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A review by hoffnungswolke
Where I Found You by Heidi R. Kling
4.0
First things first: I received this book through NetGalley.
Where, oh where, do I start. I wasn't prepared for all the emotions that I would go through while reading this story. But I loved it. I truly loved the story and I loved that I got to feel all the feels.
Summary: After her mother's plane went missing over the Indian Ocean, seventeen-year-old Sienna Jones gave up everything she loved about living in California. No more surfing. No more swimming. No more ocean, period. Playing it safe, hiding from the world, is the best call.
Until her dad throws down the challenge of a lifetime: spend the summer with his humanitarian team in Indonesia, working with orphans who lost everything in a massive tsunami.
The day they arrive, Sienna meets a mysterious boy named Deni, whose dark, intense eyes make her heart race. Their stolen nights force her to open up and live in a way she thought she couldn't anymore. When she’s with Deni, she remembers the girl she used to be… and starts to feel like the woman he sees in her.
A woman he wants for his own.
Gulp.
But when Deni’s past comes looking for him, Sienna’s faced with losing another person she loves. She can’t do it. Not again.
Fortunately, this time, she has a plan.
**
I mean, the summary of the book pretty much tells you, that this won't be a cute read full of rainbows and unicorns. So I should have known. I didn't.
First of all, I loved the setting. This is the first time I ever read a story that is st around the work of a humanitarian team and the work they do for a country after a natural disaster hit. I loved the writing, it was real and didn't sugar coat anything, whilst also really bringing us (well, at least me) closer to a different culture. I loved that element of the book so much.
I loved the characters. Sienna, the main character. She's one of those characters, that I read a few lines about and that I love right away. Not saying, I was okay with all her decisions and okay with everything she was doing. Her backstory with her mother, the effects all of this still had on her, gave me all the feels right away. I pretty much loved everyone in this book, there wasn't one character that I just felt meh about whenever they showed up. I even really liked Vera, who maybe didn't seem as likeable from Sienna's point of view.
But let me tell you, the other character besides Sienna, that I loved the most, was Elli. Little Elli stole my heart in a matter of a few seconds. I loved her relationship with Sienna. I just loved that little girl so much. She deserves the world and all the happiness in it.
Of course there was this whole thing with Deni and Sienna and their relationship. I didn't care much for that and at the same time, I loved it. I love the non romantic part of their relationship, them talking to each other and getting to say things that they can't tell anyone else. Them, helping each other out, getting over things and moving on, even if it's tough as hell. I liked that part. I'm a bitter old lady at this point in my life, I don't get excited anymore about people getting together and being head over heels in love in the span of such a short period of time. I'm not saying it's not possible but you know, I don't feel it. I don't connect with that.
But I loved, LOVED, the story and would totally read it again, which is a feeling that I love. There is also going to be a second book coming out this year and I'm really excited for that.
Where, oh where, do I start. I wasn't prepared for all the emotions that I would go through while reading this story. But I loved it. I truly loved the story and I loved that I got to feel all the feels.
Summary: After her mother's plane went missing over the Indian Ocean, seventeen-year-old Sienna Jones gave up everything she loved about living in California. No more surfing. No more swimming. No more ocean, period. Playing it safe, hiding from the world, is the best call.
Until her dad throws down the challenge of a lifetime: spend the summer with his humanitarian team in Indonesia, working with orphans who lost everything in a massive tsunami.
The day they arrive, Sienna meets a mysterious boy named Deni, whose dark, intense eyes make her heart race. Their stolen nights force her to open up and live in a way she thought she couldn't anymore. When she’s with Deni, she remembers the girl she used to be… and starts to feel like the woman he sees in her.
A woman he wants for his own.
Gulp.
But when Deni’s past comes looking for him, Sienna’s faced with losing another person she loves. She can’t do it. Not again.
Fortunately, this time, she has a plan.
**
I mean, the summary of the book pretty much tells you, that this won't be a cute read full of rainbows and unicorns. So I should have known. I didn't.
First of all, I loved the setting. This is the first time I ever read a story that is st around the work of a humanitarian team and the work they do for a country after a natural disaster hit. I loved the writing, it was real and didn't sugar coat anything, whilst also really bringing us (well, at least me) closer to a different culture. I loved that element of the book so much.
I loved the characters. Sienna, the main character. She's one of those characters, that I read a few lines about and that I love right away. Not saying, I was okay with all her decisions and okay with everything she was doing. Her backstory with her mother, the effects all of this still had on her, gave me all the feels right away. I pretty much loved everyone in this book, there wasn't one character that I just felt meh about whenever they showed up. I even really liked Vera, who maybe didn't seem as likeable from Sienna's point of view.
But let me tell you, the other character besides Sienna, that I loved the most, was Elli. Little Elli stole my heart in a matter of a few seconds. I loved her relationship with Sienna. I just loved that little girl so much. She deserves the world and all the happiness in it.
Of course there was this whole thing with Deni and Sienna and their relationship. I didn't care much for that and at the same time, I loved it. I love the non romantic part of their relationship, them talking to each other and getting to say things that they can't tell anyone else. Them, helping each other out, getting over things and moving on, even if it's tough as hell. I liked that part. I'm a bitter old lady at this point in my life, I don't get excited anymore about people getting together and being head over heels in love in the span of such a short period of time. I'm not saying it's not possible but you know, I don't feel it. I don't connect with that.
But I loved, LOVED, the story and would totally read it again, which is a feeling that I love. There is also going to be a second book coming out this year and I'm really excited for that.