My Week with Him
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4.4 • 21 Ratings
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- $1.99
Publisher Description
"Acute portrait of agency, hope, and intergenerational trauma by Goffney." —Publishers Weekly
"Add this title to collections where romance is in high demand." —School Library Journal
A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection pick!
From Joya Goffney of Excuse Me While I Ugly Cry comes a stirring YA coming-of-age, best-friends-to-lovers romance about a girl named Nikki who plans to run away from small-town Texas but ultimately finds that her oldest friend, Mal, just might be the one who’s been there for her all along. Filled with heart and humor, this novel captures complex family drama, friendship, and love. For fans of I Wanna Be Where You Are by Kristina Forest and Counting Down with You by Tashie Bhuiyan.
Nikki can’t wait to leave Texas and follow her dreams of a music career . . . After a painful betrayal by her sister and a heated argument with their mother, Nikki is kicked out and finds herself homeless. She decides to go to California to pursue her singing career. When her best friend, Malachai, discovers her plan to flee Texas, he begs her to spend the remainder of spring break with him. He believes that over the course of a week, he can convince her to stay in Texas, or to at least graduate high school. But their plans are interrupted when Nikki’s little sister, Vae, goes missing.
Nikki is forced to work alongside her difficult mother as they set off in search of Vae, with Malachai’s support. Will Nikki find a reason to stay in Texas, or will this spring break be the last time she sees them? Through her emotional journey, Nikki ultimately finds the love she’s always been missing and discovers the power of her own voice.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Black high school senior Shaniqua "Nikki" Lenae dreams of escaping her small Texas town and her emotionally volatile mother to become an R&B singer in this acute portrait of agency, hope, and intergenerational trauma by Goffney (Confessions of an Alleged Good Girl). Just before she's supposed to road trip to Los Angeles and audition for a producer, everything falls apart: a betrayal by Nikki's younger sister Vae results in her mother kicking Nikki out. Devastated, Nikki intends to leave for L.A. immediately, but once her best friend Mal learns of her plans, he persuades her to stay with him until it's time to attend the audition. When Vae, feeling guilty about her role in the family fallout, disappears, Nikki and Mal must work with the girls' mother to find her—and after serendipitous events lead to Nikki's dream becoming fully realized, she must decide whether she's willing to leave her family and the boy she's always loved behind. Via artfully interspersed flashbacks and vignettes, Goffney depicts a tumultuous relationship with an absent parent buoyed by a sweetly developing love story that models healthy and gentle romance. Ages 13–up.
Customer Reviews
3.5
It’s because of my absolute love for her other 2 books that this was rated a 4 instead of a 3 for my true rating of 3.5. I managed to snag her first two books at a heavy discount and they were both such a joyous introduction to her work. I had such high hopes for this book to the point where I shelled out money for the full cost and honestly I’m disappointed, confused, and conflicted. I truly don’t know how to feel about this book. By no means is this book bad. She writes YA so well and while this book certainly falls into that category it veers from her usual writing style in a way. Something is just off with this to the point where I’m slightly unsatisfied.
When it comes to Nikki’s friendship/relationship with Mal, I feel like I am told about rather than shown the actual connection between them. Their relationship felt almost secondary to what was happening in this book despite the entire premise of this book being about her week with him and the lead up to her audition. It felt convenient rather than authentic. Most of what happened in this book felt surface level and I never felt as though I could truly connect to any of the characters. The story progressing through these really short chapters with the time jumps (7:56 p.m, 8:13pm, etc.) probably didn’t help either and felt unnecessary since only the times during the first and last day were even slightly relevant.
This didn’t fully feel like a romance and it didn’t fully feel like a family drama because nothing ever really felt resolved and the big thing that triggered all the events in this book was never even really covered at the end of things. Once again, it wasn’t a bad book at all. Just…weirdly unsatisfying?
Will I read her next book? Absolutely. Will I pay full price again? I don’t know.
SO GOOD
I love the characters, their development, the plot, EVERYTHING. Very quick read and very hard to put down. Definitely a page turner. Such a cute book:) of hope, coming of age and just overall amazing book. Got me in my feels. 10/10!!!!!!!