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Holding Back
From books and a lifetime of sitting on the sidelines, Haley is convinced she knows how the world works, specifically high school. Everyone has a label and a box they fit in.
This knowledge, paired with parents who are fighting, a brother leaving soon for college, and a best friend who moved away has made her decide to never get involved.
It will take being forced to work with her fellow juniors on a project, a boy next door - with an infectious smile, a star gazer with an adorable puppy, and an unlikely pair of fangirls to make her see how truly wrong she was about everything.
This knowledge, paired with parents who are fighting, a brother leaving soon for college, and a best friend who moved away has made her decide to never get involved.
It will take being forced to work with her fellow juniors on a project, a boy next door - with an infectious smile, a star gazer with an adorable puppy, and an unlikely pair of fangirls to make her see how truly wrong she was about everything.
435 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2020
7 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 15, 2021
Overall thoughts
Positive:
fun characters
Solid plot
Good character development
Jace! (Need I say more)
Decent dialogue
Negative:
The description needs to be cut in half, there’s way too much weather
I say ‘twist her lips’ too much and it’s awkward every time
It needs to move faster, I would cut about 5-10 chapters
Haley’s judgmental side needs to change faster, it was so slow she just seemed stupid for not getting the hint that people aren’t labels
The parents talk needs to be better
I’m not sure how I feel about her break down
I need to build up the relationship between Jace and Josie more
Yeah, I think that’s it. All in all I was surprised with how much I still liked the overall story. It’s simply a first draft and needs work.
Positive:
fun characters
Solid plot
Good character development
Jace! (Need I say more)
Decent dialogue
Negative:
The description needs to be cut in half, there’s way too much weather
I say ‘twist her lips’ too much and it’s awkward every time
It needs to move faster, I would cut about 5-10 chapters
Haley’s judgmental side needs to change faster, it was so slow she just seemed stupid for not getting the hint that people aren’t labels
The parents talk needs to be better
I’m not sure how I feel about her break down
I need to build up the relationship between Jace and Josie more
Yeah, I think that’s it. All in all I was surprised with how much I still liked the overall story. It’s simply a first draft and needs work.
March 20, 2021
First off, Joy is an amazing author, definitely one of my favorites. Everything she writes is stunning, and there is no way I would ever rate one of her books below 5 stars
Second off, this book has amazing character development and really shows how views can change. My favorite thing about it was how Hayley came to realize that people are so much deeper than the typical stereotypes they seemed to embody. This is super important to me as someone who many hold false stereotypes about.
Third off, all the characters are amazing, but JACE???? NEED I SAY MORE???? A WHOLE QUEEN❤️👑 ❤️
Second off, this book has amazing character development and really shows how views can change. My favorite thing about it was how Hayley came to realize that people are so much deeper than the typical stereotypes they seemed to embody. This is super important to me as someone who many hold false stereotypes about.
Third off, all the characters are amazing, but JACE???? NEED I SAY MORE???? A WHOLE QUEEN❤️👑 ❤️
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews