Week 52 Review: That Night

From Goodreads:
One night in March, a terrible tragedy shakes the Queens neighborhood where Jessica Nolan and Lucas Rossi live.

The year since the shooting has played out differently for Jess and Lucas, both of whom were affected by that night in eerily similar, and deeply personal, ways. Lucas has taken up boxing and lives under the ever-watchful eye of his overprotective parents, while trying to put good into the world through random acts of kindness — to pay back a debt he feels he owes the universe for taking the wrong brother.

Jess struggles to take care of her depressed mother, with the help of her elderly next-door neighbor, and tries to make ends meet. Without her best friend, who's across the country at a special post-trauma boarding school, and her brother, who died that night, Jess feels totally alone in the world.

When Jess and Lucas's paths cross at their shared after-school job, they start to become friends… and then more.

Their community — and their families — were irrevocably changed by a senseless act of violence. But as Jess and Lucas fall in love, they'll learn to help each other heal and move forward — together.

That Night is an emotional and ultimately hopeful story about tragedy, love, and learning to heal.

My Review:
This was a really great read! It wasn't what I thought it was, for some reason, I thought that it was about a sexual assault, but that's my bad for not reading the synopsis. But it's about a shooting, one that changes these kids lives forever, from the people they lost to the things that they experienced.

The focus of this book isn't on the shooting, but the aftermath, of the grief and the loss, and dealing with those emotions. And yeah, it was pretty hard hitting and emotional. We follow these two teens who both lost their older brothers in the shooting, and how their lives have been impacted.

Jess manages the household, now that it's only her and her mom. And her mom has basically retreated into her shell from her grief and depression, leaving Jess the one to take care of things. Which is a lot of pressure on her shoulders.

And then there's Lucas, who has a loving family, who tries their best to make sure that he's healing. I'm so glad that they found one another, they both deserved some happiness, and I really enjoyed their relationship together!  

This was a really great read, and I need to read more by Amy Giles! 

Author: Amy Giles
Read: December 23rd, 2020
Source: Bought/Edelweiss
Reason Why: Sounded really great, and it's a SAC 2020 Book and a Sophomore Challenge Book!
Publisher: Harper Teen
Published: October 23rd 2018

5/5 Hearts

4/5 Books

4/5 Stars