Lisa Jewell | I Found You
Long weekends call for AMAZING reads and July is no exception! While I'm not too excited to have to work on Monday, I cannot wait to dig in to all of my reads for this month. I just finished I FOUND YOU by Lisa Jewell and stayed up until 3AM devouring this fantastically twisted and suspenseful read. Also, I try not to judge a book by its cover, but how GORGEOUS is it?!
Plot:
In the windswept British seaside town of Ridinghouse Bay, single mom Alice Lake finds a man sitting on a beach outside her house. He has no name, no jacket, and no idea how he got there. Against her better judgment, she invites him inside.
Meanwhile, in a suburb of London, newlywed Lily Monrose grows anxious when her husband fails to return home from work one night. Soon, she receives even worse news: according to the police, the man she married never even existed.
Twenty-three years earlier, Gray and Kirsty Ross are teenagers on a summer holiday with their parents. The annual trip to Ridinghouse Bay is uneventful, until an enigmatic young man starts paying extra attention to Kirsty. Something about him makes Gray uncomfortable—and it’s not just because he’s a protective older brother.
Who is the man on the beach? Where is Lily’s missing husband? And what ever happened to the man who made such a lasting and disturbing impression on Gray?
Review:
Here's what I love about reading work by an author for the first time; I NEVER know what to expect. Lisa Jewell is no exception. When hearing about this twisted and beautifully written novel, I basically read far enough into the plot to know that a woman named Alice found a man on the beach with no memory. Sold. I hadn't even read far enough to know about Lily, Gray, and Kirsty because I was already intrigued. Memory loss? A beach setting? A possibly dangerous man? I AM IN!
When beginning this one, I made it about 30 pages in and was viciously confused. I had no idea what was going on. This was not only frustrating for me, but also a challenge I was willing to accept. I pushed through and made a ton of notes on my phone. Sure enough, things started to come together for me and I was like "oh!"
What immediately drew me into this one was that as a reader, I was floored that Jewell can not only get into the minds of the reader, but this expansive cast of characters who range from teenagers to grown adults to frankly, men who have no clue who the hell they are. These characters are flawed, lovable, easy to hate, confusing, and people you want to protect. So much was going on with different people coming into the mix that this could have easily and believably been published as a work of non-fiction and I wouldn't second guess it for a minute.
Compared to most thrillers and mysteries, this was exceptionally addicting as it didn't have not one, not two, but THREE storylines going on that left me anxious, frustrated, and confused in the most amazing way possible. I couldn't stop taking breaks to really wonder how this was all going to come together. I would draw my own conclusions and then read two pages and it would be dropped like a bad habit. This was fantastic. The minute you are recovering from one cliffhanger or literary "mic-drop", another one comes and slaps you in the face. This could have easily been three or four different novels and they would have all been amazing. I loved how different and mysterious each storyline was in its own way. And then the ending came and I was giddily eating it up like cupcakes on a cheat-day. Seriously. It's THAT good.
With all of that being said, I will fully admit that I am not done checking out what else Lisa Jewell has to offer and anticipate finding out what she does next. This was dark and twisted, emotionally charged, and woven like your favorite winter sweater. Beautiful and masterful.
*Special thanks to ATRIA Books for providing me with this copy. Thank you for making my hobby as a blogger just a little bit easier with your kindness.
Rating: 4.5/5
Plot:
In the windswept British seaside town of Ridinghouse Bay, single mom Alice Lake finds a man sitting on a beach outside her house. He has no name, no jacket, and no idea how he got there. Against her better judgment, she invites him inside.
Meanwhile, in a suburb of London, newlywed Lily Monrose grows anxious when her husband fails to return home from work one night. Soon, she receives even worse news: according to the police, the man she married never even existed.
Twenty-three years earlier, Gray and Kirsty Ross are teenagers on a summer holiday with their parents. The annual trip to Ridinghouse Bay is uneventful, until an enigmatic young man starts paying extra attention to Kirsty. Something about him makes Gray uncomfortable—and it’s not just because he’s a protective older brother.
Who is the man on the beach? Where is Lily’s missing husband? And what ever happened to the man who made such a lasting and disturbing impression on Gray?
Review:
Here's what I love about reading work by an author for the first time; I NEVER know what to expect. Lisa Jewell is no exception. When hearing about this twisted and beautifully written novel, I basically read far enough into the plot to know that a woman named Alice found a man on the beach with no memory. Sold. I hadn't even read far enough to know about Lily, Gray, and Kirsty because I was already intrigued. Memory loss? A beach setting? A possibly dangerous man? I AM IN!
When beginning this one, I made it about 30 pages in and was viciously confused. I had no idea what was going on. This was not only frustrating for me, but also a challenge I was willing to accept. I pushed through and made a ton of notes on my phone. Sure enough, things started to come together for me and I was like "oh!"
What immediately drew me into this one was that as a reader, I was floored that Jewell can not only get into the minds of the reader, but this expansive cast of characters who range from teenagers to grown adults to frankly, men who have no clue who the hell they are. These characters are flawed, lovable, easy to hate, confusing, and people you want to protect. So much was going on with different people coming into the mix that this could have easily and believably been published as a work of non-fiction and I wouldn't second guess it for a minute.
Compared to most thrillers and mysteries, this was exceptionally addicting as it didn't have not one, not two, but THREE storylines going on that left me anxious, frustrated, and confused in the most amazing way possible. I couldn't stop taking breaks to really wonder how this was all going to come together. I would draw my own conclusions and then read two pages and it would be dropped like a bad habit. This was fantastic. The minute you are recovering from one cliffhanger or literary "mic-drop", another one comes and slaps you in the face. This could have easily been three or four different novels and they would have all been amazing. I loved how different and mysterious each storyline was in its own way. And then the ending came and I was giddily eating it up like cupcakes on a cheat-day. Seriously. It's THAT good.
With all of that being said, I will fully admit that I am not done checking out what else Lisa Jewell has to offer and anticipate finding out what she does next. This was dark and twisted, emotionally charged, and woven like your favorite winter sweater. Beautiful and masterful.
*Special thanks to ATRIA Books for providing me with this copy. Thank you for making my hobby as a blogger just a little bit easier with your kindness.
Rating: 4.5/5
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