**REVIEW** One Moment by Kristina McBride

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? 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.

  This is one of those reads that I picked up because I wanted something a little more real and found myself being pulled in by it.  Being a contemporary read and given the description I braced myself for an emotional roller coaster.  Although I felt many different things there was never quite the roller coaster I expected there to be.  The story had an easy flow to it and brought each new revolution in at the right moment.  I did however pick up on what had happened (what I thought had happened) very early on in the book.

  Maggie was at the heart of everything and I liked her.  She was real and didn't behave as if nothing happened or as if her entire world was ending.  She had so much to sort through when she lost Joey and it was only made harder by the fact  that she had a huge hole in her memory and no one seemed to want to admit to what they knew.  The way she struggled and fought to deal with what she didn't know but needed to know had such a true and strong feel to it.  She goes through so much that even when the truth comes out and she stills feels as if her world has been blown apart, the truth sets her free.  Not that it was easy for her but I think the entire ordeal that she had to go though made her grow and learn how to get through things that you never want to have to.

  The other characters really touch you too, including Joey who is no longer with us.  Joey actually managed to hit quite a few soft spots with me and had me fuming a few times but at the same time he is a teenage boy and was probably confused himself.  Shannon managed to evoke quite a bit of emotional energy from me throughout the book and I was left unsure on how I really felt about her.  Tanna and Pete were there but seemed to fade in and out for me there was nothing that stood out but at the same time they didn't fade into nothing when I was done the book.  Adam was probably the one that I felt the most drawn to outside of Maggie.  My heart went out to him and everything he had to deal with.

  Through all of this Kristina McBride completely captures not only what it is to grieve but also what it is like to be a teen.  No matter what happens I love that the book stay true to the age of the characters and honestly it was how I would picture things going.  I will freely admit that at times I found everyone a little predictable but I think maybe I found comfort in it.  That everyone was consistent in who they were.  Even if meant that they weren't truthful it was just part of who they were or what they are trying to do.

  Kristina McBride took a story of loss and devastation and turned it into something much bigger and much stronger than that.  This is how a girl lost everything but gained more.  How you can grow up with someone but never really know everything about them and ultimately how you grow up when you least expect to have to.  The ending was beautiful and I love how Kristina gave Maggie her closure.  Despite the predictability, which I honestly didn't mind I loved this book.  It was a perfect summer read and is wonderfully written.  I would recommend this to anyone looking for a good and emotion filled summer read.