REVIEW: For Holly by Tanya Byrne

For Holly by Tanya Byrne
Published by Headline on 4th June 2015
Pages: 336
Source: *Received from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review*

Lola Durand hates her stepmother. It's a cliché but it's true. 

Lola Durand can't get through to her father. He never wants to talk about the things that matter: why they had to move to Paris, why he had to marry evil Agatha, and how they can get through the heartache of her mother's death together.

If he won't listen, she'll show him. She'll show him the truth about his new wife and then her life can go back to normal, just the way she likes it. 

Lola Durand knows a secret about her stepmother. She's going to share it.

Going into For Holly I did not really know what to expect, all I knew was the novel was surrounded by the fact that Lola knew a big secret about her step-mother. I was so intrigued by this plot, I was pleased to start reading it, however I was very disappointed. I really like the cover, it is very simple and yet I feel it makes a statement, especially with the yellow.

As for a summary of the plot, I feel you should go into this without knowing anything.

I believe the main problem I had with this novel was the protagonist, Lola. Clearly Lola was upset after the death of her mother, alongside the fact that only three months after her death Lola's father marries Agatha in France. She was an individual who clearly needed someone there to help her, and so this lack of help created the personality she adopted which was being selfish and destructive; she had so much hate in her that it made her come across as immature which I felt really pushed aside the fact that she had just lost her mother.

The plot of this novel was slow and uninteresting. Yes, this novel does tackle some heavy subjects like death and terrorism which were horrific and unimaginable. However apart from this, the plot would just talk about how much she hated Agatha, how much no-one understood her, and what she had to eat. Then it skipped a key scene of a week, but after I felt the introduction of Holly gave the novel the uplift it needed. Though the secret Lola had was nothing shocking, and I was rather disappointed. Then the ending, I think by that time I just wanted to finish the novel as I had had enough.

Sadly this novel did not live up to my expectations, and the big secret was not anything shocking and unexpected.