Blog Tour: Any Other Night - Review/Excerpt

Any Other Night
By: Anne Pfeffer
Release Date: 10/2011

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.

A NOTE ABOUT CONTENT: in this book, some characters use profanity, engage in nonexplicit sexual activity, or take illegal drugs.
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Review:
I have to say that I'm really glad that the title of this book was changed.  Because yes in parts this was about Loving Emily but in so many ways  this is so much more.  It's a coming of age book, realizations made, situations normal teens shouldn't have to go through and just overall so much more.  I was really intrigued reading this book and was almost happy it wasn't really a happy go lucky book because sometimes life isn't fair.

We meet Ryan as he's on the verge to a party to go talk to the girl he's had a crush on forever, Emily.  His best friend Michael who isn't doing as good as he should just gets worse throughout the party.  But Ryan is to preoccupied to pay one hundred percent to his friend.  He's about to go talk to his girl.  He finally gets to her and they chat for a while and then there's a commotion.  Ryan pulls Michael to the side who is high and drunk and who knows what else and tells him to wait that he will take him home, he'll be right back. Coming back he's gone.  And this is where the story begins. 

Michael's death tore Ryan down, and even though he now had Emily there was something Michael was trying to tell him and he was determined to find out.  When he did it just complicated his life even more.  This is when Ryan begins to step up and see what a really amazing guy he is.  Doing so many things for his friend Michael all the while trying to keep his relationship with Emily.  It's hard being young but they just threw him a curve ball and the worse part is Emily just wants to act her own age and not have as much responsibility as Ryan.  It just shows you how different some people are. 

This book not only showed the relationship between the young adults in this book but also showed the different relationships with their parents, how everything isn't always perfect and sometimes kids just want attention.  Its hard balancing things sometimes, but it's necessary and I appreciated that story line in the book.

This book was really enjoyable and completely believable even though it's unfortunate that things like this in life happen.  But things like this make you the person you are.  Really great read.  I would really want Ryan on my side if anything happened that's for sure. His character really developed throughout the book and I'm happy to have had the pleasure of meeting him and experiencing his life with him.  Again really great read.

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Excerpt:
The first time I noticed Emily was at afternoon car pool. It was last year, before I turned sixteen and got my Beemer.

In fact, it was not her that I saw first, but her dog, a golden lab who looked a whole lot like my own dog, Jasper, who had died. I was waiting on the curb in front of school for Rosario, our housekeeper, to come, when a white sedan showed up. A dog's head rammed through the open back window, joyously spraying saliva. His whole body wiggled with dog love at the sight of a girl with skin like the pinky-white interior of a rose and shiny dark hair swinging past her shoulders.

I would trust a dog's judgment. This girl had to be excellent.

"Hey, Toby!" She didn't seem to mind when he lunged halfway out the window and planted his slobbery lips on her face. I was impressed. Not all girls could handle that. I didn't know who I was more jealous of: the girl, for having the dog, or the dog, for getting to kiss her.

After that I started seeing her around campus all the time, walking with her friends or studying in the library. She had this smooth dark hair that I wanted to touch and this light in her eyes that just wouldn't go out, as if she was never bored or mad or in doubt about anything. Me, I lived in a world of doubt. I wanted to meet her.