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zinelib 's review for:

Hold Me by Courtney Milan
4.5
hopeful slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

In Hold Me, there are parallel lovers--one pair anonymous online and one pair venomous in person. It's not a spoiler to reveal that they are the same people, since it's obvious to the reader from the first series of texts. However, Maria (best friend character in the first book in the Cyclone series, Trade Me) and Jay don't figure it out until at least the second half of the book, when they've started to thaw to each other after a rocky first several meetings (Jay started the animosity, but Maria keeps it going long after Jay is willing to let it go). 
 
It's a cute, sweet book that maybe takes a little longer than it should to resolve. Also there is this egregious passage 
New York is cold and dirty. The Mexican food is subtly wrong. The pizza is so wrong, it barely even qualifies as pizza in my mind.

Okay, she's living in Berkeley, so I guess she can get away with calling NYC dirty, but cold? Come on, we all know the Bay Area isn't at all warm. NYC Mexican food is fine; it's just more expensive than California Mexican, and the burritos are way smaller. But the pizza? For the love of blob, why would she go there?!?

btw Maria is a trans woman. Her gender isn't a consideration for Jay, who is bisexual (is his sexuality a cop out on Milan's part? idk). 

The covers of the books in this series are disappointing. Since Milan self-publishes (!!!), the poor designs are on her, including the cover of Hold Me, which has two brown protagonists, per the text, but whose races/ethnicities appear ambiguous in the art.