Joya Goffney has been on my radar for a while. ‘Excuse Me While I Ugly Cry’ was one of my first book purchases as a School Librarian, and although I’ve yet to read it myself, it’s proven to be popular with older students. So when I logged into NetGalley and saw that I could request Goffney’s latest offering, I was thrilled. ‘My Week With Him’ is exactly the kind of novel I want to get into the hands of my avid student readers because it is fresh and relatable.

The protagonist and narrator of the story, Nikki, is a social media savvy singer with dreams of stardom as a way of leaving her messy hometown behind. That is until her long term friendship with charming Mal becomes something else entirely. Their chemistry is palpable and lovesick teens the world over will see themselves in the pair.

Love story aside, Goffney taps into another universal teenage problem; parents. Nikki and her mum are far from best friends and the way their relationship develops throughout the novel feels entirely true to life. There’s also a loveable yet troublesome younger sister in the mix. Family is also an important theme for Malachi, whose own history will show readers that you never know what someone has been through just by looking at them.

Goffney’s style has a great balance of description and dialogue that really draws you into the scene. The latter is realistic, which I find essential for a good YA novel as if the characters don’t sound like teenagers, the teenage readers aren’t going to feel seen in the way we want them to through literature.

‘My Week With Him’ is published by Hot Key Books 11 Jul 2023.

Librarian Lowdown:

fairly regular use of mild expletives
scenes of a sexual nature – pretty tame, nothing gratuitous and no stark detail
suitable for year 9s and over but also mature year 7s and 8s

Thank you to the publisher for the ARC copy of this book via NetGalley.

Joya Goffney brings us another coming-of-age romance, embedding real world issues and making the right decisions for you.

Nikki is an aspiring singer/songwriter from a small town in Texas. During spring break she is invited by a producer to go audition for a band in California. She'll drive down and be back as soon as she can. Her plan is soon thwarted by her emotionally abusive mother after she heads back home after forgetting something. Kicked out of the house, Nikki makes up with her childhood best friend Mal, who she frequently stays with when her mum kicks her out. They've had feelings for each other for years, and thus begins Nikki's week with Mal.

The book is split into days then timestamps, as Nikki learns more about her feelings, the emotional abuse she has suffered at the hands of her mothers as well as her own desires for her future. I really enjoyed the dynamics between characters and how Nikki sticks to her decisions about her future - even if it's not always easy.

Goffney's books always include difficult topics, and the exploration of emotional abuse in this book is no different. I could feel myself getting angry, sad and frustrated along with Nikki, each time she interacted with her mother.

Mal is a wonderful book boyfriend, another thing Goffney succeeds at. Though there are some questionable moments where you're not sure if he really supports Nikki's dreams or not. Her younger sister Vae is equally frustrating at times. They need her in ways she doesn't (think) she needs them.

I would have liked to have seen more of Nikki's girl friends who we meet at the start if the book, but then don't reappear until much later, and only fleetingly. This is definitely different to Goffney's other novels, but still perfectly enjoyable and a great summer read for fans of YA romance.

I cried, a lot.

My Week with Him explores emotional abuse from a family member, and it does so sensitively and authentically, exploring the complexity of the impact this has on a person. It was tough to read — my heart broke for Nikki. I just wanted to reach through the page and hug her. I also had hope, much like Nikki did, that her mother would suddenly change and all would be healed — but that’s not reality. That’s not how it works.

I like how we got to explore all aspects of Nikki’s emotions, from the hate she has for her mother (rightfully so), the love, the anger. It was so hard to see Nikki hope, and to hope along with her that things would start to be okay, and to see her hurt again. It was a complicated relationship, to put simply. I like at the end we did get some growth (I won’t spoil too much) yet not all was forgiven, nor did characters magically change overnight in to perfect versions of themselves. It was messy, but it felt real.

One aspect of Goffney’s writing that I’ve always enjoyed and found to be her strength is the strength to make me feel. This book really had me emotional. Like I said, I was feeling all of Nikki’s hurt. When she felt betrayed by her sister, I was so angry and found it difficult to swallow when Nikki seemingly wasn’t as angry as me anymore. When Nikki cried, I cried. This book was an emotional journey.

I like the way this booked balanced all the different themes and plots. To the complicated and abusive family relationship, the complicated romance (so many complications!), to exploring what it’s like to be adopted…it all felt so well done and well handled.

I think my only “issue” (and it’s not really an issue) is that I would’ve liked to have seen a bit more of Nikki interacting with her other friends, and for the big to be a tiny bit longer. I kept swiping the page (reading on the Netgalley shelf app) to go to the next page and it was like nope, this is it. But then maybe that’s just me being greedy — because this book had a good, hopeful ending.

All in all, I really enjoyed this book. I began reading it in bed, with the intent to read a few chapters before sleep, but I ended up finishing it at 5am with tears streaming down my face.

I absolutely loved this book. I am a fan of the authors previous works and was not disappointed with My Week With Him. In fact, I think it's become my new favourite. I loved how the romance between Nikki and Mal wasn't just the sole focus in the story as we had a focus on friends, trauma and family, as well as pursuing your dreams. I wish Joya Goffney was writing books when I was younger as she creates stories that are relevant and I believe they will help so many people with situations in their own lives. The only thing I did want from this book was an Epilogue to see exactly what happened in Nikki's future, we get a slight idea from the message she receives after her audition but I just wanted to know a little more, despite this I still rate it a five star read! Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read this! My review can also be found on Instagram: @thebraidedbibliophile

This is my third title by this author whom I find is really good at capturing the teenage experience and writing it in a way that's geared towards teens. I also have fun reading her books which are all about black teens navigating that pesky thing called teenage hood. While I did enjoy the time I spent reading this it is sadly my least favourite of her works.

I'll start by saying that this is in deed a friends to lovers romance but I felt their romantic chemistry was slighly lacking, which kept me from fully embracing them together and not just as individuals. I feel like the plot would have carried on the way it did even if they'd remained friends. It wasn't a bad romance I just found it lacking for me.

When you pick this up please pay attention to the content warnings. Nikki, our female MC, goes through a lot and at times I just wanted to give her a hug.

Going into this I expected a typical road trip story but it did surprise me and I have to give the author her dues for how she handled it. I enjoyed the ways it veered from the traditional path. Overall I had fun and would urge you to pick it up, I just feel like if the following things were implemented it would be a much better reading experience.

• The time stamps were distracting and broke up the flow of the story. If the author had just used a paragraph to denote time pacing each day that would have worked better.
• Too many 'note to self' only those adding new information to the narrative will be sufficient

Content warnings: child neglect, domestic abuse, addiction.

"That boy looks at you like you put the sun in the sky.”

For all the girls who grew up in a toxic environment with a toxic parent.

Shaniqua "Nikki" Williams, has grown up living in fear of her mother. Having never been told that she is loved, never held, and never told goodnight, she believes her mother hates her. Nikki believes shes found a way out of her toxic home, when she is contacted by an A&R looking for a lead vocalist for a hot new girl group. However, after being ratted out by her younger sister, Nikki misses her opportunity to audition, and ends up being homeless too. Nikki is determined to make it to the next round of auditions in a weeks time,  but the possibility of love is also on the horizon. Will Nikki fulfil her musical dreams?

I heard through the grapevine that Joya was quite nervous for how "My Week With Him" would be received. I totally understand why, it's a lot grittier than her previous work - a lot more swearing etc, but I found that it made it more believable. Having lived through a difficult mother/daughter relationship throughout my teens, I found "My Week With Him" so relatable & realistic. Nikki was forever in a state of limbo with her mother, never knowing where she stood with her.

The romance factor did not disappoint, Nikki's love interest, Malachi, was giving all the feels. He was just 🥰. In the beginning I definitely was not sure on him, but as time progressed he showed himself as a stand up guy, one who could be relied upon at any time.

Goffney excels in creating a protagonist that we gravitate towards. Nikki comes from a one parent family, who receives government support, "food stamps" etc, she never has the latest clothes/shoes, even though she lacks these "assets", she is a girl who is adored by her friends.

"My Week With Him" tackles issues such as poverty, toxic parent relationships, social care etc, but I am 1000% sure that fans of Goffney's previous work will be enamoured by "My Week With Him". I even shed a few tears towards the end.

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Thank you to @netgalley & @bonnierbooks_uk for my early copy.

Release date 11th July 2023

At this point, Joya Goffney is an auto buy author for me. The characters feel so effortlessly real as I read them, they are books I wish I had when I was younger.

I felt like I was on Nikki and Mals adventure with them at the beginning of the book, gutted for them when it got cut short.
The found family element with Mal's mother looking after Nikki melted my heart, and I was genuinely angry at the way Nikki's mum treated her. I loved her bond with her sister, and how they both just knew that they could rely on Mal. I loved that the layers were gradually peeled back to give us more information on each character and how they came to be.
Overall, a fun, heartwarming read.