Author : Abbi Glines
Genre : YA contemporary
Release Date : August 25th, 2015
Publisher : Simon Pulse
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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…
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…
Eventhough I haven't read any book by Abbi Glines, I'd a high expectations when I first read the summary. I mean, it sounds beautiful, it's set in a small town, and the cover is really fit with the summary. Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy it as much as I want to.
This book is told from West and Maggie's POV. I'd no problem connecting with these two, and I must say Abbi's writing style is really beautiful and felt so real. When I read it, it's like I could feel their pain from seeing their parent's death. I also love the romance between these two. It's a bit insta-attraction, and a bit too fast to my own liking, but it didn't really bothered me because West and Maggie are just really sweet. They heal each other pain, and they rely on each other. It's that kind of relationship that everybody wants.
While I love the relationship between Maggie and West, it's also the problem why I didn't love this book--there's too much of them in this book. I mean, I get it that this is a contemporary book, but I wish there's more nice side characters. Do you know how many friends did Maggie have (other than her family and West)? None, unless you count the football team, which I don't. Also, Abbi portrayed the side characters horribly. All the boys on the football team apparently a manwhore, and the girls in that school--popular or not--all dislike Maggie because she got the attention of their star athlete. There's one guy who's pretty nice, but after a few pages, he got tossed out of the books.
The-very-little-family-relationship is actually beautiful, and one of those scenes even made me cry in the middle of the night. If this book is not all about romance, I might love it more.
I really want to read this because I love the premise! It's a pity that the romance was the central focus though and I can imagine it would be really nice if there were interesting side characters. Great review!
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