Aching and tender ... Halperin’s radiant second novel walks the fine line between the longing for couplehood and the torture of codependency ... Halperin writes from a millennial point of view, probing themes of social anxiety and intense trepidation about the future. But Halperin’s take on love sets her apart: As misguided as Leah’s feelings for Charlie may seem, they are pure and hopeful — about as untainted by cynicism as it is possible to be.
Compelling ... Convincing ... It’s a credit to Halperin’s craft that despite the plot’s true-to-life repetitiveness, the reader is mesmerized by Leah’s stubborn refusal to recognize Charlie’s demons, or her own ... A wrenching story that’s been lived and told before. Halperin does us a service by sharing her version of it, entertaining, warning and educating us with her all-too-accurate novel.
Perhaps it is left up to readers whether they will be interested in the secondary storyline in the novel: the ins and outs of graduate students in a writing program, the stories they write for class, and how they all vie to impress a curt well-known literary agent who pays them a visit. This is Leah’s other world, the one she should be grounded in and focused on. At times, Halperin’s I Could Live Here Forever loses tension and immediacy in Leah’s day-to-day life at the university. While Leah’s self-destructive relationship with Charlie is the dark heart of the narrative, it is Leah’s gradual self-discovery of her own worth that breathes like a fresh new life. This, in the end, is a relationship well worth reading about.
Halperin tells a story that is heavily character-driven. Little happens, but the novel is staggering in places. The characters are real and vulnerable, and Halperin is clearly at home in this genre ... Many readers will feel they can identify with this portrait of self-discovery, messy emotions, and challenging relationships. Fans of Halperin’s first novel will also enjoy this offering.
Halperin humanizes the tragedy of drug addiction through Charlie, who is sweet and kind and loving and also irreparably damaged ... Wistful, honest, and heartbreaking.
Halperin makes the most of the overly familiar subject matter; the 'buzzing electric hum' between the couple feels vital, as does the pull of exasperating and enchanting Charlie on Leah. By the end, even the most grizzled reader might turn into a hopeless romantic.
