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.

Every Other Weekend, Abigail Johnson
January 7, 2020

How do I sum up this emotional rollercoaster in one of our short reviews? I don’t get emotional. I’m a self-proclaimed heartless monster. But I felt close to these characters and their pain was mine.

As a child of divorce, Jolene’s story hits especially close to home. And it’s an all too familiar story for so many. When people get divorced they have so much to divide and they often forget that children are people and not property.

Adam and Jolene are forced to grow up quickly and their slow-building reluctant friendship is truly touching to watch.

The characterization in Every Other Weekend was so well done that I’d believe it if these two walked straight off the page.

My Rating