Review: Until I Find You (by Rea Frey)

My Rating: 2 stars

This book annoyed me from the moment I started reading all the way to the very end. The story was far-fetched and the way much of the plot played out, I basically had to suspend disbelief the entire time.  But what annoyed me most was actually the main character Bec (short for Rebecca), who was so overwritten as a character that I ended up tremendously disliking her (even though I think the intention was, based on the way she was portrayed, the reader is supposed to sympathize with her).   Bec is diagnosed with a condition that causes her to gradually lose her eyesight, yet despite that, she is happy and intent on living a blissful life with her wonderful, supportive husband and their soon-to-be born baby.  But then Bec's husband dies in a horrible accident and instantly her world is shattered.  Unable to bear living in the same house without her husband, Bec decides to move in with her mother, who still lives in the house in Elmhurst that she grew up in.  Shortly after her son Jackson is born however, tragedy strikes again, as Bec's mother dies unexpectedly, and  with no other living relatives to speak of, Bec is left to take care of her infant son Jackson by herself.  Fortunately, Bec has a group of friends and neighbors – other moms in their small, close-knit community – who understand what she is going through and are more than willing to help her out. 

 

The problem is, Bec is fiercely stubborn (probably "obsessively stubborn" is a more accurate term) and basically refuses any type of help from anyone — in fact, she is so adverse to people even offering to help her that she often goes out of her way to demonstrate she is perfectly capable on her own, even if it involves lying about predicaments that she finds herself in.  To me though, it's not just the fact that Bec constantly and deliberately pushes away all help of any kind that annoyed me, but also the aggressively defiant way she refuses the help, almost as though she is insulted by the notion that other people are offering to help her.   It defies logic and quite frankly, I found her behavior tremendously offensive.   One example (out of many) that especially frustrated me was when she's at the park with the other moms and she passes out briefly (likely from sleep deprivation and exhaustion, which she was already complaining about early on in the story) — she then falls and hits her head and of course, her friends rush to help her, but she refuses their efforts to help her up, refuses to let them tend to her wound, refuses to let them accompany her home.  Instead, she ridiculously insists that she has no problem walking home by herself in that condition (with her baby in tow) and to prove it, she charges forward to grab the stroller and head home, except that her friends intervene and force her to let them accompany her (they actually had to get on either side of her and drag her with them!).   Another example — the stairs in her old house, which have broken steps that caused her to trip and nearly fall multiple times, yet doesn't get it fixed because she either doesn't have time (overexertion with doing everything herself) or doesn't want to ask others to help her fix it.  So instead, it's one excuse after another — she knows her way around the house well enough to avoid the broken step, and is very careful on the stairs when carrying the baby (indeed, the 2 times — maybe more, I just stopped paying attention after awhile — that she actually fell down the stairs, she wasn't holding the baby, which I guess is justification that she's in the right?  And don't get me started on the "drama for drama's sake" plot point of having Bec – and other characters -- repeatedly  trip / nearly fall / actually fall down the stairs multiple times over the course of the entire story – why not just get the darn stairs fixed!?).

I think one of the reasons why Bec's stubbornness irked me as much as it did was because of the impact of her actions and behavior on her baby, which she seemed completely oblivious to.  Decisions such as choosing to take her son with her everywhere she went Instead of hiring a nanny or babysitter or even having her friends help watch the baby for a few hours so she could run errands or whatnot, were irrational, especially when a few of those situations actually put the baby in danger (like that one scene where she had the baby in a carrier strapped to her chest and insisted on going to the park all alone late at night to poke around, even though she was given specific instructions to stay home).   This kind of nonsensical behavior from Bec basically permeates the entire story.  

I actually had a lot more issues with the story (particularly as it relates to Bec's interactions with her ex Jake and also the local police), but I can't bring those up without giving away the plot, so I won't list those at this time.  Overall though, as I mentioned earlier, the entire story felt very unrealistic to me.  I mean, I get the message the author is trying to send here — the blind young widow who rises above her circumstances in spite of tragedy, who should be admired for her strength, courage, and unfaltering devotion to her infant son — but execution-wise, it went the wrong way in my opinion.  I think most of us would agree that asking for help when it's warranted (I.e.: when one is injured, as an example), is not normally viewed as a sign of weakness, so for Bec to be portrayed to such extreme, just doesn't make much sense. 

One thing I do want to mention — this is actually the third book I've read by Rea Frey and I actually liked both of her previous novels quite a lot, so I'm a bit disappointed (and surprised) that this one fell so far off the mark for me.  With that said, it hasn't put me off from reading her works in the future, though I do hope that I will take to her next book much better.

Received paper ARC directly from publisher (St. Martin's Griffin).

Review: Because You're Mine (by Rea Frey)

My Rating:  3 stars

After having read Rea Frey’s debut novel Not Her Daughter last year – a book that I had enjoyed for its good writing, fast-moving plot, and emotionally resonant story — I was excited to get my hands on her second novel, Because You’re Mine, which comes out this month. While I did enjoy this one well enough, I prefer her previous novel way more, as there was much more depth to the story and the characters in that one, which I didn’t find with this one.  With that said, one thing I thought worked well was having each chapter alternately narrated by the three main characters of Lee, Grace, and Noah, and weaving their backstories from the past into what was happening in the present.  Even so, I couldn’t really relate to any of the characters and found it difficult to feel anything for them despite some of the things that happen — it’s hard to pinpoint exactly but I felt like something was off with some of the character portrayals that made it difficult for me to connect with them emotionally.  In terms of the story, I think this one tried a bit harder to go the thriller / suspense route than her previous book did, which worked fine overall, but at times, I felt like it tried a little too hard in that the story didn’t really flow naturally in some places  -- it was as though some “obligatory” elements were added to make things come across more suspenseful or heighten the atmosphere when technically it wasn’t necessary to do so.  Towards the middle of the story, the plot did drag a little, with some overly descriptive sections that I felt weren’t necessary either, and at one point, the story seemed to veer off course a little, leaving me wondering where things were actually headed. The ending too I mostly figured out early on, so the “twist” wasn’t much of a shock to me, though the way it took place could have been handled a little better.

All in all, I would say that this was a decent second effort by Rea Frey – definitely pales in comparison to her debut, but still quite readable.  The concept of the story was a good one, but I think if the writing was cleaned up a bit, with focus on tightening the plot (especially leaving out some of the unnecessary descriptions) and developing the characters so that they were more relatable, this would have a lot of potential -- as it is written right now though, definitely leaves a lot to be desired.  With all that said, I still look forward to reading Frey’s next work, I just hope that the experience will be more in-line with her first book rather than this one.

Received ARC from St. Martin’s Griffin via NetGalley.

Review: Not Her Daughter (by Rea Frey)

My Rating: 4.5 stars

We have always been taught that taking something which doesn't belong to us is wrong, especially so in the case of taking a child away from her family without permission – but what if the intention is to rescue the child from a physically and mentally abusive mother?  What if the new life that is given to the child is one of love and happiness, something that her real parents are incapable of ever giving her?  Does that make things right?  Or is the moral obstacle of such an action too big to overcome, regardless of how noble the intention might be?

This was another book where I was so caught up in the story that I plowed through the book and finished it in 2 days without realizing it.  On the surface, this might sound like a regular kidnapping story – a 5 year-old girl goes missing, an investigation is launched, a search for the kidnapper, exploring all possible leads, details emerge and the investigation turns to the parents at one point, with possible foul play suspected, all efforts exhausted to locate the kidnapped child, the ensuing media frenzy, etc.  A little ways in though, we start to realize that this is no ordinary kidnapping story  -- in this her debut novel, author Rea Frey takes the traditional kidnapping story and turns it completely upside down, inside out.  To me, this was not a mystery or suspense novel where we're trying to figure out who did what and why, nor was it an edge-of-your-seat thriller filled with explosive twists and turns – rather, this was an emotionally gripping story that explored many complex issues such as motherhood, parent/child relationships, child abuse and its damaging effects, love, loss, and the morality of doing the wrong thing but with the right intentions.  

Frey's writing is so good here – the plot moves forward at a fast pace with the kidnapping, the manhunt, the investigation, but yet the characters are also so well-drawn -- through the alternating narratives told from the perspectives of the mother (Amy) and the kidnapper (Sarah), we are drawn deep into their minds and given keen insight into these characters' thoughts, actions, emotions, and motivations for doing what they did.  Who should we empathize with?  Should their pasts and the decisions they ultimately make – whether right or wrong -- define them?  After reading this book, I have more questions than answers and putting myself in the main characters' shoes, it's hard for me to say what I would have done in their situations. 

As a fictional story, this worked extremely well, though I would have to agree with other reviewers who've said that at some points throughout the story, it is necessary to suspend disbelief because in real life, things just don't happen the way they do in here.  But the beauty of this story is that, despite the fact that we already know the reality will be different, Frey tells the story in a way that is convincing and believable with characters that are hard not to resonate with in some way.  I don't want to say too much, as I feel this is a story that should be experienced on your own.  I definitely enjoyed this one for the story itself, though I would also recommend checking out the discussion questions in the back, as reading through those gave me some interesting insight and food for thought that made this an even more relatable read for me.  I will definitely be looking forward to what Rea Frey comes out with next!

Received ARC from St Martin's Press via NetGalley