Hold Still by Nina LaCour — Book Review
By: Aditi Agarwala
Tags: Relationships, Feelings, Best Friend, Book Recommendations, Book Review

Hold Still Book Cover — Image from Bustle.com

How close are you to your best friend? Does he/she share every “feeling” with you? Ever wondered what if he/she is hiding something? Ever wondered if you are really being a true best friend?

Written by Nina LaCour, Hold Still will make you wonder all these things not only in your mind but maybe in your heart too.

Nina LaCour

Nina LaCour is the bestselling and Michael. L Printz award-winning of — — We are Okay, Hold Still, Everything Leads to you and The Disenchantments, the four critically acclaimed young adult novels published by Dutton Books. She is the Co-Author with David Levithan of “You Know Me Well”.She is now a faculty member at Hamline University. A San Fransisco Bay Area Native, Nina lives with her wife and their daughter.

Hold Still is a story about Caitlin and Ingrid, two young crazy best friends. The memories made by them are adventurous, beautiful, unforgettable, and can be cherished forever.

But..something wasn’t right. And in one night everything changed. Ingrid was no more. She committed suicide. Everything changed. Caitlin couldn’t understand what happened and why it happened. She was in a very deep dilemma. Her life had stopped for her. She didn’t know what, how, and why to do anything at all.

Until one day she found Ingrid’s journal under her bed. The journal that Ingrid never showed to anyone. The journal that knew her more than anyone else did. The journal that was her secret keeper. It had all the good and bad memories of Ingrid. But what memories did the journal had that made Caitlin question several things and change her perspectives? Caitlin knew more about Ingrid through the journal more than she could ever know Ingrid by herself. And reading through the journal, Caitlin developed a regret inside of her. The regret of not being able to see through her even though she was there. But just knowing the truth or regretting wasn’t enough for Caitlin. And she realizes that. And takes decisions that will change her way of seeing people, relationships, and her life.

“How does your life move forward when all you want to do is Hold Still”

But does this journal makes her change her life for the better or the worse? Will Caitlin be able to move on after knowing the deep bitter truths of Ingrid’s life through the journal?

Photo by Taisiia Stupak on Unsplash

This book engages your attention and focuses like nothing else. Every moment of this book is presented so beautifully by the author that it might take you back to the nostalgic moments of all the beautiful times you have had with your long lost best friend..or your best friend who is maybe angry with you or your best friend with whom you are currently in a long-distance or just your best friend.

Personally, for me this book made me realize the true meaning of the relationship of two best friends. It’s more than just giving a tag of a best friend just because you spend most of the time with that person. It’s about being able to trust and love someone you chose to blindly. It about the journey from being two strangers to being a safe place for each other. It’s about being able to talk to others without a second thought or a thought that “Will I be judged”. It is about loving someone your heart and you chose to love and trust unconditionally. This is one of the most precious relationships that we need to value and preserve for ourselves before it's too late.

Nina LaCour, Bookreviews.co, Thoughts/Feels BookReview, Ross Rojek, Book Publisher