Publishing Date: August 25th, 2015
Page Count: 352
Source: BEA 2015
Format: Paperback ARC
Description from Goodreads.com:
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…
Review:
When I first heard about Until Friday Night, I had very high hopes for it. For some reason I am a very big fan of things related to southern football? Like I loved the shows Friday Night Lights and Heart of Dixie. So, I really expected the same things I got out of those shows to be in this book. It didn't exactly match my initial expectations, but I still absolutely loved it!
One thing I really liked about UFN is that it dealt with heavy topics, but somehow in a light way. Both of our main characters are going through some seriously hard, emotional times. You would think this would drag the story down, making it dark and heavy, but because the characters are trying to learn how to cope and heal, it makes it light. The focus isn't on the dark things they are dealing with, the focus is on them trying to get out from under the depression. We really mostly deal with West's depression, but we still get snippets of Maggie's.
Another thing I loved, which you all know I always love this about every book, is that it had alternating points of view! I love it so much when books do alternating points of view, because I feel the story gets that much deeper. You understand more, attach to the characters quicker, and you feel like you're right there with them at every moment.
There were only two flaws I found in the book. Two things that I wanted more of and didn't get enough of by the end. The first one is that I wanted more football. This sounds crazy, because I'm not a big sports girl, but at the same time Football is one of the sports that I really understand what is going on. From watching and reading other things that deal with southern football I have come used to hearing the lingo and reading about what's going on out on the field. I wanted more game time, more time out on the practice field, more football talk, time with the guys, etc., I wanted to really get to know all the male characters, and the best way to do that was to be in their element. We got a little bit, but just not enough to feed my appetite.
The second thing was that I wanted more romance. There was still definitely a romance here, but the main focus was on coping and healing. I wanted more butterfly's. I wanted to fall in love too.
Overall:
I absolutely loved this book. Although I wish there was more football talk, time on field and more romance, I still loved it. I had to stay up all night so I could read this book in one sitting. I just couldn't stop myself from finishing it. There will definitely be more books in this series and I cannot wait to read them, because I want to know the characters more. I want to hear about the past, and find new romances. If you weren't planning on picking this book up, start planning now, because it was fantastic!
Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 5/5
**The books cover, description, and info was all found on Goodreads. A link back has been provided. All other work and ideas are of my own creation. This ARC was obtained for free while attending BEA 2015.**
