I feel like I’m getting the hang of being an ARC reader and I’m really enjoying all the different books I’ve been lucky enough to receive a copy of!
This is a first for me as Hold On To Me is Faye West’s debut novel! All other copies I’ve received so far have been by authors who already had other books published so this was really exciting to get an insight at a brand new author and dive into their world.
Hold On To Me is out 20th April and all I can say is wow, I can honestly say this should be a best seller straight away! I finished it in one sitting, I was so engrossed in the story from the beginning I couldn’t put it down and at the same time didn’t want it to end.
I don’t want to include any spoilers because I really feel everyone needs to experience it for themselves.
The main themes of the book that I took away are:
- Learning to live with grief
- Making peace with your past
- Love never leaves you
- Life looks different for everyone and that’s ok
The story focuses on Layla and how she is navigating life without her husband. She finds her self unexpectedly back in her home town and dealing with the challenges of her past. While she’s not happy to see everyone, being reunited with her first love Jacob brings emotions back as if she never left.
It alternates between her point of view and Jacobs. It goes through the events of their lives as teenagers to current day, which is done through flashbacks in the form of letters as well as just separation by chapters.
I have never read a book that covers grief like this, it was really well written and explained through Layla’s feelings and actions. I loved the fact that it felt very relatable and there were quotes that really stood out to me and resonated.
Everyone has suffered grief in life in some form and it is completely different for everyone every time. I liked the way you seen all sides of what this looked like for Layla and the effect it had on other people in her life. It felt like a very honest account, focusing on trying to be happy and ok in what is one of the worst moment of your life.
I found a range of characters also really made a difference to the story as obviously Layla and Jacob are the main characters but they can’t be them without everyone else for good and bad.
The whole book from the story, characters, setting etc gave a really wholesome feel while being overwhelming in the best way and I’ve never read a book that has sat with me like this.
I can’t praise the book enough but I urge everyone to grab a copy and immediately add to their TBR list!
The fact that this is Faye’s debut novel makes this even more mind blowing, the quality of how the characters have been written to give them such depth to their story was amazing. I loved the structure of the book with alternating chapters and the look both into the past and future.
It really felt like experiencing everything within this book and characters and I’m already counting down to her next book!
I want to say a huge thank you to Faye West and the team involved in giving me this opportunity to read an ARC copy! I’m so grateful to have been introduced to both this book and Faye as an author.
You can follow Faye on instagram @fayewestbooks to keep update on this book and all her future releases!