Book Review: Don't Try To Find Me

There's one week left before classes start (or maybe two if you're lucky), which is plenty of time to read this new fast-paced novel! Don't Try To Find Me by Holly Brown combines two of my favorite things, mystery genre and duel perspective, so I knew I would love it.

The novel starts out with Rachel (great name) discovering a note from her 14 year old daughter Marley on the fridge saying "Don't try to find me". This seems out of character for Marley, and Rachel's storyline sets out on the premises that Marley wouldn't have just ran away for no reasons. She and her husband start a media campaign to Find Marley, but Rachel has a secret of her own that she's keeping. Her story alternates with Marley, who has boarded a bus to meet up with a boy she "loves" and met on Facebook. However, it's pretty obvious that he's hiding a lot of details about his life and isn't what he seems.

Although both stories can seem a bit predictable at time (wife having an affair, girl meeting an older boy on lie and abandoning her parents to meet him), the characters and fast pace are what compel this novel. I enjoyed Marley's point of view more than Rachel's--hers seemed a bit whiney at times whereas Marley was sympathetic and vulnerable. Rachel's husband, Paul, is a completely unsympathetic character and the entire marriage just seems miserable. Maybe the greatest question of the book is whether they are trying to find Marley to save her or themselves. 

This is one of the better suspense novels I've read this summer, although the main "twist" is given away early on when you find out where Marley really is. It's not a nail-biter but the writing is fairly good. I give it 4/5.

What books have you been loving lately? I'd love to check out a few more new reads before school starts!