One Moment

One Moment
Kristina McBride
261 pages
Released: June 26, 2012
Publisher: EgmontUSA
Source: library
★★★★☆

You can read the Goodreads summary here.

Maggie and her five best friends have grown up together since they were in kindergarten.  Life doesn't seem like it can get much better now that it's the summer before senior year; the world is their oyster.  But their worlds are soon turned upside down when one of them, Maggie's boyfriend Joey, dies tragically in a cliff-diving accident.  Maggie was with him when it happened, but she can't remember anything about the accident.  As her memories slowly come back, she's confused by Joey's behavior.  What was he hiding?

Right up front, I have to give Kristina McBride props as author.  When Maggie's boyfriend dies within the first two chapters of the novel, we obviously don't have much time to get to know to the characters, yet I already felt such a connection to Maggie that I was utterly distraught when he died.  I felt like I could see her, hear her cries, and my heart broke a little for her.  That, right there, is the mark of a good author.  Eliciting emotion reaction for characters the reader barely knows.  PS: This is reason enough for you to pick up this book.  Of course, there are more reasons as well...

The most interesting part of One Moment is Maggie's memory loss.  It seems to happen almost immediately and it's very intense.  I couldn't help but feel for her, because even though she wanted to remember, it's understandable why her mind wouldn't want her to.  And the fact that some people seemed to try and use her memory loss against her, well that was just despicable to me.  I don't want to spoil it for you, but I didn't have warm, fluffy feelings for that character.

Speaking of not ruining it for you - there's a "secret" that permeates throughout the novel (why was Joey acting so strangely before his death?), and that's the third reason to pick up this novel.  I knew right away what it was, so I was just waiting for Maggie to realize it, but I still don't want to ruin it for you.  It just goes to show, some people are never who you thought they were.  That happens a couple times in this book.  I will say this - the ending left me satisfied and I really, really enjoyed One Moment!  I'm glad I spontaneously picked this up at the library.

Four stars!  One Moment shows us how our lives can change unexpectedly in one moment.  The only reason One Moment isn't getting five stars is because I knew right away what the big "secret" was.  Still, it was great to watch Maggie go on this journey of self-discovery to regain her memory and learn the truth behind her boyfriend.  I highly recommend this one to any YA contemporary fan.  Read it!