Until Friday Night

I didn’t enjoy this book. At all. I don't know why I kept reading but I did.

I inherited this book from my old roommate and picked it up to read because it made me think of the best show of all time (irrefutable, sorry) Friday Night Lights (this was 100% purposeful on the publisher's part) and figured it could be a cute read. Oh boy. Oh boy, how wrong I was.

By page 20 I was hate reading this thing and if it wasn’t for the fact that I’ve never quit a book in my life I would have put this down permanently by page 100.

The male protagonist, West (one of the many dumb names in this book) is a steaming pile of possessive garbage who treats all the women around him like they walking orgasm dispensaries. Of course, his female peers show more (except our lead of course) are trashy, bitchy, worthless whores (YOU’RE THE ONE PUTTING YOUR DICK IN ANYTHING THAT MOVES ASHBY!). It also shocked me that despite telling us Maggie’s father was verbally and physically abusive to her mother, Glines writes the male love interest to exhibit similar qualities. And just when you think the female lead is getting it, was this actually a statement about unhealthy relationships all along!? No. Everything is solved with an I love you, and West is cured. Heck, if this wasn’t a cheesy love story their first kiss would be considered sexual harassment.

Maggie, our female protag, is damaged, beautiful (not just regular beautiful but EVERY MALE IN THIS HIGH SCHOOL WILL HIT ON HER DAMMIT! beautiful), and suffering from the severest case of special snowflake syndrome I’ve ever witnessed. We spend a great deal of time inside Maggie’s head in this book but 328 pages later I still feel like I don’t know who she is. She's a bland cardboard cut out and despite certain phrases being repeated again and again ("not talking is how I survived" What does that meaannn?) I don't fully understand her motivations.

Now I understand that it may seem callous to rag on two characters who were dealing with such grief and heartbreak but I never felt that Glines went deep enough with this aspect of the story for me to really sympathize with them. The death of West's father was so dramatically brushed over it made the previous chapters feel disingenuous.

In the end, I left this novel feeling angry. I am past the YA stage so maybe I just don't "get it" but it angers me that this is what YA are being exposed to. The love story in this book is unhealthy, damaging, and at times borderline abusive and I hate that young woman are reading this and believing it to be normal romantic behavior.

Oh well, I've whined enough. On to the next one. show less

OK, first to establish a baseline I'm a pretty easy to please sort of reader. In fact I often get super eye-rollingly annoyed at popular reviewers who like negative reviews like 95% of the time. That's not book loving it's once in a full blue moon of September on an even numbered year book liking. That being said... THIS BOOK WAS HORRIBLE!! It's not often that I voluntarily DNF a book. Do I have a great many books that might are currently on reading hiatus part way through? Yes. Books I set aside with NO intention of ever re-opening? Rarely. I honestly am at a complete and total loss as to how thousands of people gave this book a 4-star rating. Oh, Until Friday Night how do I cringe at thee let me count the ways.

1.The melodramatically show more cheesy style of the author's writing is mind grating. She somehow actually makes a story based around murdered and cancer-ridden parent's of teenagers feel shallow as hell.

2. Girl sees Dad kill Mom. Girl testifies against father but then stops speaking all together to anyone for two entire years because she just can't bear the sound of her voice or some crap. This might sound like a cold assessment but don't you worry it's not like this girl stops speaking due to serious mental health complications resulting from her traumatic experience. It's not even communicating with others that is her problem she literally just won't speak (by choice) but if you are willing to bend to her irrational whims she will right her thoughts out long hand, paragraphs at a time which you can then invest more time reading.

3. No speaking for years is cray . Except for this chick, she's not mentally unsound. No sir, inside her mind everything is working a-ok, better than ok. In fact she and the book's "hero" (term loosely used) are the two most self-aware teenagers on the planet. They are have complete psychological understanding of not just their own thoughts and behaviors (not that they use this awareness to actually behave properly.) They also have complete and total insight into each other's minds. I mean like supernatural psychic levels of insight. Which would be fine accept this book is suppose to be realistic fiction and the characters are intended to be neither psychic or supernatural in any way.

3.the main character is a selfish bitch but we are suppose to ignore that because her inner dialogue always justifies her bad behavior with "good intentions." As we all know justifications and excuses are all that matters in real life so ignore Maggie's (the girl) actual actions and just accept that she is this gorgeous but innately kind and good, damaged angel who is just so so strong. An angel who refuses to speak to anyone for 2 fucking years. This includes her very kind loving extended family who take her in feed her, shelter her, pay for her phone, and 100% coddle her and do everything they can to love and protect her. But then.... enter complete and total dickhead (who just happens to be a super popular star football player) and poof she's up and talking to him within a matter of days. Not for superficial reasons of course but because he loves his mama (yeah, in Ms. Gline's world unlike the real world guys can't love there mother's and still be an asshole. Maggie straight up declares this as fact multiple times in the book.) Also, she can just see the the hurt and anguish in his eyes and just knows that he's acting out. So anyway she's now up and talking but only to West (the fake hero) and she's deceptive about it to because she still doesn't want to bother with having to speak to those pesky relatives of her. Who cares if they are constantly worried as shit over her. Oh yeah she's also treats this other decent guy who clearly likes her and was kind to her in spite of her voluntary muteness and when no one else bothered trying to be her friend but we're suppose to accept that as a kind thing because she was just obeying her cousins wishes to do what he orders. (Cousin is nice and loving in an overbearing controlling sort of way. Most of the people in this books locale are not good for each others emotional well being.)

4. West - this dude is a total d-bag. He's just an asshole. Sure he loves his mom and dad but most people do even when their parents suck. it so happens that West's parents are super good, super loving, all around good parents. So the fact that he loves his parents simply shows that he's not a total sociopath which is hardly cause for applause and adoration. Also his Dad is dying of cancer which of course is sad but isn't doesn't excuse his behavior especially since we are given every indication that his behavior pre-dated his father's illness and not that he is acting out as a result. What all I know about are main character by the time I finally gave up any hope for this story. a.his lifelong best friend clearly states that his newly arrived mute cousin is off limits to his man-slut jock friends. So what is literally the very first think he does upon being within arms reach of Miss Maggie? He kisses her as an act of anger and without any indication that she wants him to. That's totally fine because she liked it so we can ignore the fact that he used sexual activity, however mild, in anger specifically because he thought it would upset her. Oh have I mentioned that this kissing also went down while he had a girlfriend but again that's ok because he always treats her like shit and he doesn't actually care about her, he just likes how she looks naked. Also we can accept his assholeness toward the girl he's been dating for a year (that's significantly long when you're only 17) because she doesn't love him. I mean she says she loves him but she's lying because he just knows and obviously being the psychic that he is he can just determine what is truly going through another persons mind.

Then I just couldn't take anymore of this book. It was just so much badness. Over wrought with freaking badness. That's all folks.

Jess signing show less

From like, page 4, I couldn't put this book down. Having seen a lot of traumatic things in my life, like Maggie, and always managing to seek out those who need fixing, like West, made it really easy to relate to these characters. Maggie copes with her trauma by keeping to herself until she sees that West needs help from someone who can relate - there was a point last year where I had decided to do this, though not as extremely as becoming mute. The emotion and evolution of each character's self-reflection in relation to each other is so achingly real - something I know might be hard to believe, but I say this because it matches the timeline I've experienced. I wish this was something I had read 3 months ago because even though this is a show more YA novel I found a lot of insightful moments that taught me a lot about myself and other people who have experienced bad pain. Abbi Glines does such a fantastic job painting a picture and making it come to life by using dual POV - something I hated until now I think I have read every Abbi Glines book to date and actually finished all three in this series in one weekend reviews of book 2 and 3 to follow. show less

This is the first book that I've ever read by Abbi Glines, and it is probably going to be my last.

The premise was incredibly intriguing to me. West Ashby is slowly losing his father to advanced colon cancer, although no one outside of his family knows it. He's trying to keep it all together as he loses his idol. Maggie, the new girl at school, has been mute since watching her father kill her mother in front of her two years ago. She's still hurting and hasn't received what she needs to get past the trauma. Maggie and West gravitate toward one another.

Sounds good, right? Yeah, except it wasn't.

In West and Maggie's first "interaction" with one another (which is very one-sided, as Maggie is not speaking), West is a total jerk to her and show more ends up kissing her. Even though he has been told by Maggie's cousin, Brady, that Maggie is "off" and not mentally well. But, hey, West can see in Maggie's eyes that she's not, so it's okay? How about no. And the reason he's kissing her is because he's angry and upset and he wants to hurt Maggie. Oooh, how romantic.

But hey, West was raised better than this. He keeps saying that. He doesn't really demonstrate it, but he keeps saying it, sooo...we're supposed to believe that.

The girls in this book are just horribly, horribly written. Maggie is completely virginal (that kiss with West was her first kiss even) and good. All of the other girls in the book either fall into two categories: 1) mean sluts because they have sex (*gasp!*) or 2) background foils to show just how beautiful and sweet and virginal Maggie is.

I hate this.

The boys are allowed to enjoy sex. Hell, West sleeps with at least two different girls in a month. And there is nothing wrong with that. Sex is fun. But as soon as a girl likes to have sex, she's tarred with the slut brush. Nope. Nope nope nope. And not only are they sluts, but they're mean sluts. The girls West is involved with take delight in hurting sweet, innocent Maggie at every opportunity.

Maggie doesn't have one single female friend in this entire book, and I find that incredibly disturbing.

Know what else I find disturbing? Maggie is repeating her mother's bad choices.

Maggie's father was abusive to Maggie's mother, often in front of Maggie. Ultimately, he killed her. And instead of Maggie being "I am so not going to go down that road," she gets involved with a boy who treats girls like they're throwaway paper. He treats Maggie badly, and then flips on a switch and becomes obsessed with her and making her his. He threatens others, including his own friends, who show any interest in Maggie. He isolates her and gets jealous when Maggie starts talking to other people, because that means that she's not just talking to only him. This is not a healthy relationship. Even Maggie briefly realizes this and breaks up with West, but all West has to do is say that he loves her and all is forgiven and forgotten.

Know what else I find disturbing? Maggie's trauma plays second fiddle to West's. She is a source of comfort, but he does very little to do anything to help her with her own obvious trauma. Yes, I realize that West's father is actively dying in the book, while Maggie's mother was murdered two years ago. But the girl has been mute for two years. Obviously she is still suffering, and badly. But West is just content to take and take and take without giving anything back. Eventually he realizes this, but it's too little too late. He obviously values his own feelings over the girl he supposedly loves.

And even though girls are portrayed badly here, the boys are portrayed just as badly. They're all male chauvinists who only value Maggie for how sweet and beautiful she is. No one gets to really know her, except Brady, and he's her cousin so...yeah. Although that didn't stop West from worrying about Brady catching a glimpse of Maggie's stomach. He was seriously afraid that Brady would hit on his own cousin. Creeper.

I can't see how this is even remotely romantic. Here's how this scenario often plays out in real life: Maggie and West get married. West doesn't go on to college; he gets a job in the local factory. Life gets hard. West starts drinking. West blames Maggie for his "lack of success" in life and starts taking it out on her. By this time, West and Maggie have had a few kids, so the kids get to see Daddy smack Mommy around. Maggie either sticks it out or leaves, but either way, she's traumatized and so are the kids. Doesn't sound so romantic now, does it?

Blech. show less

Maggie doesn't speak anymore; she watched her father kill her mother and is afraid of the sound of her voice. West is hiding his father's terminal illness from his friends so he doesn't have to deal with the pain of loss. Can these two broken kids find a healthy balance with each other or will they just deepen the wounds each carries?

An Abbi Glines book I can have in my high school library! My girls will love this one. It was a fast read, that drew me in, wasn't a fluffy romance, there is some real meat to the issues that Maggie and West are dealing with, and they are handled well.

I know some people have hated this, but I loved it. I was able to relate to West since I have been through having a sick parent and losing my father. His fears of even going to school in case his father died was exactly how I felt when my dad was in his last few weeks. I never wanted to leave the house in fear of what would happen if I left. So many things he felt were exactly how I was feeling and I definitely broke down in tears several times during this story.

I am taking off .25stars due to West becoming possessive and controlling. This was not needed. His dealing with grief could have been done any other way. I do like how they talk about how he is acting is not ok, and they work through it though.

Overall, I loved this and listened show more to the audiobook in one sitting. I will definitely be continuing with the series. show less

*Many thanks to the publisher, Simon & Schuster for providing me with a review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.*

It’s going to be pretty hard describing what I liked about the book, because the problem is, I basically liked 99.9% of the book. Ever since I read the synopsis on the book’s release date, I knew I had to have it. Let me just say that this book did not disappoint. In fact, I enjoyed this book so much I didn’t even make notes while reading. So now I’m writing this review fresh of off my memory… Anyway. Let’s get started.

Once I started this book, I couldn’t put it down. It had such a raw feel to it that it just completely compelled me. There are so many factors that contributed to this, which show more I’ll be delving into below:

Firstly, the characters. I don’t usually get emotionally attached to characters except for a few special cases, so imagine my surprise when I actually grinned at what the characters said and cried with them, too! This is coming from a person who didn’t cry while reading TFIOS, by the way. West’s interactions with his mother & father really touched me, and most of the time left me with tears running down my face. And when Maggie opens up to West – it was just so heart wrenching! Even though they were side characters, the other characters were really well-developed and easy to relate to. I felt like I knew them well. I love how Abbi was able to make us be in the story; that just shows how skilled she is. I’ll definitely be reading more from her in the future.

Secondly, the storyline was so sweet, moving, and full of emotion that it almost blew me away. The way that everything weaves together could be so cute at times, but tragic at other times. I think that’s what made it such a wonderful story – the blend of cutesy high school romance with an undertone of tragedy. The balance was maintained very well, therefore contributing to the story’s flow really nicely.

Thirdly, the writing. It really lent the story the perfect vibe. I know it wasn’t this dramatical prose full of flowery words, but I still enjoyed it very much. It had a conversational feel to it, yet it was still articulate. Books with this writing style are some of my favorite ones, to be honest. Also, the descriptions were totally flawless. They connected the story really well and conveyed its surroundings in an exceptional manner.

Now that I’ve talked about what I liked most about the book, let’s discuss that 0.1% part that irritated me. It was West Ashby’s possessiveness. He was so possessive of Maggie from Day 1, even when he claimed to want nothing to do with her. I find possessiveness & clinginess to be such an off putting quality in protagonists. I know the circumstances in this book are different and Maggie later confronted West about it, but the problem still remained. Yeah, he was conscious of it now but it was still kind of there toward the end. Also, Maggie broke up with West for like, ONE DAY. Frankly, it was just unhealthy.

So, all in all, this is definitely what I’d call a page turner of a book. If you haven’t read Abbi Glines before, then you should definitely start with this YA book. It has an easy-to-follow writing style, emotional storyline, and dimensional characters! I’d recommend this book to lovers of easily readable YA stories. show less