Review: The Holders by Julianna Scott

Publisher: Strange Chemistry
Published: March 5, 2013
Pages: 320
Source: For Review from Strange Chemistry
Rating: 2.5 Stars

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?

In short: The Holders by Julianna Scott offers nothing particularly new or intriguing to an overdone and cliched plot.

Stop me if you've heard this one before: Secret boarding school where kids with special abilities - called Holders - are brought to learn how to control them. The two most powerful Holders in the world - one bad and one good - have radically different and decisive points of view that cause great amounts of conflict. The bad guy believes Holders are a superior race and should take control of regular humans. The good guy believes Holders should live peacefully with humans. Sound like X-Men? That's because it pretty much is... with Celtic mythology thrown in. Abilities were granted to people a long time ago by the Irish gods and carried on through the generations. Only Irish people have these special abilities because apparently they are the only ones who are worthy of them for some reason.

The Holders had a ton of elements that I really love in books - namely boarding schools, superpowers, mythology - but was way too cliched and predictable, unfortunately. Had I read it in junior high, I probably would have loved it, but at this point the plot was so familiar and overdone to me that it wasn't really enough to keep my attention. The Holders offered nothing particularly original to me and I am tired of the same old tropes. Also, I found the writing and execution of the plot to be fairly young and inexperienced, but this may not be a problem for everyone as it was a pretty easy read as a result.

I do think it's the characters that save The Holders. Becca was instantly likeable to me as the hot-headed and protective older sister to Ryland. Alex, Becca's love interest was super sweet and succumbed to blushing easily, which was pretty cute. Their romance, though not particularly earth-shattering, was sweet, as well. I also had fun with the secondary characters of The Holders, who were all humourous and delightful. Though The Holders offered nothing new or intriguing to grab my attention, I would recommend it to people who find comfort in easy and predictable plots and easily likeable characters.

Other Reviews:
Page Turner's Blog
Unputdownable Books

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