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young adult book reviews & more

Hold Still by Nina LaCour

Hold StillOne day, Caitlin is cruising through life, hanging out with her best friend Ingrid, and the next, Ingrid is gone for good, leaving Caitlin shocked and devastated. Ingrid’s suicide and absence from Caitlin’s life causes Caitlin to be lost. She hardly knows how to function without her best friend and finds herself unable to enjoy the simplest things she used to, like photography. When Caitlin finds Ingrid’s last personal journal, a final set of letters explaining the events and Ingrid’s state of mind that led to her death, Caitlin feels she’s never stop grieving. But reading her friend’s most private thoughts and fears just might be what gives Caitlin the courage to move on and take back control of her own life.

Hold Still is the most recent of a long list of novels dealing with grief and other repercussions from the loss of a loved one that I have read. I can’t say this debut novel from LaCour distinguishes itself in any major way from among that list. If anything, it’s really not even one of the better ones. I’m already quite familiar with the storyline, having read many similar books, so I would’ve appreciated a unique protagonist. I, however, was not at all enamored with main character Caitlin. Half the time she didn’t feel realistic, and the other, I wasn’t entirely sure what was going on with her. The development of her character in conjunction with the progression of her grief over Ingrid wasn’t very smooth, and I guess I just didn’t like her that much. On the other hand, I found Ingrid’s character fascinating even if her character development, similar to Caitlin’s, was a little stunted. I would’ve liked to know more about her and Caitlin’s close relationship. On the surface, Hold Still may still be an interesting book to read, but it’s nothing special compared to others like it.

Hold Still may be enjoyed by fans of The Secret Year by Jennifer Hubbard, Love You Hate You Miss You by Elizabeth Scott, and Cracked Up to Be by Courtney Summers.

Rating: 3.5

Review copy from publisher Penguin

1 munch(es) :

Shweta said...

The theme seems to rehashed again and again . I am not sure I am upto reading any more guilt ridden ,grief stricken , non self forgiving protagonists :) Have read too many in a short interval of time .. I might give this a try sometime later this year

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