Recently I have read two books that have given me a gut punch for all the right and wrong reasons. Forevr (yes, that is how it is spelled) by Brian Brown, is one of them.
After reading Brown’s book I said to myself: DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANG (but I didn’t say Dang)! What the heck was that? I think I needed to take a dramamine pill before reading. I mean how do you process a thoughtful, dark, a bit sad, a bit too could happen, semi-humours ride through that? I mean, sure life and death are not easy subjects, and I was ready to tackle that, but geeez Brian! Give a girl a warning.
The idea that you don’t have to die (as long as someone foots the monthly bill) is not new, but the way it is presented is fresh. When you prepare for the final outcome, you can buy a package along with a coffin that takes your DNA and downloads it into an AI like person on the screen. Are these real people? Do they have rights? Are they really our lost loved ones or just a really bad scheme to fraud people out of their hard earned money while they are at their most vulnerable. 
That’s up to you and the end of the book, but in the middle a story happens and we meet a family dealing with these issues. The thing that probably made me more upset than anything is I believed this. I could see it happening as this is not a new idea, like I said. I’ve seen several mystery/adventure shows on TV dealing with exactly this. So I am biased against the idea of being sent to the Downloading World, but there was a lot to digest.
First I’ll mention that the illustrations are odd with a realistic minimalism abstractness. I would call them Literary. You like or don’t like them, but I felt they set the tone and let you know what you need to know. Some triggers include violence, death of a parent, bullying, drug use, gun use and language. Others are included, but as the story is overall very mature, just be aware that things are happening, they are not Happy Happy Joy Joy and proceed with that knowledge.
Read via an online reader copy, due early September 2026
