Review | I Found You | Lisa Jewell

Publication Date: April 25th, 2017

Page Count: 352 

First Sentence: "Alice Lake lives in a house by the sea."

Book Description:  In a small house by the sea, single mother Alice Lake is doing her best to raise her three kids. They all have different fathers, and in this small town, this makes Alice a source of unlimited judgment. Still, knowing that she's under continuous scruitny doesn't stop her from making her own choices. One day, she sees a man sitting on the beach outside of her house. He's been there all day, doesn't have a jacket and doesn't appear to have anywhere to go. When it begins to rain she goes to him to see if he needs help and finds that he has no memory of why he is there and where he came from. At the same time, we're introduced to Lily. She's 21 and brand new to the UK, and when her husband of 2 weeks doesn't come home after work one night, she immediately knows something is wrong. She's in an unfamiliar culture but knows the man she married loves her, so she'll do whatever it takes to figure out where he is. Several stories unravel at the same time and ultimately the reader gets to find out how all of the characters are connected and who the mystery man really is.  

My Thoughts: This was more Paula Hawkins than Paula Hawkins. I Found You combined the atmosphere of Siracusa with the twists and turns and sadness of I Let You Go.  I was absolutely captivated! First off, I loved Alice. She's funny and smart, and i loves that she came across as confident and independent. I'm getting tired of the worn down by the world 40 something mother, so she was a nice  change of pace. The chapters alternated between Alice, Frank, and Lily, and the effective transitions kept the story flowing. There was a villain at the core of the story who made himself easy to hate (think Dandy from American Horror Story Circus, without all of the mommy issues). It was a page turner with well developed characters leading the narrative and a solid story at its core. I had fun trying to figure out what was really going on and was pleasantly surprised with the outcome. The loose ends were tidied up and I felt like I got a resolution. I came away very impressed by the author and will definitely check out her other books. 

Favorite Quote: "There are their hands, clutched together between them. They don't know who the prime minister is, they don't know what day of the week, what month, or even what year it is. The can't qutite remember their daughters' names and they certainly can't remember if they had lunch today or what the plan is for supper tonight. They know nothing of any significance whatsoever. But they do know they love each other."

Rating: 4.75/5 One of the better books I've read this year. 

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