A review by hanreads__
Finding Marianne by Sarah Louise Smith

adventurous emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective relaxing fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

"𝗛𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆, 𝗜'𝘃𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗳𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗶𝗿𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗖𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗹𝗲, 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗜 𝘀𝗮𝘄 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗜𝗼𝗻𝗮. 𝗦𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻 𝗺𝗲 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗸𝗻𝗲𝘄."

Firstly, I just want to thank Sarah for contacting me directly and asking me if I would like to read this as an ARC. It was an honour to be trusted by you, especially when you had only seen my reviews and posts, and it was an honour to know that you wanted to be on my page.

Finding Marianne is slightly different to what I usually read, I’m not someone who reads a story that focuses on someone healing themselves and trying to find their purpose in live while also falling in love; but I’m glad I gave it a chance because of how happy and content my heart felt as times.

Sometimes a story that involves a timeline going back and forth can be stressful and unenjoyable, but to discover the story of Nora’s alongside Marianne’s? I was in awe. They never met one another, but were connected in more ways than one, and I loved how despite their similarities, they were both so different too. Nora was a beautiful woman with a kind soul, one that deserved to be loved, and the way she was loved by Tom is a way I wish to be loved by a man in my lifetime. Her story was both lovely and sad, yet it was one I fully immersed myself into and when it came to an end? I got goosebumps and had to focus on the fact that I didn’t want it too. If anything, I wanted a whole other story that focused even more on her and Tom!

Marianne is someone going through the motions of life, and while it’s not turning out the way she expected, I think she’s an incredibly brave woman for taking a chance the way she did. I think the representation of depression and anxiety was done fairly well, and it felt comforting to be able to relate to Marianne at times, and to know that I’m not the only one who hits rock bottom and panics about what will happen if I do so again. To be able to relate to a character is a wonderful thing, and I truly believe that the author will help other readers feel heard and understood when reading about Marianne and her mental health.

The story has made me want to visit Scotland, it also made me fall in love with the possible scenery that I could expect if I was to do so, and some of the places visited are now places on my bucket list. Scotland sounds like a magical place, and I hope I get to experience the love for it that Tom, Nora, Marianne, Finn and Iona have for it.

Finn is an absolute sweetheart, and I love that his single dad story strayed from the cliche. His story made my respect for him increase massively, and the way he treated Marianne? He’s a sweetheart. Unfortunately, I do feel that at times we did see and learn more of Marianne than we did of Finn, and if we did learn about him, it was usually elaborating a little more on what we knew rather than something different. Despite this, his relationship with Marianne was one I was desperate to have a happy ending for, their chemistry was incredible and present through the entirety of the story!

Finally, there was a plot hole regarding Marianne’s Spiritual Guide, I expected that to be elaborated on a little more as that scene seemed of importance at the time, but it kind of just disappeared into thin air. There was also the case of miscommunication / lack of communication with Finn and Marianne. They’re two adults getting to know one another, communicating really well yet they’re constantly failing to communicate properly about their feelings and the child situation? It could’ve been cleared up at 75% if anything, and it was dragged on for too long.

Either way, negatives aside, I really enjoyed this book and I would love to have it on my bookshelf one day, I would also really like to read more of Sarah’s work as it left me feeling happy and somewhat relaxed. If you’ve made it this far into my review, I certainly recommend giving the book a go, even if it’s different from your usual reads, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised with how much you enjoy it!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Mental illness, and Death of parent

Minor: Cancer and Sexual content