Review: Until Friday Night by Abbi Glines

Until Friday Night by Abbi Glines

Published: August 25th 2015 by Simon & Schuster Ltd

Number of Pages: 328 Pages (Paperback)

Series: Yes, #1 in The Field Party Series

   To everyone who knows him, West Ashby has always been that guy: the cocky, popular, too-handsome-for-his-own-good football god. But on the inside he's grief-stricken - his father is dying and he hasn't told anyone because he can't face the truth. Now, as his pain grows unbearable, West finally decides he needs to talk to someone about his dad. So in the dark shadows of a party, he tells the one girl who doesn't speak everything he can't tell anyone else. West expected to feel relief, a flood of emotions - but what he didn't expect was for Maggie Carleton to reply. For her to reveal a pain even deeper than his own. And, for them to form a connection so strong that he couldn't ever let her go. (goodreads.com)

   Until Friday Night is one of those books that takes a seemingly ordinary contemporary plot and mixes it with all sorts of emotions and unexpected stories told by characters marked by life and tragedies. It has a really well mixed blend of funny, emotionally wrecking, and meaningful that I definitely enjoyed a lot.

   As someone with a knack for hard topic novels I, inevitably, had to find my way to this book, especially because I heard a lot of good things about it. This book follows two characters, a boy and a girl named West and Maggie. Both are either facing incredible grief or have already gone through it, and is following their story, how they find their way to each other and help each other, it's really nice. The author dealt with grief and loss quite well, portraying it for what it is: something that changes you, the way you think of life, and shifts your priorities around.

   I really liked Maggie and West. Maggie was an interesting protagonist that consciously decided not to speak anymore as her way of coping with what happened to her mother. Watching her open up and take care of West was really nice, though I really wished that she'd stood up for herself a little sooner.

   West was a character marked by the secret he is hiding from his friends, the fact that his father is dying of cancer and the fact that he isn't sure if he will be able to cope once he will inevitably pass away. His fears and grieving were well executed, and the relationship he formed with Maggie was cute and interesting, though toward the last third of the book his gigantic need of marking his territory in terms of Maggie really did start to get on my nerves. Sometimes I really wonder why so many male characters show this possessiveness in YA, and why some people seem to think that that's cute or sexy.

   I really liked Abbi Glines' writing style and the two voices that she gave her characters. Most of the time you could really distinguish them very well, which is always very favorable when it comes to books written from two POVs.

   All in all, Until Friday Night is a really good contemporary story that made me laugh and cry more then once, that had its flaws but overall was well done and worth reading. If you're in the mood for a book that mixes cute and tears inducing, then this might be for you.

   I give Until Friday Night by Abbi Glines 4 out of 5 stars.