Gifts

by Holden Williams

GIFTS elegantly and dramatically captures a major shift in singer-songwriter Amanda Sinclair's life, triggered by the loss of her mother. Hoping to find herself, Amanda slides into an identity crisis. Her sister, stepfather, ex-boyfriend, agent, and co-stars must compete for her attention against a fantastic world found inside her favorite childhood book of poems and illustrations.

280 pages, Paperback

Published November 15, 2025

Reviews

[Tara Leigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gifts is an imaginative, lyrical story about grief, family, and finding yourself after loss.

Amanda Sinclair, a singer-songwriter reeling from her mother’s death, slips between reality and the world of her favorite childhood book. The author’s writing is melodic and poetic, the kind that lingers long after the final page.

Beautiful, original, and quietly powerful.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book about Amanda loosing her mother and how to deal with grief. I thought it was a great read and Thanks to the Author for reaching out and letting me read before it was released 🫶🏼

[The Aussie Librarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a thoughtful, engaging read that blends heart and reflection in a way that feels so relatable. Holden Williams has a knack for exploring the idea of “gifts” beyond the obvious, instead focusing on things like personal growth, connection, and the quiet moments that shape who we are.
The writing is clear and beautifully descriptive while the characters feel genuine, and their journeys are handled with care, even when the themes turn heavy. The overall message and emotional payoff make it worth your time.
This is a book that doesn’t just tell a story—it encourages you to look inward and appreciate the unseen gifts in everyday life and I think it will resonate with thoughtful readers.

[Crystel Pettit · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t give many 6 star ratings, but this book deserves 6 stars. I highly recommend to all readers no matter what your favorite genre is. It’s beautifully written - so descriptive with content that I will be thinking of for a long time. FMC Amanda takes us through a journey of grief when her mother passes, heartache as she discovers secrets about her mother, quick look at anxiety associated with being in the limelight of fame, and strength that we can give to others while also allowing ourselves to lean on others when needed. This read is so unique and meaningful that I don’t want to say more about it. I just want everyone to experience it on their own without my prejudice as it will hit everyone differently.

[Danielle R · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gifts by Holden Williams is described as a book about grief, loss and self-discovery. There is so much more to this book than meets the eye. Love, family, secrets and finding a true sense of belonging.

Amanda Sinclair is a young woman who loses her mom to an illness. On the day of her funeral, her ex-boyfriend, Jack, finds a gift on her car and brings it to her. She finally opens the gift to reveal a well-used book. The book begins to open a whole other world to her. After feeling this haunting feeling surrounding her mother; uncertainties about her mother start to unravel as she digs into who her mother was and remembering her past.

"Sweetheart," he says, "there are things she had buried...
Things she sunk real deep. And she didn't want you to drown in them."-Holden Williams

Thank you to the author and Novelty Fiction for the advanced copy!

[Jen Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is way out of my comfort zone and I'm so glad I took the chance on it. This story is about Amanda Sinclair's journey to find and re-define herself after the tragic loss of the woman she knew as her mother. You can expect to feel several emotions as you read and experience her grief, confusion, and fear. Luckily, she a strong person in her corner who cares deeply for her and made sure she remained as steady as possible. The twist was absolutely unexpected and well incorporated into the story. I'm amazed at the sheer literally genius and imagination that it took to author this book. Truly a remarkable and touching read.

[Jonesy.Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gifts is a debut novel that explores grief, self-reflection, and personal growth through the usage of magic realism. The descriptions in this novel are poetically lyrical. The writing is simply beautiful.

Amanda felt like she was just beginning to live the life she had always dreamed of when he mother dies, and her whole world is upended. She realizes her mother was keeping some epic secrets and is determined to get to the bottom of them, all while trying to keep her day to day life from spiralling out of control, and desperately trying to manage her grief.

⭐⭐⭐⭐✨

[MacKenzie Marcolini · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gifts is a hauntingly beautiful novel, distinguished by the author’s lyrical prose and the lingering resonance of its imagery. Though it engages with weighty themes, including grief, drug use, mental health, and death, it does so with a sensitivity that renders the narrative both impactful and deeply meaningful. The story never hesitates to explore the raw, complicated realities of mourning a profound loss, yet it balances this emotional intensity with moments of whimsy and quiet fantastical elements. The result is a compelling and memorable work that stays with the reader long after the final page.

[Adorabellapixel · Rating 5 out of 5]

📚✨ BOOK REVIEW: Gifts by Holden Williams ✨📚
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/5

Captivating • Magical • Emotional • Memorable • Beautifully Written

I was so happy to have the opportunity to read Gifts by Holden Williams. As his debut novel, this is a thoughtful and beautifully written story exploring loss, grief, discovery, healing, and personal growth, all wrapped in a wonderfully magical atmosphere.

At the heart of the story is Amanda, a young woman trying to navigate life following the loss of her mother. From there, Gifts takes you on an emotional and unexpected journey that blends reality, mystery, and touches of fantasy in a way that keeps you wondering where the story might take you next.

And that's about as much as I'm going to tell you because this is absolutely a story I think you should experience for yourself. 💜

One of the things I loved most about Gifts was Holden Williams' use of description. The writing truly brings the story to life. There are moments when you feel like you can see the world around the characters, sense the atmosphere, and almost feel what they are experiencing alongside them. It gives the story an immersive, almost dreamlike quality that fits its magical elements beautifully.

The lyrical writing and poetry throughout the book were another wonderful touch. They add emotion and personality to the story without taking away from the deeper themes underneath it.

And underneath all of that magic is something incredibly human: grief.

Grief can be complicated. It can affect how we remember, how we see ourselves, how we connect with other people, and even how we understand the world around us. I thought Gifts approached those emotions with compassion and heart while still allowing the story to be about more than loss.

It's also a story about growth, connection, discovery, and finding your way forward.

There were so many aspects of Amanda's emotional journey that felt relatable, and I appreciated that the book could be emotional without losing its sense of wonder. There are twists, surprises, beautiful moments, and plenty of reasons to keep turning the pages without knowing exactly where you're going to end up.

✨ Captivating
🌙 Magical
💜 Emotional
📖 Engaging
🌿 Relatable
🖋️ Beautifully written
🎶 Filled with lyrical and poetic touches
💫 Memorable

If you enjoy literary fiction blended with fantasy, emotional storytelling, mystery, magical elements, poetry, and stories centered around grief and personal growth, Gifts is absolutely worth adding to your reading list.

I'm also already looking forward to Holden Williams' next release, Souls of Avalon. If Gifts is any indication of how much I'm going to enjoy his writing, then I have a feeling Souls of Avalon will be another wonderful read—and I can't wait to experience it. 💜✨

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
5/5

📚 Gifts by Holden Williams
✨ Debut Novel

[Morally UnBound · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are books that tell a story, and then there are books that remind you just how magical storytelling can be. 🥹📚✨

Gifts by Holden Williams completely took me by surprise. From the very first page, I knew I was reading something special, but I never expected to fall in love with the way this story explored grief, healing, family, self discovery, mental health and the unbreakable bond between a mother and daughter. 🤍

What truly set this book apart for me was the journal. I expected Amanda to learn about her mother through handwritten memories, but Holden Williams took that idea to an entirely different level. Every entry became a doorway, transporting Amanda into her mother’s memories. It was such a breathtaking and incredibly original concept that added so much depth and emotion to an already beautiful story. I have genuinely never read anything quite like it, and now I need to know what kind of witchcraft was used because I would also like to physically jump into the books I read. 😂📖✨

Every memory revealed another piece of Katy, making her feel so vivid and real despite her absence. It transformed grief. Mourning someone who’s gone and rediscovering the life they lived, the love they gave, the sacrifices they made, the struggles they went through, the pieces of themselves they leave behind. That idea alone was absolutely beautiful.

I also appreciated how thoughtfully mental health was woven into the story. It was handled with compassion, honesty, care, respect and so much heart. Nothing felt forced or overly dramatic. It simply felt real, reminding us that healing is rarely straightforward but hope can still exist along with heartbreak. 🌸

This is a story that encourages you to slow down, reflect, and appreciate the people you love while they’re still here. It’s emotional, imaginative, unique, and filled with so much heart that I found myself thinking about it long after I turned the final page.

If you love stories that make you feel everything while delivering a truly unique reading experience, I cannot recommend Gifts enough. 💛✨

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

What if the people you trust were hiding secrets you never saw coming?

Amanda Sinclair returns home after the sudden death of her mother, leaving behind her star-studded life in California to grieve with her family. When a mysterious, weather-worn book appears on her car the day of the funeral — gifted by someone unknown — Amanda is pulled into its pages, where stories, poems, and characters blur the line between memory and reality.

As Amanda begins to uncover pieces of her mother’s past, questions start to surface. Hidden medications and diagnoses, journals, and unexplained details hint that there may have been more going on than she ever realized. With each discovery, Amanda is left wondering what’s true-- and what has been kept from her all along.
.
The concept of this novel is incredibly intriguing, and the blending of reality with the imaginative world inside the book creates a unique reading experience. There were definitely twists I did not see coming, and the author explores a range of complex and important themes.

At times, the pacing felt uneven, with some plotlines dragging while others felt rushed or left unresolved. The heavy use of description occasionally made sections feel slow, and the formatting/font was difficult to read. While the ideas and characters had potential, the overall story felt hard to grasp at times.

Due to mature themes and content, this may be better suited for an older YA audience than for our typically middle school readers.

Overall, Gifts shows strong potential for a debut novel, and I’d be interested to see what Holden Williams writes next.

Thank you to the author for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Jessica Minton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Firstly thank you Holden for sending me your debut novel!

I went into this book expecting one thing and came out the other side feeling like my brain had been gently shaken in the best possible way. Gifts isn’t the kind of story that hands you answers neatly wrapped up with a bow. It’s strange, emotional, dreamlike, and honestly? I think that’s exactly why it worked so well for me.
At its core, the story follows Amanda as she navigates grief after losing her mother, but this book goes so much deeper than that. There’s mystery woven through every page, blurred lines between reality and memory, and this constant feeling that something bigger is happening just beneath the surface. The “gift” itself adds this eerie, almost surreal layer that kept pulling me further in.

What I loved most was how atmospheric everything felt. The writing has this quiet intensity to it, almost like you’re drifting through the story alongside Amanda trying to piece everything together. There were moments where I felt confused, but never in a bad way. More like the book wanted me to sit in the uncertainty and feel it rather than fully understand it immediately.
This isn’t a fast paced fantasy full of action and easy answers. It’s thoughtful, emotional, layered, and deeply reflective. A story about loss, identity, love, memory, and the complicated ways grief can shape reality around us.

For a debut, this felt incredibly bold. Beautifully strange, haunting in places, and the kind of book that lingers in your head long after you’ve finished the final page.

[Carly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book left me feeling a little unsure - 3 ⭐ rating for this reason

Whilst in many ways it is well written in its poetic form, there were times I felt like it dragged a little too much on descriptions and I found myself almost giving up with reading.

There’s a part where FMC discovers an old book left to her as a gift to help bring her memory back. The book brought her into an illustrated world which does bring back your childish imagination. This was important for the story to help a FMC struggling with the loss of her mother. But she also discovers many hidden truths a long her journey. It is a very dark story which did lead to some drug abuse by the FMC and the mother who faked having cancer to kill herself with prescription medication.

The description of embryos popping did leave me feeling very uncomfortable.

FMC is struggling a lot with troubling thoughts, and loneliness but did find comfort in an old flame.

It could help someone who is struggling, but I also found that it could go either way.

I am grateful for the author for allowing me the opportunity to read this story. It is very deep.


Trigger warnings:
Death
Depression
Anxiety
Suicidal thoughts

[Insight Chronicle · Rating 4 out of 5]

- First of all, this book deals with the loss of loved ones, so please be aware of that if you’re sensitive to the topic.

For me, Amanda was incredibly relatable in the way she navigated losing someone she cherished deeply. Her emotions were portrayed beautifully. The writing style is very descriptive and imaginative, which makes the reading experience immersive.

The story gave me a lot of Wizard Of Oz, and Chronicles Of Narnia vibes. If you like stories that deal with emotions, but also has a mix of fantasy and thrill, then you'll surely enjoy this book! 🔮

At first, I thought Jack would be a very shady character but omg he's literally the sweetest. Really loved their bonding (tho Amanda ghosting him constantly made me mad but I understand because she was going through so much 😭). As someone who loves plot twists, I really enjoyed the ending. Didn't see the twist coming from a mile away, it was shocking and so good! The story also has some depiction of Hollywood and fame, which I personally enjoy reading about. 🎥

It was nice to see how genuine Flo's character was. Though I do wish we had more of Sophie & Frank's storyline, especially Katy's relationship with him and Lucy.

Overall, it was a short yet enjoyable read. If you love stories that are imaginative, and mixes heavy emotions with adventure, this one is worth picking up!

[Jess23Read · Rating 4 out of 5]

As fitting as the title I was given this as a Gift from the author. Gifts is not just a story about the singer-songwriter Amanda and the loss of her mother but it is so much more. Gifts is a lyrical labyrinth of stories interwoven within stories and poetry. At her mother's funeral Amanda is gifted with a book that happens to be one of her childhood favorites. A book that her mother used to read to her.

As Amanda struggles with her grief she struggles with a crisis of self identity. Her friends, family, agent, and coworkers all try to reach out to her but she finds herself lost. From the moment she begins to read the childhood book Amanda is literally and figuratively drawn into the book. In her exploration she finds herself helping a girl named Flo and a few other characters in the book. What I found so interesting about Gifts is how Amanda heals her grief by helping the characters through their own.

Gifts isn't just about talent, or grief, or identity, but more so about creativity and connection. This is a story of how loss can help one learn to live and survive and to realize that one is never truly alone. Thank you again for sharing, Holden Williams, and until next time happy reading!

[Cara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gifts is the author's debut novel, if I'm not mistaken It is a journey through grief, about how to deal with it, in which we remember not only the good, but also the bad. I really liked the writing; you have to immerse yourself in the book because everything is revealed little by little.

Amanda has just lost her mother, with whom she had, as we see throughout the book, a peculiar relationship, but the pain, sadness, and above all that feeling of loss and confusion are clearly shown both in the protagonists and in the setting

Fantastic elements are mixed into the novel, because dissociation is quite normal during moments of grief, but here the author disguises it with fantastic elements, where you have to pay attention because there is more than meets the eye.

+ i want to thank the author for the ARC. This is my voluntary and honest opinion+
I enjoyed the book.

[J.C. · Rating 3 out of 5]

GIFTS is about Amanda Sinclair, who is a young singer-songwriter, and her mental health journey after the sudden death of her mother. She’s thrown into a world of poems and illustrations when a mysterious book is left on her car the day of the funeral, leading her to uncover her mother’s past and her own.

This was sweet and cozy, but also dark and heavy. I didn’t expect the twists and I really enjoyed it. The writing has a very unique way of connecting the reality with the imagination Amanda falls into. In my opinion, there are moments where the pacing is rushed and then some places that felt dragged on. While the writing is beautiful, for me, it sometimes got whimsy to the point of losing grasp of the story.

I think it was a strong and compelling debut. Thank you to the author for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Tara Talks Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was an unexpected read. I received this book from Holden Williams after a conversation via social media. After that conversation, I expected the story to be focused in grief and finding yourself through that process. What I didn’t expect was the fantastical ride through a story. That a book would be an integral character in this journey. A fun mix of fantasy and fiction. I often thought of Harold and the Purple Crayon as I was reading this!

I am certain that the “electric” characters hold a metaphorical meaning for the author. I am not sure I fully understand them, other than you can feel the power and destruction in electricity. You can sense electricity - it has a feel, taste, and scent that only makes this story that much more of a sensory experience.

[Whitney Jewell · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. This story would have landed better as an animation rather than literature.
The author clearly has a gift for beautiful language and evocative imagery, and I think allowing some of those images to stand on their own, rather than layering several together, would actually make them hit harder. Likewise, the story was so heavy with description that it bogged down the story a bit

Ultimately, I found the message of the book genuinely beautiful. The themes resonated with me, and the author's ability to create atmosphere and emotion is undeniable. I simply think that sometimes the prose works so hard to make the reader feel something that it inadvertently makes the reader work harder to experience the story itself.

[FictionHealsMe · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story was not what I was expecting, not even close. I thought I was stepping into something familiar, but Gifts turned out to be completely different, and in a way, that made it even more fascinating. It’s one of those books that leaves you both amazed and a little lost. I’m not even sure I fully understood everything that happened, and maybe that’s part of its magic.

The story follows Amanda, who loses her mother and finds herself drawn into grief, memory, and mystery. When she receives a strange book, the “gift,” the magic begins and reality becomes a little bit distorted.

It’s a story full of layers, grief, love, identity, memory, and that’s what makes it so intriguing. Even when I didn’t completely understand what was going on, I felt it. The writing has this quiet pull that keeps you turning the pages, wanting to make sense of it all.

For a debut, it’s incredibly ambitious and emotional. Gifts feels like a story you experience rather than simply read, mysterious, moving, and beautifully strange.

[Emma_bookaholic · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like the storyline to this, Amanda gets given a gift of a book which holds all sorts of mysteries.

Grieving the loss of her mother, she's in a fragile state but when she starts reading the gifted book, strange things happen.

Inside, she meets Storm-Face-Flo, a character who needs help, amongst others amonsgt the pages. The GigaVolt and MegaWatt are also a bit of an enigma!

I took my time with this book as I wanted to be absorbed, although a good book, I did get a little confused with all the names and the timeline. Think this may need a re-read at some point!

[Cindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amanda is going through a really tough time after her mother’s passing. Things start to go a little crazy in her life after the funeral when she is gifted a book from someone anonymously. She sets off on a journey to understand what is real and what isn’t in her life with the help of some friends both in her world and in the world in her book! Lots of twists and turns in this book! You don’t know which direction the book will take you!

[Jennifer Collie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a story about grief and loss, following our FMC Amanda after the loss of her mother. I didn't expect magic realism (had to look up what this was called! 😂) and how it was executed was so unique. I struggle with this style of writing sometimes but the story was so different, it kept me hooked!

[Yvonne Quigley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Would love to hear your thoughts!