Until Friday Night by Abbi Glines

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Title: Until Friday Night
Author: Abbi Glines
Series: The Field Party #1
Published by: Simon Pulse
Release Date: August 25th 2015
Format: Kindle Book
Pages: 337
Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Sports Romance, Young Adult
Reading Challenges: Lenoreo's 2018 Beat the Backlist Challenge
Find it: Goodreads ✩ Amazon ✩ B&N ✩ Google ✩ Kobo ✩ iBooks ✩ IndieBound
My rating:

Blurb:

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…

My Review:

4.5 stars — I don’t know what it was about this book, but it was just a Lenore book, you know?  Like apparently it had all the right combination of things to just be perfect for this particular reader.  It’s funny how that happens eh?  Especially because it can be so hard to articulate what those things are…you just know when a book hits you right *there*.  And that’s what this book did.  I was pretty sure it was going to be a hit for me just reading the blurb, but I was so relieved (especially since I was in a slump) to discover that the book lived up to my expectations (and maybe even surpassed them).

It’s funny, because that doesn’t mean that the book was perfect.  Or that the characters were perfect.  And honestly, there were elements of West’s character in particular, that in another book would have bugged the crap out of me.  So why did he get a pass?  I honestly don’t know.  Or rather, he didn’t completely, but I believed in his potential, and I bought his growth (even if it seemed a bit quick at the end — that probably accounts for the loss of the half star).

West was…so damaged.  And dealing with something HUGE in a really detrimental way.  And it was bringing out all his worst qualities.  My heart hurt for how he saw himself, and how he just automatically assumed he couldn’t be a better person…couldn’t be stronger.  I think when faced with life’s adversities, it’s initially hard to believe that you can make it through.  Maybe it’s that I related so strongly to him and what he was going through, as I also lost my father when I was in high school to the big C.  Not everyone can understand what it’s like to have to go to school everyday while worrying about a loved one at home.  I thought Ms. Glines did a fabulous job showing his helplessness, and anger, and despair.  Maybe that’s why I gave him a pass for being purposely callous to Maggie, and detached from his friends?  I’m not sure.  But despite his major flaws, I still genuinely LIKED West.  He made bad decisions, but he at least struggled with that, and knew he was making the wrong ones.

Maggie had my heart right from the start.  She was such a damaged soul as well, but you felt her strength.  I loved seeing her work through her emotions as they related to her rapidly growing feelings for West, and her confusion over how to deal with that.  I loved how helping him helped *her*.  I can’t imagine facing the choice of staying friends with West and risk getting hurt, or break it off to protect herself.

I loved their connection as well.  I just…they had such a strange and interesting path.  But I was with them every step of the way.  It was kind of different than most romances, as we got to see them move forward and deal with new stumbling blocks, and then move forward again.  I will admit I was getting concerned about them, but then Ms. Glines surprised me by addressing those concerns.  It made me appreciate these two characters more, b/c it can be hard to see and do what’s right.  I still feel like their attachment could be a bit co-dependent, but I’m willing to live with it considering how their bond developed.

The secondary cast was really intriguing as well!  I adored both sets of “parents” in this book…West’s parents made my heart both full and broken for them.  And I was so happy that Maggie had her Aunt and Uncle in her life…they were the right amount of caring and involved without being smothering.  Brady was interesting in his own right.  I didn’t always understand his damage, but I appreciated the good he did in Maggie’s life.  And the other boys were kind of awesome too.  I can’t wait to read their books.  Honestly, my only other gripe would be about the stereotypical mean girls.  There was no depth there, and I was a bit bummed by that.

So yeah.  Total hit.  Totally got me out of my slump.  I was surprised I didn’t bawl, but instead slowly cried quite a few times throughout.  It might not be for everyone, but it definitely worked for this reader.  YAY!!