Of all the loves I have, New York City and trains are amongst my most enduring. When I heard about This Train Is Being Held by Ismée Williams, a story about chance encounters on the New York subway, I knew I had to read it.

What attracted me the most was the promise of a character-driven story about two Latino teens whose lives couldn't be more different. Living in an exclusive Upper East Side apartment and attending private school, Isa wants nothing more than to be a ballet dancer but her Havana-born mother wants Isa to become a doctor. She certainly doesn't want her blonde-haired, light-skinned daughter dating Latino boys.

Alex is an extremely talented Dominican-American baseball player. His parents have long split up and all his father cares about is Alex going pro. While that would certainly solve his family's financial woes, it isn't what Alex wants to do. He has a secret talent and wants to be a poet.

When Isa and Alex meet on the downtown 1 train, they can't help noticing each other. Isa remembers Alex's green eyes and good manners, while Alex notices Isa's easy rich-kid confidence. Over the course of the next three years, their encounters increase until they are irrevocably drawn into each other's lives.

Wait, what? Three years? This Train Is Being Held is a massive slow-burn of a book. There were so many times that I almost gave up on this novel because it moves very slowly - exactly as you'd imagine chance encounters on a train to move - and for the longest time it just felt like a romance but it is so much more.

This Train Is Being Held by Ismée Williams | Superior Young Adult Fiction | Book Review For the patient ones who stick with this book, and I do recommend that you do, there is the reward of an incredibly rich tapestry of themes. Alex's story focuses on racism, the prejudice he encounters because of his dark skin and the ever-present scourge of gangs. He dreams of being better, achieving at sport and becoming something but he wants to become something else too, a writer and a dreamer.

Isa has a rich, spoiled and privileged background but she wants to be a dancer and sticks to that dream despite the extremely challenging events in the book and the devastating impact of bipolar disorder on her family.

The hardest thing about This Train Is Being Held was how much Isa and Alex pushed each other away to deal with stuff that should have been shared. It was also very realistic and indicative of life in the digital age. It is so easy to ghost and block people when living in a city of millions of people but sometimes you need to let people in.

Ultimately, I loved so much about This Train Is Being Held. I loved the New York setting and want to go back so badly now. The fact that most of the story took place on trains also made the trainspotter in me extremely happy.

I tore through those last pages, holding my breath with my heart pounding out of my chest. Despite initially moving slower than a train at a red-signal, I give This Train Is Being Held an excellent four out of five stars and recommend to readers seeking diverse voices and explorations of themes such as mental illness and racism.

A modern romance inspired by West Side Story, This Train is Being Held is full of beauty and heartache, touching on young love, mental health, and racism. Isabelle and Alex meet on a subway train in NYC, and so begins the saga of their love story against all odds, often featuring the subway.

Isa is a white-passing Cuban-American ballet dancer who attends a private school and dreams of being a professional dancer while her mother pushes her toward medicine. Her family life is complicated with both her mom and older brother being diagnosed as bipolar, and a mom who has racist tendencies toward anyone with darker skin.

Alex is a Dominican boy and talented baseball player, pushed by his over-zealous father to focus all his attention on the sport. He is very aware of his brown skin and regularly experiences micro-aggressions and has had negative experiences with the police. One of his friends is slipping into gang activity and he doesn't know how to help.

Isa and Alex fall hard and fast for each, but their lives are complicated and both of them are hiding significant struggles from each other. They have a very sweet relationship, with Alex hiding poetry under train seats for Isa to find, but I was very frustrated with their lack of communication. The author is definitely self-aware about this and there is an arc of growth late in the book, but and a former oversharer, I had a difficult time relating. I can't imagine falling in love and not sharing such critical information as Isa and Alex hide. That said, there is a lot to love here.

We get a rich and nuanced portrayal of mental health, racism, and Latinx culture. The author is Cuban-American and there is a great deal of Spanish woven into the text. Non-speakers might be frustrated with the lack of translation, but I thought it was beautiful and well-done. I didn't go in expecting this to hit on such serious issues. While it is a romance, it also has elements of a hard-hitting contemporary, so do check content/trigger warnings if you need them. Ultimately, I really enjoyed this book and thought the author did a great job of weaving so much in. I would check it out! I received an advance copy of this book for review via NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions are my own.

CW include racist language and microagressions, police violence, attempted suicide, depictions of bipolar, borderline emotional child abuse

I tried really hard to get into this book, but ended up putting it aside and not finishing it. As happens sometimes, this book just wasn't for me despite how excited I initially was about getting the chance to read it.

4.5 stars

Trigger warning: One of the side characters does attempt suicide, gang violence is also present. 

This Train Is Being Held is told in dual perspectives of Isa a dancer and Alex a baseball player. Both have very different lives, passions, and responsibilities yet they see each other often on the train going to and from there after school activities. 
While seeing each other every so often they decided to finally talk to one another and over time gain friendship and then a relationship. 
We get to see both of their lives and how they live and their families and while they both are very different you can still feel the love in both of there families and how they just want the best for Isa and Alex and for them to excel and become successful adults. 
On the opposite side though we have one of them being pushed towards their activity becoming the only thing they do, and the other is being pushed to give up the activity to focus on becoming a doctor. 

Overall I loved this book. It covers so many different things in a realistic way that has you feeling all the feels for the characters and rooting for them to succeded. One of the things that stuck out to me throughout this story is even though the two didn't get to see each other very often they still cared and made the most of the time they did have together. In so many young adult novels the love aspect of the story becomes the main focus and everything else gets thrown aside, while in this story it was very present, but the characters were still focused on themselves. Family, and friendships, and passions were also a priority and the main focus of the characters.
Another part of this story I enjoyed was how the divide between things was present and addressed. It was very realistic and showed how you don't always realize things are happening to those you love until you talk about it. 
We also get to see mental health from a family member's perspective and how it affects them while also seeing how it affects the person with the illness. 
I'm looking forward to reading more by this author in the future.

Wow, what a great read! I really enjoyed the concept of the story, following Isa and Alex as they encounter each other multiple times on the subway and form a relationship over the course of two years. The characters were well written and the pacing was great. Isa frustrated me a bit because she didn't know how to let anyone in and kept things from Alex and her family. It's hard to watch someone make choices that hurt themselves and others, I just wanted to jump in and help her. Alex is a great guy and I love that he helped anyone who needed it. His relationship with his little brother Robi was adorable.
This has so much emotion and I loved the Latinx representation! The friendships were great and I loved seeing people support others. The poetry was sweet and heartwarming and I'm excited for this to come out so everybody can check it out!

Thanks to NetGalley and Amulet Books for this ARC!

A cute story, but a really overused plot. which makes it hard to think of new twists. It was a nice read with strong characters,

⭐️⭐️ 2 stars
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Thank you NetGally and Amulet Books for giving me a free copy for an honest review. Release date - February 11th 2020
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I think it’s time for me to officially break up with “hard hitting” YA Contemporaries. My patience has dwindled to nothing, and find myself frustrated more often than not.
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I love the concept of this book - two teens from different worlds meeting on a train that is heading in opposite directions, somehow finding love with each other. It sounds like the fluffy love story we all need in our lives. Unfortunately, this book bit off more than it could chew.
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How can a book less than 350 pages accurately depict important subjects like depression, gang violence, interracial relationships, suicidal behavior and dysfunctional families - just to name a few. These (and more) are all important topics that deserve a well rounded exploration, and not just a passing glance. I appreciate what the author was trying to do, but it needed to be handled with more grace. (Also, the romance annoyed me... a lot😑)
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If YA contemporaries are you jam, please pick this one up. You might get more out of it than I could. Do look into the TW if you are sensitive to certain topics.
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I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I didn't love this book. I couldn't follow the story and it really just felt unfinished. I usually love books with alternating perspectives, but this was lacking. I didn't enjoy it at all.

It was challenging for me to read this manuscript primarily because of the poor formatting in the PDF file, but more importantly, because I wasn't able to connect with the characters.

I found my desire to read this waning when I realized that the story incorporated some tired negative stereotypes about Latinx folx. I also felt that the way Spanish was "incorporated" into the story felt forced and inauthentic. The words themselves were technically correct, but the flow of the sentences didn't mimic any kind of speech patterns I've ever heard within my Latinx community.

All in all, this story gets a passing grade, but it didn't have any kind of profound impact on me. It's unfortunate that I wasn't able to forge a strong connection with the text, but I'm glad I gave it a try anyway.

I really really wanted to like this one, the story sounds emotional and heartfelt, but I just couldn’t get into the writing, and therefore it is yet another DNF this month.

Almost immediately there was a situation in the first chapter where main character Isabelle is on the train on her way to a dance audition and gets leered at creepily by a man.  When other main character Alex takes notice, he stands in front of her to block the creepy guy’s view.  That seemed nice, but then when Isabelle thanks him, she says she probably deserved to be leered at based on the clothing she was wearing.  Uhm…what? No. No no no no no.  Alex then tells her she should wear whatever she wants.  To me this was seemingly innocent upon first reading, because yeah, she should wear whatever she wants and not have to worry about getting weird and unwanted attention from doing so.  But then I thought about it and just felt like it was a situation used for Alex to be coined at the “Good Guy” who solves all of her problems for her, and I wasn’t really into that.

The book is told in alternating first person POVs from Isabelle and Alex, and while their two voices are very distinct, I couldn’t get into the story or the writing or the tropes.

I’m sure this will work for someone, but I had to put it down.

*Thank you to Amulet Books and Netgalley for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review. *

While rushing to ballet audition, a kind stranger, Alex, held the train door for Isa. Over the next few months, they continued to cross paths on this train line, which led to friendship and more. 

• Pro: The premise was fantastic! In a city of more than 8.6 million, these two kept bumping into each other. The universe was definitely trying to tell them something! I found it all terribly romantic, and also, so New York. 

• Pro: The romance developed over quite a long period of time. There were gaps between each train encounter, and I liked having that time to get to know Alex and Isa separately before getting to know them as a couple. 

• Pro/Con: My heart went out to Isa. She was dealing with a LOT of upheaval in her life, but I HATED the way she dealt with it, and I also HATED the way it affected Alex. Those were a few dark chapters for me, but...

• Pro: I adored Alex. He made a few choices I was not super happy about, however, I was such a fan of him as friend, a big brother, and a son. He was often quite sweet, and there were many times I swooned as he interacted with Isa. I loved that he was a jock and a poet, and I was really proud of some of the big decisions he made during this story. 

• Pro: I WAS a fan of this romance. Despite Alex and Isa being from "two different New Yorks", they were beautiful together. 

• Pro: Because I spent such a long period of time with this couple, their family, and their friends, I really grew to care about them all. The stupendous ending Williams wrote set my mind at ease about their futures, and I was happy she wrapped up so many of the characters' storylines. 

Overall: An emotional and heartfelt train ride, which I really enjoyed.

A very enjoyable read that gives a personal perspective on what it's like to be the odd one out in a diverse city and the prejudices that come with it. I really love the atmosphere of this read. The various settings around New York City paint a really nice picture and felt very immersive. I also love the characters and their struggles. They're very relatable and gave a very distinct view of what it's like to be in their shoes. Overall, really enjoyed this one.

Really enjoyed this, and it is so much more than just a book about a girl and a boy who fall in love on the New York City subway. Iy handles discrimination, mental illness, gangs, and disfunctional families very well. Definitely more than a simple ya contemporary! Recommend it!

Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review. The premise of this book is enjoyable but at times the writing did seem a little flat.

[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.