Book Review: Until Friday Night by Abbi Glines

My rating: 8/10 
Goodreads average rating: 4.02/5 stars
     One book I read recently was titled Until Friday Night by Abbi Glines. Before this book, I had never read an Abbi Glines book. Ever. I know I've been missing out. Published on August 25th, 2015, and is 328 pages of an amazing read.
     The events in this book take place in a small town called Lawton, Alabama. This book switches between the perspectives of two main characters... West and Maggie.
     West is a golden boy. He is popular, good-looking, football player, has all the girls after him, has all the guys fearing him, but his life isn't perfect. His father is suffering from cancer and the doctors are incapable of helping him. West can not talk to anyone. Only him, his mother, and his father know about his sickness. There are those, like his best friend Brady, who would support them if he knew, but his father wishes to deal with his illness alone. West will respect his wishes.

     Maggie is damaged. She doesn't speak. In fact, she has not said a word to anyone since she witnessed her father murder her mother two years ago. Now, her mother is gone and Maggie made sure her father went to prison. After living with her godmother, Jorie, who soon tired of having Maggie as a responsibility, she went to move in with her Aunt Coralee, Uncle Boone, and cousin Brady. That is how she meet West in the shadows of a field party she attended with Brady, who also happened to be West's best friend.  

     They are two people overcome by loss. They are each other's only chance. They are in love. They shouldn't be. They can't be. Maggie shouldn't talk to only him, but she can't seem to help herself. West shouldn't act like himself only with Maggie, but she knows him like no one else does.

     As my first time reading an Abbi Glines book, I can say it made me feel like an idiot for not paying attention to her work before. I recommend that everyone read this book. However, I must make you aware that while this book did have underlying themes of football, it did not go in depth into any game or specific play. Therefore, if you are looking to read this book solely because of the football aspect I would suggest you look elsewhere. I love football, and before I read this book I was excited to see what the author did with game scenes, but found it lacked such details. 
     Despite this, I found the book not only an enjoyable read that would make you laugh, but also emotional enough that you began to feel completely enamored with the characters and plot. In all honesty, I picked up this book meaning to read just a chapter and then finish my homework, but I ended up completing the whole novel the first night.
     Also, whenever I read a book review I like to look up quotes from the book to see if I would like it. Below is a scene from the book I thought would entice readers to try this book. It takes place in the lunchroom of Maggie's new high school about a week after her first day. She was invited to sit at a boy named Charlie's lunch table. He was nice to her and adorably nerdy, so she said yes. His three friends May, Dick, and Shane were a bit more wary of her.

Scene from page 85:

“Uh-oh,” Dick said as he dropped his sandwich to the tray. His eyes went wide.

“What?” Charlie asked as I turned to see what Dick was looking at.

Brady.

He was looking at Brady. Because Brady was coming this way. And he didn’t look happy. His tray was tight in his grip, and the clench of his jaw was hard to miss.

“Maggie,” Brady said as he sat down in the empty seat to the right of me.

I just stared at him. What was he doing?

“There’s another one,” Shane whispered, and I shifted my gaze from Brady to see West walking our way. He was watching me closely and also looked unhappy.

When his tray clanked loudly on the table, everyone but Brady jumped.

“What are you doing?” Brady asked him as West took the seat across from Brady.

“Same thing you’re doing,” he replied, then turned his gaze to me for a second before glaring at Charlie.

“I’m making sure my cousin is all right,” Brady replied.

West shifted his gaze back to me. It softened. “Me too.”

Brady muttered a curse word, and West just smirked as he picked up his burger and took a bite. I was used to Brady being a little overprotective, but West? I didn’t understand why he was here. Because we had talked? Did his opening up to me and my actually speaking make him feel as if he had to look out for me? I didn’t need either of them to keep me safe. Especially from someone like Charlie.

“Great. You got the jock squad over here now,” May grumbled.

Brady and West both ignored her comment.

-Until Friday Night by Abbi Glines page 85

 Works Cited

Glines, Abbi. Until Friday Night: A Field Party Novel. Vol. 1. New York: Simon Pulse, 2015. Print. Field Party. 

Until Friday Night. Digital image. Goodreads. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 July 2016. <https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22522202-until-friday-night>.