Review: Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands by Chris Bohjalian

Publish Date: July 8, 2014
Publisher: Doubleday Books

Synopsis: Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands is the story of Emily Shepard, a homeless teen living in an igloo made of ice and trash bags filled with frozen leaves. Half a year earlier, a nuclear plant in Vermont's Northeast Kingdom had experienced a cataclysmic meltdown, and both of Emily's parents were killed. Devastatingly, her father was in charge of the plant, and the meltdown may have been his fault. Was he drunk when it happened? Thousands of people are forced to flee their homes in the Kingdom; rivers and forests are destroyed; and Emily feels certain that as the daughter of the most hated man in America, she is in danger. So instead of following the social workers and her classmates after the meltdown, Emily takes off on her own for Burlington, where she survives by stealing, sleeping on the floor of a drug dealer's apartment, and inventing a new identity for herself -- an identity inspired by her favorite poet, Emily Dickinson. When Emily befriends a young homeless boy named Cameron, she protects him with a ferocity she didn't know she had. But she still can't outrun her past, can't escape her grief, can't hide forever—and so she comes up with the only plan that she can. 

A story of loss, adventure, and the search for friendship in the wake of catastrophe, Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands is one of Chris Bohjalian’s finest novels to date—breathtaking, wise, and utterly transporting. (from netgalley.com)
Review: This was my first Chris Bohjalian book and I don't know why I waited so long to pick one up! The writing in this story was raw, real, and graceful. Told in first person narrative, it really made you feel connected to the main character. I stayed up far past my bedtime many nights in a row because I just couldn't put this book down! Phenomenal read, I really won't be able to say that enough!

I cannot even imagine being in Emily Shepard's shoes. The only surviving member of her family, not allowed back into her own home or even her own town, and feeling hated by everyone just because of her name. Though this story is narrated by a teenage girl, I never got a whiny, high school voice through the writing. She is very adult in very real and very scary situations. Sure, a handful of times the way she acted screamed immature, but these were few and far between. I loved seeing her maternal side as she cares for Cameron and the desperation she had to keep him safe and cared for. 

The title of this book was perplexing. You start to read and assume that it will weave into the story somehow. When it is finally revealed, it is extremely hard hitting. I had to re-read this paragraph a few times to grasp the severity and the correlation from the title to the character's situation. As Emily said, "It seems to me that if you didn't know the context of those words, they were kind of pretty."

This has to be one of my favorite reads of the year so far. I highly recommend this book to anyone and everyone!
Recommended For: Fans of contemporary novels, adult fiction. Even young adult contemporary fans though it does contain some adult content. Everyone should pick this book up!

*Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.