Author: Kristina McBride
Genre: Young Adult
Publisher: Egmont USA
Release Date: June 26, 2012
File Size/Pages: 370 KB/272 pgs
Source: NetGalley
My Rating: 3/5
Summary: Memorial Day weekend was supposed to be perfect for Maggie Reynolds - Dutton’s blow-out party, cliff-diving with her life-long friends – a prelude to the carefree days of summer before the group would take over as seniors. But then something went terribly wrong. Maggie remembers standing on the cliff, hand-in-hand with her perfect boyfriend Joey, ready to jump into the water below. She remembers that last kiss, soft, lingering, and meant to reassure her. But why can’t she remember what happened in that last moment, so she still stood on the cliff, and Joey ended up dead. As memories start returning in brief snatches, they just lead to more questions: Why were Joey and his best friend, Adam, fighting at the party? Where did Joey go after dropping her off? And what other secrets was he keeping form her? With everyone pressuring her to share what happened, her friendships on the verge of collapse, and Adam (who seems to know much more than he’s willing to tell) drifting away from the group, Maggie has never felt so alone. McBride’s sophomore novel is a searing look at how one moment can alter someone’s entire world.
Review: In the beginning of this novel, we are introduced to six friends who have been friends since they were children: Maggie, Adam, Joey, Shannon, Tanna, and Pete. They are all hanging out at the Jumping Hole, drinking, listening to music, and apparently jumping off the gorge. With being afraid of heights, Maggie is the only one of her friends who haven't jumped from the gorge, but she tells her friends that she's going to jump. She and Joey, her boyfriend, takes the path up to the gorge, and before you know it, Joey is dead and Maggie has no memory of what's happened. This story was very up and down for me; when I read the blurb for this novel, I was like "I'm so gonna love this book", but whenever I read it, I didn't have that same feeling. There were plenty of times where I wanted to not finish this book, but I really wanted to know what happened on the top of that cliff!! I didn't feel as if I could relate to the characters at all; they were drinking and weren't even 21!! I was able to relate to losing a loved one, but that was about it. The story is told from Maggie's point of view, and her character kind of rubbed me the wrong way; I get the fact that Joey was her boyfriend, but she walked around as if she was the only one to lose him...I just felt as if her character completely disregarded her friends' feelings. Overall, this novel was okay, I just felt as if it had too many flashbacks that weren't really necessary, but the secrets that were to be discovered is what really kept me reading.
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