Until It Hurts to Stop by Jennifer R. Hubbard Review

"When you can’t trust anyone, how can you ever feel safe?

In seventh grade, Maggie Camden was the class outcast. Every day, the other girls tripped her, pinched her, trapped her in the bathroom, told her she would be better off dead. Four years have passed since then, and Maggie’s tormentors seem to have moved on. The ringleader of them all, Raleigh Barringer, even moved out of town. But Maggie has never stopped watching for attacks, and every laugh still sounds like it’s at her expense. The only time Maggie feels at peace is when she’s hiking up in the mountains with her best friend, Nick. Lately, though, there’s a new sort of tension between the two of them—a tension both dangerous and delicious. But how can Maggie expect anything more out of Nick when all she’s ever been told is that she’s ugly, she’s pathetic, she’s unworthy of love? And how can she ever feel safe, now that Raleigh Barringer is suddenly—terrifyingly—back in town?"

Truthfully, I think this is a really good book. It's a story about moving on, moving forward, onward and upward. (heh). It's not exactly many people's piece of cake, but it is mine. (Until It Hurts To Stop reminds me of Meet the Robinsons. The overall message of the movie is Keep Moving Forward). 

What I love most about Until It Hurts To Stop is the message. Moving on, not dwelling on things you can't change. For example, the past. Maggie Camden wishes to change the past because of her past as a victim of Raleigh Barringer. She can't change that, but all she has left is to move on. And that's what Until It Hurts To Stop is about. Moving on is one of the major messages from this book. And along with the smaller message about half-truths and secrets. That message is a bit more hidden, but it's there. 

Until It Hurts To Stop is an inspiring book. I haven't read one like this in a long time. Perhaps the last time I read an inspiring book was last year. Movies, on the other hand, a few days ago. But we are not talking about movies! We are talking about books! Sorry about that. I'm getting off track once again. 

The book is really short, so it shouldn't be too hard to read. It's about two hundred and fifty pages long, so that's a great plus. It's not a five hundred page book where you have to paw through every word.

Maggie Camden isn't the strongest characters of all time. For most of the book, Maggie's character slowly builds strength. It would seem, at first, that she's a quite normal human being. When Raleigh Barringer returns, she becomes a shell of her former self. When her friends slowly become distant, she grows weaker and weaker (but thankfully never thought of finishing herself) until she finds the support of her friends and the wrongs of her character. 

Nick, or better known as Maggie's best friend and potential boyfriend, is more of a supporting character. He's a stable character actually. A basketball player, he seems to be calm and very athletic. And along with those wonderful traits, he has a really thick head. I mean, a really thick head like most men. I wish I could know more about him.

Rating: Four out of five