[2.5 Stars]
"This Train Is Being Held" has a lot going on in it's story. Between ballet vs, baseball, mental illness, gang violence, racism, and teen romance I wasn't sure what the heck was going on half the time. Isa and Alex are likeable enough characters and have some cute moments but they lack any real spark of your typical YA first love romance that we all love so much. The look into harder issues like racism and mental illness were commendable and it's good to read about it candidly and not sugar coated.

As someone who is bilingual (French though so maybe I'm not the exact audience) I found the spanish mix-ins endearing but not believable. From personal experience (which is personal so feel free to disregard) this isn't accurate for speakers of more than two languages.

I think if this story had focused on one or two issues the story could have been more well rounded. I was excited about Isa's story in the first half of the book but my focus got muddied by many different plot points popping up throughout. I'd still recommend this to teens looking for an "own voices" romance or someone looking for a sports story that's a little off the beaten path.

Quite frankly, this book bored me to near death. From about a fifth through, I had to almost force myself to read it, I was that tired. I mean, ultimately, it’s not a bad book, I just have very low tolerance for straight YA contemporary and this one definitely fell below that.

This Train is Being Held is about two characters I can’t even remember the names of (Isabelle and Alex, thanks synopsis) who meet, and fall in love, on the metro. Now, that actually did hook me, so I really thought I might like this book. Unfortunately, it’s so fraught with miscommunication (or straight up non-communication) and just general treating people kind of awfully, that I couldn’t stand it.

The first time Alex and Isabelle meet, Alex defends her from some creep leering at her in her dancewear. To which Isabelle comments it’s probably her fault because of what she’s wearing. And to which my immediate reaction was, it’s some choice to have your female character express internalised misogyny so the male character can correct/comfort her and thus establish himself as a Good Feminist Guy. And by “some choice” I mean it’s not a choice I appreciate.

But, I thought, maybe it will improve.

More fool me.

Next, the second time Alex and Isabelle meet, Isabelle’s friend has just dared her to go up to a stranger on the train and kiss them. Luckily (of a sort), Alex is on the train, so Isabelle goes up to him. Having spoken with him a grand total of one (1) time. Which borders sexual harrassment, surely? Crude example, but swap the genders around, have Alex go up to Isabelle and it’s suddenly more obviously unacceptable (ask me about the reverse sexual double standard, I covered that in my research project…). And so now I’m supposed to actually root for Isabelle, somehow. Okay, so she does apologise later on, but – could just be me – an apology after the fact does not nearly make up for doing it.

And then we skim along a bit while they’re actually together, and then, woe of woes, they break up due to miscommunication. Which would be fine in itself only Alex then has to go be an absolute dickhead, kiss another girl immediately (and start dating her), despite knowing that he is still in love with Isabelle, and that Kiara, this other girl, is distinctly in love with him. So it just ends up him treating her like crap. And here I am, unable to like either Alex or Isabelle. (Also, of note, he never really apologises to Kiara for this.)

But I am not done yet! Then there’s the ending which is, quite frankly, chaos. Throughout the book there’s hints at something more coming, from references to Danny joining a gang and the racism that Alex faces. And that comes to a head at the end. Only, it feels to late on to give it the weight both topics really deserve. They’re attacked by members of another gang, Alex is a victim of police brutality, but it’s all almost shrugged off at the end. Danny gets out, Alex mentions going to therapy. Okay we’re done. Combined with the fact that this book is already trying to deal with the topic of mental illness, just leaves these two other topics – both of which deserve to be dealt with way more thoroughly than it felt they were – sort of like afterthoughts in the narrative. The police brutality in particular.

One final point. I’m not sure what the rep in this is like (particularly the Dominican rep and the bipolar rep). I don’t know enough myself and I haven’t found any reviews yet, but you know when you get a slight feeling about it? Well yeah.

In the end, then, not only was I disappointed, but apparently I was also annoyed enough to write this long a review. Oops.

This is stunning, heart breaking, I cannot hold back my tears! Oh, no! My cries are literally ugly!
This is more heart-felting, emotional, tear-jerker book than I expected represents Latino culture and heavy mental illness issues ( suicide, bipolar, depression etc.) at the same time.

I’m not a big fan of slow-burn romances and when I read the blurb that Alex and Isabelle’s journey to form a relationship takes 3 years, I got a little worried. But as soon as I started to read, I relieved: this is not a book consisted of too many repeating, wordy descriptions and nonsense dialogues. It’s well rounded, -perfectly developed realistic fiction.

Two young adults from different classes, cultural backgrounds meet at the train. Slowly they start to learn more about each other. Isabelle, half Cuban privileged girl, deals with her depressed mother who has prejudice against Latino man. Isabelle also deals with her brother Merritt (interestingly at some parts I found him more genuine and more likeable character than heroine), chasing her dream to be a dancer.

Our hero Alex Rosario is Dominican American, dealing with his over controlling father who forces him to play sports but Alex wants to go to the college to become a poet.

Alex’s story and his family interaction parts were poignant, heartwarming. And Isabelle’s family part was more dramatic because of mother and brother’s mental health issues.

Overall I enjoyed the author’s genuine, objective writing and author’s juggling too many issues at the same time and mixing in theme proportionally to create a memorable story.

At some parts I found heroine a little dull, ordinary and hard to relate with. But this book is still promising, heart wrenching and impeccably developed page-turner. I wanted to read more works of the author ASAP in near future.

Special thanks to NetGalley and ABRAMS Kids/Amulet Books toshare this incredible ARC COPY with me in exchange my honest review.

First, I would like to say when love was happening in this book I really enjoyed it. Also, the things Alex faces in society were very eye opening and are important for YA to read for a better understanding of how race can impact someone’s life. But honestly this book was like a broken record. The characters were literally the worst at communicating, like went weeks without talking even though they were together, and I feel like that just isn’t how teenagers act with their first loves. Alex was constantly believing he wasn’t good enough and Isa was constantly embarrassed of her family. Literally chapters and chapters of Alex and Isa saying this over and over.
I just thought this was going to be more of a love story and that was half of the book, but the other half was just to slow for me.

This phenomenal YA will appeal to a wide variety of readers- those who love romance, friendship, and coming of age stories. Williams immerses you in her characters and their lives, fully investing the reader in Isabelle and Alex’s relationship. It was refreshing and exciting to see a YA which covered a long time frame in terms of the main characters’ relationship. Highly recommend this title!

I think I liked the concept behind this book more than anything. I liked the idea of two people from different worlds meeting on a train going in opposite directions and falling in love. The book itself is kind of like that, but not quite what I was expected. It felt a lot more hodgepodge than what I wanted and while Isa and Alex were both great and complex characters, I just wasn't overly sold on their story.

A couple of influential readers recommended this book, so I requested it on NetGalley.
I almost DNFd this one at 33 percent. It's well written and each word - sentence - chapter is quite lovely, but I found I just didn't care.

I think this book is trying to address Big Issues, such as mental health, money and class, race, but it brushes very lightly over the top of these. In some cases it seems to fall into stereotypes. Maybe I'm just naive, of maybe every single person in New York hates everyone from the Dominican republic. Or maybe its not because Alex is brown, maybe it's because he's a big loud youth, carrying on big and loud with his big loud friends.
There were other things that irritated me - like the untranslated Spanish. I mean, I could figure it out in context, but that's not really how I like to read books. Mainly though, it irritated me that they kept on bumping into each other on the train. New York is a big city and the subway runs every two to ten minutes (yes, I googled it). The chances of two people repeatedly being in the same subway car - and not on the way to work or school, but at random times on the weekend, seems slim to me.
But maybe maybe real problem is that the two main characters' love seemed very slight. And they did that romance novel thing were the female lead has just one friend.

So, with all these criticisms, why three stars? Well, this is YA, and I'm not the target audience. Back when I was less wrinkly and cynical I probably would have liked this more. Also, on the weekend I just sat on the couch and read, so it was sort of pleasant, if annoying.

As always, I thank NetGalley and the publishers for the e-Arc, in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC. This Train Is Being Held sounded like my kind of read. I like teen romance and the cover really drew my eye, but also it seemed like it had deeper underlying themes of diversity. This Train Is Being Held is a romance, yes, but it also discusses ethnicity and how we’re perceived because of it.

I really liked both of Isa and Alex. Isa is a dancer, dealing with her the expectations of her family and their drama. Her mother wants her to be a doctor, but she wants to dance. Alex is a baseball player, whose dad rests a lot of his hopes and dreams on him. Meanwhile, he wants to go to college and write poetry, not be drafted right out of high school.

A large part of this book is that they don’t belong together because they’re from two different worlds: Isa from the Upper East Side and Alex from the Bronx. However, they do share a common cultural heritage: they’re both Latinx. Isa being blonde has an easy time though, because she can pass for white. People don’t expect her to speak Spanish or have a Cuban mother. Alex is Dominican-American and people treat him differently because of how he looks.

I found it interesting to see how Alex is treated better when he’s in a baseball uniform, as if that means he’s worth something more because he has a talent. Yet people still look at him and Isa together and decide that they don’t belong.

The part I found hard to follow was the timeline. I didn't realize at first that this was taking place over the course of two years. I didn't pay attention to the dates at the beginning and got a little confused. Reading it on my Kindle makes it hard to flip back and forth to re-check dates. I think it could have been shorter; but it did really help develop the characters and show how people change over time.

I thought Isa and Alex’s relationship was really cute! I also loved their friendships and how those developed along with their relationship. Everything felt very established and realistic, as if I were reading about actual people’s lives.

I think This Train Is Being Held will resonate with many teens who haven't yet found themselves in YA lit. The romance was cute, the friendships are real and the dynamics of diversity are well pronounced. A good read!

I requested This Train Is Being Held because the cover and summary seemed cute. However, I soon realized that this was a much deeper story than I was expecting. This Train Is Being Held is a romance, yes, but it also discusses ethnicity and how we’re perceived because of it.

I really liked both of our protagonists’ narratives. Isa is a dancer, dealing with her father losing his job and her mother and brother who both have bipolar disorder. (I couldn’t tell you the quality of the rep for this, so I would love to share someone else’s review.) Her mother wants her to be a doctor, but she wants to dance. Alex is a baseball player, whose dad went pro for a season and a half and now rests everything on Alex’s future. Meanwhile, he wants to go to college and write poetry, not be drafted right out of high school.

A large part of this book is that they don’t belong together because they’re from two different worlds: Isa from the Upper East Side and Alex from the Bronx. However, they do share a common cultural heritage: they’re both Latinx. But Isa is blonde and white-passing, so people don’t expect her to speak Spanish or have a Cuban mother. Alex is Dominican-American and people treat him differently because he looks it.

It was interesting to read about how Alex is treated better when he’s in a baseball uniform, as if that means he’s worth something more because he has a talent. Yet people still look at him and Isa together and decide that they don’t belong.

Anyways, they meet on the train over the course of two years, which led to a different pacing than I was expecting. I usually like books centered around events, but sometimes this one dragged. I think narratively, it could have been shorter; however, this made the character development very real to me. People change, but only after time passes.

I thought Isa and Alex’s relationship was really cute! I also loved both of their friendships. Everything felt very established and realistic, as if I were reading about actual people’s lives.

Overall, This Train Is Being Held was a very real read, one that talks about race and how it affects how others see us. The characters were incredibly developed; the romance was cute. The pacing was just not for me.

As is often the case, the first thing that captured my attention when I saw This Train is Being Held is the cover. I’m just a little bit obsessed with it as I really love the style and the whimsical feeling it conveys. I was also really excited by the summary of the book.

For the most part, I enjoyed this book. Before I get to all the things I liked about it, however, I’ll just mention the main reason this book is a 3.5 star read for me rather than a 5/5 and it’s purely because of my own reading experience. I just wasn’t being observant enough and didn’t read the dates at the beginning of each chapter correctly, so I ended up so confused by the timeline of the book. In my head, there is no possible way that Isa and Alex’s story transverses over a three year period. For me, it felt more like 1 year at the most. The dates aside, there were just no specific plot details or anything like that that really gave me the impression their relationship was building over 3 years. The way their accidental meetings on the subway and the way the plot developed just felt to me like it was happening over a year. Again, perhaps that’s my fault for not reading the dates correctly, but it just really changed my overall reading experience.

It also may be the reason why I felt like Isa and Alex’s relationship bloomed so much more quickly than I expected. My perception of the story weaving over a year makes more sense to me as the time frame for a teenage love story like this, but it also made me feel that Isa and Alex’s story was a little too insta-love for my tastes and because their whole relationship was largely based on subway trips, it didn’t always have the romantic depth I love. Again, largely my own fault due to how I read the book, so I feel that someone who paid more attention to the time frame details would have had a completely different experience reading it!

In saying all of that, there were so many good things in this book that I enjoyed. Though I couldn’t quite get behind Isa and Alex’s relationship for perhaps the first half of the book, I still found their scenes together really adorable and was rooting for them both to be together by the end of everything. One of the most important things for me in a contemporary book like this one, is not only the strength of the couple as they are together but also the characters individually.

I found myself liking Isa more and more as the story developed, as I really liked how the different sides of her life clashed and how everything seemed to fall apart around her as she tried to be this shining, bright star of strength and happiness. Isa’s determination to be strong for her loved ones and to not show how she was completely falling apart herself was so relatable. Sure, I did get really frustrated with her when she literally didn’t tell her friends or Alex anything that was going on in her life with her family and her brother’s mental illness, but the way she kept that all in and tried to deal with it on her own is just something I know so many people do and can learn from. I loved Isa’s bubbly, daring personality and how layered she was as a person. Her relationship with her best friend Chrissy was a really great depiction of friendship. Same goes with her relationship with her brother, Merrit. I also felt Merrit’s bipolar disorder was dealt with with a fantastic level of sensitivity and realism. While I really liked the family issues Isa had to deal with, I really didn’t understand Isa’s mum at all (I thought she was a real piece work), and felt I wanted more development in Isa’s relationship with her.

Alex’s character introduced so much culture that I really enjoyed, what with his Dominican background, his relationship with his papi and mami, and the way he always felt judged by the world due to being discriminated against and how his being a baseball player was very much something that gave him purpose and also provided him with a safety net. I loved how Alex, friends and family (and also Isa, who also has a Latino background) spoke Spanish throughout the book as that really added a level of language and detail to the book. I also found myself so hungry whenever Alex and his friends/family were eating home cooked food as I am such a foodie. Overall, I thought Alex was such a well-rounded character and I loved his poetry and the way that was incorporated within the narrative. Similarly like with Isa’s Mum, I didn’t really like Alex’s papi. I understood him a little more once I knew more about his background, but for most of the story, I just couldn’t stand him and the way he treated his sons. I wanted more from Alex’s best friend Bryan and Danny, though I did like how Danny’s story line gave some insight into gangs as part of the cultural contexts of life in the Bronx . Most of all, I loved Alex’s relationship with his little brother Robi, who might just be my favourite character in this book. He was so adorable and intuitive!

Though I personally had some issues with the timeline and pacing of the story, I overall thought this book was a really lovely story about two characters finding their way and their own true happiness. There were so many strong secondary characters and layers of meaning and culture throughout the story. I thought the ending was quite the unpredictable bang and made me come out of the story feeling satisfied. I loved the whimsical nature of the writing and how it really captured all those special moments we have with loved ones that become memories to treasure.

Four stars

I enjoyed many aspects of this novel and will absolutely recommend it as a great option for my YA Literature students who are interested in reading contemporary romance.

My overarching thoughts on this work are here: Though I do think the train scenes could be economized a bit, the narrative flows smoothly overall. Alex is a much more intriguing character because his inner turmoil, experiences with racism in daily life, and complex relationship with his father are explored in more depth than any aspect of Isa. There are some confounding moments where Isa is concerned. She is a risk-taker, as seen in some of her exhibitionist public performances and her ease at falling in love on the subway, but she cannot manage to talk about ANY of the struggles plaguing her in relation to her immediate family. I wish this latter issue had been more fully developed at the end of the novel. Her guilt and shame over her brother's mental health and resulting struggles needs further attention as well. Somewhere along the way, an adult needs to tell her - and a narrator needs to share with readers - that Isa is not responsible for Merritt and that this translates to all people in similar circumstances. I appreciate the notes on mental health in the Acknowledgements, but there is a missed opportunity for someone - even Isa herself - to realize the scope of what she takes on and that this is not appropriate.

Despite minor issues with Isa's character development and a wish to see Merritt's struggles handled a bit more explicitly, this is an engaging teen romance that I think will please the vast majority of its readers.

A quick Ayala read I couldn't put down. Told in dual perspectives, you get a clear understanding of both main characters and why they work together. Everything about this mms for a great modern, diverse contemporary YA read.

This book was fun but didn't feel well thought out. I felt like the characters were underdeveloped and kind of cliche. Some of the scenes felt too long and others felt really fast, so that I was either bored or had no idea what was happening. I felt like the treatment of bipolar disorder was kind of demonizing, especially in the mother's character, and a lot of her actions didn't feel realistically justified by her BPD.

What a wonderful book! The characters are what makes This Train is Being Held so special. I'm so sad that the book has ended and I have to say goodbye to them.

I like this selection a lot! Reading the description initially, I thought for sure it was gonna be insta-love or at least a relatively fluffy book. In reality, we got fleshed out, realistically flawed characters who develop a real connection. Are some parts a little far fetched? Sure, but not to the extent that they take away from the overall story. The author addresses some very real issues (race; mental health; honesty in relationships) in ways that seemed more nuanced than many YA novels. The cover is also very aesthetically pleasing so that helps too!

I would absolutely recommend this to teens at my library, as well as any other YA readers.

This story hit close to home and hurt my heart.
Being a latina and living in the south makes you feel some type of way.
Isa and Alex's story is one that isn't hard to believe. It's a love story in the same vein as West Side Story and I couldnt help but connect the two and fall in love all over again. This felt like a modern retelling of West Side Story, with the roles flipped. Alex was by far my favorite character, he had so much depth to his personality and I enjoyed his perspective. Both the harshness of his reality and the love he has for Isa.
Other than being a love story, the underlying themes of racism and mental health were present throughout the entirety of the book. Sometimes taking the lead in the plot and helping move the story forward. Well done, eye opening *I hope* and beautiful.

I really wanted to like this book, and to me it fell a little bit flat. The writing was good I just couldn't connect to the characters as much as I wanted to!