A little girl often clings to her mother. Even if the mother isn’t so good. And it doesn’t matter how the rest of the world sees the mother, the girl will never see her mom as anything, but angelic. The first chapter drew a picture of Holly’s mother from a child’s eyes. And in a child-like simplicity, the complexity of what Holly would have to face in her lifetime was laid out. I read past that first chapter because I dearly wanted young Holly to find the solution her mother could not. At this point, Gavin piqued my interest because she made me care about Holly. The first chapter brought tears to my eyes.
However, after the relationship between Holly and her mother is shown the rest of her childhood is primarily told rather than shown. Holly’s aunt had a significant impact on Holly, but I never saw them together much, never got a real sense of the aunt. The dad broke her heart, but I didn’t see it. I didn’t want to hear how these relationships came together, or fell apart. It’s like hearing about someone else’s vacation rather than actually experiencing it. Of course, Holly’s early life was no vacation, which was the primary reason I wanted to experience it.
At the point Holly meets Trevor, the Gavin illustrates her story more though conversation, setting, and mental processing from Holly’s. The plot unfolds into a funny, but serious romance. The middle section took a fascinating look at backstage rock in roll life in the seventies. A life contrasting the ‘normal’ life Holly tried to create for herself in a tiny apartment and office job. A contrast that kept Holly’s illness in focus at all times even when she seemed to be having so much fun with Trevor. Gavin played this with a clever hand.
It would have been all too easy to lose focus on the main plot through the colored lenses of groupies, roadies, drugs, and preoccupations with whether or not Jim Morrison still lived. Gavin never lost focus on Holly’s mental issues. Holly hung tightly to life despite so many times I wanted to slap her silly because of her constant whining, and clingy personality towards men. In the end, she evolved into someone to respect more and sympathize less.
The book took an unexpected ending, and a favorable one. My only quarrel with it is that it started into the telling format, which created a much faster pace than necessary. The end should have been played out in heartbreaking/joyous scenes of love and betrayal. Again like the early childhood, I felt cheated. “Hang On” could have easily been a much longer book maybe even a two-part book with more showing.
The premise of a woman struggling to discover herself despite her mental illness is not a new one, but it is a universal one and one similar to many women. Most women will find they have much in common with Holly. Even though Holly often irritated me, we had much in common, which is why I rooted for her. Most readers will. I highly recommend it to both a female and male audience. Females, despite the odds can persevere. And men, sometimes there might be a rational reason we act bizarre from time to time. And you’ll have to read to understand.
(reviewed 49 days after purchase)