Name: A Hold on Me
Rating: 2.5 (2 reviews)
ISBN: 9781496700056

Pat Esden

A Hold on Me

Briar's Reviews

A Hold of Me was an interesting take on the fantasy/supernatural genre.

This book goes in many different directions, and leads you to places you wouldn't expect. It's definitely not your cookie cutter fantasy novel, but it definitely did not wow me.

I found the plot was very wavy - I wasn't exactly sure where it was going or why certain scenes were involved at all. Half of the book could have been removed and I would have gotten to the same ending. There were many useless scenes that left me confused.

Our main character is interesting and not a weak character. She has a great background story and definitely has layers. Her loyalty towards her family is clear, and she holds onto her values regardless of the situation. She is headstrong and believes in herself, which is great for a main character. 

Some of our cast of characters is kooky and interesting - they leave you wanting to know more about them. I would have liked if these characters were built more upon in this story instead of involving useless, silly party scenes to prove that this is for the young adult genre.

Pat Esden does a miraculous job creating the location and scenery of the novel. It was very spooky and interesting. Her descriptions are wonderful, and if anything I would give that specific part of the novel five stars. Her ability to create an intriguing setting is superb!

Our author definitely includes themes in this novel - family loyalty and good vs evil. I assume this will be continued upon in the next novel. The author did make sure this book ended to create a second book, as there were many doors left open.

The book's pace is very slow. I got bored several time and had to keep putting it down and picking it up again to be able to read it. As fantastic as the writing itself is, the author needed to include more action or drama to keep it moving.

I did like this book, don't get me wrong! It is a fantastic fantasy novel, but it was not aimed directly at me. I like fast paced books with drama, romance and action. This novel had those, but not at a fast pace.

Two out of five stars - based off the slow pace that left me wanting to put the book away several times.

I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.

A Hold on Me

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