[ Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands Vintage Contemporaries By ( Author ) May-2015 Paperback
"A compelling tale of loss, resilience, and transformation." --
The Boston Globe, "Pick of the Week"
"Suspenseful, provocative, often terrifying yet compassionate. . . . One of the most memorable teenage protagonists in recent fiction." --
The Washington Post
"Heartbreaking. . . . This is an adult novel . . . but readers of any age who love John Green's novels might find [Emily]'s story, sobering as it is, an awesome one." --
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel "Stirring, sensitive. . . . One of the most authentic and distinctive voices since Emma Donoghue's [
Room]." --
San Francisco Chronicle
"I have a new favorite Chris Bohjalian novel.
Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands is a book I wish I'd been smart enough to write: a masterpiece of narrative voice." --Jodi Picoult
"Chris Bohjalian is a master. . . . Emily Shepard is his greatest accomplishment." --
Los Angeles Times "A chilling and heartbreaking suspense novel." --
USA Today "Enthralling and indelible." --
People "Intelligent, rich in detail, filled with full-blooded characters.... Bohjalian at his finest." --
The Seattle Times "A 'must read' book." --
St. Louis Post Dispatch "Haunting and resonant." --
The Miami Herald
"Emily's character is written so well and her story so absorbing (this is very much a read-in-one-or-two-sittings type of book) that it is easy to forget you're actually reading . . .
Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands reminds us of our innate need for connection." --
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette "A masterful storyteller . . . Bohjalian hits every note. His characters have depth, his story sings." --
The Advocate (Baton Rouge, LA)
"Bohjalian delivers a thoroughly engrossing and poignant coming-of-age story set against a nightmarish backdrop as real as yesterday's headlines from Fukushima and Chernobyl. And in Emily he's created a remarkable and complicated teenager . . . [with] a wry, honest voice as distinctive as Holden Caulfield's." --
Associated Press "Dazzling. . . . A novel for the ages. . . . This is pure beauty in book form." --
The Free-Lance Star (Fredericksburg, VA)
"A potent story of loss, hope, and the overpowering yearning for home." --
The Armenian Weekly "Rings with poetry and truth." --
Library Journal "A dystopian nightmare entwined with a wrenching personal crisis . . . The notion of 'just a life I left' grows more intense for somebody like Emily Shepard who can't return and is unsure about how to go forward." --
Burlington Free Press "[A] brave saga." --
Booklist "Impressive. . . . [Emily's] admiration for kindred spirit Emily Dickinson serves to humanize her plight, as does an epiphany in the book's bittersweet conclusion." --
Publishers Weekly "Bohjalian once again reveals an uncanny talent for crafting a young female protagonist who is fatally flawed, but nevertheless immensely likable. . . . Resonates with a message of hope, truth and the fragility of life." --
BookPage "Emily's voice is a compelling one... and hers is a journey readers will avidly follow." --
Kirkus Reviews