Holding Her Breath

From the first sentence to the last, this is a great piece of writing - precise, sure, engaging, and a joy to read

Roddy Doyle

Through the dark sky of our times, Eimear Ryan arrives like a comet, a bright talent scorching through every page. To read this book is to feel it blaze to life. I can't stop thinking about it

Doireann Ní Ghríofa, author of A Ghost in the Throat

A beautiful coming-of-age story told with impressive skill and lightness of touch. It marks the arrival of an exciting new voice on the Irish literary scene, one whom I can't wait to hear more from. I absolutely loved it

Louise O'Neill

A delicious read . . . A nimble account of student life with a darkly enjoyable undercurrent of secrecy and emotional turmoil

Sara Baume

Eimear Ryan is a superbly talented writer and Holding Her Breath is a brilliantly realised, gripping, and moving first novel, full of startling perceptions and richly believable characters. This is absolutely the real thing

Kevin Power

A joy to read ­- disarming, entertaining and life-affirming. A blisteringly good portrayal of complex lives and loves. It's an enthralling debut from a hugely talented writer

Danielle McLaughlin

Brilliant, vivid - I enjoyed this book ENORMOUSLY

Marian Keyes

A confident, textured, fluent novel about first love - and the campus novel sections are a pure joy

Niamh Campbell

Written with a wonderful clarity and insight, Holding Her Breath lingers in the imagination. Beth's unravelling and re-ravelling is drawn with great skill and empathy. A brilliant debut

Donal Ryan

Effortlessly weaving together a gripping, multi-layered plot, while maintaining a profoundly tender touch, Ryan has marked herself as a captivatingly original voice in Irish literature

Hot Press

A stunning debut from this new Irish talent, as well as being an exciting page turner it's also a perfect depiction of how it feels to be lost as you embark on a new chapter of your life

Stellar

Enthralling

Image

So finely polished it gleams, and yet it's also almost effortless reading . . . new, bright, exciting, glittering. I absolutely loved it

Claire Hennessy

Whip-smart observations and addictive prose

Sunday Telegraph

A moving debut with a satisfying conclusion

Irish Independent

Stylishly written, with strong female voices

Irish Times

Very assured . . . a refreshing, accomplished debut

Sunday Independent

It's a truly compelling read, and one I wholeheartedly recommend

Buzz

I very much enjoyed reading this one and if you love intimate coming of age tales as much as I do, you have to pick this up

Miriam Stimpfl

An engaging narrative . . . written with perfect poise

Saga

Richly accomplished . . . a true pleasure to read

Dermot Bolger, Business Post

Funny, dark and unexpected

Kevin Power, The Last Word with Matt Cooper

A masterly piece of storytelling

Jan Mark, Carousel

Not for the faint-hearted, opening with a sickening scene of incest forcing a 16-year-old boy to leave home and gathering momentum with gritty, though never gratuitous, scenes of painful childbirth, pigeon neck-ringing and exploding pheasants. But it works

Eileen Armstrong, The School Librarian

Exceptional and so heartbreakingly real

Booklist

Paulsen's coming-of-age memoir is nearly Steinbeckian in its unadorned but effective prose, and the events of the author's young life have a universality that will draw in readers heading for their own rites of passage

Bulletin