Review + Giveaway | One Moment by Kristina McBride

Title: One Moment by Kristina McBride
Series: N/A
Genre: YA - Contemporary
Publication: June 26, 2012 by Egmont USA
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
Rating: ★★★★★

Synopsis: 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.

Thoughts: I finished One Moment in one day. For a slow poke reader like myself, that's saying a lot. And even though it's short, it would've taken me longer except this book was that good. One Moment is a beautiful and intense story that I could not put down once I started. I pretty much loved every page and didn't want to see it end.

Maggie has the perfect boyfriend and a great set of friends. The six of them grew up together and are inseparable. On Memorial day weekend, they spend their day by the water, jumping off cliffs and into the water. With the encouragement of her boyfriend Joey, Maggie decides to jump off for the first time. Hand in hand with him, they get ready to jump off and then...her memory goes blank. Next thing she knows, Joey is at the bottom and has hit his head. Within minutes, he's dead.

Now Maggie and her friends have to deal with a great loss. As the days go by, Maggie struggles to remember what happened and discovers that Joey was keeping secrets. With flashes into the past and snatches of what happened that day, we weave through Maggie's relationship with Joey and her friends, as she discovers truths she wasn't sure she wanted to know. The more lies she finds, the more she realizes that the people she has known her entire life aren't exactly who she thought they were.

From the start, I knew it was going to hurt. Not because it was bad, but because it was so well written. I immediately connected with Maggie and felt her pain. I cried with her as she struggled to understand why her life suddenly felt destroyed. The author's writing tugged at my heart, and I literally had to take a couple of breaks from this book because my chest tightened and I got so emotionally caught up with the story.

Overall: One Moment is about loss, love, friendship and lies. It has drama, mystery, romance, and light humor sprinkled in here and there. It is an achingly beautiful and heartbreaking story about losing friends and discovering lies that change everything. It is an emotional roller coaster that you won't be able to stop reading once you start. I definitely recommend this to fans of this genre, as well as to anyone who enjoys captivating and emotional reads.