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A review by black0star
Keep Holding on by Susane Colasanti
3.0
A pretty decent read that I'll give to my future kids/friends' kids for the difficult time of high school. I was never bullied but I was very depressed in high school and seriously considered suicide a couple of times.
Noelle was a weird character for me. She made a few stupid mistakes that led to her bullying in high school. To be honest, I don't consider her bullying to be that heart-wrenching. It's sad, sure, but besides the random bathroom graffiti or conversations in the hall, the only people who really "bullied" Noelle were Carly/Audrey and that one guy (his name must be unmemorable for me to forget). Not to say that I don't consider what they did to Noelle was bullying, but I just didn't really feel for her that much.
Also, I felt Noelle's characteristics were randomly thrown together to make her up. One sentence proclaimed that she loved to escape in a book. But the book focuses on her love of art, which is fine. But I don't feel that the "love of reading" was a necessary character characteristic.
Another complaint I have about the book is Julian. He turned way too intense near the end of the book. He proclaims that he'd do anything for her and he hated seeing her bullied.
...
Sorry buddy but if you hated seeing her being bullied in the cafeteria, why didn't you lift your ass to sit with her?
It just made no sense to me.
Ali Walsh. Another issue for me. Well, more of another reason why I didn't like Noelle very much. Ali is a fellow loner and is also bullied by Carly and the guy. She was "school friends" with Noelle and was trying to be friends outside of school too. I just couldn't understand Noelle's logic. She moans about how she can't be with Ali cause she'd end up being bullied more. So what would happen to her, based on Carly's and the guy's bullying methods?
1) Be pelted with more food maybe?
2) Lose some hair? What does it matter when you made yourself undergo a stupid haircut because it looks soooo horrible?
3) Or maybe Carly will break your fingers!
I don't know much about bullying but from what I gathered from spokespeople that visited my high school, it gets better when the victim gains a friend; usually the bully would stop. So why does Noelle still have to be bullied? It would've been a better story for me if people stood up for her when she was truly alone and became her friends.
What saved the book from being on my "dislike and give away" pile was near the end. I liked how Noelle became inspired by Ali's death to DO something to help others. Only issue I have about that part is her desire to help other kids stuck in small towns. That made me mad because it's not just kids in small towns. EVERYONE from ANYWHERE could be feeling alone and bullied.
Overall, a decent read worth reading again, but I wish it was executed a little better.
Noelle was a weird character for me. She made a few stupid mistakes that led to her bullying in high school. To be honest, I don't consider her bullying to be that heart-wrenching. It's sad, sure, but besides the random bathroom graffiti or conversations in the hall, the only people who really "bullied" Noelle were Carly/Audrey and that one guy (his name must be unmemorable for me to forget). Not to say that I don't consider what they did to Noelle was bullying, but I just didn't really feel for her that much.
Also, I felt Noelle's characteristics were randomly thrown together to make her up. One sentence proclaimed that she loved to escape in a book. But the book focuses on her love of art, which is fine. But I don't feel that the "love of reading" was a necessary character characteristic.
Another complaint I have about the book is Julian. He turned way too intense near the end of the book. He proclaims that he'd do anything for her and he hated seeing her bullied.
...
Sorry buddy but if you hated seeing her being bullied in the cafeteria, why didn't you lift your ass to sit with her?
It just made no sense to me.
Ali Walsh. Another issue for me. Well, more of another reason why I didn't like Noelle very much. Ali is a fellow loner and is also bullied by Carly and the guy. She was "school friends" with Noelle and was trying to be friends outside of school too. I just couldn't understand Noelle's logic. She moans about how she can't be with Ali cause she'd end up being bullied more. So what would happen to her, based on Carly's and the guy's bullying methods?
1) Be pelted with more food maybe?
2) Lose some hair? What does it matter when you made yourself undergo a stupid haircut because it looks soooo horrible?
3) Or maybe Carly will break your fingers!
I don't know much about bullying but from what I gathered from spokespeople that visited my high school, it gets better when the victim gains a friend; usually the bully would stop. So why does Noelle still have to be bullied? It would've been a better story for me if people stood up for her when she was truly alone and became her friends.
What saved the book from being on my "dislike and give away" pile was near the end. I liked how Noelle became inspired by Ali's death to DO something to help others. Only issue I have about that part is her desire to help other kids stuck in small towns. That made me mad because it's not just kids in small towns. EVERYONE from ANYWHERE could be feeling alone and bullied.
Overall, a decent read worth reading again, but I wish it was executed a little better.