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Hold Still

by Nina LaCour (Goodreads Author)

4.04 of 5 stars 4.04 · rating details · 7,150 ratings · 861 reviews

An arresting story about starting over after a friend's suicide, froma breakthrough new voice in YA fiction

Dear Caitlin, there are so many things that i want so badly to tell you but i just can't.

Devastating, hopeful, hopeless, playful . . . in words and illustrations, Ingrid left behind a painful farewell in her journal for Caitlin. Now Caitlin is left alone, by loss and...more

Paperback, 256 pages

Published October 2010 by Penguin Group (USA) Incorporated (first published September 25th 2009)

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May 15, 2012 Reynje rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: contemp-or-realistic, read-2012, young-adult, playlists

”You might be looking for reasons but there are no reasons.”

It was this simple line that made me realise that I not only liked, but respected this book.

Out of context, it is an ambiguous, awkwardly phrased sentence that makes my fingers itch to shove in some punctuation. In context, it’s one of the most powerful statements in the entire novel. It’s a deeply insightful expression of understanding, an extension of empathy, distilled into one potent line.

Mental illness is not a choice. And had thi...more

49 likes · like · see review

Apr 21, 2012 Aly (Fantasy4eva) rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: big-fat-tears, crushing-on-the-cover, fast-paced-and-engrossing, i-ache-for-you, digging-the-premise, own

I love the cover! *pets book* Isn't it just gorgeous? ;)

I think I had such a good feeling about this book for such a long period of time, that I was bound to be disappointed in some way or the other. Don't worry, though. It had some very redeemable qualities.

The premise.

Caitlin's best friend, Ingrid, committed suicide. The thing is, the two were pretty much inseparable. Both were exceptional at photography, and it was this talent of theirs which I enjoyed being explored in the novel. Their pass...more

13 likes · like · see review

Feb 07, 2011 Janina rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult-fiction, death-loss-grief, covers-i-love, contemporary, on-my-shelf, made-me-cry, read-in-2011, art, beautiful-writing, quiet-but-awesome, problem-focused

This was the third book I read about suicide in a short amount of time (and the second in a row), and it was the one that touched me most on an emotional level. Nevertheless, I think I’ll now move on to some lighter topics ;). I can only take that much …

Hold Still is a quiet, but noteworthy book. It tells the story of Caitlin, whose best friend Ingrid commits suicide. The only thing she leaves behind for Caitlin is her last journal, with drawings and entries that speak of depression, loneliness...more This was the third book I read about suicide in a short amount of time (and the second in a row), and it was the one that touched me most on an emotional level. Nevertheless, I think I’ll now move on to some lighter topics ;). I can only take that much …

Hold Still is a quiet, but noteworthy book. It tells the story of Caitlin, whose best friend Ingrid commits suicide. The only thing she leaves behind for Caitlin is her last journal, with drawings and entries that speak of depression, loneliness and finally the loss of hope for better times. Nevertheless, Caitlin feels left alone with her feelings of guilt and anger, not understanding why her friend never confided in her about her sadness and pain.

Despite the fact that Ingrid is dead, I really felt her presence in this book. She is in the photos Caitlin takes, in her memory and in her journal entries. She is portrayed in so many facets: The talented artist, the friend and daughter, the reckless teen. I felt so sad that she was gone. There were a few scenes that made me cry, simply because they were beautiful yet there was something missing. When Ingrid writes in her diary

”this is what i want so don’t be sad. you might look for reasons but there are no reasons. the sun stopped shining for me is all. the whole story is: i am sad. i am sad all the time and the sadness is so heavy that i can’t get away from it. not ever … i don’t want to hurt you or anybody so just please forget about me. just try.” (she's obviously not a fan of capitalizing letters)

I was sitting in front of my book, bawling my eyes out. How can someone wish others would forget her?

So, although Caitlin’s story about moving on and finding new friends sometimes felt a bit unrealistic (in terms of: The new girl at school of course wants to be friends only with her and isn’t offended when Caitlin pushes her away. The popular guy falls for her and reaches out to her. Her parents are all understanding and try to help her no matter how stupid she behaves), Hold Still is a book that lingers.

I wanted to add something about the cover: I simply adore it. The colours are so striking in their different shades of blue and I love that it's blurred to show movement - in contrast to the title.
(less)

11 likes · like · see review

Jan 21, 2013 Keertana rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: books-that-linger, beautiful-prose

If the breathtaking cover of Hold Still hasn’t already captured your attention, the beautiful writing inside certainly will. LaCour’s debut is an ambitious piece, taking on grief, confusion, and the swirling unknown of despair that leads to teenage suicide. While I can’t say that this is an easy read, because the sadness in it is practically overwhelming, it is a very well-written and powerful novel, one that every lover of moving prose, three-dimensional characters, and realistic approaches sho...more If the breathtaking cover of Hold Still hasn’t already captured your attention, the beautiful writing inside certainly will. LaCour’s debut is an ambitious piece, taking on grief, confusion, and the swirling unknown of despair that leads to teenage suicide. While I can’t say that this is an easy read, because the sadness in it is practically overwhelming, it is a very well-written and powerful novel, one that every lover of moving prose, three-dimensional characters, and realistic approaches should invest their time in.

When our novel begins, Ingrid, Caitlin’s best friend, has just committed suicide. Needless to say, the entirety of this novel is Caitlin’s journey as she learns to move on and continue living, despite the gaping hole in her heart. Now, I’ve read my fair share of grief novels and, from my experience, they usually involve road trips, hot guys, or just escaping. As much as I enjoy and simply love those books, Hold Still is a far more real experience because, admit it, as a teen, what are the chances of you taking off in a truck across the country with a ridiculously hot guy, too? Zero. Thus, I found Caitlin’s journey, although far more depressing than I originally anticipated, being a much more realistic portrayal of teen grief.

In my eyes, the strength of this novel lies in Caitlin. LaCour gives Caitlin many tools; she allows her to find Ingrid’s journal, full of her deepest thoughts; she allows her to make a new friend in school, one who has also experienced loss; she gives her understanding parents who only want to see their daughter emerge from her numb stasis; and she even gives her a concerned classmate, one who wants the best for her. Yet, despite all these people willing to help Caitlin and the objects of Ingrid’s that she finds to help her understand her friend, they all somehow play a very minimal role in the novel. Instead, this book is all Caitlin, all her interpretations of Ingrid’s short journal entries, all her confused feelings and bad moods, all her slowly coping with this unexplainable grief.

Caitlin isn’t an easy character to like. For one, she’s closed off from others, her narration is deeply saddening, and she pushes away others. Yet, her growth throughout the novel is gradual and evident, which I loved. Perhaps best of all, for the reader at least, is that the grief that Caitlin feels, the same grief that seems to be pressing down upon us as we flip the pages, choking our words and enveloping us in darkness, recedes. LaCour is such a brilliant author that, truly, I was so very numb while reading the first half of this, but, like Caitlin herself, I slowly began to thaw. Even more than her prose, LaCour’s depiction of teens, the conversations Caitlin carries with her parents and her photography teacher, her blooming romance with the school’s most popular guy…it’s all so very believable.

Ultimately, I cannot recommend this novel enough. I am still blown away by the depth of some of the relationships in this story, the truly individual arc of growth, and just Caitlin herself. I feel like I’ve crawled into her skin since I know her so well, her passion for photography and to make a tree house, her parents, her friends, her worries, her aspirations, her heart… Hold Still is a contemporary that just cannot be missed. It is deep, lovely, and moving in all the right ways and will undoubtedly change your expectations about teenage contemporary novels for sure.

You can read this review and more on my blog, Ivy Book Bindings.(less)

7 likes · like · see review

May 21, 2011 Linna rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: contemporary, gorgeous-writing, i-cried, surprisingly-good, spectacular-all-time-favorites, overlooked-gems

Stories about suicide aren’t the type that I’d pick up right off the bat– it can feel like I’m just being manipulated if the plot is nothing but grief and pain. And so when I saw HOLD STILL sitting on the YA shelf of the library, I glanced at it briefly before putting it back down. Which was a mistake, because this book is beautifully written and achingly gorgeous, and the ultimate message (I hesitate on calling it a ‘message’, because you don’t just come across messages in real life, and Caitli...more

8 likes · like · see review

Jan 26, 2013 Ashlee Tidwell rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

August 2010 - I'm not sure there are words to express just how much this book changed me. If there are words, they are too personal to share. This wasn't just a book to me, it was a lifeline I wasn't aware I was in need of, a way of understanding things I hadn't quite considered before. I started this book with a much different approach than I came out with, but I say that in the best way possible. Most reviews go on to tell you about the book, but you can read that for yourself. These reviews a...more

5 likes · like · see review

Jan 05, 2010 Lea (YA Book Queen) rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: autographed, printed-book, for-review

When I first picked up Hold Still, I wasn't sure what to think. I knew this was going to be a sad story, but it's also laced with humor, love, and everything in between. This is one of those novels that tugged at my heartstrings, and captured my attention fully.

I found myself really connecting with Caitlin. LaCour's development of her was amazing, because I honestly felt she could be a real person. She's up, and she's down while dealing with the aftermath of Ingrid's death. The discovery of Ingr...more

2 likes · like · see review

Dec 12, 2011 Emily Eponine rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book was very sad, but it was also a very satisfying read. The main character is believable, and real. You feel everything that she goes through. You never do meet the deceased best friend, Ingrid, but from her journal entries, you can feel how broken she was. This is a very important book and I believe that it should actually be taught in schools.

3 likes · like · see review

May 03, 2012 Charlie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: recommended, suicide, self-harm, young-adult, art, photography, death, depression

"I am not a darling. I am a girl ready to explode into nothing."

Among all books I've read that involved suicide, I consider this book as the best. Unlike others that seem to talk about why the person committed suicide and sometimes ends up playing a bit of guilt-trip among those who were left. This talks about Caitlin and what she went through on her way to acceptance about her best friend, Ingrid's death.

Caitlin is a very realistic character with real emotions. When her best friend died, of...more

2 likes · like · see review

Jun 08, 2011 Stefanie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: dying-to-read-next

I feel like I've read a lot of suicide books now. Books where the main character is dealing with the aftermath of a loved one's act of committing suicide. And, ya know, the thing I think that draws me to these books is that it's such a real and raw affect that the author creates. I feel like it's a feeling you can't fake. I love the authenticity of that.
Hold Still was no different. The tone was so real, so not forced. Caitlin felt normal to me. She felt like...like how she should when you lose y...more I feel like I've read a lot of suicide books now. Books where the main character is dealing with the aftermath of a loved one's act of committing suicide. And, ya know, the thing I think that draws me to these books is that it's such a real and raw affect that the author creates. I feel like it's a feeling you can't fake. I love the authenticity of that.
Hold Still was no different. The tone was so real, so not forced. Caitlin felt normal to me. She felt like...like how she should when you lose your best friend. She dealt with it in the most normal way by not doing the "normal" things. She sits out in her car at night, blasting music. She hides away in the science hall of her school, avoiding all the other kids. She rebels against her teacher, the one person she thought she could maybe relate to on her best friend's death. The one person she was possibly willing/wanting to talk to about Ingrid's death.
And that's the thing...is that, you want to talk about it but at the same time don't. Or don't know how to and I thought Nina LaCour captured that soo well in this book. That contradiction of wanting to do something but saying or doing another thing.
Caitlin is a good character. I didn't completely relate to her or totally fall in love with her character but I did like her. I feel like the other characters in the book, like Caitlin's new friend, Dylan, really help move the book along and add depth to Caitlin's character. Because, really, it's through those new friendships that she realizes all the things about herself that she needs to.
There are some really beautiful scenes in this book. A couple of which had me crying on my plane ride home! I had to stare out the window into darkness, hoping that the boy next to me wouldn't notice my sniffling and tears. If he did, he was just too polite to bring attention to them. Or too scared. Crying girls can be scary.
Overall, I really liked this book. Definitely would recommend it if you're interested in an emotional read. I look forward to reading more of Nina LaCour's novels!(less)

6 likes · like · see review

Jan 06, 2010 elissa rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to elissa by: Capitol Choices

Shelves: my_10s_reads, youngadult, mental_illnesses, weepies, art

Beautiful. Both simple and complex, if that makes any sense. Definitely a new writer to watch. Reminds me a little of the writing in Zarr's first book. More like 4 1/2 stars, but I'm rounding up. I love how the gay character is just a character, and not at all an "issue" in this book. The author is gay, and she did an excellent job with that part of it. I see this book's biggest strength as showing just how profoundly different what you see on the outside of a person and what's going on on the i...more

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Dec 29, 2011 Nicole rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: anyone 14 plus...though probably mostly for girls

Shelves: ya, lgbt-etc

This book was a surprise. A good surprise.

Don't be fooled by its emo cover and "sexy" suicide subject matter. This book has depth. Though it doesn't dwell on the morbid slit wrist details, it doesn't shy away from them either. The emphasis is on the practical and emotional repercussions of losing your best friend unexpectedly. Walking through the halls, making new friends, laughing and then feeling guilty for laughing. Caitlin is depressed for most of the book but the writing is such that her de...more

1 like · like · see review

Nov 06, 2010 Nomes rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: books-that-linger, faves-of-2010, i-own, tissue-box-books, 2010, covers-i-love, crushing-on-the-writing, favourites, hidden-gem-i-love-you-so, mental-health, quietly-awesome, swoon-worthy-crushes, you-broke-my-heart, you-make-me-smile

I got this after reading oh-so-many stunning reviews. And it's one of my fave reads this year.

I am most astounded with just how deeply I sunk into these pages. Nina LaCour knows teens and she's pitch prefect at capturing them.

I personally not only related to Caitlin, but also to Ingrid (who, wow, she's dead from the outset, but her presence is so keenly felt throughout the pages).

It's beautiful and hopeful and brave and captivating and I wish I could go back to my teen self and give her this b...more

9 likes · like · see review

Jul 23, 2012 Lisa added it · review of another edition

Cover: 3.5/5

The cover of my copy of Hold Still, just confuses me. Why does the girl look like she's moving, if the book is called "Hold Still"? Maybe, if she were in the process of letting go, it would make more sense. I would really prefer the hardback instead. I feel that it fits the story a lot better!

Characters-

Favorite:

My favorite character would have to be Dylan, hands down, no question about it. She just seems like someone you could trust, depend and lean on when you need her; she knows e...more

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Mar 23, 2013 T. Greenwood rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ya

This is a story about a particular kind of grief, set in the aftermath of a suicide. Pretty grim subject matter, I know. But LaCour's handling of it is deft. The novel is wonderfully raw and authentic, without ever becoming maudlin.

After Ingrid kills herself, her best friend, Caitlin, is left with a few precious (and dangerous) artifacts: a diary, and the photos that Ingrid, an aspiring photographer, left behind. And by studying these entries and images, Caitlin comes to understand everything s...more

1 like · like · see review

Mar 05, 2013 Jessica Hill rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

This quickly became one of my favorite novels. I love LaCour's writing. She doesn't overload it with a ton of details, but gets more to the emotion of the moment. At any given moment, you know exactly how Caitlin is feeling, how hard she's struggling to come to terms with her life without Ingrid, how she feels guilty for not being able to help her friend.

There are a lot of things that people hide beneath the surface and keep to themselves, and HOLD STILL really explores that. Ingrid had all thes...more

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Jan 17, 2013 Elizabeth rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This debut book for this author is AMAZING. Caitlin loses her best friend Ingrid. (they are in high school) Caitlin is grieving very hard and we journey with her as she comes to terms with her grief. Her parents take her on a trip in the summer to help her start to heal. When they get home her father leaves a pile of plywood in the backyard for her to build something which will give her a challenge and renewed purpose. Caitlin finds Ingrid's journal under her own bed and as she reads it, little...more

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Jan 12, 2013 Katherine Marple rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Caitlin is working through the grief of losing her best friend Ingrid to suicide. She finds Ingrid's journal hidden beneath her bed. She is surprised, anxious, afraid, mostly clinging to the idea that she has one more way of holding onto Ingrid's memory within the journal's pages. So she reads it slowly, savoring every entry.

High school is hard. Teenaged years are very difficult. Without difficulties in our teenaged years, we wouldn't have the strength to get through the rest of our lives- adult...more

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Oct 28, 2012 Melissa Foley rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: foleydigitalbookshelf

"Hold Still" is book about how one teenager, Caitlin, copes with the loss of her friend Ingrid, after learning Ingrid had committed suicide. Following the incident Caitlin discovers Ingrids journal full of entries that Ingrid wrote to Cailin before her death. This story is about loss and how one girl uses art to help her heal from such a devastating loss.

Ages 14 and up.

This story is a good read for any teenager who has experienced the death of a loved one or who knows a friend who has. Through C...more

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Sep 08, 2012 Alexis Lee rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

So I dived right into Hold Still without really knowing what to expect or what was coming. I was anticipating a rainy-afternoon read; something rambly and vague, maybe a bit like Kephart's Small Damages - beautifully descriptive, sincere, but not very deep.

Boy, was I wrong.

I really didn't expect this depth of feeling, this amount of rawness and this amount of understanding of grief and guilt. Caitlin feels, and I was right next to her, feeling lost, guilty, angry, hopeful, bitter, lonely, scare...more

1 like · like · see review

Mar 11, 2012 Kyle Ames rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Kyle Ames
Contemporary-Realistic Fiction
The story is about a young girl named Caitlin. A few months before the actual story time frame, Caitlin's best friend, Ingrid, killed herself. During the end of summer break and the beggining of the school year, Caitlin discovers Ingrids journal under bed, assuming Ingrid left it there before taking her life she begins reading the entries and surveys the artistic illustrations Ingird drew and wrote about pertaining to her life and depression and even to th...more

1 like · like · see review

Feb 25, 2012 Ariel Uppstrom rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book was amazing! I'd had it on my shelf a long time and finally picked it up and read it within 3 days. The story follows a HS junior whose best friend killed herself at the end of the school year their 10th grade year. It goes back and forth between the current year and the year before. The main character, Caitlin, struggles with how she could have missed the signs and then discovers Ingrid's (the girl who died) journal stuffed under Caitlin's bed. As she reads, she discovers new understa...more

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Feb 17, 2012 Jenni French rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: genre-contemporary-fiction, age-5-grades-9-12, lgbtqia-lit

Caitlin is starting her junior year of high school still reeling from her best friend's suicide only months before. She finds Ingrid's diary under her bed and enters into her friend's world, trying to understand why she would choose death instead of life. Dylan, a new girl at school, befriends Caitlin and tries to pull her out of her depression and bring healing to her grieving heart.

This was an interesting book, but not a fast-moving one. Grief cannot be rushed, and this book takes its time as...more

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Feb 14, 2012 Lisa rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Heart-wrenching, poignant and captivating. Hold Still is a novel that starts with heartbreak and guides us along Caitlin's healing process. While at times this novel was difficult to read, it was also beautiful exploring Caitlin's and Ingrid's relationship and how Caitlin deals with being left behind. It was such a raw novel and Nina LaCour made you go through the spectrum of emotions never expecting what was going to happen next.

I can't imagine being Caitlin. She's lost and confused after Ingr...more

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Jan 10, 2012 Lumpenprole rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012, borrowed, suicide, fiction-ya

Given that the life and times of adolescent girls is a topic upon which I could speak with no more authority than I could upon Albanian poetry, perhaps this brief review not only pushes the envelope of presumptuousness, it blows through it, reaches escape velocity and ascends out of any sort of attachment to gravity into a vast vacuum of nonsense and ignorance. Perhaps, but this being the Internet I can strut proudly in perfect anonymity, like a Canada goose on a golf course, head held high, hon...more

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Jan 08, 2012 Brian Kelley rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recently, I bought the entire collection of novels from Penguin's publishing wing entitled "Point of View" --these are novels dealing head-on with topics many people find difficult to discuss. Having just read and reviewed Thirteen Reasons Why, I picked up Nina La Cour's Hold Still yesterday and could not put it down (I finished it in two sittings)--both of the novels I read in the last 48 hours explore teen suicide. I am working my way through these novels a few at a tim...more

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Jan 06, 2012 Misty Baker rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

“Hold Still” is a very unorthodox book. It’s not really all that happy, it’s got chapters of self-deprecation, and several very emotionally damaging messages from a suicidal girl. Now, keeping that in mind, I want to first explain to you my reasons for reading it, I’ll close with reasons I think you should or shouldn’t read it yourself.

Like Caitlin (the main character of this book) I had a friend whom commit suicide in High School, only I handled in horribly. I shut down, I talked to no one, I c...more “Hold Still” is a very unorthodox book. It’s not really all that happy, it’s got chapters of self-deprecation, and several very emotionally damaging messages from a suicidal girl. Now, keeping that in mind, I want to first explain to you my reasons for reading it, I’ll close with reasons I think you should or shouldn’t read it yourself.

Like Caitlin (the main character of this book) I had a friend whom commit suicide in High School, only I handled in horribly. I shut down, I talked to no one, I curled up in a ball…skipped school, and as result almost failed out. I thought that if I just slept I would eventually forget about it, unfortunately all that got me was 1 short step away from the looney-bin.

So, keeping all of that in mind, when I ran across this book I was instantly intrigued. All of these questions popped up in my head; What did I do wrong? Am I the only one that didn’t know how to handle this? Is there a right way? How in the world does someone write about this? Do they know the answer? How?

So I read it…looking for answers, but what I got was more of an understanding.

As I said before Caitlin’s best friend Ingrid committed suicide and she doesn’t exactly know what to do…or what to say. She goes to school, she gets angry with the teachers she thinks could be more understanding and she pushes away the people that are trying to help her cope. He parents are at a loss, she is at a loss, and most of all she is angry. Ingrid didn’t leave a note, she didn’t explain, she just left…and didn’t consider the people that loved her. Or so she thought.

After finding Ingrid’s journal under her mattress Caitlin starts to realize things aren’t so black and white…that the friend she knew was only half of a person. That the “whole” Ingrid was damaged, and sad…and desperate for someone to really see her.

As Catlin struggles with the truth, she builds herself back up, and eventually finds what she needs to move on.

“LaCour’s” writing was average, but for anyone that has actually committed themselves to reading something so sad, it hardly seems to matter.

I do not recommend this book for the everyday reader…because unless you have had this happen to you…it’s just not going to make any since to you.
I do however recommend it for anyone that does fall into the latter category and has lived through this. Not to punish yourself, not to relive it, but to understand the complexities that YOU were feeling…it’s a hard thing to understand, but to see it in black and white makes you feel a little more normal.

Happy reading my fellow Kindle-ites and remember, when you ask someone how they are…actually listen to the answer.(less)

1 like · like · see review

Jan 05, 2012 Abigail Creson rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Hold still
Hold still is about a girl named Caitlin who lost her Bestfriend to suicide and isn’t sure why or what happened at first till she finds her Bestfriend Ingrids journal.
Caitlin lost her bestfriend Ingrid to suicide no one knew why or what she was going through. Caitlin found Ingrids journal . As time goes by she reads a little at a time. The effect of her bestfriends death takes a toll on Caitlin she feels alone and like no one will ever understand what shes going through untill she me...more

1 like · like · see review

Oct 22, 2011 Anna rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: death-grieve, ebooks, favorites, i-love-to-death, young-adult, romance

I know most of us haven't experienced a loss of someone very close to us, especially a best friend. But now I get understand how it feels like if ever that situation happens. It may be sad for a very long time, it may be very difficult to cope up with, but I think at some point there's this realization that everything doesn't stop there, but instead it gives you a chance and hope to keep moving forward.

That is what Hold Still is all about. This book talks about Ingrid's suicide and how Caitlin...more I know most of us haven't experienced a loss of someone very close to us, especially a best friend. But now I get understand how it feels like if ever that situation happens. It may be sad for a very long time, it may be very difficult to cope up with, but I think at some point there's this realization that everything doesn't stop there, but instead it gives you a chance and hope to keep moving forward.

That is what Hold Still is all about. This book talks about Ingrid's suicide and how Caitlin tries to block out everything that surrounds her and thinks about how alone she is and disregards somebody who tries to reach out to her. I know it sounds selfish to her how she doesn't even acknowledge her parents when all they do was just help her go through with it, but it takes a lot to fathom the death of someone very close to her. For a little synopsis tells us that after the suicide happened, it was very hard for Caitlin to go through life knowing she doesn't know where and how to begin it. But then comes Dylan, a new student, who at some point have a story of her own. Without even knowing, they became very good friends and understands each other to what they both are dealing with. Then there's Taylor, who doesn't really show affection to her in a straight-forward manner but we get to know that he's there and he cares. I very much appreciate Caitlin's parents very much on how very compassionate and empathetic they are to their daughter who is dealing something very huge. I love every characters in this book and how they, in the very littlest way, was able to help change and develop Caitlin in a person she was now.

The book is deep about dealing on loss, grieve, friendship and love. It is really not that hard to love it and I see myself drawn in every single page in it. I don't really like comparing books and authors that much because it one has there own style but this reminds me of Sarah Dessen on the self-engrossed personality of the characters but with a lot of Ms.LaCour in a different way. I really love the concept of this one especially with all the photography theme because me myself loves taking pictures so much and I at least understands when pictures, colors, contrasts and all that are being discussed. I must say this book is sad from the very beginning but you just find yourself captivated to it, the lessons you get to comprehend and how relatable it is.

xx(less)

4 likes · like · see review

Sep 07, 2011 Kvothem rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ya

This is the story of Caitlin in the year after her best friend Ingrid's suicide. It's a moving story of how Caitlin feels empty or hollow inside it's also the story of what it takes for her to find herself again. It affects every relationship she has and all new relationships that form. One of the things that actually help Caitlin is the notebook that Ingrid left behind, shoved under Caitlin's bed apparently on one of her last day's alive. Her parents are at a loss for how to help her, but in th...more

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About Nina LaCour

Nina LaCour grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her first job was at fourteen in an independent bookstore, and she has since worked in two others. She has tutored and taught in various places, from a juvenile hall to a private college. She now teaches English at an independent high school.

Of Hold Still, Nina says:

“This book is about loss, and it’s also about art. The loss part comes from a clas...more

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Trivia About Hold Still

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Quotes from Hold Still

“The sun stopped shining for me is all. The whole story is: I am sad. I am sad all the time and the sadness is so heavy that I can't get away from it. Not ever.” — 370 people liked it

“I don't want to hurt you or anybody so please forget about me. Just try. Find yourself a better friend.” — 238 people liked it

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