If you ever have a chance to see Nina LaCour speak in person, please do. Either way, I hope you’re reading her words because they are some of the most spectacular you’ll ever read.

Hold Still is Caitlin’s story following Ingrid’s death by suicide.

If you or someone you know are thinking about hurting you/themselves, please reach out.

Text HOME to 741741
Call 1-800-273-8255
LGBTQ - 866-488-7386 (The Trevor Project)

When a person dies, there’s a ripple effect. When it’s your best friend, you might struggle to find meaning and hope. Caitlin is looking for both after losing her best friend to suicide.

This story is a beautiful book about the grief process, complicated by a journal left for Caitlin. It’s the story of contending with life moving on without people in it. Of finding out that there were things you didn’t know about the person you thought you were closest with. Learning there is love and life after. The you can’t always make sense of suicide. Hope.

Nina approaches suicide and mental health with sensitivity and honesty. It’s authentic and real. Ingrid and Caitlin do not have the perfect friendship. This fact doesn’t change that the grief process isn’t linear and doesn’t have a defined end or beginning or path. It’s vulnerable and visceral.

Hold Still isn’t here to teach us a lesson but to share an experience that many youth share - the loss of a classmate to suicide. To shine the light on hope. Ingrid’s journal shares insights into mental illness, something we need more of in the world. Demolish the stigma. Let’s talk about it, for all the Ingrids and Caitlins and everyone else impacted by the death of someone in their life. This review was originally posted on BookCrushin