Saturday, February 22, 2020

Every Other Weekend by Abigail Johnson ~ Review

Every Other WeekendSource: Gifted from a friend.

Every Other Weekend by Abigail Johnson


Can life begin again…every other weekend?

Adam Moynihan’s life used to be awesome. Straight As, close friends and a home life so perfect that it could have been a TV show straight out of the 50s. Then his oldest brother died. Now his fun-loving mom cries constantly, he and his remaining brother can’t talk without fighting, and the father he always admired proved himself a coward by moving out when they needed him most.

Jolene Timber’s life is nothing like the movies she loves—not the happy ones anyway. As an aspiring director, she should know, because she’s been reimagining her life as a film ever since she was a kid. With her divorced parents at each other’s throats and using her as a pawn, no amount of mental reediting will give her the love she’s starving for.

Forced to spend every other weekend in the same apartment building, the boy who thinks forgiveness makes him weak and the girl who thinks love is for fools begin an unlikely friendship. The weekends he dreaded and she endured soon become the best part of their lives. But when one’s life begins to mend while the other’s spirals out of control, they realize that falling in love while surrounded by its demise means nothing is ever guaranteed.





I read this book in November, in the midst of job searching and finishing college and working my final couple of weeks at my old job. And then the book released in January and I've been trying to take every chance I can to tell people how awesome Every Other Weekend is. But now here I finally am, with time and motivation to write a review...so let's see how coherent this is going to be.

First of all, I've been a fan of Abigail Johnson since her debut novel. If I Fix You is still a book I think about often. That said--Every Other Weekend has taken its place as my favorite Abigail Johnson book--not only do I still think about this book (evidenced by the fact that I'm writing this review MONTHS after I read the book), but it honestly has a special place in my heart.

The characters of Every Other Weekend won me over right away. I was curious about their life situations that had them in those apartments every other weekend, and I was curious about what their lives were like in between those weekends. Plus, the characters are 15 at the start of the story, which is kind of rare for most YA these days. I also appreciated the fact that they are very much teens. They make questionable decisions. Say things they probably shouldn't. They're flawed and young and so well portrayed.

As a whole, this book has so many elements that were pieced together perfectly. The familial relationships are complex. Especially the contrast between the path one of the characters' family story took compared to the others'. The friendship...that grew into more...relationship between Adam and Jolene was beyond lovely.

Y'all. I can't even. The more I think about this book, the more I love it--and let me remind you that I've been thinking about it for months now.

Every Other Weekend is a raw story full of complex familial relationships and the most beautiful friends to more YA ship. It's a gem and I highly recommend to pick it up.


5 stars - Complex family dynamics & a sweet friends to more ship--easily a new favorite!


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