Books I've Read: This Train is Being Held

 

This was a fun, cute read.  I enjoyed the fact the relationship was based almost entirely on random encounters on the subway and that was enough to spark a romance.  Although, I did question whether it was possible given the sheer number of trains running on New York's subway lines, but I guess if people have a routine, you can pretty much guarantee they'll be on a certain train at a certain time.

Isabelle is a dancer and a private school kid; Alex is not.  But he is a baseball star and his father has him pegged to be drafted into the minor leagues right out of high school.  Alex enjoys baseball, but he's a secret poet and longs to go to college to see if he can be more than just a ball player.

Over the course of several years, Alex and Isa meet on the subway and form a bond.  Isa's life is not as shiny as it seems on the surface but she doesn't let Alex in on that and it's her secrets that end up pushing them apart at the point they have just become the closest.

Both of them are guilty of believing things that aren't entirely true.  Alex is certain Isa's family will never accept him because he's Latino so when he meets them, he expects to be rejected.  Isa thinks she has to be happy and positive all the time or people won't like her so she doesn't talk about her problems or share her pain.

I won't say more about the plot because it will ruin it for you.  But it is cute, even when things do get heavier with both Alex and Isa holding secrets that are too big for them to handle.

I enjoyed this one until the end.  I felt like the resolution to the story was rushed and didn't feel like it fit with the rest of the book.  It was almost like the author decided they needed more action and decided to go all out with the ending.  It was jarring and didn't really fit with the rest of the book.

But otherwise, it was an enjoyable read.  

But don't just listen to me.  Here's the blurb:

When private school student Isabelle Warren first meets Dominican-American Alex Rosario on the downtown 1 train, she remembers his green eyes and his gentlemanly behavior. He remembers her untroubled happiness, something he feels all rich kids must possess. That, and her long dancer legs. Over the course of multiple subway encounters spanning the next three years, Isabelle learns of Alex’s struggle with his father, who is hell-bent on Alex being a contender for the major leagues, despite Alex’s desire to go to college and become a poet. Alex learns about Isabelle’s unstable mother, a woman with a prejudice against Latino men. But fate—and the 1 train—throw them together when Isabelle needs Alex most. Heartfelt and evocative, this romantic drama will appeal to readers of Jenny Han and Sarah Dessen.