Review: The Holders (Holders #1) by Julianna Scott

The Holders by Julianna Scott

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
Received: Bought
Publication Date: March 5th 2013
Publisher: Strange Chemistry
Point of View: 1st Person & Feminine
Recommended Age: 12+
Genres & Themes: Young Adult, Paranormal, Superpowers, Boarding School, Family

BLURB:

17-year-old Becca spent her whole life protecting her brother from, well, everything. The abandonment of their father, the so called ‘experts’ who insist that voices in his head are unnatural and must be dealt with, and the constant threat of being taken away to some hospital and studied like an animal. When two representatives appear claiming to have the answers to Ryland’s perceived problem, Becca doesn’t buy it for one second. That is until they seem to know things about Ryland and about Becca and Ryland’s family, that forces Becca to concede that there may be more to these people than meets the eye. Though still highly skeptical, Becca agrees to do what’s best for Ryland.

What they find at St. Brigid’s is a world beyond their imagination. Little by little they piece together the information of their family’s heritage, their estranged Father, and the legend of the Holder race that decrees Ryland is the one they’ve been waiting for. However, they are all–especially Becca–in for a surprise that will change what they thought they knew about themselves and their kind.

She meets Alex, a Holder who is fiercely loyal to their race, and for some reason, Becca and Ryland. There’s an attraction between Becca and Alex that can’t be denied, but her true nature seems destined to keep them apart. However, certain destinies may not be as clear cut as everyone has always believed them to be.

Becca is lost, but found at the same time. Can she bring herself to leave Ryland now that he’s settled and can clearly see his future? Will she be able to put the the feelings she has for Alex aside and head back to the US? And can Becca and Ryland ever forgive their father for what he’s done?

REVIEW:

I have yet to read a Strange Chemistry title that disappoints me. Stolen Songbird captured my heart with its exquisitely beautiful writing. Then I read Cracked and watched it rank itself up in 5th position as my favourite series of all time. And, lately, I’ve stumbled across this – extremely under the radar, shall I say – little piece of literature, on Goodreads. I had to give it a shot. After all, the X-Men movies, along with the Totally Spies cartoon and The Sims game, made my childhood.

Powers. Secrets. Bonding. Family drama. True friendships. Lethal enemy. Name it; you’ve got everything a paranormal book should possess as elements. The heroine is brave, she takes care of her brother (family is capital to her), you’ll never see her lack determination… she’s got character but not enough to annoy you. The only thing is that she’s the kind of girl to gush over a boy she likes and, since there is indeed one in this book, often – very often –, her mind would wander in that direction.

But that’s the only problem I had about the whole plot. Meaning, the romance. I’m not going to hide it from you: it is cheesy. There’s this whole ‘‘everyone has their soul mate’’ thing going on – something every character believes in – and the trouble with fated connections is that there’s almost always a insta-love(ish) situation going on. And while the two lovebirds in this story don’t declare their love at chapter one, everything evolves quite rapidly.

Overall, the story is relatively predictable, even though there are some twisty stuff here and there to spice the plot up. However, I certainly did not mind it; the characters were too interesting and captivating for me to let the lack of mind-blowing revelations underwhelm me. When you read a book with a character that runs through time, one who makes things fly, another one who creates illusions, you get pretty occupied with gapping at them to do as much as wonder why a scene hasn’t changed yet. It’ll divert you too much for that.

Great book. You won’t regret reading it.

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