Monday Charles is missing, and only Claudia seems to notice. Claudia and her best friend Monday are two peas in a pod. Sisters by heart, if not by blood. BFF’s to the moon and beyond. Claudia knows this. On her way back from her summer away vacation, she’s ready to get back to her Monday. Except… Monday isn’t answering her calls. She doesn’t show up to school on Monday. Or Tuesday. Or Friday. Claudia needs her best friend. She can’t keep struggling with her English homework, or the bullies at school, or the dances they made together, or the constant loneliness, without Monday. So she decides to dig deeper into her friend’s disappearance. But what do you do when no one will help you find your missing half?

This book absolutely wrecked me. I won’t spoil, but I have to start off saying, Monday’s Not Coming has the same power of The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas. IYKYK. It’s that same, powerful, heart-touching image of situations that are fiction in the novel… but you know this is a story that has been played out somewhere, today, yesterday, and forever. The added thing about Monday’s Not Coming is that it’s actually based off a true story, which makes the novel all the more… impactful.

“Mondays are the best days! Like, aren’t you excited about the start of a new week? It’s like a new chapter in a book.”
― Tiffany D. Jackson, Monday’s Not Coming

What I Liked

As my mother says, when a book can connect to both your head and your heart… you know you have a masterpiece on your hands. This novel took me on a wild ride. The characters are real and thought out, all with their own wants and motives. This really is a mystery, but you get so caught up in the realness of what’s happening now in the novel, you forget. The connection Monday and Claudia have… it’s beautiful. It what every girl either has or wants to have. That blood bond, ride or die for life kind of girl. We see all this little parts that build our love for them, and our need for them to be happy. A masterpiece of the emotional.

The plot and writing choices and story arcs of this novel *fangirls in writer* there are so many little pieces I don’t even think I caught as I read it, but Jackson was laying tracks the entire time. The tension. The way you got so caught up in Claudia’s mission. You need her to succeed. Even when you start to suspect things, you keep dangling on the edge of hope…

And the emotion of this novel. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. I finished this book and I started crying at my college. I do not cry in public except for really good books. You have been warned. And yeah, you’ve still gotta read it.

“In this life, you don’t always get what you want, but you must dance through it” -Ms. Manis
― Tiffany D. Jackson, Monday’s Not Coming

What I Disliked

There’s honestly not much. This book is stunning. The narrative is a little hard to follow–it skips between parts of The Before and The After and some months in between. But oh my word, when you finish the novel… it all makes sense and it’s absolutely genius.

Content Warnings

This book is heavy and real. Content warnings include abuse, cursing, sexual content (some crude words, harassment, one scene where a character walks in on a couple about to “do it”–no graphic details are shown. Other mentions of sexual acts, though again, nothing’s told in graphic details.), death, abandonment, grief, miscarriage, lesbian couples, side characters discriminating against lesbians, and alcohol.

“I think it boils down to one question: who’s really responsible for your well-being—your family, the government, or your community?”
― Tiffany D. Jackson, Monday’s Not Coming

Conclusion

Monday’s Not Coming is absolutely stunning in the most heart-wrenching way. I would absolutely read it again, but not immediately–my heart’s still too raw. On a more serious note, this novel tells a story everyone needs to hear and understand. It’s real. It’s messy. And it’s important, so we don’t have more true stories like this.

I rate Monday’s Not Coming 4 out of 5 stars, simply because the narrative was hard to get through. I recommend for readers 16+, and for fans of The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas and the themes of Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell.