love between them, and oh my god Probably there are a number of scifi tropes and works and mythologies/what not that you could bring up here, too, but many of those I haven't a clue about. What I know is I was endlessly into the sf, the layering, the different narratives, aaaahhh it was just so unbelievably good a time all around.
In summary, I want to buy this book, I want to quote all of this book, and my suckerness for that "relative reality" stuff just got confirmed a million times over.
So many WHOAs and BUTs and even more AAAAAGGHHHHHHs and WTFs and I’M A WHIRLWIND OF EMOTIONS.
I’m not sure about the rating yet, but then again, I HAVE NO CHOICE so maybe I am sure. About 4,5 or 4,75??
Yeah, later!
***
Gathering done. At least for the thoughts part.
It's just, the more I think about this book, the more confused I get :'D Alas, this review is even more confusing than the book it’s about.
Welcome to Forever was A LOT. What a masterpiece. How does a person come up with stuff like this - let alone put it in a neat little package that makes perfect sense when simultaneously it doesn't?? Beats the hell out of me. Initial annoyance aside (or maybe including that, specifically??), the ride was AWESOME.
Despite the brilliance, I had and have some buts and beef, thus the not-a-perfect-5 rating.
* MAJOR SPOILERS *
The ending??? I'm not sure what to think of the coda. I mean,
So yeah, all the uncertainties, the bright and blaring ethical and moral question marks and gray areas??? Issues of personhood? The science/tech/etc.? There was so much dodginess going on I'm really not sure what to think or whose side I'd take (well not the corporation's for sure, but other than that). Hmm hmmmm. But yeah whatever,
The plot and the pieces of the puzzle were revealed in perfect pace and style, and even if at times I felt Fox was holding my hand through it a bit much, I guess it helped with staying onboard with what was happening. Stuff was confusing af, but then not overly so, at least until the end.
The character arcs were so good. The way Fox describes and ponders his love for Gabe - TO. DIE. FOR. To have that, mutually. Gosh. 💔
Many of the side characters felt a bit cardboard-ish. Take Poppy for example, or Gabe's friends, or some of the residents in Field of Reeds. And yeah, the whole thing certainly was exasperating at times (if not all the time), plus there was the endless bickering and sarcasm, needling and self-loathing this way and that, especially in the beginning. But then, it made clear the point, in retrospect, that Fox and Gabe were in a pickle to put it mildly, things were hellishly painful, cue anger and hurt both ways.
In the end, even if the tone was a bit too much for me at times, after a while all I felt about any qualms I might have had was I DON'T FUCKING CARE. Because I CARED about Fox and Gabe. And Minou, and even Levi. And some others. I absolutely loved the story of Fox and Gabe together, their history and imperfections, hurt and the inexplicable love between them, and oh my god Probably there are a number of scifi tropes and works and mythologies/what not that you could bring up here, too, but many of those I haven't a clue about. What I know is I was endlessly into the sf, the layering, the different narratives, aaaahhh it was just so unbelievably good a time all around.
In summary, I want to buy this book, I want to quote all of this book, and my suckerness for that "relative reality" stuff just got confirmed a million times over.
June 28, 2024
this is a hard one to review.
it's complex, surprising, even confusing sometimes (deliberately so), and deals with labyrinthine themes of personality, identity, capitalism, loss, grief, and love. i really enjoyed the overarching story and the characters and the unreliability – how do you trust what you're reading when the narrators and characters are so unreliable, not because it's who they are but because they live in a world where memories can be altered so easily, when the main character has lost his memories and is struggling to regain them in a setting designed to feel suspicious to the reader? i also really liked that most of the characters just weren't all that likeable. i felt for them, yes, but i do enjoy stories where queer people are allowed to be messes, complex and flawed and self-contradictory in a way that doesn't make them less. fox and gabe felt fully realised (even when they, arguably, weren't), and their love even more so, complicated and destructive as it sometimes was, but always, always real.
the ending, however, was a bit of a letdown. it feels like it should've been more fleshed out in some way – as it stands, it just sort of feels cheap. not because of the ambiguity, but because some parts of the book (looking at you, greg) deal so strongly with the capitalistic hellscape they live in, and that part is just fully glossed over at the end. i also would have personally enjoyed a more thorough discussion on the ethics of memory alteration, but oh well.
it's complex, surprising, even confusing sometimes (deliberately so), and deals with labyrinthine themes of personality, identity, capitalism, loss, grief, and love. i really enjoyed the overarching story and the characters and the unreliability – how do you trust what you're reading when the narrators and characters are so unreliable, not because it's who they are but because they live in a world where memories can be altered so easily, when the main character has lost his memories and is struggling to regain them in a setting designed to feel suspicious to the reader? i also really liked that most of the characters just weren't all that likeable. i felt for them, yes, but i do enjoy stories where queer people are allowed to be messes, complex and flawed and self-contradictory in a way that doesn't make them less. fox and gabe felt fully realised (even when they, arguably, weren't), and their love even more so, complicated and destructive as it sometimes was, but always, always real.
the ending, however, was a bit of a letdown. it feels like it should've been more fleshed out in some way – as it stands, it just sort of feels cheap. not because of the ambiguity, but because some parts of the book (looking at you, greg) deal so strongly with the capitalistic hellscape they live in, and that part is just fully glossed over at the end. i also would have personally enjoyed a more thorough discussion on the ethics of memory alteration, but oh well.
did-not-finish
June 21, 2024DNF - page 90 (21%)
This was the June book club pick for my IRL book club but... I'm sorry, I just couldn't do it. I don't think Tavares is the author for me. I wish I could pinpoint why.
I couldn't help but keep thinking I'd much rather rewatch Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and have done with it.
This was the June book club pick for my IRL book club but... I'm sorry, I just couldn't do it. I don't think Tavares is the author for me. I wish I could pinpoint why.
I couldn't help but keep thinking I'd much rather rewatch Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and have done with it.
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