ARC: One Moment

One Moment by Kristina McBride



Release Date:  June 26, 2012
Publisher:  EgmontUSA
Received from publisher via NetGalley in exchange for honest review.

This was supposed to be the best summer of Maggie’s life. Now it’s the one she’d do anything to forget.

Maggie Reynolds remembers hanging out at the gorge with her closest friends after a blowout party the night before. She remembers climbing the trail hand in hand with her perfect boyfriend, Joey. She remembers that last kiss, soft, lingering, and meant to reassure her. So why can’t she remember what happened in the moment before they were supposed to dive? Why was she left cowering at the top of the cliff, while Joey floated in the water below—dead?

As Maggie’s memories return in snatches, nothing seems to make sense. Why was Joey acting so strangely at the party? Where did he go after taking her home? And if Joey was keeping these secrets, what else was he hiding?

The latest novel from the author of The Tension of Opposites, One Moment is a mysterious, searing look at how an instant can change everything you believe about the world around you.

***************************

It's Memorial Day weekend and Maggie, Joey, Pete, Shannon, Tanna and Adam are spending the day at the gorge.  Maggie and Joey are getting ready to jump from the cliff, but in the moment just before they jump something happens.  Moments later Maggie is at the top confused, and Joey is at the bottom dead.  Maggie can't remember anything.  As she and her friends try to cope with the loss of Joey, each in their own way, Maggie struggles to remember the details that are so crucial to understanding what happened.  As bits and pieces start to return to her she begins to think that maybe she made herself forget because the truth is too difficult to bear.

This book was absolutely amazing.  It's undeniably sad, but at it's core it's the story of the strength of friendship during one of the worst situations a teenager can go through.  The bond between these six friends started as far back as Kindergarten, and now they are upcoming Seniors.  They do everything together; their lives completely intertwined.  Maggie and Joey went from friends to dating almost two years ago.  When he dies it shatters her whole world.  As her memories start to return to her she starts to understand that sometimes you don't really know the people you love the most, and that some bonds aren't as strong as you think they are.

Kristina McBride did a great job of making me feel like I was there in the story.  You can feel the pain that these friends feel as they deal with Joey's death.  As they remember all the good times with him I cried with them.  You can feel the heartbreak as Maggie begins to learn the truth, and my heart broke for her.  And you can feel that part of yourself that is so emotional from this story begin to heal as each of the friends begins to find their way through the darkness.  This is an intense read, but well worth the emotions.  The only negative thing I can possibly say is that I would have liked an epilogue.  I would really like to know where they are a year later.

5 Stars * * * * *