Review: Keep Holding On by Susane Colasanti - Farah

Title: Keep Holding On 
Author: Susane Colasanti 

Publisher: Viking Juvenile 

Publication Date: May 31st, 2012

Genre(s): Young Adult (Contemporary/Realistic Fiction)

Challenges: TBR, A-Z, Contemporary 

Source: NetGalley
Format: Digital ARC

Pages: 224

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A romantic and empowering book about bullying

Noelle's life is all about survival. Even her best friend doesn't know how much she gets bullied, or the ways her mom neglects her. Noelle's kept so much about her life a secret for so long that when her longtime crush Julian Porter starts paying attention to her, she's terrified. Surely it's safer to stay hidden than to risk the pain of a broken heart. But when the antagonism of her classmates takes a dramatic turn, Noelle realizes it's time to stand up for herself--and for the love that keeps her holding on.

Keep Holding On has one of the cutest covers I have seen in 2012. I just love the light colors, and how well the green blends with the pink and blue. Everything about it seems so peaceful and cute. This is my first Susane Colasanti book, and I am so happy to say that I loved this book! It was perfect in so many ways I cannot explain. When I first started reading, the first thing I noticed was the writing. It was so simple, and so different, it really made reading it interesting. Even though the writing could be called simple, I liked it that way. It showed exactly the mind of a 17 year old girl. The main protagonist, Noelle, struggles through life. Not only is she constantly bullied at school, her single mom doesn't make things easier for her. Her mother continuously neglects her, and she barely gets enough money to actually feed Noelle. Living in a rich neighborhood, it's kind of hard for the rich kids to not make fun of Noelle's mustard and bread sandwich. 

The thing I cannot stand in people is when they bully others. That level of cockiness in them just pisses the hell out of me. I was literally shouting at Noelle to defend herself against those bullies, I actually got mad. It killed me to see her struggle at school and at home, and I was so glad for her to at least have one friend she can lean on. The story starts getting more interesting when her longtime crush, Julian Porter, actually pays attention to Noelle. Thank you God for him not being the typical bad boy. Julian was actually a very decent, quiet guy who was so sweet and nice to Noelle. It was also so unexpected of how honest and straight he was in talking. 

I have to say, there were times where I just got fed up of Noelle. I just wanted her to stop feeling sorry for herself and do something about it! While I had to get a bit more frustrated with her, I loved how she finally did do something about how miserable her life was becoming. Keep Holding On touched me in such a great way, I feel like it's going to be one of those books that I will never forget. I really loved the characters, and I felt like I was living the moment with them. This book really broke my heart, and stitched back together bit by bit. I recommend this book to every teenager out there. 

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