One Moment – Kristina McBride

It was supposed to be the best summer of Maggie’s life. Now it's the one she'd do anything to forget. Maggie Reynolds remembers hanging out at the gorge with her closest friends after a party the night before. She remembers climbing the path hand in hand with her perfect boyfriend, Joey. She remembers that last kiss, soft, lingering, calming, perfect. So why can’t she remember what happened next? All it takes is one second for everything to change. One moment to realise that it’s the people you love who hurt you the most. Compelling, heart-breaking and unforgettable; this is the American Dream ripped apart.

Breaking It Down Further: On Memorial Day weekend, Maggie’s group of 6 friends gathers at the gorge, one of their favorite hang out spots. Jumping from the gorge into the water is a past time of theirs, and when Maggie’s boyfriend Joey finally convinces her to make her first jump, something goes wrong and the next thing Maggie knows, she’s blacked out a few memories and Joey is dead on the rocks below. One Moment is the story of Maggie trying to piece her memory and her life back together after her boyfriend’s death. When the police start asking questions about Joey’s death and Maggie’s memory starts to come back to her, more and more pieces come back – And not all are things that Maggie wants to remember.

This is one of the better contemporary YA books I’ve read recently. There were a few layers to the story which added a lot more to it than just teens greiving after the loss of their friend.

I really liked Maggie’s character — Although she seems like a pretty average girl, typical teenage thoughts and reactions, there was just something about her that I was on her side the whole book. I still got a lot of youthfulness out of her but at the same time, not to the point where I was annoying with immaturity.

The whole ordeal of Joey’s death was very sad of course, and like many common reactions attached to an accident, a few of the kids started blaming themselves, Maggie especially. We see how each of them copes with Joey’s death as they try to move on with their lives, but you really feel how hard it is for Maggie and she’s not quite sure where anything fits anymore when the boy she loves died, and it might be her fault.

Without adding any spoilers, I really liked how the story was taken to another level that added real conflict among friends. Friendships were made stronger and completely torn apart by details that were unearthed after Joey’s death. It introduced a lot of drama into the story, but the secrets that were revealed were told begrudgingly, so each character only divulges a piece of the puzzle when they’re ready to say so. I was completely pulled into the story and I kept wanting to read more and more until I knew the whole truth.

Overall, I really enjoyed reading this! Definitely will look into any other books by Kristina McBride.