This was incredible. I read this in maybe 3 days? I love when a book teaches you life lessons and I thought that this book did such a good job doing that. I related to the main character on a whole new level. I’m really looking forward to more books from the author. Thank you so much for my copy!

A cute love story with some hard hitting topics including love, loss, disability, family. The characters were real, honest, and trustworthy and I enjoyed the alternating perspectives between the main female and male characters.

Publication Date: December 5, 2023

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

#Every Time You Go Away #NetGalley
Ethan and Rebecca met eight years ago when he came to stay with his grandparents. They became close friends during those visits over the years sharing secrets, adventures, and first kisses in a tree house. Every time Ethan’s mom returned to take him away, his only goodbye was a flower left on Rebecca’s windowsill. Four years ago, Ethan left for the last time to take care of his mother, who has struggled with addiction his whole life.
Two years ago, Rebecca was in a car accident that killed her father. She’s been learning to navigate life as a wheelchair user ever since.
Now, Ethan is back and they both struggle with their feelings for each other and their own hardships.
I highly recommend Every Time You Go Away to all YA readers for its authenticity and deft handling of all the emotions tied up in Ethan’s and Rebecca’s stories. They are genuine in their impulses and in their reactions to living with a parent with addiction, with dealing with guilt and the accidental twists that life takes.

Rebecca and Ethan are best friends... at least when Ethan is staying with his grandparents. Periodically, Ethan will stay with his grandparents when his mom sorts through her issues with addiction. However, its always for a temporary amount of time, always leaving abruptly when his Mom returns for him. This time, though feels different. Not just because of the amount of time that has elapsed, but also the fact that both Rebecca and Ethan have changed and are no longer the kids they used to be.

Despite the fun and easy-going cover, I found this book to read a bit heavier in the emotions than I was anticipating. There are topics of addiction, trauma, family tension, and disabilities to name a few, discussed throughout this novel. Rebecca and Ethan both have their own demons they must face, and figure out what that means for their future. Ultimately, they both have to learn how to communicate with their loved ones, and explain their own needs, even when it hurts them to hear them.

I enjoyed this novel, and thought the topics were done in an interesting and reflective way. The book read well, and I was a fan of the plot and story-line finding the story to be unique, and enjoyable.

This book was full of emotions and heartbreak, but in the the best kind of way. Similar to 'All the Bright Places' without the heart wrenching plot twist. Both characters went through tremendous trauma and had a lot to learn about themselves and each other as they fell in love. I love the idea of falling in love over many years, through many changes and life events. The coming back together and resuming a friendship, it was was all really cute to me. I think the characters communication skills grew throughout the text, which I also really enjoyed. Overall a really good story, though it definitely brought me to tears a few times.

It’s been a hot minute since I’ve read any YA. But this wasn’t just a great YA book. It was a great book period. I knew the writing was going to be amazing when I got emotional reading the dedication. I’m usually annoyed at dual timeline stories, but this was seamless. It was character driven with enough plot action to hold my interest. I will say, this was not a light or easy read. It addresses heavy topics, and I sometimes had to put the book down for a bit. But it is very much worth picking back up!

It can’t be easy to write about grief in all its forms, especially for two teenage characters wracked with it in all its profound ways, but Johnson captures it poignantly and beautifully. Rebecca is enduring the grief of losing her father, the grief of what remains of an already tenuous relationship with her mother, and the grief of losing her ability to walk and becoming wheelchair-bound at such a young age. Ethan is enduring the grief of slowly losing his mother to addiction and the grief of being moved and relocated over and over again. Meanwhile, these two young people see their lives intertwined past to present, before and now, as they deal with their grief, each other’s grief, and their changing relationship.

a heart wrenching read that hits close to home right now


thank you to the author, netgalley, and the publisher for this advanced copy to review!

3.5 ⭐️ this was really good! I didn’t not want to put this down! I loved the characters and the writing. Would definitely recommend this to my friend!

“Every time you go away” is a beautifully written and heartfelt book. I fell in love with both Rebecca and Ethan’s story.
Ethan was a boy who was burdened with things way too heavy for his young shoulders to carry. My heart broke for him and adored him.
I loved being apart of their childhood stories and having a front row seat as they navigate through live, the trials at hand and seeing them be able to both heal and have the rest of their stories unfold Into their current lives.

“Every time you go away” is the type of book you begin reading and forget that a world outside of the story exist. Once you dive into reading it, you don’t want to put it down until you’re finished.

Really enjoyed this title. I will be adding this to my collection and sharing with my friends. Abigail has written an excellent story and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

I received an advanced copy via NetGalley - my heartfelt thanks and appreciation.

Abigail Johnson gives me FEELINGS. Her talent with words is unique and lands upon my heart like they were written just for me. I can relate to characters that I have nothing in common with. I can empathize with all of them.

And ETHAN. Oh Ethan. His voice was probably my favorite POV this author has ever written. Every word hung so raw and beautiful and I just wanted to give the poor boy a hug.

Even the side characters have depth and life and something to love AND hate about each one. That's something often lacking in YA romances these days.
This is so much more than a romance though. It's a show of bravery, starting with the author herself.

Best YA book I've read in quite awhile. Characters, emotions, and situations are well developed. Childhood friends Ethan and Rebecca must fight through their guilt and heartache to finally find each other. Ethan feels that he must take the care and responsibility for his addict mother, while Rebecca shoulders the guilt and responsibility for the car accident that left her a paraplegic and killed her father.

This story reveals the struggles of two teens, one in an accident that killed her father and put her in a wheelchair; second Ethan, who has been trying to care for his addicted mother. The story shares their struggles and heartbreak. Rebecca is hurt every time Ethan's mom takes him away from his grandparents and her whenever she feels like. She also struggle to have a relationship with her mom thinking that her mom blames her for dad's death. Can the two support each other and have new relationships with their moms and especially be in love with one another?

As someone who has dealt with lots of loss and grief this book was written so beautiful. I highly enjoyed reading this book and going on this journal with these characters.

I loved this story! I haven’t cried over the end of a book in a hot second and this one pushed me over the edge. Dual perspectives of Rebecca and Ethan living two completely different lives and both struggling in their own ways. Every time they fall apart and come back together I found myself waiting to see where they would end up. I loved watching the character development for these main characters all the way through. I found myself rooting for the characters to find what they truly needed in the end.

I have no words... This book was perfect. The writing was *chef's kiss*. YA so no spice but it didn't need any. 17 year old me would've appreciated the f*ck out of this book. 29 year old me REALLY appreciates this story. I cried-and if a book makes me cry then it means it's really good!

This book was enjoyable to read and I couldn't put it down.

This book chronicles the friendship between Ethan and Rebecca from eight years ago to the present day. Both have struggled through hard times. Ethan’s life has been through his mother’s addition. Rebecca is faced with the challenges of coping with her father's death and being in a wheelchair. In the book, their relationship in the present went back and forth.

While reading the book, it shows many things like coping, grief, friendships, relationships, family additions, and other things.

Thanks to the publishers at Inkyard Press and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book in order for a review.

Sadly, this book fell extremely flat for me. If it was not an ARC that I received, I would have DNFed it.

The story was promising - the idea of decades of pain and always coming back together, but still trying to navigate all of the lingering hurt that existed, was really beautiful. However, the main characters were beyond frustrating. They were teenagers who acted like every single person and thing in the universe was there to vex them - which ended up making me roll my eyes repeatedly.

Ethan was dealing with a lot - as someone who has thankfully never seen addiction firsthand, I am certainly not the expert here, but the way Ethan reacted to the people around him, especially his grandparents who had only ever given him a safe and stable life, was disrespectful. It made Ethan incredibly unlikeable and I was not rooting for him and his happiness.

Rebecca wasn't much better. As someone who has lost their father, her story hit closer to home. But her relationship with her mother, who claims to not know how to be a mother after 17+ years, was unrealistic and painful to read.

The whole story was a constant boomerang of Ethan leaving, Rebecca being sad, Ethan being selfish, Rebecca not expressing her emotions, and repeat. It was not enjoyable, I did not care if they had happy endings, and it just felt like the whole thing was trying to be more poignant and substantial than it actually was.

Now Rebecca is a budding jewelry designer/maker and is coming to terms with the fact that she became paralyzed in an accident that killed her father. Now Ethan is dealing with living with his grandparents while his mother tries rehab again. Eight years ago, Rebecca and Ethan became friends the first time he stayed with his grandparents while his mother tried rehab. Rebecca is his grandparents' neighbor. The novel goes back and forth in time, slowly filling in the gaps in the relationship between Rebecca and Ethan. They are very close friends who depend on each other for support, except that whenever Ethan's mother returns from rehab, he just leaves with her, not saying anything to Rebecca and not communicating with her while he's in California. Both Rebecca and Ethan have difficult relationships with their parents and I thought the author did a good job dealing with those issues in a realistic manner. I read this book in about four hours, so it held my interest and was an enjoyable read. My one negative comment is that as an alumna of CSUN, I was very frustrated with the author consistently referring to it as "California State University Northridge." No one refers to it in that way, including the university itself in it's own publications. It's either CSUN or CSU, Northridge.