REVIEW: "One Moment", by Kristina McBride

Title: One Moment

Author: Kristina McBride 

Format: eGalley from NetGalley

Pages: 272 

Publisher: EgmontUSA

Expected Release Date: June 26th 2012 

Synopsis

Taken from Goodreads

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

Maggie Reynolds remembers hanging out at the gorge with her closest friends after a blowout party the night before. She remembers climbing the trail hand in hand 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?

The latest novel from the author of The Tension of Opposites, One Moment is a mysterious, searing look at how an instant can change everything you believe about the world around you.

Review

I requested this from NetGalley as I kind of liked the cover and the blurb had me intrigued. After reading the book, I'm in two minds as to how I felt about it. On the one hand, I read this book out in the sun with my toes wiggling in the grass. It was an easy read that was just right for a lazy nearly-summer's day.

On the other hand, I felt that this book was a little on the thin side. This is going to be a fairly short review as there really isn't much to say about the book. The characters were a bit too familiar and it was fairly obvious from the beginning exactly how the story was going to play out. I think I would have preferred this book and felt more conflict if the first chapter hadn't been present.

Maggie was a decent protagonist and the group of friends was, though perhaps a tad clichéd, quite realistic in some ways. I think many of us can look back on our childhood friendship groups and remember a time when the equilibrium was disturbed. I thought this book dealt well with the confusion and loss that comes when comfort zones become disrupted. The death of Maggie's boyfriend was a great vehicle to exacerbate this conflict.

The blurb for this book says, “One Moment is a mysterious, searing look at how an instant can change everything you believe about the world around you.” Well, I think that's sort of overselling it. It's a fine little story with some thin, but reasonably engaging characters. Mostly, it was a decent afternoon's read on a sunny day. A three star read!