Author: Becky Hunter
Publisher: Grand CentralPublishing
ISBN: 9781538741757
Two best friends learnabout love and loss when one of them dies and the other must dealwith the remains of their friendship. When the living friend meetsthe person responsible for her friend’s death, she is forced toconfront her complicated feelings. Author Becky Hunter takes readersthrough an emotional journey that is completely relatable from startto finish in her debut, One Moment.
Evie Jenkins has beenfighting with her best friend, Scarlett, and hating every minute ofit. Evie and Scarlett have been inseparable since they were girls.They went to university together and then decided to be grownupstogether by moving into an apartment in London. But now, it seems,Scarlett is ready to move on without Evie and all because they’vestarted seeing life differently.
Scarlett wishes Evie wouldunderstand. She certainly doesn’t want to move on from Evie; not inthe least. But ever since Evie’s diagnosis of multiple sclerosis,Scarlett has watched her best friend shrink back from the world. Achange—one that includes both of them—will do Evie a world ofgood, even if Evie doesn’t know it yet.
Except Scarlett never getsto put her plan in motion. On the day when she’s counting oneverything to get better, she gets into an accident. The witness toher accident is a stranger named Nate Ritchie, but after Scarlett’sdeath his name is branded onto Evie’s brain.
Nate is beside himselfwith grief and guilt. He starts reaching out to Evie to express hishurt and to share hers, but Evie wants nothing to do with him. Natetook away the girl who was her dearest friend; her sister. The personwho understood Evie and pushed her and supported her througheverything in life. The one who has been there through her best andworst moments. Why on earth would Evie want to have anything to doNate?
But Nate is persistent,much to Evie’s surprise and frustration. He continues to pursue afriendship of his own with Evie. Evie, to her even greater surprise,starts to soften toward Nate.
In the mix of all this isScarlett herself. Despite her death, she’s stuck in some in-betweenplace. Now she can see and hear her loved ones; she can even go backto old memories she’s shared with the people closest to her. Yetshe can’t reach out to them now. She can only watch as Eviestruggles with her grief and Nate continues to call on Evie. Alongthe way, she learns about how others have seen her in the past andcomes to some important realizations about herself, true love, andwhat friendship means.
Author Becky Hunter hitsthe deepest notes of grief and the struggles of forgiving one anotherwith pitch perfect precision. Scarlett and Evie’s relationshiprings with truth and heartbreak. Readers who have experienced asimilar loss will find solace in how each of the young women dealswith Scarlett’s death. The title is apt; Hunter offers proof how asingle moment in time changes the lives of everyone involved.
Unlike other ghoststories, Hunter doesn’t focus on how Scarlett can exist after herdeath. Instead, she gives Scarlett a character arc that is almostharder to read than the others because of the fact that Scarlett canno longer be with those she loves most. Even with that obstacle—orpossibly because of it—readers may find Scarlett the most endearingcharacter of all.
Evie has her own winningcharacter traits. Her loyalty to Scarlett, even with theirdisagreement and the things Evie discovers later, remains absoluteeven through her anger. Evie’s flaws make her that much morerelatable. Her MS is in the early stages, giving readers theopportunity to watch the immediate aftermath of the shock of Evie’sdiagnosis. Hunter leads readers through Evie’s grief of losing herlife as she knows it and losing Scarlett, letting both progress intandem at a steady but heart-wrenching pace.
While the storyline withNate may feel inevitable, Hunter keeps several surprises for readersalong the way. Just when it feels like the plot has settled into astraightforward rhythm, Hunter drops in another unexpected note thatchanges the tune of the story. Readers who appreciate a book aboutfound family and love that is truly earned will absolutely want toread this one. I recommend readers Binge One Moment by Becky Hunter.