Pages: 307
Published: September 24th 2013 by HarperTeen
Series: Find Me #1
Source: HarperTeen via Edelweiss
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“Find Me.”These are the words written on Tessa Waye’s diary. The diary that ends up with Wick Tate. But Tessa’s just been found . . . dead.
Wick has the right computer-hacking skills for the job, but little interest in this perverse game of hide-and-seek. Until her sister Lily is the next target.
Then Griff, trailer-park boy next door and fellow hacker, shows up, intent on helping Wick. Is a happy ending possible with the threat of Wick’s deadbeat dad returning, the detective hunting him sniffing around Wick instead, and a killer taunting her at every step?
Foster child. Daughter of a felon. Loner hacker girl. Wick has a bad attitude and sarcasm to spare.
But she’s going to find this killer no matter what.
Because it just got personal.
Find Me was one of those sweet surprises that sneaks up and surpasses all your expectations. I had gotten this back in the spring time, and had actually completely forgotten what it was about by the time I went to pick it back up. I kind of went in knowing little to nothing, including not having glimpsed at any of the latest reviews on it and I’m so happy that I went in blindfolded. I will say though, that for no founded reason, I had rather low expectations.
Wick, the main character, thrilled me. She was tough as nails and a dry attitude that I really enjoyed. I’m somewhat sarcastic and dry in my everyday humor so when I stumble upon characters who I feel like I could joke with, it really edges them up a few notches. The thing about Wick that I liked the most was her protective nature for her sister Lily. Again, I often can connect with sisters who have a very close relationship, and while it doesn’t happen often, I love seeing it. Griff, was the love interest. I REALLY liked Griff. I can’t entirely pinpoint exactly why I liked him so much, but I think a lot of it came down to the fact that he was a normal guy, with normal everyday family and issues. He didn’t have a million layers to peel back, you kind of got him how he was, but in all honestly, that’s how every guy I knew in high school was. The secondary characters weren’t anything over thrilling though, and most were less than memorable.
Now while I really enjoyed the characters, they was close to zero additional character development from the initial introductions. What you see is what you get type of thing, they were exactly the same upon ending the book. In most cases that would entirely ruin the story for me however because this was a thriller type novel, mostly plot driven, I didn’t depend on but I do wish that we seen a bit of development. Especially with Wick, seeing as how she had this awful life prior to life with Bren & Todd.
I do need to say that Find Me wasn’t a story that was shockingly unpredictable. I knew fairly close to the beginning of the story who was culprit was. Normally, and in most cases, this completely ruins the thriller/mystery type aspect for me but in this case it didn’t. Even though I knew who the perpetrator was, I didn’t know how the ending was going to play out, and some of the scenes really had me on the edge of seat because I had no idea how it was going to unfold at the end.
One of the main reasons I would say that the predictability didn’t ruin the story was probably the writing. Romily Bernard has a really great writing style, and I felt like I was watching a movie during some of the most intense scenes, rather than reading a book. Once I got to about 40% remaining, I could not put it down and knew I had to finish it in one sitting. The pacing is good; the first of the novel isn’t so fast paced but later on it does really pick up and keeps you turning the pages. The plot as well, is really well thought out. There are quite a few different layers to the story, and some I didn’t expect and they were all weaved together nicely.
One of my biggest drawbacks in wanting to pick up Find Me was the fact that I knew it was a series. I was worried that the ending wouldn’t be tied up and I would be left waiting to figure out who this mystery suspect is. That’s not the case at all, and actually the ending wraps up nicely and opens up the story for the second book in the series. If you have reservations about massive cliffhangers you can put them away, it really is a great ending.
While I did have some issues with Find Me, I think my enjoyment of the novel outweighed any of the negatives. It really kept me anxious to find out how it would end and I really enjoyed the main characters, Wick and Griff. If you have been holding back on reading this, but like a mild thriller(I say mild because it’s not terrifying), then I would definitely recommend picking up Find Me; needless to say it surpasses my expectations!
When I was reading it, I didn’t know it was a series until I read the epilogue and said “Remember Me”. I thought it wrapped up pretty well! I wonder what the sequel’s going to be about though… I had some issues with this too and I gave it a 4/5 stars also. I just didn’t like the romance. Great review 😀
-leigh
I’m really intrigued about the sequel!! I will definitely be picking it up 🙂 I actually didn’t mind the romance, it wasn’t the greatest but it didn’t bother me so much! Thanks so much for stopping in Leigh 🙂