Another great read by this author, I was totally gripped, I went back and forth so may times with who the found man was and his link to the past. Although I didn't find the ending twisty it was satisfying.

Lisa Jewell is the perfect thriller writer from plot lines to characters absolutely perfect and this one does not disappoint

As a fan of Lisa Jewell, I was excited to see this here.

Unfortunately I found the story average. It was a fun read that held my attention but I didn’t really feel connected to the characters.

This isn’t a story I’d remember - though it was fun to read.

I find with Lisa Jewell books I either love them or I feel indifferent, there never seems to be an in-between...until now! Alice is our first introduction and she sees a man sitting on a beach. What starts as a mere conversation to check on his wellbeing turns into a mission to help this man who has lost his memory! I liked Alice but found the whole storyline a little incredulous and that sort of put the mockers on it for me.


Aside from not liking the idea behind the story, the writing itself and the characters I had no problem with. As time passes Alice and her new found friend 'Frank' start to try and uncover his past and this seems to happen in stages. In another are entirely waits Lily a newly married woman whose husband failed to come home.


Now it didn't take a genius to figure out which element of the story fitted in where however the reasoning behind it was not something I was prepared for. I would say this book is a little out of the ordinary and certainly not a bad book, just one that I didn't entirely gel with.

Single parenthood navigation through life by a single mom of British descent, alongside teenagers who slowly come to unravel the mystery outside their home leading to the stranger who looks onto the sea slowly regaining his memory, while another woman impatiently awaits her spouse while emotions, unfamiliar environments between them all challenge their ability to questions their history all along and what they believe to be true

Set between East East Yorkshire and London, I Found You had me hooked from the title and book blurb.

Immediately, I knew this would be a "what would you do if you were in this situation?" type of book.

There are two main characters. Alice Lake, a single mum who debates whether to take in a man she finds on the beach. I was thinking "don't" as she weighed up the pros and cons of taking him in. I also wanted to find out what would happen when she did. My heart was in my mouth. Let the suspense begin.......

London: Newly married Lily Monrose is worried when her husband does not come home. She does not know anyone in the area or the country....Is this really happening and is her husband real?

The investigation was gripping and I was left like I did not know what to believe, either.

Before all this, teenagers are on holiday to the seaside town they know well. But who is that man focusing his attention on Kirsty? Why?

Secrets, lies suspense. An excellent novel by Lisa Jewell. I felt the characters were well fleshed out and I wanted to know what was going to happen to them.

Thanks to Lisa Jewell and Random House UK, Cornerstone for my ARC in exchange for an honest and voluntary review.

4 stars.

This was an easy book to get into even though there’s a lot going on. Alice, a single mom with a small house on the beach sees a man sitting all day on the beach and decides to help him after it begins to pour and he does not appear to be leaving his spot anytime soon. Then there’s Lily, newly married to the love of her life, she believes something horrible has happened when he fails to come home after work. Then there is the flashbacks of course that introduces more characters. I enjoyed learning about all of the characters and waiting for the end to find out “the whole story”.

intriguing story but too much convenience.

I picked this up because I've seen Lisa Jewell's name on mystery thrillers a lot (why haven't I read her books before?). So why not try this when I got a chance, yeah? Also, that synopsis: 2 people, 1 huge mystery, w h a t is their connection to each other?

I Found You follows: (1) Alice, a single mom with a messy life, finds a man who's n a fugue state outside of her place. She thinks: why not let him in? Help him, maybe? Let him stay with me for a day or so? What's the harm? WHAT'S THE HARM? He's just a stranger who's mentally unstable at the moment; (2) Lily, a 22-year old Ukrainian who took a risk and got married and moved in with her husband who went missing three weeks after only to find out later that such a man doesn't exist. She thinks: who is my husband? Was marrying him after only knowing him for a month or so without even meeting his family the right move? But he loves me so much... I'm sure of it... but now that I've think about it, why do I not know anything about him?; (3) Gray whose family is staying in an inn for a vacation who then met a young man, a very nice and somewhat mysterious young man.

The mystery. This really kept me intrigued which is a good thing. I was curious of the connections of these people. However, halfway through (or probably not even) I understood the connection. But that didn't exactly spoil things for me. I'm used to solving mysteries and finding connections among deranged / unreliable characters.

I kind of like the development of Alice's relationship with "Frank", the man she found outside her place. But then again, her decision to let him stay bothered me because SERIOUSLY? What if he's a serial killer? What if he's faking it? The people around her kept giving her the seriously!? talk but she's basically like, he looks nice, I bet he's nice (lol). She's really written as a thriller protagonist (you know those in movies where they just make the most irrational decisions just to go with the flow of the story and satisfy their curiosity. idk).

Similar to Alice's relationship with Frank, Russ, an ex-coworker of Lily's husband, and the constant help he's giving Lily really felt like a massive convenience. And do you know what I don't like about the main character's decisions? Convenience. I hate conveniences that would put the story to where the author just wants the to go. Story conveniences are basically points that makes certain parts feel forced. And, no, we don't like that.

OVERALL, I Found You isn't very high on my recommendations. While the mystery was intriguing and the ending was well done although I did guess the character identities correctly. I just did not like the conveniences and the irrational trust of Alice.

I found You is another brilliant thriller/mystery book by the talented author Lisa Jewell. This book kept me gripped to the very last page.

Lisa Jewell never disappoints. She is especially masterful at stories that have two or more narrative threads, with different times, places and voices, and unifying them seamlessly by the end. And as she does that, she reveals just a little bit more, not just about the core mystery, but about the characters themselves. They change before your very eyes, and every new detail is essential. Having read more than a few of her books now, I've come to expect intricately plotted mysteries, solid and engrossing backstories and layered and interesting characters. I'll automatically read whatever she releases from now on.

This is a 4.5, and would have been a five-star read but for the plot exposition near the end. There was a section where it felt like she didn't trust either herself to have adequately tied all the loose threads together, or didn't trust the reader to get it. So, that resulted in one of those, 'here's what happened' soliloquies. I understand the fear that it may have been too complicated, but it really wasn't ... I think the pulling together of threads was incredibly well done, and the only minor flaw was what felt like an author's insecurity in her own skill. That insecurity (if that's what happened) is unwarranted.

Recommended.

Unfortunately, the copy I received had so many grammatical errors, formatting issues and typos that I had to actually borrow the published version from my library. Once I received the published version, I was able to comprehend what I was reading.

So this was my first Lisa Jewell book. And she definitely knows how to suck you into her stories with all the mystery and a plash of suspense. However, I thought the ending fell a bit flat. I guess I was expecting to be blown away by some big reveal or something but it just kind of unraveled pretty matter-of-factually. It was enjoyable and progressed quite nicely, but I wasn't really wowed when it all came together at the end.

STOP USING CHILDREN WHO WERE ADOPTED/IN FOSTER CARE AS A PLOT DEVICE FOR WHY YOUR BAD CHARACTERS ARE BAD. IT'S A HARMFUL NARRATIVE FOR ACTUAL CHILDREN AWAITING ADOPTION. THANKS, BYE.

RATING: 2.5 STARS
2017; Atria/Random House UK, Cornerstone/Arrow

Last year I read Jewell's Then She Was Gone and really enjoyed it. Then She Was Gone Review Then last month I read Jewell's newest book, Watching You and I thought it was just okay in comparison. When it was my turn to pick a book for book club, I decided to nominate I Found You. After hearing me rave about I Found You, and reading the synopsis, we all decided to go with this book (for April 2019).

After I finished reading it (in two sittings) I wasn't...impressed (for a lack of a better word). I couldn't figure out what was wrong with it exactly. I just felt a bit cheated. As we discussed the book at the meeting (3 out of 4 of us finished it...we have a fifth member who is a mom- enough said) I came to realize what was niggling at me. Jewell writes formula books! Writing books within a formula isn't a bad thing as long as you know that going in. I read romances for that predictability and formula of a happily ever after. I read mysteries to figure out...a mystery. Or if you know who did, you get to figure out how and why. Often it is easy to figure out the murderer but there should at least be something that keeps you intrigued.

All three books that I have read of Jewells take place now and the past. The past story is weaved into the contemporary, but written as if it has no connection to one another. The story takes a while to build up and then ramps up, and then crashes into an ending. The ending not only seems quick but not always realistic. It is like it just occurred to the author that there needs to be an ending, and everything needs to be wrapped up. The novel is predictable and if you read mysteries you will guess most things within 25% if not sooner. Yet, Jewell did keep my interest in reading to the end by holding back at least one thing. Like Dan Brown, I think at times Jewell doesn't give her readers enough credit. If the book was labeled less as suspense and mystery and just fiction, I think it would bring some expectations down. I would suggest to anyone interested in Jewell, please do read her, but note this may make it easier to figure out any future books.

I respect writers immensely as not everyone can tell a good story and keep a reader going. I also am not a highbrow reader that looks to find great literature. Attend one book club meeting and you will see how one book evokes so many different opinions. Even when you like/dislike a book, it can be for so many reasons. My reviews are my opinions and due to my tastes. When I am rating a book I really think about it. I rarely give 5 stars, as 5 stars to mean a book I own, would reread more than once, it means something to me, well written, and I would recommend to other readers (not all readers but readers who would like this genre). I rated this 2.5 stars, as I finished the book, it was well written and had an interesting plot, but I had a few issues with it and would not reread again. While I won't read any further books by Jewell, I would definitely try another book if a friend recommended it.

***I received an eARC from NETGALLEY***

My Novelesque Blog

A gripping read. Full of suspense and mystery, though I easily guessed who's the mysterious man without any memories. And though you have to suspend disbelief, I enjoyed the flow of the story. The multiple POVs aren't confusing, if anything, I appreciate each and every characters despite most of them being unlikeable. But also you can't help but sympathize with their plight. I was gripped from the first page up to the last.

Omg! This book! I adore Lisa Jewell and would literally read her shopping list! I love her turn towards the dark side and I devoured this book!!

Lisa Jewell's most recent book Then She Was Gone was first published in July 2017 but I'm taking a look at the book released before that in 2016. I Found You is an impressive page turner that brings together well-written characters and an intriguingly interwoven plot.

One day on the Yorkshire Coast, single working mother Alice Lake looks out her window to see a fortysomething man sitting soaked to the skin on the beach. When he is still there hours later, she invites him into her home and discovers that he is suffering from severe amnesia. He doesn't know how he came to be on the beach, where he lives, or even his own name, though the children nickname him 'Frank'. Alice soon discovers the implications of inviting a stranger into her hectic life with her children and makes it her mission to help him regain his memory. But, as his memories start to return, she wonders if he is as gentle and innocent as he seems.

Meanwhile, Lily Monrose's husband Carl doesn't come home from work one day. Lily has only been living in the UK for a few weeks and Carl's daily routine is usually very predictable: he gets the same train home from work every day and arrives home at the exact same time each evening. When he suddenly disappears, she fears the worst. He seems like the perfect man but she soon starts to question everything that he has told her. When she reports him as a missing person and starts looking into his past, she uncovers secrets that he undoubtedly wanted to remain hidden.

In the Summer of 1993, Graham 'Gray' Ross and his younger sister Kirsty are on holidays in Ridinghouse Bay with their parents. When a stranger, nineteen-year-old Mark, takes a liking to fifteen-year-old Kirsty, Gray becomes suspicious of him. There's something about him that Gray doesn't like but he can't quite figure out what it is. The Ross family soon become embroiled in an encounter that will change their family, and their lives, forever.

Jewell's novel expertly weaves these three very distinct narratives together and they culminate in a very unexpected and refreshing way. And although the plot is complicated, the book is never itself overly convoluted. I don't want to give away any twists because that is one of the joys of reading the book but the book is perfectly paced and the tension is always handled in a sophisticated way. From some of the blurbs and descriptions written about the book, you'd be forgiven for thinking I Found You is a romance. And whilst there are romantic elements in it, it's much darker and a lot more sinister than that. I Found You is a magnificently written and constructed mystery that is reminiscent of the best Hitchcocks or, more recently, a Gillian Flynn or Paula Hawkins novel.

Another joy of reading the book is Jewell's characters. The book is focalised through numerous people, including Alice, Frank, Lily, Gray, and Kirsty in both the present and in the past and it only becomes clear at the end how they are all connected. The characters are well-developed and all are inherently flawed but are also very likeable, which brings a complexity and authenticity to Jewell's writing. Of all the characters, Alice Lake is perhaps the most intriguing. She's a middle-aged single mother who runs a B&B by the beach. Although she's surrounded by her children and friends and leads a very busy life, she is shown to be an inherently lonely character. When Frank enters her life, we discover just how lonely she is and how much she craves his attention. Similarly, as a result of his amnesia, Frank is also desperate for some care and affection, which Alice is only too happy to give. Their relationship throughout the book shows us how lonely any of us can become in modern life but also how toxic relationships from our past can continue to affect us into the future.

Similarly, Lily moved to the UK from the Ukraine to be with a man she barely knew. And, although her mother begs her to return home because she doesn't know anyone else in the UK, she is determined to find out what happened to the man she married. No matter how dangerous he may be. When we first meet Lily, we is a romantic at heart and considers the UK to be a place where all her dreams will come true. What she finds along the way allows her to look at her surroundings and the people around her in a more realistic and rational way.

Ultimately, the three narratives demonstrate how our past lives, encounters, and relationships can come back to haunt us and how small decisions, which we often don't consider to be that important, can change our lives. I haven't read Then She Was Gone yet but I look forward to it as Lisa Jewell has quickly become one of the most compelling authors writing today.

EXCERPT: He is still there. The man on the beach.

He’s been there all day, since she opened her curtains at seven o’clock this morning: sitting on the damp sand, his arms around his knees, staring and staring out to sea. She’s kept an eye on him, concerned that he might be about to top himself. That had happened once before. A young man, deathly pale in the blue-white moonlight, had left his coat on the beach and just disappeared. Alice is still haunted by the thought of him, three years later.

But this man doesn’t move. He just sits and stares. The air today is cold and blowing in hard, bringing with it a veil of icy droplets from the surface of the sea. But the man is wearing only a shirt and jeans. No jacket. No bag. No hat or scarf. There’s something worrying about him: not quite scruffy enough to be a drifter; not quite strange enough to be a mental health patient from the day-care centre in town. He looks too fit to be a junkie and he hasn’t touched a drop of alcohol. He just looks… Alice searches her mind for the right word and then it comes to her. He looks lost.

ABOUT THIS BOOK: 'How long have you been sitting out here?'
'I got here yesterday.'
'Where did you come from?'
'I have no idea.'

East Yorkshire: Single mum Alice Lake finds a man on the beach outside her house. He has no name, no jacket, no idea what he is doing there. Against her better judgement she invites him in to her home.

Surrey: Twenty-one-year-old Lily Monrose has only been married for three weeks. When her new husband fails to come home from work one night she is left stranded in a new country where she knows no one. Then the police tell her that her husband never existed.

Two women, twenty years of secrets and a man who can't remember lie at the heart of Lisa Jewell's brilliant new novel.

MY THOUGHTS: I honestly thought that, this time, I knew where Lisa Jewell was taking me. Was sure. Dancing around the living room chanting 'gotcha' sure. I was wrong. Again. Lisa, you are welcome to dance around your living room chanting 'gotcha', because you did. Again.

I think I am becoming addicted to this author who never fails to enchant, delight and surprise me. I love her characters, 'crap mum' Alice who has the biggest heart, 'Frank' whom she rescues from the beach while wondering if she is inviting a murderer into her home, and Lily who shows amazing grit and determination when the chips are down. Amazing people. Ordinary people. People I would like to have for friends. These are the characters who people Lisa Jewell's books. Characters who, when you close the cover after the last page, keep a little bit of your heart.

Jewell immerses these 'real' people into situations that are part romance, part suspense and a whole lot of mystery and creates a very plausible, emotionally gripping page turner that, while leaving me totally satisfied, also leaves me wanting more of her wonderful stories.

4.5 brilliant stars

Thank you to Random House UK, Cornerstone Arrow for providing a digital ARC of I Found You by Lisa Jewell for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

Please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the 'about' page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com for an explanation of my rating system.

This review and others are also published on my blog sandysbookaday.wordpress.com https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...

Wasn't really sure what to make of this book to start of with, thought it was a Chick-Lit and I had made a huge mistake, turns out it wasn't and I hadn't. A fantastic twisty-turny mystery set today and 20-odd years ago that really kept me wondering right up to the revealing conclusion. A very easy read too.

great psychological thriller with lots of twists and turns to keep you guessing

Unfortunately I didn't care for this book. I got bored and then skimmed for a while and finally just gave up. I doubt that I will try anything else by this author since I didn't enjoy the writing style. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.