e-ALC, 09:50:47
Narrated by: Lance Rubin, Katie Schorr, & Dustin Rubin
Release Date: January 6, 2026
Published by: HarperCollins
Read from: January 20-21, 2026
Stand-alone
Source: Netgalley (I received this ALC free from the publisher and Netgalley. This did nothing to influence my review!)
Content Warning:
For Readers Interested In: Contemporary, Audio, Sparkly Covers, Science Fiction, Terminal/Chronic Condition, Time Travel, YA, Unconventional TimelineIt’s the morning of Carter Cohen’s 16th birthday, and everything’s going his way.
He’s psyched and ready to get his driver’s license, his little brother’s not hogging the bathroom, and, man, something smells good for breakfast…
But when Carter bounds downstairs, Mom bursts into tears. It happened again. It’s Carter’s 16th birthday—for the sixth time. Every time he’s supposed to turn 17, he loops back a year. His memory gets wiped clean, his body ages backward—the rest of the world moves on, just not him.
Maggie Spear, on the other hand, has been dreading this day ever since she and Carter started dating. When she spies him in the halls and he doesn’t seem to know her at all, it’s obvious that it’s over between them. She can’t be in a relationship with someone who is just going to forget her again and again. Since Carter doesn’t remember that they’re together, then it’s probably better if she just pretends that they never were.
Except Carter senses that there’s more to their story than Maggie’s letting on, and Maggie’s keeping secrets of her own—but in the process of trying to let the other go, they find themselves falling in love all over again.
With Maggie soon leaving for college and Carter’s birthday quickly coming around again, will they be able to find a forever that isn’t stuck at 16?
Filled with tender moments, silly banter, and lots of teenage angst, 16 Forever is the latest YA page-turner from New York Times bestselling, award-winning author Lance Rubin.
*MY THOUGHTS*
This wasn’t something that I would have normally picked up. I don’t usually do time travel because the loops and the same things happening over and over usually does me in. But this one was a little different, but I couldn’t put my hand on why. It wasn’t until I started reading that I realized what it was.
Ok so the weird thing about this was the way it was written? The only person effected by the time loop is Carter. He just keeps being 16 every year and he doesn’t remember anything from the previous year. Everyone else is still aging, still going about their own lives, and everything. They all have a role somewhere and even he was keeping secrets for himself. This was the first book I’ve read that was told this way. I think if there were more time travel books like this I’d read them and like them more lol This way there was no repeating (well besides his 16th year lol) and it didn’t get old to me. (No pun intended lol) It actually worked better than any other type of time travel if I’m being honest. And I found it so weird that everyone blamed themself for what happened to him and they all were also trying to find a cure for it as well.
But that also brings me to the bad thing about this. The love interest isn’t one that I would have chosen for this character. Yes he should have been a couple years older than her, but with time repeating they ended up the same age. But my issue was was the way she used his sickness (for lack of a better word) to get with him. He couldn’t remember and everyone but him knew that. But she told him some things that weren’t true and then things went from there. I didn’t like that. And then she had to do all that lying. Ain’t no way she didn’t know that that was going to blow up in her face. It was disappointing.
Lastly, I hate to say it like this, but I hated the ending. They don’t say how it happens. It just did. You can tell its going to because he’s made his peace with everyone, but that still doesn’t mean anything. Why not show us instead of tell us. it’s only 368 pages. You could have given us another 10 or so with the explanation. Idk it just seemed weird af not to give the information on it after I’ve listened to almost 10 hours of a book.
Even with its faults, this was a fun little read. I found myself flying through it and writing so many notes in all caps lol I thought it was ok for my first Rubin book. I’ll still double back to try another one.
Overall, I give this,
