Shelf Life Chronicles

There was only one book I couldn’t get through this month ad I consider that progress. This was a huge ARC month for me and I was worried I’d run into a few I just had to put down since most were sci-fi and I can’t say I’m a sci-fi person. I really enjoyed them all and and surprised to say the one I couldn’t get through was a contemporary which I usually love.

Every Other Weekend by Abigail Johnson

Title: Every Other Weekend
Author: Abigail Johnson
Release Date: January 7, 2020
Publisher: Inkyard Press
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Pages: 512
DNF: 30%

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 made it about 30% through this book before I gave up. I was sitting there skimming pages trying to figure out how many I had left when I realized I didn’t have to finish it. I didn’t care what happened between Adam and Jolene. The mystery of how his brother had died was just being dragged on at that point. I didn’t feel a connection to any character and that made it a difficult read for me. 

While I didn’t finish the book, there were certain things about it that I liked. The first meeting between the two doesn’t exactly end on a good foot, but Jolene and Adam do have a true connection. It was a sweet friendship and they were really there for each other on their hardest weekends of the month. Plus Jolene is such a kick ass name. Who wouldn’t want to be named after a Dolly Parton song?

Edit: 500 pages? Holy cow that is really long. I had an ARC of it and didn’t realize that’s why it felt like I wasn’t making any progress.