I adored this book from the moment I started reading it. The story is set in the 1980s told through a series of letters that Maude is sending to Tom, the lead singer of her favourite band that she is completely obsessed with. The story then fast forwards to the modern day and the letters start again, only this time, it is by email. Maude doesn’t even know if anyone is reading her correspondence but it just shows that she needed someone to vent to!

The letters are from a teenaged point of view and we see Maude deal with poverty and her father’s abandonment. Her thoughts are often scattered at times but this makes it so much believable that it is the thoughts of a teenage girl! Once the emails start, we see how Maude’s adult life has played out. Within the emails, we can see that Maude is still the same person she was when she was a teenager and I think the author did so well still capturing her quirky personality.

I loved the narrative of this book and I felt that Maude was such a believable character with quick wit. We see life through her eyes and I love her sense of humour when she is discussing the goings on of her life. Although it was a funny read, there were some heart-breaking subjects within the novel but I felt like they were done so well. I feel that the importance of friendship is a huge theme throughout the book as we see Maude, and her friend Sarah, deal with with May obstacles throughout their life.

This book was charming and I loved the ending - it was exactly what I wanted. I give this book 5 stars.

"Preston is so boring, there's just nothing happening. I think even for the grown ups there's not much to see or do, no wonder everyone shouts so much. Its just full of old women eating pies pulling shopping trolleys full of pies. Everyone looks like a pie and smells like a pie."

It's 1981 and Maud Harrison is a teenage girl living in Preston with her dysfunctional parents and elder brother. No one understands Maud so she begins writing to the PO Box of Tom Harding, lead singer of her favourite punk band.

Your Friend Forever is a novel written in letters, and though she never seems to get a response, she uses writing letters as a way to let her emotions out and her deepest thoughts about life. She writes about her parents separation, having no money, best friends and getting your period, perfectly encapsulating the life of a teenage girl worried about her body and burying herself in music and books.

The second part of the book is set in 2011, and after being given his email address by a friend, Maud (now with 2 kids and in an unhappy marriage) contacts Tom Harding and begins emailing him about her current situation in life. Will he ever contact her back, and did he receive her letters all those years ago...?

I absolutely adored this book. It's like Adrian Mole was born a girl and lived in Preston (and this is just as brilliant as the Adrian Mole books). Parts of this were heartbreaking but it was also really funny and I loved Maud so much! The book does a great job of capturing a person's innermost thought processes and how to deal with whatever life throws at you.

I was not prepared for how much I was going to love this book.

13-year-old Maud is writing letters to her rock star idol, Tom. After the first letter, I had no idea how I was going to make it through 400 pages of this. By the end of the second or third, though, I was hooked. These are diary entries masquerading as letters and every thought Maud seems to have is expressed on the page. She is sweet and sincere and it's painfully obvious she feels trapped in her small town and her emotionally unavailable family. She has one friend, Sarah, and is working on making a second. Her letters are a roller coaster of emotions and events and she never shies away from telling the whole truth. Interspersed with interviews from magazines and radio with Tom and his band, part one is fairly one-sided, focusing on Maud.

I refuse to give anything away because the emotional journey through all three parts is incredible. Maud and Tom are incredibly well-written and believable complementary protagonists. Maud's world, seen only through letters, is complex and vivid and the vulnerability she shows writing over and over to a stranger with no reciprocation is telling of how starved for love and affection she truly is in her day-to-day life. And while we only know Tom through the brief interviews and phone records and band meeting minutes that are revealed occasionally between letters, they paint a detailed picture of a misunderstood and lonely artist.

By the time I made it to part three, I found myself tearing up. I would highly recommend this book to anyone ready to go on a serious journey. You will not believe how far it will take you.

This was such a quick read because I really felt like I could see myself in Maud. Told as an epistolary novel, we learn about Maud through her letters to famous heartthrob Tom Harding. Who among us didn't dream that the boy on the posters would come to life and listen to our hopes, dreams, desires, and love us as well. The charm in this book is that we don't stop at still youthful dreams, we grow as Maud does, and we again see Maud reaching out to Tom to discuss how her life actually turned out.

5/5 Stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Unbound for providing me with an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

YOUR FRIEND FOREVER was an absolutely magnificent read and the most original book I have read this year. This charming, heartbreaking, hilarious epistolic novel has a unique protagonist in 13-year-old Maud who shares her life through letters to her favorite musician, who may or may not ever receive them. We meet Maud both as a child and an adult and also follow Tom Harding, the lead singer of Horsefly as his career ebbs and flows. I started this novel one evening before dinner and dinner fell by the wayside as I continued reading until I fell asleep hours later. I finished the book immediately upon waking the next morning - it was that good!

Ohmygoodness I just loved this. The early letters Maud sends to her pop star hero Tom are just adorable, from matter of fact family life, to frankness of women's bodies, to real laugh out loud moments involving cottage cheese, £12, a donkey and many more.
A great twist half way through and the second half sees a grown up Maud, with adult dilemmas, more clued up on sex and relationships, and still with her love for Tom.
This made me laugh but I also wanted to hold her tight at times. Definitely relatable to me with the scatty thought processes but ultimately she's adorable.
Great plot. I thought I might get bored of the letter form after the first few but I really didn't, in fact I wanted more.
Very clever, witty, fun and frank. Still not afraid to tackle some dark issues in the light.

What a lovely surprise.

It's 1981. Maud is 13 years old. She lives at home with her parents and her brother Simon. Her best friend is Sarah and she loves the band, Horsefly, especially the lead singer, Tom. Maud writes Tom fan mail, but then Maud continues to write to Tome, with stories of her life. She sends poems. She talks through her parents divorce, poverty, her hopes, her dreams, and more. Tom never replies, however, he does reach out to Maud once.

Then, it's 2011. Maud is now a married woman and mother. Sarah is still her best friend. Sarah, always resourceful, manages to get Tom's email address. Maud, bored in her life, decides to write to Tom again. She talks of her children and her husband. Her dissatisfaction with work and her desire to get back into poetry. Tom reaches out again and...life changes.

I loved everything about this. This is told in letters, phone calls, and texts. Maud is so open and honest and Tom, he tries. Part of me recognized myself in Maud. Around 1987, I wrote a fan letter to Joey McIntyre of the New Kids on the Block - and while I received a standard issue return letter, I can only dream of sending him all of my hopes and dreams at that age.

This is an excellent story and one that is so special. Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Zena Barrie gives us a delightful, sweet, funny, sad, character. Your Friend Forever will touch your heart.

I received an advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review

This is a lot of British observational humor in the form of an epistolary novel.

How that sentence lands with you is pretty much how to determine if you should grab this one.

Maud is a 13-year-old in 1981 writing letter after letter to her favorite singer, describing her life and asking him questions. She was so endearing and charming and weird. I just loved this from the first page. It was kind of heartbreaking all the things Maud had to deal with, between poverty and her father's abandonment, yet I also cannot remember when I have laughed so hard at any book as I did at Maud's letter to Prince Phillip. I really could not have loved this book more. The ending was perfect too. 5 stars.