Hold Still by Nina LaCour
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This book grabbed me with its pain and sadness, I felt the grief and gut wrenching guilt deep inside and then the peace and hope slowly brought it to its end. Nina LaCour writes beautifully and there were so many passages that I copied from this book to look back on. I read this in two sittings and both times, I was captivated and totally inside the story, I felt like I was part of Caitlin and that I was actually feeling everything that she felt. Grieving for her best friend is one thing but then finding her best friends diary and reading it brought Caitlin to a whole other level of guilt and while part of me wanted to scream at Caitlin to stop pushing people away, another part of me just wanted to let Caitlin be by herself, in her treehouse.
I think I cried more in the end part of the story, reflecting on everything that had happened, acknowledging that things don’t remain the same and looking forward to things that are still to happen.
Caitlin was such a believable character who I connected with in every way and then don’t get me started on Dylan, Maddy, Jayson and Taylor…..exactly the kind of people I wanted around Caitlin.
Death, sadness, coffee, kissing and friendship – this book had it all. And now I think i might stick it under my mattress, just to have close.
‘My best friend is dead, and I could have saved her. It’s so wrong, so completely and painfully wrong, that I walked through my front door tonight smiling.’ – pg. 91
‘This is how it feels to have friends. It isn’t something fleeting. It won’t end when I walk out the door.’ – pg. 198
‘It isn’t the happy ending that Ingrid and I had dreamed up, but it’s all a part of what I’m working through. The way life changes. The way people and things disappear. Then appear, unexpectedly, and hold you close.’ – pg. 228
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