2.5 stars
This was too long and too... boring. I don`t know what i expected, but i ended up disliking Rebecca from the start... Sometimes she seemed robot-y and it felt wierd and strange to just go on the trip that she was picked out for. Idk, pass.

Finding Myself is Rebecca's story who is working in a place she didn't like. In university, she majored in anthropology and she wanted to work in a place her degree will be useful. Anything doesn't go the way she wanted or planned but has a husband she loves. We began to read her story when she applied for a scholarship for Biblical Archaeology Review and the Kiryat Adar Expedition to volunteer for a dig in southern Israel. And soon everything will change for her.

This is a well-written story about a common concern in daily life. At some point, Isn't everyone worry about if they chose the right one for their life or they would regret it? (Except some who always sure about everything ^_^.) The characters felt real and the story mostly feels right. Well, time to time one or two events felt too good to be true. Except that story felt like a real one. I enjoyed reading it and when I finished I was happy it didn't turn to be a romance story. I will recommend anyone who wants to read good fiction while thinking about their choices in life.

Thanks to #NetGalley and the BHC Press providing me a copy of #FindingMyself in exchange for an unbiased review.

This was a great read and the setting of Israel was a good choice on the author's part. I found the concept of the story to be unrealistic, but once I got past that I was able to enjoy the story.

I loved the overview of the book, that being woman who is passionate about all things in her life, especially her cause and she has no problem going all the way to achieve a adventure. It sounded interesting and it's what made me select the book.

Initially, the first third of the book was extremely interesting. But as things developed I have to admit I didn't enjoy it as much. I didn't like that section and I think that the main character made some poor decisions which made huge changes in many characters lives. Honestly, I really had high expectations for this book and the ending was kind of a disappointment to me. I felt it was rushed and ended abruptlym

The epilogue was good. I felt that a few of the characters were unnecessary and we learn more about them than we needed to do. I loved the historical information. it was wonderful. I felt that Rachel was an extremely well-developed character, with a lot of depth and she showed so much growth. I really disliked Rebecca, who I felt was impulsive and made rash decisions. I would have liked to read more about Israel, more descriptions so that I felt like I could be there. And I also felt that there were a few unnecessary characters story lines which seened to drag on, i.e. George and Avi. All in all a good solid read and I do recommend it.

I would like to thank Olga Sushinsky, BHC Press and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book and exchange for a fair and honest review

I loved the synopsis of the book about a woman being passionate for her cause and going all the way for seeking adventure. It was the reason why picked this book.
The beginning of the book was very interesting. But the turn of events which followed was not something I saw coming. I couldn't enjoy that part and couldn't agree with the MC. I think the book followed unnecessary stupid decisions which made acute changes in the character's lives. No matter what, I couldn't agree with that part. Maybe it was my high expectations of the book which lead to my utter disappointment at the end. The end I guess made somewhat sense though was extremely rushed. I liked the epilogue though. Also, I think few characters were just unnecessarily dragged.
I appreciate the author for giving a nice closure at the end.
The reason why I'm giving this book 3 stars is beacuse of the synospis and the fact that it kept me curious till the end. I generally appreciate the latter trait of the book.

Finding Myself By Olga Sushinsky Review

3 / 5 Stars

Thank you to Netgalley, BHC Press, and Olga Sushinsky for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Do we really know ourselves?

Boy, what a beautiful book! I found myself comparing my experiences to Rebecca and I walked away with the thought “what if I focused on what I was really passionate about?” “what do i need to do to truly find myself”?

These are my pros and cons for Finding Myself.

The Pros -

1 - I LOVED the use of Israel for the setting. There are so many instances in books where Western Europe or Asia is used as the setting, so to see a character set off for the Middle East, I was incredibly excited. It is incredibly refreshing to read experiences rooted in Israeli culture. The inclusion of Hebrew and Arabic concepts and cultural pieces made me excited to explore them further. I walked away from this book with the hope to visit the beauty of a country.

2 - I loved the realistic work Rebecca did. Archaeological work is a field that is not often discussed in novels because it isn’t all beauty. Compared to novels where the main character looks to find themself as an actor or starting their own business, archaeology has dirt and hard work as the core ideas before one even takes a shot at it.


The Cons -

1 - Character development fell flat for me. I expected different conclusions to Rebecca by the time the book concluded. In a way I wanted her to have the character development that Rachel had. Jason was a bore and I expected him to have more of an important and interesting arc considering how important he is to the story, I was annoyed by Erin and George mainly because they seemed like afterthoughts in story development.

2 - Word structure and choice was a little bit of an issue for me. I found the description of the book to be incredibly detailed and interesting, which made me want to request the book. In the end, I found the writing to be lackluster and the opposite. There were many opportunities to add the sparkle of sophistication seen in the description that fell flat.

My final rating was tough to decide on. While I am at a crossroads in my life and need some self-discovery, I found myself wanting to give this book as many praises as possible. I do believe this book is worth reading for anyone in my shoes. But there are some core issues that could not be ignored in my final rating. Thus, a 3 out of 5 is what I will give the book.

Thank you again to Netgalley for the ARC, I do hope others pick this book up and see its potential.

It felt like I was reading a list of things they were doing. "And then we did this and then I wore this and then I got yogurt". I had a hard time connecting to the characters. Especially Rebecca, she was just to worried about everything and everyone else's opinions. She didn't seem able to be happy about something she really wanted because she might not be able to get the time off. You hate your job, so quit!

I received this book from Netgalley for an honest review.
Hmmm....well let me just say the writing in the description of this book is a lot more sophisticated then the writing in this actual book.
I really hope someone edits this for the author before it gets published. This novel is written in real simple context. The characters do not really have any depth to them. I had to get past how plain the writing was to keep on reading, I felt like slapping my forhead a few times and saying, no one talks like that!!!
There were two things that kept me going, one the historical information was fun to read about...even tho I would say I never purposly read about the culture. The other is, while this book is very predictable I still wanted to see what happened in the end, thus I gave it 3 stars because it made me want to finish it.

If I could sum up this story in one word, it would be 'passion'.

Passion is what defines our main character, Rebecca, who used to be stuck in a 9-5 cubicle job and never felt any satisfaction from it. But after grabbing the chance to go on an expedition to Israel, she goes through a period of self-discovery and finds out what she really wants to do with her life. This journey is one that'll make her question a lot of things, meet new people, and put her married life to the test.

First of all, I love the use of Israel as the main setting. It's such a refreshing change from the typical tourist destinations that we always read about in novels. I'd love to go there myself if I have the chance (and when there's no war going on). Also, the archaeological work was relatable, being a field researcher myself back when I was still a Biology undergrad. I could totally relate to the excitement and struggles that come along with this type of field.

However, there were things in the book that I found lacking as well.

While I like the light-hearted tone that this story takes on, the characters feel slightly cartoon-ish. I'm not sure how to put it but I would have loved for the dialogues to take on a more natural flow since they sound too scholarly and less casual. The many lengthy descriptions made it hard for me to immerse myself into the story.

Another thing is the characters - they all felt the same to me, save for a few. Rebecca is likeable enough though her smug attitude can be off-putting at times. Her husband, Jason, was plain boring despite being an important character in the story. Erin was just annoying and George was more of an accessory than anything. Surprisingly enough, my favorite character was Rachel. I feel like she's the only one here who went through a significant & realistic character development. 

All in all, Finding Myself is a good tale of self-discovery. It's not perfect, but you can clearly see the passion that the author put into writing this. It was evident in every single page.

Besides, this book may even have you interested in learning Arabic or listening to Hebrew music. I just know that I am crap at learning new languages so I think I'll just stick to checking out some songs that are mentioned here.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and the publisher for sending me a free copy of this interesting new book!

#FindingMyself
#Netgalley

I'm so torn on the rating of this book. I was really intrigued by the synopsis of this story and I loved the beginning of the book. But I didn't like the route the author took with the storyline. I felt that many of the characters started making stupid decisions that had the impact to affect their lives in drastic ways - and while that's life, I suppose, I just wasn't a fan. I didn't think it really was necessary to this story.

I just want to read and reread this book again and again. It was such a deep book but written in a way you just wanted to keep reading till the end. You could see yourself in the characters and you really could feel what they are going through.