Take a photo of a barcode or cover
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Confinement, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Murder, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Abandonment
Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Alcohol
Minor: Gun violence
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
If You Find Me has some really good qualities: it is creative, has a fast-paced and engaging plot, explores important themes, and Carey is quite a lovely girl so watching her develop closer relationships with a great stepmom and her father is incredibly satisfying. It is definitely a good book if you want to read something that will keep you on the edge of your seat- though beware that it deals explicitly with child abuse.
But, it fell a little flat for me overall. There was too much that I had to buy into, that I simply didn't. I guess I just like my good therapy representation. And this book didn't have that. I'm disappointed with the apparent lack of follow-up therapy for both girls after they are found. The girls settled into normal life too quickly. Years of abuse and/or previous lives were forgotten within three months. I didn't really buy that - no matter how sweet Melissa and Dad are. And there was the easy use of (overused) tropes, like the "popular mean girl (who is secretly just hurting)" Delaney, the fact that Carey happens to meet and like the same boy Delly crushed on (of course), the prodigy status Carey holds academically and musically and also socially... And of course she is also the most beautiful girl anyone's ever seen outside of a magazine... it was all a little toooo much, too happy, too fast.
A final minor annoyance: The novel also starts off with a strongly accented inner voice, which Carey seemingly drops in a few pages (specifically the dropped gs, which completely disappeared quickly), even though this was apparently how she has spoken for a good ten years.
But, it fell a little flat for me overall. There was too much that I had to buy into, that I simply didn't.
A final minor annoyance: The novel also starts off with a strongly accented inner voice, which Carey seemingly drops in a few pages (specifically the dropped gs, which completely disappeared quickly), even though this was apparently how she has spoken for a good ten years.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence
Moderate: Addiction, Pedophilia