One Moment

In all honesty, I was not expecting to like this book. In fact, I would never have requested it on NetGalley were it not for the fact that EgmontUSA temporarily marked all their galleys READ NOW, which, for some reason, is pretty much impossible for me to pass up. I've seen reviews come in, both high, middle and low. There was little doubt in my mind that I would be on the low end of the spectrum and I was fully prepared to read a chapter and then DNF it. Dudes, I was WRONG.

The first chapter, both the writing style and the dramatic cliffhanger (literally) at the end of it, convinced me that I needed to read this book in its entirety. I'm not sure what had me set against this book. Maybe the cover, which I don't much care for even though it is very apt for the novel. Maybe it was that the author clearly spells her name incorrectly (everyone knows Christina is spelled with a CH). I'm so glad I didn't decline this and that I kept reading. Here's why.

Like I do with most books, I went into this one blind. I had no clue what it was about, so I was a bit surprised to be reading about the popular kids having a party. I did like the narrative voice, though, and the group dynamic. Then I hit the end of that first chapter, which is one of the best hooks I've read. I defy you to read to the end of that chapter and not NEED to know what comes next. Of course, the blurb will tell you what's going on, so I guess I'll talk about it too, but still, going in with no clue, it was epic. (If you don't want to know, probs skip to the end of the review).

So, yeah, here's what happens in the opening of this novel: Joey jumps, Joey dies, and Maggie doesn't remember what she happened in the first chapter, because of some sort of amnesia. Grieving, she faces cops, friends and Joey's family members, all wanting to know what happened, and she would like to know too. In the process of sorting out her memories and her feelings, she learns a lot of things she never knew, things about Joey and about her friends. I really enjoyed this, but I will say that I had all of the big revelations figured out within 20 pages. Reading how they happened and learning the details was still fun though.

What drove this book, though, were the characters. Although they definitely are not going onto my mental list of best characters ever, they worked. This group had a real and believable dynamic. Actually, my only concern about them as a friend group is that all 6 of them were friends from childhood. I don't think I've ever encountered a group of friends from childhood that all stayed that close through high school. Obviously, things will be changing for them now, but I don't know. Maybe that happens, but I've only seen it in pop culture. Most of the people I know only talk to a couple of people from high school any more, let alone elementary school.

The funny thing is that, in other circumstances, I would have hated these people. Joey and his crew are the popular kids at the school. They party every week, they do fun things, they drink a lot, and are generally admired by everyone. Had this not been about a serious crisis, carrying about their dramas would have left me cold. Even so, I don't like Joey. Even early on before everything came out, I didn't care for Joey: he's reckless and cocky. No thanks.

Maggie is better and I did like her voice. She had a real feel to her, although one I have trouble reconciling with her usual social status. It's really hard to say if she was like that all the time or if this was a weird side of her. I rather suspect the latter, because she was never comfortable in this book. Even in the opening scenes before tragedy struck, she was paralyzed by her fear of heights, worried, concerned and afraid of judgment. Only a the end did I see a slight vision into what she might normally be when confident and happy, but I'm still not sure.

One Moment is a wonderful contemporary that makes you think about the power of a moment and about how well we actually know even our very best friends. There will definitely be more Kristina McBride in my future!

One Moment is actually fairly simple, and although the revelations throughout are shocking to Maggie, they were pretty predictable for me. But that didn't keep me from enjoying the book.

The story is told from Maggie's perspective, which means we are treated to the story of her friendships with the others and especially her romance with Joey in brief flashbacks, as Maggie tries to make sense of everything that's happened to her. The flashbacks help to develop the characters and convey the depth of Maggie's grief and confusion, and I thought they fit in well with the flow of the story.

Maggie herself is relatable and likable, although occasionally frustratingly naive. It got a little tiring to see all the clues laid out so obviously, but for her to still have no idea what was going on. I could excuse her partly because she's young, and partially because she's struggling to get past a major shock, but her continued ignorance (especially when she was offered answers and refused to listen) got a bit grating.

The other friends are developed to varying degrees. Joey is the most developed, through Maggie's memories, and maybe it's because I never really went for the mega-popular partying guys in high school, but I just failed to see his appeal. He and Maggie never seemed all that well matched to me, even in her memories. So while I appreciated what Maggie was going through, I didn't find this book as sad as I was expecting, because I didn't really mourn Joey along with her.

Her friend Adam was by far the most likable to me, and although I figured out really quickly what was going on with him, I still enjoyed reading about him. Shannon was the epitome of every girl I've ever had nothing in common with, and although she was far from one-dimensional, I couldn't really understand what Adam and Shannon were doing in the same group of friends.

The least developed were Tanna and Pete, who don't really add much to the character development of the other four, or do much to propel the story forward. It seems like they were mostly there to just establish that this is a group of friends, and not a teen soap on the CW. But I wish we'd have seen a bit more from them, Pete especially, whose main contribution to the story was playing semi-recent pop songs on his guitar (and Nickelback. Huh.)

The pacing was good, and I had absolutely no trouble finishing this book in just a few hours. I was never bored, I didn't have any trouble keeping up with what was going on (which was impressive considering the frequent flashbacks), and I liked the simplicity of it.

There was an element of the story that I wish hadn't been there, and I think the story would have been more poignant and bittersweet if the focus had simply been Maggie coming to terms with learning the truth about her dead boyfriend. I won't say what it was, to avoid spoilers, so let's just say it's something that apparently has to be in every YA story, ever. Even when it doesn't actually have to be there.

Ultimately, I thought this was a well-written, interesting, simple story. While it didn't pack quite the emotional punch I was hoping for, I still enjoyed it.

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Still a great book despite what I said about the depressing parts =)