I loved this book. From the start I felt involved and invested in the story. I was so hoping for a happy ending for Alice - and her character also got me to thinking about how we, as a society, judge people. I hope it's made me reassess some prejudices. Who is Frank? What is his involvement to Lily's missing husband. For much of the book, I assumed Frank was the husband. And why has Lily's husband changed identity? How does this all link to Gray and Kirsty's story from twenty years earlier? So many questions, answered so skillfully by the author. I rushed towards the end, and while I had seen some of it coming, there were surprises in store. A delightful read, with sadness, suspense, and happiness too.

I Found You by Lisa Jewell is my first encounter with this author, but will not be the last.

First, let me thank NetGalley, the publisher, and of course the author, for providing me with this copy in exchange for an honest review.

The story unfolds from three angles.

Alice, known for taking in strays of all kinds, finds a man sitting on the beach in the rain. He has no memory. No idea of who he is, where he is from, or how he arrived at the beach in Ridinghouse Bay. Alice brings him home, and lets him stay in her shed out the back. He is not the first man who has lived there, although they usually pay rent. Her three children, to varying degrees, disapprove. Her three dogs love him. Her youngest daughter names him Frank. They decide not to call the police yet. As Frank and Alice grow closer, his memory starts to return.

Lily, an immigrant from Ukraine, sits in her London apartment waiting for her husband to come home. They are newlyweds. Although they've only known each other a short time, Lily knows Carl would never leave her. They are hopelessly in love. He doesn't come home. She calls the police. Now she realizes how little she knows about her husband.

Rewind to the year 1993. The Ross family rented Rabbit Cottage every year. Gray is 17 and his sister Kirsty is 15. Their parents are enchanted with the atmosphere of the cottage and the area of Ridinghouse Bay. The kids loved it when they were younger, but this year they don't really want to be there. When a young man named Mark Tate starts showing a rather obsessive interest in Kirsty, Gray is on guard. The family will never be the same.

As mentioned earlier, this is the first book I've read by Lisa Jewell. I really like her style of writing, and the suspense really built with the way the story unfolded. Her characters were really deep enough so that you felt you "knew" them. There was a bit of a twist at the end, which was really good.

Worth the read!

Lisa Jewell always writes excellent books with really unique likeable characters. The book has parallel stories, one from the past and one about a man who has lost his memory, and one about a woman who has lost her husband. The book slowly draws you in and then that's it, you are hooked! The characters and writing is amazing and I could just picture everything written. An excellent book that didn't disappoint!

I absolutely loved this book and was drawn in right from the beginning with the mystery of who is the man sat on the beach late at night who has lost his memory. He is rescued by Alice a local divorcee who takes pity on him and is intrigued by him so lets him stay in her shed. Meanwhile in London a new bride has reported her husband missing and sets out to unravel his secret life before he met her. Are they connected to a tragedy that happened on the beach 20 years ago? It is fascinating to follow the story of how these incidents are connected and the back story emerges and sets you wondering who the man with amnesia (called Frank by Alice's young daughter) is. Plenty of intrigue and the story draws you in and wont let you go until all the secrets and lies are unravelled. Brilliant.

Omg..... wow...... i am truely lost for words this book was fantastic i didnt want it to end it had me hooked from the first chapter i could not put this book down it had me up all night. This book had so many twists and turns in it bits of it were hard to read and very heartbreaking but other bits were heartwarming to read this book had me going through every emotion you can think of it was that goid i brought a paper back copy to share with my family i loved it well done.

A thoroughly enjoyable read. However, this book was unlike most of this authors and seemed to be bordering more on the mystery/thriller genre. That said, this is a fantastic book with well thought out characters and a few parallel storylines that come together nicely.

This is a great book that made me late for work, distracted so I almost missed my stop and made me read late into the night. It was the type of book that had your senses in overload, who did you trust, how was the story going to come together, was there going to be a happy ever after for anyone?
Thoroughly recommended

At the beginning of this book I thought it was simple , and after awhile it starts to build up and became more complicated .
Very interesting plot, loved how it was building up. After 20٪‏ you can't stop reading. I read Lisa books before and I loved them, she feeds you information and make you wait until the end.

Starts with Alice with her children and many dogs, she found a man on the beach, with memory loss. and the other side Lily husband is missing.

Very intriguing from the beginning. A man on the beach he lost his memory . The story is from three angles, one is today and the missing man trying to find who is he!, second is about Lily, newly married women that trying to find her husband ( he didn't come back from work), the last angle is two teenagers having there holiday with there mum and dad ( but you can see this will be connected to that missing man ).
It was easy to read story, I loved Alice,she is decent and bit hipster, but didn't like Lily she looked fake , maybe because she is young or because of Kira knightly comment . ( but I understood her).

The end was shocking and satisfying . great book

3 Stars

This is the 2nd book that I have read by Lisa Jewell and am on the fence if I will continue to read her books. While “I Found You” was entertaining enough for me to finish it, it didn’t knock my socks off. Having previously read “The Girls”, this book was a disappointing follow up. I found the pace of the book to be slow moving and predictable. Right from the get go, I could see where the story was going and there really wasn’t an element of surprise for me.

Additionally, I found this to be more of a love story between Alice & Frank and less of a psychological thriller, as it being marketed as. This is no fault of Jewell, but a misstep of the publishing house. This book is more “Women’s Fiction”, and if it had been categorized as such, I would have gone into with different expectations, and may have enjoyed it more.

I would recommend this book in the category of “beach read”. Light, easy reading with a little mystery thrown in on the side.

A little history first. I've only ever read one Lisa Jewell novel. That was Ralph's Party. I don't really have to say much more....it's took me nearly 20 years to go back. When I read the blurb for this I was drawn in so decided to give it a go. And Blimey O'Reilly I'm glad I did! This is one of those books where you think you know what's going on but you really haven't a clue.
Alice is, in her own estimation, a short step from been a guest of Jeremy Kyle. Bad decisions have blighted hers and her childrens lives but she has a heart of gold.So when she sees a man sat on the beach in pouring rain she has to check he's ok. And he's far from it. He has no clue where he is or who is. Against all good judgement she takes him in. In London Lily, a young bride who has only just moved to the UK to be with her husband worries when her husband vanishes without a trace. And then the third narrative, over twenty years earlier we hear the story of siblings Gray and Kirsty are on holiday with their parents when a handsome and charming older boy begins to take notice of Kirsty. He seems too good to be true and Gray doesn't trust him....
This novel flows seamlessly from narrative to narrative, always leaving you on a cliffhanger. You find yourself getting to the end of a chapter and been exasperated at it ending where it has, but then be pulled straight into the next installment. The characters are believable, and Alice, for all her foibles is particularly likeable. This is a fast paced and extremely enjoyable story with exactly zero dull moments.

Thank you Netgalley for this review copy.

I loved this book! The characters are wholesome and definitely relatable. From the 1st chapter you're sucked in by this mysterious man and i couldn't finish this book any faster.. Page after page, I was following Frank trying to put together who he was. Was blown away by the revelation. Without saying too much, I didn't expect Frank to be who he turned out to be. Mark....oh Mark. Mark was a little twit from the beginning and I just wanted to flick him off the pages. I felt entirely sorry for Lily...being dragged into a world she knew nothing about. You could almost feel her desperation in these pages Overall, this was a great book. Well told, wholesome, full of twists and surprises. Would definitely recommend...and read again!

Plot twists galore! I loved this book. The characters, I was never sure what to expect and found my feelings about the characters chopped and changed throughout the book. I really enjoyed the plot twists and found it difficult to put this book down. I never predicted the ending, I hope this book is turned into a movie! Very 'Girl on a Train' like!

Alice finds him sitting on her beach. It's rain, he has no jacket, and doesn't know his name, how he got there, where he came from. Alice takes in strays ..usually dogs, but this time she's going against her gut feeling and inviting him to stay with her and her children.

Many miles away, Lily is feeling abandoned. She's been married for 2 weeks and her new husband has been missing for several days. He doesn't answer his phone, he's not shown up at work. And when she finally goes to the police, she finds that her husband doesn't even exist.

Twenty-three years ago, siblings Gray and Kirsty are teenagers spending the summer on holiday with their parents. Another visiting teen has his eye on Kirsty. Gray is getting really bad feelings about this new guy, and he fears for her safety.

Alternating chapters are in the voices of Alice, Lily, and Gray. I thought I had it all figured out...but surprise! I didn't. It became something more ..more sinister...more dangerous...filled with dark secrets that have been hiding for decades.

This is a well-written psychological with solidly built characters. I have read several of this author's books and she has never disappointed.

Many thanks to the author / Arrow Books / Netgalley for the digital copy of I FOUND YOU. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

Finding this one a toughie for getting my thoughts together on it. I enjoyed it, it was different. I had no idea what so ever how it was going to turn out.
​Very well put together, with some really likeable characters, I really liked Alice, she seemed a real carefree spirit. But with a heart of gold.

​East Yorkshire.

​Single Mum, Alice notices a man sat on the beach outside her home, he's been sat there a long time. she eventually takes him out a jacket to keep him warm and her softer side invites him to stay at her home. He's not staying in her house but in a summer house type building she has in her garden, that she occasionally rents out to earn a little extra money.
​The man, who her daughter names Frank, has lost his memory, doesn't know who or where he is. This part of the story fascinated me, you just can't imagine not knowing who you are or where you are from, or that you need to slice a bagel in half to toast it.
​But I can't imagine letting a strange man who doesn't even have a name into my home, into my families lives.


Surrey

​Lily Monrose a 21 year old, left stranded in a new country where she doesn't know anyone. Newly wed, 3 weeks previously and it's turning out now that she also doesn't know her husband. When he failed to come home from work one night she goes to the police, and tell her that her husband never existed. So who was she married to, and most of all, where the hell is he?

​I found myself happily plodding along with the story, and the further in it got, the more I wanted to know about these characters, who is the stranger and what has happened to Lily's husband. I kept trying to link things together myself, but I didn't do a very good job of it.
​It's an interesting, yet different read. Lisa Jewell is a new author for me, but I think it's safe to say I wouldn't hesitate to read more from her.

I Found You started out really well. The writing was very engaging.

I found myself enjoying the chapters about Alice more because she seemed more real, even though she was obviously a bit off in the head:
And even if (...) he's killed someone, he'd have a good reason for it; she knows he would.
Often saying she knew she was didn't exactly help, it was just stating the obvious.
It was that realising things well before the character did that threw me off a bit. I mean, it took her forever to really grasp that she was putting her children's life in danger by bringing in a complete stranger.

There were things that didn't add up like how on earth she could support herself and three children and an unexpected guest just by selling her art occasionally.
Still, I enjoyed several aspects of this character, particularly her parents and everything she needed to deal with. It was refreshing to read about 40 year-old characters, their daily lives and concerns.

Lily on the other hand, I struggled to relate to. I just don't get why a 21-year-old would move to another country, without money, without family, not even knowing her fiancé's family or really much about him - or anyone else in that country, for that matter. It just didn't seem realistic, fully relying on a single person to survive. And not having any money because Carl payed for everything? Nah, just doesn't seem feasible. And, again, it took her forever to realise what I had grasped within a few lines.

I did appreciate viewing things at a foreigner's point of view, since I am not native to the English culture and do find myself wondering about stuff that is so familiar to them.

After that, we get introduced to more characters - brother Gray, sister Kirstie and mysterious Mark - and things get even more interesting. The way the chapters ended made me want to know what came next and I looked forward to finding out how all three storylines would progress.

The way that we are told (view spoiler) is very well achieved, with innocuous clues here and there. And even the whole memory loss thing, which is so popular in psychological thrillers these days, was quite convincing.

I did anticipate most of the revelations but as the book's end approached I was surprised on a couple of occasions and appreciate how it wrapped up to the book's title in the final lines - these days, often times I find myself wondering how a book's title was picked. Most of them are just so generic. No wonder I can't remember most titles when thinking of a particular character or storyline. I think this one, simple as it is, will stick with me.

All in all, I Found You was quite enjoyable. Not the most amazing thriller I have read but very enjoyable and I wanted to know what happened to all characters. Recommended.

Disclaimer: I would like to thank the publisher and Netgalley for providing me a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Alice is a single mum of three living in a cottage by the sea in East Yorkshire. On a rainy day, she spots a man sitting by himself on the beach. Seeing he has been there much longer than advisable taken the current climatic conditions, she invites him in.

Turns out the man has lost his memory and has absolutely no idea of whom he is, let alone of what led him to be there.

Meanwhile, Lily is at home fretting about her husband not having arrived home. This is completely out of character for Carl. They are newly weds, head over heels in love with each other. So much so that Lily gave up on her life in the Ukraine to be able to live with her beloved in the UK. Mind you, this had only happened 10 days previously.

At some point in the past, a family is holidaying on the coast. Kirsty, at only 15, attracts the attention of a young man, aged 19. This does not go down well with her brother, Gray, who is very suspicious of the other man's intentions.

How do these threads interweave? Seamlessly.

I Found You is one of those books that are difficult to put down. It is a character-driven novel that does not lack in plot with a very satisfying ending [(really, the kind of ending that makes you feel warm inside) (hide spoiler)]. Recommended!

(Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the review copy!)

I liked this book but not as much as her other books

I was given an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest and independent review.
Three seemingly separate storylines set in 2 different time periods are cleverly woven together and unravel into a gripping tale. Crisply defined characters are the strength of this book which flowed well and kept me intrigued.
An interesting read. 3.5***

This is the second Lisa Jewell book I've read, and I much preferred this one to the Third Wife (which I liked, but not this much). I've noticed that the author has a real gift for putting well-drawn ordinary people into extraordinary circumstances.

There are three different plotlines in this book. We have the story of single mom Alice Lake, who finds a man with amnesia on the beach by her home. Then there's Lily, who's on the search for her missing husband. And then we go back in time to the brother and sister Gray and Kristy, who meet a man on the beach that immediately sets off warning bells for Gray.

These three stories are naturally connected, but I was so pleased to find myself reading late into the night because I had to learn the outcome. These characters felt so fully realized, even the secondary characters like Alice's three kids had personalities that came through. The ending felt complete and yet I still wanted more.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy!

I really enjoyed this. It is fairly unrealistic, but many books are. If you'll just suspend your disbelief a little bit, I think you'll enjoy the ride. This story is chock full of crazy characters you'll both love and occasionally be annoyed or confused by... such is life. They were all very unique and memorable. I'm always so pleased to read a book with a large cast of characters where I'm not forced to look back to remind myself who someone is. Lisa Jewell does a great job of making them all very different but equally intriguing.

Single mom Alice lives in a small seaside town with her three children and rambunctious dogs. Today, her life may change... but how? She watches a man sitting on the beach from her window for some time. He just sits doing nothing, and doesn't even move when it begins to rain. Her big heart takes her out to him... she just wants to know why he's there and if she can help. Unfortunately, he doesn't know why... and doesn't even know his own name. Inviting a stranger with no memory in her home seems crazy, but that's exactly what she does.

Lily, a young woman from Kiev, is high on life and love after ten days of wedded bliss. Her life is seemingly perfect until her new (and nearly twice her age) husband doesn't return to the flat they share in London. Though they haven't known each other long, he's always been reliable... returning at the same time each day with a little token of his affection. Where could he be?

Years earlier, teenagers Gray and Kristy are vacationing by the sea with their parents. As they've gotten older, some of the excitement about their annual trip has waned... same old. Until a rather posh young man takes an interest in the younger Kristy. She is flattered to get attention from such a handsome young man, and her parents are relaxed about it, but Gray is very wary. Something just isn't right.

Secrets, lies, suspense, and romance. I finished it in a day and didn't want to put it down.

I received an ARC of this book from Net Galley and Random House UK, thank you! My review is honest and unbiased.