Review: Hold Still by Nina LaCour

Hold Still by Nina LaCour
Released: October 20, 2009
Publisher: Dutton Juvenile
Pages: 230
Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars
Reviewed by: Carey
Synopsis: An arresting story about starting over after a friend’s suicide, from a 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 by choice, struggling to find renewed hope in the wake of her best friend’s suicide. With the help of family and newfound friends, Caitlin will encounter first love, broaden her horizons, and start to realize that true friendship didn’t die with Ingrid. And the journal which once seemed only to chronicle Ingrid’s descent into depression, becomes the tool by which Caitlin once again reaches out to all those who loved Ingrid—and Caitlin herself.
Review:
I was pretty disappointed with this book. To be honest, I thought it was lacking. I have this place in my hearts for books about depression or suicide, and I guess I sort of have this expectation and that they're going to be heart-wrenching and depressing and what not.

It started out like that. Caitlin was definitely depressed herself. She didn't care what she looked like, she ate less, she would sit in her car and just fidget with her hands all the time. She was so upset that for some reason, I had this gut feeling that Caitlin was, like, in love with her. And my suspicions rose when she became friends with the new girl Dylan, who also happened to be a lesbian. But she wasn't.

So anyways, she finds Ingrid's journal under her bed, which ends up having her suicide note---the one that nobody knew existed. And it's like all of the sudden everything gets better just because she finds this journal, just after she reads one little entry. Like, she starts building a tree house  she makes other friends, one of the popular boys likes her, she gets back into photography.... Like, I'm happy that Caitlin is getting better and everything, but it just seemed to sudden and rash. It irritated me. That was pretty much what ruined the entire book for me.

What I did like, though, was the principle of it. And LaCour's writing style. And I liked how it had a few illustrations, too. It's not that often YA novels have illustrations in it. Granted, they were Ingrid's journal entries and everything, but I still found it kind of cool. So she gets props for those things, at least.