Scan barcode
avidreaderandgeekgirl's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I didn't see the major twist coming though looking back there were hints at it. This was however one very dark and emotional book, I cried a bit, which is rare, but I could relate to some of the depression/mental health aspects. That being said it was almost more of a romance than a thriller, with some SUPER toxic characters.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Drug use, Toxic friendship, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Suicide attempt, Racism, and Emotional abuse
The racism was directed at some of the characters, not by them.solenophage's review
dark
emotional
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This book was very bleak with a dark tone that never let up. It dives into the topics of grief, depression, suicide, and drug abuse, among others as it follows the main character, Chase, as she deals with the grief of losing her (ex-)girlfriend and life-long best friend, Lia.
I enjoyed the very flawed relationship between Lia and Chase. They were nearly always there for each other but very often not what the other needed. They'd been a part of each other's life for so long and seen sides of each other that no one else did, but they still fundamentally failed to understand or accept each other's struggles. The education system, the mental health system, and their own families really failed these girls, leaving them stressed and unwell with very few people to turn to other than each other and not in a position to be good for each other either. I will say though at times their arguments and misunderstandings get a little repetitive.
The ‘twist’ revealed at the end of part 1, though, was one of my least favorite plot devices. I guess I have to thank it for enabling the exploration of grief and guilt and all these characters' complexities since the story would have to be presented totally differently without it, but I still wasn't a fan. Hunter, who Chase had believed to be Lia’s new girlfriend, was not real. Chase had rewritten her memories to include Hunter to block out certain events leading up to Lia’s death and all of Hunter’s appearances after Lia’s death were her hallucinations. Kind of cliché, but more than that it took me out of the story as I was thinking about whether that made any sense with the event we’d been shown up to that point and, if I suspend my disbelief, had me questioning what of the story so far even mattered. There’s also the issue of blurring the line between genuine portrays of mental illness (or drug addiction) and unrealistic plot devices, which I find kind of uncomfortable even if it wasn’t too egregious here.
I enjoyed the very flawed relationship between Lia and Chase. They were nearly always there for each other but very often not what the other needed. They'd been a part of each other's life for so long and seen sides of each other that no one else did, but they still fundamentally failed to understand or accept each other's struggles. The education system, the mental health system, and their own families really failed these girls, leaving them stressed and unwell with very few people to turn to other than each other and not in a position to be good for each other either. I will say though at times their arguments and misunderstandings get a little repetitive.
The ‘twist’ revealed at the end of part 1, though, was one of my least favorite plot devices. I guess I have to thank it for enabling the exploration of grief and guilt and all these characters' complexities since the story would have to be presented totally differently without it, but I still wasn't a fan.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Forced institutionalization, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Grief
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Self harm, and Child death
shutupiamreading's review
dark
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This is a beautifully written but quite intense book - major trigger warning for suicidal ideation, suicide attempts, and drug addiction.
The author did an amazing job weaving together storylines of drug abuse, depression, academic pressure, and race. It’s also a great and realistic representation of mental illness without sensationalising it, which I very much appreciated.
The author did an amazing job weaving together storylines of drug abuse, depression, academic pressure, and race. It’s also a great and realistic representation of mental illness without sensationalising it, which I very much appreciated.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Drug abuse, Addiction, and Mental illness
booksbeyondthebinary's review
challenging
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide attempt, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, and Mental illness
Moderate: Self harm
pagebypaigebks's review
emotional
reflective
sad
3.0
“Sometimes, I think there isn't enough air in this town. Not enough air in the world for a girl like me.”
I'd like to Simon & Schuster for sending me an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review!
I've also posted this review on Instagram and my blog.
Instagram Post
Blog Post
Content Warnings: suicidal ideation, depression, anxiety, addiction, suicide, panic attacks, grief, death
I want to start off by saying that this book deals with many difficult topics so be sure to check out the content warnings to see if this book is right for you. I Will Find You Again explores a lot of hard hitting concepts including grief, depression, and suicide. Sarah approaches each of these subjects with care and sensitivity. I think that those who love emotional stories will enjoy this book, however the topics it featured became too much for me at times. I enjoyed the writing style and thought it kept the story moving and allowed me to connect more with our main character Chase. The past perspectives were also well done and explained in an easy to understand way how Chase and Lia got together and the events leading up to Lia's disappearance. Chase goes through many difficult challenges throughout the story, and underwent a lot of development as a character. The idea of the "academic pressure cooker" was also highlighted, and I think many students today can relate to the stress Chase and her classmates were under to achieve the best possible marks.
I Will Find You Again is an emotional story with rich character development.
I'd like to Simon & Schuster for sending me an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review!
I've also posted this review on Instagram and my blog.
Instagram Post
Blog Post
Content Warnings: suicidal ideation, depression, anxiety, addiction, suicide, panic attacks, grief, death
I want to start off by saying that this book deals with many difficult topics so be sure to check out the content warnings to see if this book is right for you. I Will Find You Again explores a lot of hard hitting concepts including grief, depression, and suicide. Sarah approaches each of these subjects with care and sensitivity. I think that those who love emotional stories will enjoy this book, however the topics it featured became too much for me at times. I enjoyed the writing style and thought it kept the story moving and allowed me to connect more with our main character Chase. The past perspectives were also well done and explained in an easy to understand way how Chase and Lia got together and the events leading up to Lia's disappearance. Chase goes through many difficult challenges throughout the story, and underwent a lot of development as a character. The idea of the "academic pressure cooker" was also highlighted, and I think many students today can relate to the stress Chase and her classmates were under to achieve the best possible marks.
I Will Find You Again is an emotional story with rich character development.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide
dinipandareads's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I read this book as part of the blog tour hosted by TBR & Beyond Tours. Special thanks to Simon & Schuster for Young Readers for providing a digital ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
TL;DR: This was a YA mystery that I don’t think I could’ve expected and I think will be very different to what many people expect too, but for me, it was very much in a good way! This story tackles some really tough issues that were hard to read about and I would recommend checking out the content/trigger warnings beforehand because although I think this author handled these issues sensitively, she also doesn’t sugarcoat the reality of them. These pages are packed with so much tension, raw emotion, and heartbreaking moments between best friends and lovers and the struggles they face living up to societal, cultural and familial expectations. Overall, an impressive mystery that I would recommend and I can’t wait to read more by this author soon!
TL;DR: This was a YA mystery that I don’t think I could’ve expected and I think will be very different to what many people expect too, but for me, it was very much in a good way! This story tackles some really tough issues that were hard to read about and I would recommend checking out the content/trigger warnings beforehand because although I think this author handled these issues sensitively, she also doesn’t sugarcoat the reality of them. These pages are packed with so much tension, raw emotion, and heartbreaking moments between best friends and lovers and the struggles they face living up to societal, cultural and familial expectations. Overall, an impressive mystery that I would recommend and I can’t wait to read more by this author soon!
Honestly, this is a pretty difficult book to leave a review for because I really don't want to give spoilers and it's very much a book that I recommend you go into knowing as little as possible. I mean, that's not different from what I'd say about many mysteries but there's a lot more to this than meets the eye. Although it does get off to a somewhat slow start as the mystery builds up and we follow along with a very unreliable narrator, the story ends up taking a path that I didn't expect and I think I appreciated this story more because of it. The story is told partially through flashbacks as Chase pieces together the messy and broken puzzle of everything leading up to what happens to Lia. There's a very melancholy and morose yet at times somewhat hopeful tone that fit the mystery and the love story between Lia and Chase very well. The tension is built up really nicely as the pace quickens and I soon found myself madly flipping through the pages until everything quietly explodes at the end. Lyu really knows how to saturate the pages of her novel with intense emotion and it was hard to not become invested in this story.
Chase isn't necessarily a likeable character (though tbh I didn't find any of the characters very likeable except for Chase's little sister) and I vacillated between feeling sympathy for the situation she finds herself in and at the same time kind of hating her for being so frustratingly selfish and oftentimes cruel. This story revolves around Chase and the somewhat toxic and love-blind relationship with Lia and although Lia doesn't get her own perspective, I feel like she was just as real a character as Chase. Through their story, Lyu explores some fairly heavy themes that I would definitely recommend checking out the content/trigger warnings for because this was pretty hard to read at times and can be triggering. I appreciated how the author explored the impact of societal, familial, and cultural pressures that we put on teenagers to not only excel academically and in their extracurriculars but to also pretty much have the rest of their lives figured out by that age. It's certainly not an isolated experience and it's completely unrealistic to expect them to handle the mental, emotional and physical stress they put themselves through in order to fulfil these expectations, especially in today's society. It's incredibly toxic and it's no wonder that the heavy burden they carry from such a young age can get channelled into negative outlets and coping mechanisms. I feel like it's really important to keep pointing the spotlight on this issue because this unhealthy culture is not changing and it should!
Aside from that, I think Lyu also handled the other serious topics she brings into the story very sensitively. I've mentioned it before but I liked how she really took this in a completely different direction than I expected. I thought I had it all figured out at the beginning and I was ready to be sort of "whelmed" by the result, but I was shockingly surprised! By the end, I found myself tearing up over the whole situation and just how awfully heartbreaking it is, and then I got to the end of the author's note and it did set off my tears because it was a powerful way to dedicate and end the book.
Overall, I thought this was a great queer YA mystery that pleasantly surprised me. There was great representation and the handling of hard topics was done well. I enjoyed the author's writing style and the level of emotions she infused into the story and I'm now eager to check out more of her work in the future!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Drug use
Moderate: Suicide attempt and Gaslighting
dancingdynamos's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, Suicide, and Suicidal thoughts
bookdragon217's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
"Responsibility is simply the ability to respond to respond...It's understanding our lack of control and then choosing to act anyway, choosing how we want to act."
I Will Find You Again by Sarah Lyu was a heart wrenching read that left a pain in my heart after reading it. It's a YA story that will appeal to all ages, especially anyone who has felt the pain and crushing anxiety of trying to live up to others' expectations. The main "mystery" is revealed early on but the real story unravels slowly, revealing all the little things that send our two main protagonists spiraling. The writing is so captivating that by the time the heart of the conflict is revealed you are left reeling wondering what is really the truth and who is responsible.
What really makes this book so special is how the author highlights the experience of being a trans-racial adoptee and how that affects Asian self identity and how others perceive Asian identity. Lyu also does a fantastic job of showing how the pressure to perform shapes teenagers' ideas about the future and success and how that immense pressure deteriorates self esteem and mental health. Grief is also a big theme in this one and manifests differently for the characters. Chase finally coming to terms with Lia's suicide, her sexuality and her own survivor's guilt in therapy brought me to tears because I know personally how hard it is to ask for help when you're used to being strong all the time & you feel undeserving. I loved that was intentional & included resources for mental health.
Thank you for the gifted copy @ireadya & @coloredpagesblogtours. I really loved this one and the emotional journey that it took me through. This book had so much heart
This book would pair nicely with:
📗 History is All You Left Me- Adam Silvera
📕 Searching for Sylvie Lee- Jean Kwok
📘 Everything I Never Told You- Celeste Ng
📙 Iveliz Explains It All- Andrea Beatriz Arango
I Will Find You Again by Sarah Lyu was a heart wrenching read that left a pain in my heart after reading it. It's a YA story that will appeal to all ages, especially anyone who has felt the pain and crushing anxiety of trying to live up to others' expectations. The main "mystery" is revealed early on but the real story unravels slowly, revealing all the little things that send our two main protagonists spiraling. The writing is so captivating that by the time the heart of the conflict is revealed you are left reeling wondering what is really the truth and who is responsible.
What really makes this book so special is how the author highlights the experience of being a trans-racial adoptee and how that affects Asian self identity and how others perceive Asian identity. Lyu also does a fantastic job of showing how the pressure to perform shapes teenagers' ideas about the future and success and how that immense pressure deteriorates self esteem and mental health. Grief is also a big theme in this one and manifests differently for the characters. Chase finally coming to terms with Lia's suicide, her sexuality and her own survivor's guilt in therapy brought me to tears because I know personally how hard it is to ask for help when you're used to being strong all the time & you feel undeserving. I loved that was intentional & included resources for mental health.
Thank you for the gifted copy @ireadya & @coloredpagesblogtours. I really loved this one and the emotional journey that it took me through. This book had so much heart
This book would pair nicely with:
📗 History is All You Left Me- Adam Silvera
📕 Searching for Sylvie Lee- Jean Kwok
📘 Everything I Never Told You- Celeste Ng
📙 Iveliz Explains It All- Andrea Beatriz Arango
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction
Moderate: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide
Minor: Suicide attempt
utopiastateofmind's review
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.75
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
I Will Find You Again smashed through my expectations. Firstly, it has an adopted side character - Lia - and I loved how this was portrayed in I Will Find You Again. Even though she's not the main character, we can see her relationship to her parents and her own feelings through the eyes of Chase. Secondly, this book delves into how much of ourselves we allow people to see. How much of other people we can witness. All the ways in which as we dare someone to leave, we're also pleading for them to stay.
The jagged edges we show to people while also asking for understanding. And all the secrets we keep from others and what they don't tell us. I Will Find You Again explores this idea of knowing someone and loving someone. If we can every truly know all of someone and if that impacts our ability to love them. It's about two characters whose lives begin to diverge and wondering if their relationship can withstand it. This is such a universal theme.
I Will Find You Again smashed through my expectations. Firstly, it has an adopted side character - Lia - and I loved how this was portrayed in I Will Find You Again. Even though she's not the main character, we can see her relationship to her parents and her own feelings through the eyes of Chase. Secondly, this book delves into how much of ourselves we allow people to see. How much of other people we can witness. All the ways in which as we dare someone to leave, we're also pleading for them to stay.
The jagged edges we show to people while also asking for understanding. And all the secrets we keep from others and what they don't tell us. I Will Find You Again explores this idea of knowing someone and loving someone. If we can every truly know all of someone and if that impacts our ability to love them. It's about two characters whose lives begin to diverge and wondering if their relationship can withstand it. This is such a universal theme.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide, Panic attacks/disorders, and Suicidal thoughts
gkaltam's review
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide attempt, Suicide, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Drug use
More...