That Night by Amy Giles

Title: That Night
Author: Amy Giles
Genre: Contemporary, Young Adult
Series: N/A

Hardcover, 320 Pages
Publication: October 23, 2018 by HarperTeen

Source: I received an arc review copy from the publisher in exchange for a honest review.

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The year since a mass shooting shook their Queens neighborhood has played out differently for Jess and Lucas, both of whom were affected by that night in eerily similar and deeply personal ways.

As Jess struggles to take care of her depressed mother, and Lucas takes up boxing under the ever-watchful eye of his overprotective parents, their paths converge. They slowly become friends and then something more, learning to heal and move forward together. But what does it mean to love after an unspeakable tragedy?

I didn’t know what to expect when I started That Night. All I knew was the two main protagonist were both dealing with grief and a tragedy; and eventually, along the way they would some how help each other through it. The synopsis was very good at shrouding everything in mystery. Which was why I was surprised that this book involved a mass shooting. Everyone has seen the unfortunate increase in mass shooting all over the world. It’s nothing new as it become so prevalent in the news. And like the news, there seems to be more and more books on the matter. But what makes That Night different, what makes it stand out is that Giles never really talked about what happened, hence it always being referred to as “that night”. After the lights and camera coverage goes down, readers get an in depth look behind the scenes at the aftermath of these type of tragedies. We see what the survivors “walking wounded”, witnesses, families, and communities go through. We normally see how a life is suddenly ended and how events led up to the tragedy but what people forget or not see is there’s actually a ripple effect that can transcend months and years and its the ripple effect that Giles explores in That Night.

The novel alternates between our two main protagonist, Jess and Lucas. At the start of the novel they’re strangers. The only connection between the two are: they go to the same high school, they both lost their brother a year ago and are trying to deal with their grief and guilt of being the surviving sibling. I thought Giles did a great job at exploring the issue of grief and loss. She paints a vividly realistic picture and shows how everyone deals with sadness and pain in their own way. Or in some cases, they don’t deal with it at all. Take Jess, ever since her brother died, she’s left to take care of herself because her mother is a shell of her former self and her BFF is in rehab in another state. Versus Lucas who is smothered by both of his parents, afraid to let him out of their sight. To cope and find meaning in life and the reason for living; Jess ends up getting a job at Enzo’s Hardware to help her mom with the bills and Lucas picks up boxing as an outlet.

That Night isn’t a novel about a mass shooting or romantic relationship between two teens. It’s a novel about learning to move on from grief. It shows that those affected by tragedies shouldn’t blame themselves for things out of their control and to never be afraid to talk about it or seek help. And most important of all, not to let such tragedies define who we are. I really enjoyed That Night. Giles writes as if it were a first hand account because I truly felt like I was right there alongside the characters as they processed their grief and learn what it really means to feel alive/included again. That Night is a relevant and well-written novel for our time. It should be read by both adult and teens. I highly recommend it.