Book Review: Until Friday Night by Abbi Glines

Until Friday Night (The Field Party #1)

By Abbi Glines

Release Date: August 25, 2015

Source: Book Outlet

Goodreads

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… 

This book has been on my shelf for a while now and I have no idea why it took me so long to read it! This cover just screams YA contemporary and since I love Abbi Glines, I knew that I had to read it. 

West Ashby is seen as the golden boy, someone who will help their football team win games and lead them to the state championship. But no one knows what West is really going through at home and the pain he feels as he sees his dad deteriorating day after day. No one but Maggie Carleton. Two years ago, Maggie watched her father murder her mother and has not spoken since. Now, she's moved in with her Aunt and is attending a new high school with her football jock cousin. West feels his pain taking over his mind and needs someone to talk to. From the moment he meets Maggie, he knows she can understand everything consuming him and feels relief when he speaks to her. What West didn't expect, though, was for Maggie to confide in him as well and to develop feelings for a girl just as broken as he is. 

Oh my gosh, I had no idea how emotional this book would be. I had no idea what it was going to be about going into this one, so I had no idea how broken and in pain our main characters would be. It was so hard watching both West and Maggie hurt, but that made it that much sweeter when they found solace in each other. I wasn't the biggest fan of how they met, but their relationship quickly took a deeper turn and they began to really depend on one another emotionally. 

Aside from our main couple, what really made this book amazing was all of the side characters. I loved how protective Maggie's cousin was of her, but I also loved how his friends and fellow football players accepted her for who she was. Maggie grew closer to both West and his friends and I really enjoyed watching her really figure out who she was and how she was going to live with everything she had gone through. 

I am so happy that I finally picked this book up and was able to go on the emotional roller coaster of this story. I already have book two on my shelves and can't wait to pick that one up soon and get back into the world of these characters!