Review: Holding Court by K.C. Held

Holding Court
by K.C. Held
Published: March 1, 2016




Sixteen-year-old Jules Verity knows exactly what's in store at her new job at castle-turned-dinner-theater Tudor Times. Some extra cash, wearing a fancy-pants dress, and plenty of time to secretly drool over the ever-so-tasty--and completely unavailable--Grayson Chandler. Except that it's not quite what she imagined.

For one, the costume Jules has to wear is awful. Then there's the dead body she finds that just kind of...well, disappears. Oh, and there's the small issue of Jules and her episodes of what her best friend calls "Psychic Tourette's Syndrome"--spontaneous and uncontrollable outbursts of seemingly absurd prophecies.

The only bright side? This whole dead body thing seems to have gotten Grayson's attention. Except that the more Jules investigates, the more she discovers that Grayson's interest might not be as courtly as she thought. In fact, it's starting to look suspicious...

Holding Court is a very enjoyable book that is mystery, humor and sweetness combined. It's fast-paced, not too heavy despite the little bit of thriller in it, and very YA. A great summer read all in all.

Jules, the main character, has an unusual "blurting" problem -- which are actually prophecies -- that no one takes seriously because blurting out random sentences like "your nun is pregnant" is not creepy and mysterious enough to be believable. Or maybe because it's the 21st century. But she's putting it to good use working at the newly opened Tudor Times attraction where all the fun eventually starts when she stumbles upon a dead body.

I really liked the Tudor themed setting of the story. It was very interesting and I personally thought it would be cool to spend an entire summer working there. Jules was a very likable character and her blurts were so ridiculous it's funny. I predicted where the romance was headed and the complication behind it early on but the entire story still surprised me, especially that twist! It was actually really sweet. And more surprising than the revelation of who the killer was (which I wasn't able to predict). I loved the friendships in this book. I half expected this to be full of catty and annoying girls making fun of Jules for being the way she is but Jules can handle her own. She's cool like that.

If you are looking for a fast read, pick this up. If your are looking for a quick, breaktime read... choose another book. I realized too late that this book had made me abandon my work. Before I knew it, the book was almost over. Holding Court is especially perfect for young adult fans. Look forward to a tights-wearing Grayson Chandler and his abs! ;)

*A copy was provided by the publisher and Netgalley for review purposes.