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ajsterkel's review
3.0
I've decided that it's impossible for me to review this book without giving away the plot.
This novel is about a teenager, Jules, who gets pregnant. She gives birth to a perfect baby girl, Zoe. However, Jules's mother and friends can not see Zoe and do not believe that she is real.
I have seriously conflicted feelings about this book. It's one of those books that took my brain a long time to process. I did enjoy it. The plot is quickly paced. The characters are easy for the reader to sympathize with. The story is thought-provoking enough that I read it in a few hours. I liked Jules, and I so, so badly wanted her baby, Zoe, to be real. It would have been interesting to read a story about a good teenage parent. I think there's a stereotype in our society today (possibly perpetuated by the Teen Mom shows) that teenagers make horrible parents. I don't believe that. In the majority of cases, it's not ideal for teenagers to have babies, but it happens, and teens can be successful parents. I really wanted Zoe to be real and Jules to be a successful parent. Only a very good book could make me want something so badly for a character.
The main problem for me was that I never believed that Zoe was real. I believed that Jules was pregnant. I believed that she had an ectopic pregnancy. I didn't believe that the baby was born because I stopped trusting Jules after her visit to the doctor. Her belief that the baby was waiting to make sure that it was welcome before moving into the womb was so bizarre that I immediately knew that Jules was an unreliable narrator. I trusted the mother and friends (who couldn't see Zoe) more than I trusted Jules.
My next problem was Jules's psychological reasons for inventing Zoe. Jules was molested/raped. When I read that, I felt my heart sink, and I went, "Oh, it's another one of those books." Molestation/rape seems to be a very common reason that characters are mentally ill in young adult fiction. It's starting to bother me. A lot. Not everybody who was molested/raped has a mental illness. Not everybody who has a mental illness was molested/raped. I'd like to see YA authors be a little more creative with their mentally ill characters.
I did like that Jules wasn't cured of her mental illness at the end of the book, but she did make a lot of progress in very few pages. Her sudden leap toward getting better felt unrealistic.
That probably sounds like a lot of criticism, but this isn't a bad book. It's a compelling, captivating, and intense book. I couldn't put it down; I needed to find out what happened to Jules. Even with its problems, this book is worth reading.
I have seriously conflicted feelings about this book. It's one of those books that took my brain a long time to process. I did enjoy it. The plot is quickly paced. The characters are easy for the reader to sympathize with. The story is thought-provoking enough that I read it in a few hours. I liked Jules, and I so, so badly wanted her baby, Zoe, to be real. It would have been interesting to read a story about a good teenage parent. I think there's a stereotype in our society today (possibly perpetuated by the Teen Mom shows) that teenagers make horrible parents. I don't believe that. In the majority of cases, it's not ideal for teenagers to have babies, but it happens, and teens can be successful parents. I really wanted Zoe to be real and Jules to be a successful parent. Only a very good book could make me want something so badly for a character.
The main problem for me was that I never believed that Zoe was real. I believed that Jules was pregnant. I believed that she had an ectopic pregnancy. I didn't believe that the baby was born because I stopped trusting Jules after her visit to the doctor. Her belief that the baby was waiting to make sure that it was welcome before moving into the womb was so bizarre that I immediately knew that Jules was an unreliable narrator. I trusted the mother and friends (who couldn't see Zoe) more than I trusted Jules.
My next problem was Jules's psychological reasons for inventing Zoe. Jules was molested/raped. When I read that, I felt my heart sink, and I went, "Oh, it's another one of those books." Molestation/rape seems to be a very common reason that characters are mentally ill in young adult fiction. It's starting to bother me. A lot. Not everybody who was molested/raped has a mental illness. Not everybody who has a mental illness was molested/raped. I'd like to see YA authors be a little more creative with their mentally ill characters.
I did like that Jules wasn't cured of her mental illness at the end of the book, but she did make a lot of progress in very few pages. Her sudden leap toward getting better felt unrealistic.
That probably sounds like a lot of criticism, but this isn't a bad book. It's a compelling, captivating, and intense book. I couldn't put it down; I needed to find out what happened to Jules. Even with its problems, this book is worth reading.
allysw's review
2.0
Wow, this one was crazy intense. I like the way the narrative worked: the way the reader slowly realizes what it happening. The big reveal did seem like something of a hairpin turn from the plot, but it certainly revealed the motivation behind Jules's actions. Though this book wasn't my personal favorite, I'll be adding it to my collection for my teens that are interested in psychological fiction because I think they'll really enjoy it.
kyuropii's review
1.0
A poor attempt to deliver a psychological prose intruding the psyche of a mentally-deviated pregnant teen whose sudden infirmity roots to a really confusing (and not well-explained) reason. Lot of times I had this sudden urge to ram Jules' head on a wall to make her see sense.
smt2188's review
1.0
Only giving this one star in order to rate it - it doesn't deserve any stars. I HATED this book. The plot sounds interesting, however it is written poorly and does not make a lot of sense. The author concluded the story too quickly and cleanly.
heykellyjensen's review
1.0
1.5.
I can't review this without spoiling almost the entire thing. The strength of this book was also the weakness in that it was very short and very quick.
Jules has sex with a boy, gets pregnant, and despite being told by the doctor it's an ectopic pregnancy that'll kill her and the child, she still manages to have a baby and name her Zoe. Jules works at the Toyota factory to make ends meet.
But Also The pacing hurt the story, as it moved steadily for 150+ pages, and it wasn't until the final 15 where things sped up and all of those questions were further tangled.
I thought there'd be a great story about a working class girl dealing with life as a single mother (because the truth is, there aren't many). But what started out as a great book book for teens who like reading about teen pregnancy
I can't review this without spoiling almost the entire thing. The strength of this book was also the weakness in that it was very short and very quick.
Jules has sex with a boy, gets pregnant, and despite being told by the doctor it's an ectopic pregnancy that'll kill her and the child, she still manages to have a baby and name her Zoe. Jules works at the Toyota factory to make ends meet.
Spoiler
Except it's all in Jules's head. I knew from page 7 that this was going to be the case. She never had the baby, never worked. She'd been sexually molested at a young age and was, from what I could gather, taken advantage of by Damon which caused the pregnancy in the first place. It's not entirely clear how that happened. But the whole believing she has a baby thing was all in her head the entire time, and she was actually in a mental institution, which is what she thought was the Toyota plant. This was her form of therapy for what happened to her earlier, and she poured her love and attention into the fake child because it was what she didn't have, etc.But
Spoiler
the writing isn't that strong, and because it was obvious from the beginning what was going on, I didn't care about the character. Because it is such a short story, much of the opportunity to delve into her psyche was lost. It was hard to know what happened to her, and while I believe she did have the ectopic pregnancy (from one of the final scenes when she sees she has scars), I wanted to know more about what Damon did and what Larry did.Spoiler
I can't quite figure out if it was the traumatic pregnancy or being taken advantage of that set her off or if it was a combination of the two. There were so many unanswered questions.I thought there'd be a great story about a working class girl dealing with life as a single mother (because the truth is, there aren't many). But what started out as a great book book for teens who like reading about teen pregnancy
Spoiler
ended up not being that at all. It's a story about mental illness. And while I like an unreliable narrator and like stories of mental illness, this one was far too predictable and left me really disappointed.foreveryoungadult's review
Graded By: Erin
Cover Story: Two Faces, No Waiting
BFF Charm: I Think So
Swoonworthy Scale: 0
Talky Talk: Straight Up But Short
Bonus Factors: Unreliable Narrator, Crazy Pregnant Ladies
Anti-Bonus Factor: The Patty Chase Awful Mom Award
Relationship Status: Therapy Buddies
Read the full book report here.
Cover Story: Two Faces, No Waiting
BFF Charm: I Think So
Swoonworthy Scale: 0
Talky Talk: Straight Up But Short
Bonus Factors: Unreliable Narrator, Crazy Pregnant Ladies
Anti-Bonus Factor: The Patty Chase Awful Mom Award
Relationship Status: Therapy Buddies
Read the full book report here.
booksandbosox's review
2.0
http://librarianosnark.blogspot.com/2012/07/review-holding-on-to-zoe.html
alexalovesbooks's review
2.0
(Review originally posted on Alexa Loves Books)
It’s been surprisingly common for me to read about characters that have deep-rooted issues (psychological, emotional, or physical) lately – and Holding On to Zoe is another book on the pile. I sped through this read, and I’m happy to say it pleasantly surprised me.
This book follows Jules, who has just had baby Zoe. It chronicles her struggle to deal with Zoe and her real life, as well as with her mother, who refuses to acknowledge that Zoe exists. The book definitely takes an interesting turn about a third of way through, when you realize something’s off. I won’t spoil anything, but I will say that it was that twist that kept me reading.
This is definitely a quick read, but it packs quite a punch. I felt that the ending was slightly rushed, but it still was worth reading. George Ella Lyon has written quite an intriguing little novel.
It’s been surprisingly common for me to read about characters that have deep-rooted issues (psychological, emotional, or physical) lately – and Holding On to Zoe is another book on the pile. I sped through this read, and I’m happy to say it pleasantly surprised me.
This book follows Jules, who has just had baby Zoe. It chronicles her struggle to deal with Zoe and her real life, as well as with her mother, who refuses to acknowledge that Zoe exists. The book definitely takes an interesting turn about a third of way through, when you realize something’s off. I won’t spoil anything, but I will say that it was that twist that kept me reading.
This is definitely a quick read, but it packs quite a punch. I felt that the ending was slightly rushed, but it still was worth reading. George Ella Lyon has written quite an intriguing little novel.