Review: One Moment

One Moment by Kristina McBride

Format: ebook (ARC)
Pages: 272
Published: June 26, 2012
Publisher: Egmont USA
Genre: Fiction, Young Adult

My Rating: 4/5

Summary (from chapters.ca):

This was supposed to be the best summer of Maggie’s life. Now it’s the one she’d do anything to forget.

Maggie remembers hanging out at the gorge with her closest friends after a blowout party. She remembers climbing the trail with her perfect boyfriend, Joey. She remembers that last kiss, soft, lingering, and meant to reassure her. So why can’t she remember what happened in the moment before they were supposed to dive? Why was she left cowering at the top of the cliff, while Joey floated in the water below – dead?

As Maggie’s memories return in snatches, nothing seems to make sense. Why was Joey acting so strangely at the party? Where did he go after taking her home? And if Joey was keeping these secrets, what else was he hiding?

Review:

**NOTE: A copy of this book was provided by the publisher, via NetGalley.  However, no compensations were made and this review reflects my honest thoughts and feelings.**

Is it possible that One Moment can change your life forever?

We have all been there, faced with the reality of a situation and wondering if we had just done something different would the outcome have changed.  If the conversations had gone on longer, if the that light had been red instead of green, if we had slept in - is it possible that things are meant to be no matter what or could we have changed it?

I absolutely adored this novel.  Taking a bunch of everyday teens and making them grow up in an instant is not an easy job and yet Kristina McBride seems to have done just that.  Her ability to have this story relate to every age and every stage is amazing as I really don't think you have to be a young adult to wonder if that one moment really did make all the difference.

Maggie is a wonderful main character and the grief that she shows, after the terrible accident that claimed her 'one true love', is so true to real life that never once did I feel she wasn't a real person.  As she tries to piece together the final moments before Joey's fall, she finds herself on a whirlwind journey through the secrets of those she thought were her closest friends.  However, we all know that things are never as they seem.

As I read, I thought I knew everything that was going on but still there were surprises and that made One Moment a real page-turner.  Up until the very end of the book, I was guessing at just what took place on the top of the cliff and when you finally find out, it becomes clear that you really must life each and every moment of your life to the fullest.

Overall, a wonderful story of true-love and friendships.  I believe that this novel will appeal to just about anyone who has taken the time to wonder, "What if?"