From Goodreads: "On a hot summer night, a screech of brakes and shattering glass changes two lives forever. Liv wakes in the hospital, confused when they call her Morgan. She assumes it’s a case of mistaken identity, yet when the bandages come off, it’s not her face in the mirror anymore. It’s her best friend Morgan’s. Morgan always seemed to have the perfect life, yet Liv must navigate endlessly disturbing secrets of the criminal and murderous variety—and a romance that feels like a betrayal. Torn between the boy she loved as Liv and the boy she’s grown to love as Morgan, Liv still has to survive Morgan’s last request."

Thank you to Tor Teen and Rockstar Book Tours for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for review! All opinions are my own.

Well, this book took me by absolute surprise! I've never read a book by Ann Aguirre before (although that is now going to change because I need to read all of her books) but this was such a great introduction to her writing! I wasn't expecting to love this book as much as I did, but here I am, attached to it and loving it and wanting to share it with the world.

Plot:
This book was filled with several different genres like contemporary, mystery, and thriller, with a dash of supernatural/paranormal thrown in there. You would think that with so many things going on that the plot would become muddled and confusing but it actually really helped with explaining what goes on! Liv has somehow woken up in Morgan's body and realizes that this has happened for a reason and that she has something she has to help Morgan complete. I won't go into any more detail about it because it's a big part of the story, but I just could not get over how much I enjoyed that the plot was so much deeper than the synopsis leads you to believe it is. There are multiple things happening within the overall plot of the story and it provides so much character background and development and shows how Liv basically adjusts to life as Morgan. She learns a lot about her best friend and discovers that she's not the girl that Liv thought she was and that her life was much darker and more twisted than she could have imagined. Like I said, there are a lot of genres mixed in to Like Never and Always and it just all comes together to form this amazing story that I had no idea I would love this much. Just when you think you know what happened, something comes along and twists everything around and leaves you stunned! This is definitely the kind of book I've been looking for and I can't wait to read more of Ann Aguirre's work!

Characters:
I can definitely say that I've never read a book like this before. It was so interesting getting to read about Liv being inside Morgan's body somehow and watching how she slowly changed from just Liv to more of a combination of both girls. As the book progressed, you could see how Liv seemed to be almost fading away and more of Morgan's thoughts and memories coming to light. There was definitely a ton of character development that you could almost see happening as the book progressed and it was amazing. Liv slowly starts to accept that she's now Morgan and has to live her life as Morgan but she still has parts of herself and her personality that show through. But she goes from being terrified and not wanting this to be real to accepting it and moving forward to do what she feels she was brought back to do. It was so wonderful to see such development in her and watching her become strong. She definitely also had her moments of weakness and it was refreshing to see a character that wasn't perfect all the time, but rather had her flaws and weaknesses and wasn't afraid to let them show. She wasn't quite Liv, and not quite Morgan either, but a combination of both girls and an entirely new person. I just adore her and was so in love with watching her story unfold and reading about her adapting to her new life.

Also, I just quickly wanted to say that I loved Clay and he is probably one of my favorite secondary/supporting characters ever.

Writing:
Flat out, I loved the writing in Like Never and Always. One of my favorite parts about it was how you see Liv and Morgan becoming one person as the story progresses. Liv goes from referring to Morgan as 'her' and changes to 'I'. It was so subtle at first that I almost didn't notice the changes but once I did, it was actually really cool. You could see the blending of the two girls personalities/consciousness and it was like they were no longer just Liv or just Morgan, but a combination of both girls. And it wasn't a clunky change or anything like that, just a smooth transition in the way that she would refer to herself. There was also this creepy feeling that resided on every page while you're following along on Liv's journey to find out what happened. This was definitely a case of the plot unfolding incredibly smooth and at a wonderful pace that never felt rushed or too slow, and that was definitely due to the writing being so fantastic. It was detailed and mysterious and just made the reading experience so much more enjoyable.

Like Never and Always is a compelling and thrilling read from start to finish. With a mixture of several genres, wonderful character development, and a plot twist that will leave you questioning everything you've just read, this is definitely the perfect Summer thriller that you don't want to miss!

Ann Aguirre is a New York Times & USA Today bestselling author with a degree in English Literature; before she began writing full time, she was a clown, a clerk, a voice actress, and a savior of stray kittens, not necessarily in that order. She grew up in a yellow house across from a cornfield, but now she lives in sunny Mexico with her husband, children, and various pets. She likes books, emo music, and action movies. She writes all kinds of genre fiction for adults and teens.

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