Book Review Alert: ‘There You’ll Find Me’

There You’ll Find Me by Jenny B. Jones
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Eighteen year old Finley Sinclair is preparing for a music audition, trying to seek God and is about to spend senior year in Ireland- the place her deceased brother loved. While there, she meets the teen movie heartthrob Beckett Rush and she gets more than she ever prayed for.

Finley, whose name means “fair warrior” has a few problems in her life and the main one is getting over her brother’s murder. To try and alleviate her pain and see the places her brother writes about in his journal, she travels to Ireland and decides to spend her senior year there visiting the sights, the sounds and the food in the beautiful country. However, once on the plane, she meets a seriously attractive guy in the most unusual way: By snoozing and drooling-on his sleeve.

The handsome stranger is none other than Beckett Rush, the teen movie star who plays a flawless vampire and is in every magazine causing girls to scream and faint on site. But not Finley. She has too many problems of her own and does not earn him the time of day. As the story progresses, however, we learn that Finley has another serious, dark issue which has been going unchecked and it will take a nun, an actor, and a dying woman to show her that God really is still in the picture and letting go of the pain to let Him usher in joy can begin to healing process.

What was so poignant and exciting about this book was Jones’ attention to the little things we miss in life: Such as how someone gives undivided attention when we speak, or when someone comes to rescue us, or how one small misleading incident can draw rifts between families. The very exciting part was how Beckett Rush was a movie star but was so caring- much too caring than a teen star would probably be in real life, but then again who knows? Finley became too unbearable to deal with towards the end, shoving away those who loved her when they began to notice signs of her secret. Again, in reality young adults still have much to bear but may not communicate their needs well if at all.

If You Like: Ireland, fish and chips, and a good love story, then you’ll love There You’ll Find Me

*Book Details:
There You’ll Find Me
Author:  Jenny B. Jones
Published: Thomas Nelson (2011)
ISBN: 978-1-59554-540-4(soft cover)
310p

*Book received for my unbiased review through NetGalley from Thomas Nelson Bonus

Review Feature: In the novel There You’ll Find Me, Beatrice is one of the mean girls with an eye out for Beckett Rush and this forms a kind of stumbling block for Finley. The reading group guide at the end of the book asks why would a girl be this mean. In my opinion, girls are only mean because they have severely low self esteem. Otherwise, why would they belittle  others?

What are your thoughts?

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Tracking an Author Continues: Dessen’s New Book and the Author Who Connects

Sarah Dessen Talks About Her New Book, “What Happened to Goodbye”

 

I am always fascinated with author’s stories about how they came to be these weavers of their own imaginations and how they manage to pull us into their character’s world. What is even more fascinating is how much fiction is actually nonfiction for most writers(but I doubt they’d say that).

For example, I’ve read 2 of Dessen’s books: Just Listen and The Truth About Forever, which I highly recommend you read – and it appears that some of the places in her book actually exist, further more the teens go through agaonizing reality. We’ve all been dumped, dooped, and discouraged beyond belief as a teen. Some still are in their 20s, 30s, and 40s+, yet I digress…

What happens to the author who resonates so well with reality, that people pick up his or her books? They become icons thats what. I know some authors may say, “Thats not true! I’ve never been an icon and I published  X amount of books.” My question then is: “Weren’t you published though? Don’t you have a fan base? Have you been writing ever since? Then you are doing well and people love what you do.

Don’t get me wrong. Writing has to be first and foremost a passion. Just like basketball. Or football. Or gardening. This is something you must do and it is a serious mandate TO DO before you leave this life. Yet to have a cult following and getting paid for it are added bonuses for sure.

What drew me to love Dessen’s, Stephenie Meyers’s , and Octavia Butler’s works are that they created a world in which things can/have happened and made me “feel” for the character. Amazing huh? Dessen’s books take you back to when you were a teen and you root seriously for the heroine. Stephenie Meyer wrote a coming of age book complete with “new -girl -has -to transfer- to- school -and -has -divorced -parents mode”(with some vamp action in it), and Octavia Butler, rest her soul, has written dystopian and speculative novels about every ethnicity in the world but you love or hate her characters because they seem so real.

So, back to my question: What happens when the author connects so well to the audience?

We adore them because they just seem to understand-literary- oops I mean literally