Skip to main content

Book Review: This Train is Being Held by Ismée Williams

 * I am reviewing this book which I was gifted for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own. *


Title: This Train Is Being Held
Author: Ismée Williams
Publisher: Amulet/Abram & Chronicle 
Source: From Publisher/Netgalley

(Bookshop UK| Hive| Goodreads | Storygraph)


Book Summary:

When private school student Isabelle Warren first meets Dominican-American Alex Rosario on the downtown 1 train, she remembers his green eyes and his gentlemanly behaviour. He remembers her untroubled happiness, something he feels all rich kids must possess. That, and her long dancer legs. Over the course of multiple subway encounters spanning the next three years, Isabelle learns of Alex’s struggle with his father, who is hell-bent on Alex being a contender for the major leagues, despite Alex’s desire to go to college and become a poet. Alex learns about Isabelle’s unstable mother, a woman with prejudice against Latino men. But fate—and the 1 train—throw them together when Isabelle needs Alex most. Heartfelt and evocative, this romantic drama will appeal to readers of Jenny Han and Sarah Dessen.

Book Review:

I was really excited to read This Train is Being Held as let's face it the cover is really pretty. Even though I was drawn in by the cover, I got a story that I liked a lot and it was one of my favourites last year.

To start, I have a slight criticism which is that the book was a little slow and I do feel like it takes a little while to get into. I do still like a slow read though and found the way the book is formatted kept me engaged.

I do like the whole concept of wanting them to meet and the collection of small meet-cutes throughout the story. Seeing two characters slowly fall for each other and come from different backgrounds was interesting to read about and I really enjoyed it.

They both liked each other and seeing them get closer and go through difficulties still be in a relationship was realistic to read about. I also think that the writer tackled some conversations around race and whiteness in comparison to being Latinx that was important and I learnt more from the story.

The plot does pick up at the end and was tense and exciting. I was genuinely afraid for the characters which is a credit to the great writing of the author. Compared to the beginning section of the book this is a big difference. It is this that definitely makes the story better and made me enjoy the characters and the book even more.

Of course, a main part of the book is the romance and Ismée William's goes a great job at developing the romance between the two characters. I loved both Isabelle and Alex and their romance as well as their characters individual. Both were great to read about and I also loved the family relationships in the story.

Basically, I highly recommend This Train is Being Held and it was one of my favourite books of last year. I can't wait to read more from Ismée Williams in the future.

The Verdict:

This Train Is Being Held is an important and heartbreaking read that will leave you hanging until the word. 

Have you read This Train Is Being Held? Do you want to? Let me know in the comments!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

My Reading Tastes Are Changing

For the last couple of years, I feel like this has become a reoccurring blog post but I want to talk about it now because I think something is actually happening in my reading life. My reading tastes are changing. I've felt it for a while. I haven't really been drawn to YA titles that much anymore especially contemporary. Being busy in my time, I have been really selective in the books that I pick up so for me: the shorter, the better. And when picking up shorter books, the less likely they are to be YA. The more I am exposed to more books, the more I get to read books that I connect to Some of the books that I have picked up have really surprised me because of how much I ended up enjoying them. I think as I grow older, I am looking for different stories, different experiences and different perspectives. These don't just fit the YA mould. I also have been really into different genres like horror and the occasional thriller which have not read from before and I'm interes
Post a Comment
Read more

Book Review: The Great Godden by Meg Rossoff

   * I am reviewing this book which I was gifted for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own. * Title: The Great Godden  Author: Meg Rossoff Publisher: Bloomsbury  Source: NetGalley ( Bookshop UK |  Hive |  Goodreads  |  Storygraph ) Book Summary: Everyone talks about falling in love like it’s the most miraculous, life-changing thing in the world. Something happens, they say, and you know … That’s what happened when I met Kit Godden. I looked into his eyes and I knew. Only everyone else knew too. Everyone else felt exactly the same way. This is the story of one family, one dreamy summer – the summer when everything changes. In a holiday house by the sea, our watchful narrator sees everything, including many things they shouldn’t, as their brother and sisters, parents and older cousins fill hot days with wine and games and planning a wedding. Enter two brothers – irresistible, charming, languidly sexy Kit and surly, silent Hugo. Suddenly there’s
Post a Comment
Read more

Popsugar Reading Challenge 2021 Wrap Up

Every year since 2015, I have had the Popsugar Reading Challenge to diversify my reading. Over the course of the last year, I would like to think that I have done this and looking at did a good job considering I have been so busy over the last year. Even though I did actually have a plan of a book to read for almost all of the prompts, I did just wing it for the latter half of the year. This was because I was just reading what I wanted to and because I was not really reading at all.  So let's see what I read this year... A book that’s published in 2021    Book I Want To Read: Gut Feelings by C. G. Moore Book I Actually Read: Gut Feelings by C.G. Moore An Afrofuturist book Book I Want To Read: The City We Became by N. K. Jemisin  Book I Actually Read:  The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin A book that has a heart, diamond, club, or spade on the cover  Book I Want To Read: Heartbreak Boys by Simon James Green Book I Actually Read: Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé A book by an auth
Post a Comment
Read more