Hold My Breath by Ginger Scott

An ARC has been kindly provided by the author, via NetGalley.com, in exchange for an honest review.

My overall rating: 4 stars
Received: Author
Publication Date: Already out. What are you waiting for???

Point of View: Alternate
Recommended Age: 18+
Pacing: Steady
Genres & Themes: Sports romance, Finding purpose and drive again, Adult.

This book is worth at least 4 stars but Will… WILL HOLLISTER IS WORTH A THOUSAND STARS!!!!

I know what to ask Santa this year: an inspirational T-Shirt with Will Hollister’s picture.

Why? Because my husband would never agree to me ordering the real Will in flesh and bones, duh!

What?

He is not real you say?

He is just a fictional character?

You’re so evil!!! You just shattered my dream …

Now seriously, back to the story.

This is a story of rebirth. This is about being broken in little pieces, grieving someone you loved and trying to go on. This is about survivor’s guilt. About secret feelings buried so deep you don’t want to acknowledge them. This is about secrets so heavy you fear they could destroy others.

This is about two childhood friends who’ve been hit by a terrible drama and one of them slowly collapsing under the weight.

Maddy and Will are those friends. Both great swimmers they know each other since childhood. Will and Evan’s father asked Maddy’s dad, coach Curtis, to train his young boys. From that moment on the three kids were inseparable. Evan became Maddy’s boyfriend but years later he died in a plane crash. Will was the sole survivor.

Maddy and Will were both devastated. Will’s promising career as a swimmer was cut short when he followed a path to self-destruction. Instead of taking solace in each other Will followed his uncle in another state.

Four years later he is back in Maddy’s life as her father wants to build a swimming team racing for the Olympics.

Will feels like an impostor. He should be dead. His brother should be the one competing for a medal.

“The fact that I know everyone in this room, including myself, wishes it were Evan sitting in this chair instead of me is what burns the most. And then there’s her. Maybe deep down, a small part of her wishes Evan were sitting here, too, but still…”

Many conflicting emotions arise with Will’s comeback. Maddy is torn between her “duty” to Evan’s memory and all the feelings Will is stirring. And Will… Will is riddled with guilt and want and fear and hope.

Step by step they had to be born anew.

It was a slow and painful process.

What should be known about Ginger’s writing

When Ginger Scott writes about grief you feel it deep in your guts. There’s this muted sadness following me the wholde day and I was not able to shake it off for a long time. Don’t hope for light and fluffy because you’ll get heart wrenching and emotional instead interspersed with highs and hope.

And when Ginger writes about drive and competitive spirit I felt like I could win the Olympics. OK maybe my specialty would rather be the “shopping bags lifting” or “racing for the last ice cream left in the fridge” rather than swimming free style but still…

She is a talented author writing stories you fall right in and live along the characters. Stories to make you evade your everyday life.

What kind of main characters can you expect?

I’m all gushing about Will but you’ll love Maddy as well.

She is a competitor and the glue to every team. She has spunk and I loved reading about her daring the boys to race her in the swimming pool. She’s overcome her grief and wants to win as well. She is very loyal and the girl you can count on when things get difficult. Her reaction to Will’s secret was truly admirable. She has a golden heart.

But Will deserves a special mention!

He is a hero following my heart: broken, nearly annihilated but resurrecting like a Phoenix.

Strong even if he feels weak.

Flawed but determined to be better.

Selfless and so worthy even if he does not see it.

He decided to shoulder so many responsibilities, to atone for others fault all alone in his quest and my heart broke every time I saw him close to drowning.

“None of this is Will’s responsibility. He chose to carry it. He inserted himself where a blank space was left, and he’s been holding worlds together for people when he had every right to walk away.”
“He’s breaking himself trying to save so many people, but nobody has ever stepped up to save him. I’m not sure I’m strong enough to, either.”

He belongs with heroes like Archer and Kyland by Mia Sheriddan or Yossarian by Meredith A Walters.

I wish everyone to have a Will Hollister in his/her life.