Expected Publication: September 24th, 2013
Find Me
By: Romily Bernard
HarperTeen
ISBN-13: 9780062229038
“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.
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.
Review
Wick has been in foster care now for long enough to know that the only person who can really help her, is herself. So she is farming out her hacking skills to make extra cash for when she and her sister Lily are inevitably (in her opinion) kicked out of their current placement. She's just trying to keep her head down and stay unnoticed at school and at home. So when her former friend Tessa Waye appears to have committed suicide, Wick is shocked to find her diary laying on the doorstep. Someone wants Wick to find out what really happened to Tessa - who killed her and why. It will take all of Wick's hacking skills, the help of Griff, the one boy she just might be able to let in (with secrets of his own) and her inner detective to find the truth, But when Wick's explosive Dad is released from prison and her sister Lily becomes the killer's next target, just what will Wick have to sacrifice to save Lily - and give her a life worth having?
This was definitely different from my normal reads. Normally I don't go for thriller/suspense books, but honestly most of the time this really didn't feel like it was committed to those as its primary genres. For the the vast majority of this book, I felt like the plot was fixated on the criminal, family drama of Wick and Lily's Dad, their Mom's suicide and the foster system they're being bounced around in. To me, this book was a lot more about a girl who has been bashed around by life learning to trust someone and change her life with the help of others. Not to mention the crazed, pedophiliac killer. Can't forget that of course! The relationship between Wick and her sister was one of my main problems with this book which I otherwise enjoyed. I just did not believe they were as close as they both said they were. Wick did everything for Lily, who treated her like dirt and basically turned on Wick when they got taken in by a couple that treats them like their real daughters. I wasn't feeling the sort of togetherness that Wick waxed on about so much.
Wick and Griff's relationship was also kind of a bit much for me. They didn't even ever really talk to each other and all of the sudden when he's drawn into a hacking job with Wick's Dad's "friend" they start a flirtation, which leads to Wick trusting him implicitly in regards to her entire life. This includes her half-cocked plans to draw out the killer using Facebook and tracking I.P. addresses from his online activity. I am glad, in a way, that the book was more character focused than story focused. Because if the story had been the point, this would have been just like reading some cheap paperback thriller, only even more predictable if that's at all possible. I knew pretty early in who the killer was and the "motivations" behind it. Really the mystery was non-existent and the only real suspense was how it was all going to go down when Wick faced off with the killer. I liked this book quite a bit, but it was definitely NOT the best YA thriller/mystery I've ever read - not even close to it. I would recommend this for some light fluff, maybe a good pick for reluctant readers as it did go by awfully quick. If you're in search of complexity, pass this one by cause it'll only disappoint you.
VERDICT: 3.5/5 Stars
*I received this book as part of Around the World ARC Tours, run by the lovely Princess Bookie. No favors or money were exchanged for this review. This book's expected publication is September 24th, 2013.*
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