Any Other Night

by Anne Pfeffer

YA Contemporary

Book Description

Any other night, Ryan Mills would have driven his best friend, Michael, to Emily’s sweet sixteen party at the Breakers Club. Instead, determined to win over the birthday girl, he goes to the party early and alone, setting off a chain of events that ends with a car accident in which Michael dies.

Ryan blames himself for what happened to Michael. As far as he’s concerned, he doesn’t deserve to have love or ever be happy again. Then he learns Michael left a secret behind. Ryan feels compelled to take on his friend’s unfinished business, and in the process, changes his life forever and becomes a man.

This book was published in October 2011 under the title Loving Emily. In May 2012, it was reissued with its content unchanged as Any Other Night. The book was named a Finalist in the 2012 Indie Reader Discovery Awards competition.

MY THOUGHTS: 4 OUT OF 5 FLEURS DE LIS

Any Other Night by Anne Pfeffer

Ryan Mills is pretty much like any other high school junior–in love with a beautiful, unattainable girl, best friends with guy who is like a brother, and no real clue about what he wants to do with his future. But one thing’s different–his dad is an Oscar winning director, and neither of his parents are ever home. Ryan therefore has a particularly difficult time dealing with the accidental death of his best friend, Michael.

Then Ryan learns that Michael had a few secrets…and one of them is something that will change Ryan’s life drastically. Ryan definitely did not dream of passing his junior year of high school in such a stressful way.

I must admit I was hooked on this book at the very beginning, as events moved quickly. But after Michael’s death, the plot rather dragged for me. However, events improves towards the end, and I ended up enjoying this novel a great deal.

Ryan is a truly great guy, especially for a sixteen year old. He does harbor some resentment towards his parents, but after his explanation of why, I don’t blame him. Even though his father is a world-famous director, Ryan is not a pretentious jerk. After Michael’s death, he blames himself and feels he has some sort of cosmic debt to pay. I have a feeling that even before his best friend’s death, he was still a nice kid, though.

I thought that Ryan and Emily’s relationship moved sort of fast, and in the end I was happy with how things were between them. It felt like real life. I think the author has a gift for that; the whole time I was reading, I had no problems believing I was in the head of a teenage boy…and all the things that entails!

I loved that the plot dealt with so many intense moments that the majority of teens have to go through: fighting with your parents, losing your virginity, trying drugs, and much more. There were lots of really intense moments, but there were also some funny ones. The book had a great balance.

This book was about so much more than dealing with the death of a lifelong friend. Ryan grew a great deal throughout the course of the book, and I am truly impressed with the man he was growing into. I have no doubt that he will go on to do great things, independently of his father’s name.

I commend the author for writing such a gripping novel, and I would be happy to read anything else released by her!

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