Title: Until Friday Night (The Field Party #1)
Author: Abbi Glines
Genre: YA Contemporary
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Published: August 25th 2015
Page Number: 320
Rating: 4.5/5
Summary:
To everyone who knows him, West Ashby has always been that guy: the cocky, popular, way-too-handsome-for-his-own-good football god who led Lawton High to the state championships. But while West may be Big Man on Campus on the outside, on the inside he’s battling the grief that comes with watching his father slowly die of cancer.
Two years ago, Maggie Carleton’s life fell apart when her father murdered her mother. And after she told the police what happened, she stopped speaking and hasn’t spoken since. Even the move to Lawton, Alabama, couldn’t draw Maggie back out. So she stayed quiet, keeping her sorrow and her fractured heart hidden away.
As West’s pain becomes too much to handle, he knows he needs to talk to someone about his father—so in the dark shadows of a post-game party, he opens up to the one girl who he knows won’t tell anyone else.
West expected that talking about his dad would bring some relief, or at least a flood of emotions he couldn’t control. But he never expected the quiet new girl to reply, to reveal a pain even deeper than his own—or for them to form a connection so strong that he couldn’t ever let her go…
REVIEW
Some people may think I am biased because lately I've been reading Abbi Glines's books like they're chocolate, but that is nowhere near the case. I've only been reading her steamy New Adult books, so I was slightly nervous that her YA books wasn't going to be as good. But I was so wrong.
Until Friday Night is easily one of the most realistic YA Contemporary books I've ever read. The characters were incredibly relatable, yet still going through their own terrors in life. Anyone who has ever lost a loved one will completely relate to West and the pain he is going through. He's got no one to rely on because his mother is going through the exact same thing, his friends don't know and I know from past experiences that keeping secrets becomes impossible until you have to tell someone before you crack.
I've never experienced anything like Maggie has and I've certainly not stopped speaking (I can talk for Wales, apparently. I think it's a Welsh thing; we're all chatter box's.) however, that didn't refrain me from connecting to her. She has her fears, but I saw so much of my former self in Maggie. She's quiet, loyal, compassionate and selfless. She cares about everyone else rather than herself, because at least she hasn't got to confront what she's going through.
West and Maggie's relationship did confuse me a little. Their chemistry was...off the scales. Like in any Abbi Glines book, but Abbi really did something that I've not seen in any YA or NA book; she called out the guy being possessive. And I'm so happy that Maggie's character did that because I think it's something that needs to be done. You're meant to love her, not own her. She's not a trophy you can keep on the mantelpiece of your living room, she's a human being with feelings.
This is definitely one of my favourite Abbi Glines book and I'm super excited to see what's going to happen in Book 2 (It follows Maggie's cousin, Brady.) I love these small town romances too much. I may need to go to rehab.
A finished copy was provided by the publishers for a honest review
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