Absolutely loved this book it was such an amazing read the main character was so real and interesting seeing all the things she had to go through was heartbreaking and I loved all the side characters especially her cousin and watch the relationships develop

This is easily my favorite book I've reviewed through NetGalley and one I have every intention of buying my own copy of!!

Someday We'll Find It tells the story of Bliss, a teenage girl living with her aunt and uncle in rural Illinois, after her mother left her behind to pursue her modeling career. Bliss has it all figured out: she's dating the popular boy, River, and she works doubly hard not to let her aunt and uncle see her as a burden. But then she meets Blake, a boy who seems to see her like no one else does, and then, her Mama returns. Bliss is swept up in all the change, and has to figure out what's best for her: the life she worked so hard to prepare for herself, and the life she's always wanted.

I will say that this story probably won't be for everyone, but the reasons many people won't enjoy this book are exactly what made me love it. Bliss's voice is so strong; she really felt like a living breathing person, and so did every person around her. But the strength of her voice made the story start a bit slow, as you get a feel for what the world looks like through Bliss's eyes. (But once I got sucked in, there was no turning back!) She talks the way I would expect a teenager from a small town who had limited education growing up to talk, so if you can't handle intentionally bad grammar, you probably shouldn't pick up this book. Personally, I thought it made her feel even more real.

I would also consider Bliss to be an unreliable narrator (which again, not for everyone, but I love.) We are seeing the world and the people in it through her lens and have to make our own judgments. The people in Bliss's life, and even Bliss herself, are deeply flawed. Even the smallest side characters were lively and flawed and entirely real. I felt every range of emotions reading this book: happy, sad, and absolutely furious. If you have to like the characters in a book to enjoy the book, this one is not for you. But if you like seeing an honest look at family, at the ways people can be terrible to one another even with the best of intentions, or if you like characters that live in gray areas, and watch them figure things out anyway? Pick this one up ASAP

I felt like I was really on this journey with Bliss, and even when she made the wrong call, I was rooting for her every step of the way. (And did I mention this is a debut??? Can't wait to see what Jennifer Wilson comes up with next.)

TW: discussions of SA, domestic violence, abandonment

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for giving me a free eARC of this book to read in exchange for my review!

DNF

I tried so hard to read the book but I just couldn't get my mind on it. The characters felt a little flat to me and not as 3D as I would have liked. I really didn't like River but Bliss was just average but I feel like the book has potential. But I will say, I really thought the book cover was gorgeous.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a free advanced copy of this book to read and review.

I really enjoyed this book. The writing was well done, I was intrigued by the plot and I liked watching Bliss grow relationships with her mother and the book's love interest, Blake. Overall, I think this is a nice debut.

I was sucked into reading this by the cover. I liked Bliss from the beginning, but hated River from the start. It's understandable why Bliss would have some self esteem issues and be looking for love in the wrong place- however, I was frustrated for much of the book because she was allowing him to treat her so badly. Her cousin, Patsy, was very unlikeable to me. I felt like her resentment was a bit overplayed. The mom was horrible. Poor Bliss is just surrounded by a lot of not very nice people- which made me glad that by the end of the book she understood it's okay to not kowtow to them.

Bliss is preparing for a normal, grueling summer in the stifling heat of Illinois, spending time with her possessive boyfriend and working odd jobs in agriculture to save up some money for her future at the opening of Someday We’ll Find It by Jennifer Wilson. She’s desperate for a life that she can call her own and a future nobody but herself is saving up for after spending the last six years living in a house that was never meant to be hers, in a room that is most definitely not hers, and with a family that can never be hers. She’s lived with her aunt, uncle, and cousin, Patsy, ever since her mom left her behind to pursue an exciting step forward in her modeling career. Although they’ve tried their best to make Bliss feel at home, her aunt and uncle are her cousin’s parents first—a truth Patsy regularly reminds her of. Bliss has tucked herself into a quiet corner of their lives, trying every day to cause as little a disturbance as possible, carrying around with her one of the few things her mother did leave behind—the burden of feeling unwanted and unwelcome.

Bliss finds a freedom and independence in her summer job, though, working for a cute boy around her age who seems to get her—her history and her future—in a way nobody has before, and she makes significant strides in stepping into her own power and defining her path forward. Until her mom's return disrupts everything. As she vies for her mother’s approval, trying to right whatever wrong caused her to get left behind in the first place and making herself indispensable so that she’ll never get left behind again, she starts to lose herself in the girl she’s always wanted to be: the girl her mom comes back for. This novel is a raw, honest portrayal of a fractured family trying to fit itself back together again, and Bliss must decide if the newfound splinters and sharp edges are a pain worth enduring after all.

The greatest strengths of this novel are its voice and writing style. Told in first person from Bliss’s perspective, it perfectly captures her as a character as well as plays a role in developing the setting and the circumstances of the novel. The use of an informal vernacular grammar indicates Bliss’s socioeconomic status, education, and regional accent. The writing is simple and straightforward, which allows it to evoke vivid sensory images and heartbreakingly vulnerable lines. The closeness provided by the point of view gives direct access to the characters and world and utilizes action and dialogue rather than heavy-handed, lofty exposition, making it an engaging and fast-paced read.

So much of the story concerns itself with the ordinary, the almost trivial and relatable, universal experiences of girlhood and of adolescence in rural America that the storyline of the mother pursuing a glitzy modeling career feels out of place. I wish she had been given a different occupation, a different aspiration, so that the book could remain rooted in a tangible reality. Bliss’s mom’s modeling career exacerbates the competitiveness that can exist between mothers and daughters, or older women and younger women, as the older women feel threatened by all that the young ones have access to that the older ones have lost, but this also could have been achieved with a more ordinary storyline. All women, not just women whose careers hinge upon their outward beauty, are defined by their physical appearances under the patriarchy, and in a novel that is so interested in exploring the unglamorous, interrogating the ways in which even ordinary women fall victim to these predatory gender norms and beauty standards would have only benefitted the story.

All in all, I enjoyed this book, but I advise you to read with caution, as it deals with heavy topics such as parental abandonment, toxic relationships, and manipulative boyfriends who disregard boundaries. Its first sentences refer to what I could only see as an instance of sexual assault that is not acknowledged as such throughout the book and which unsettled me immediately.

I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. I could not get into this book, and even when I got a physical copy of it, I could not connect with it.

Deep and at times troubling coming-of-age story of a high-schooler in middle-of-nowhere Illinois. Bliss' mom left her with her aunt years ago, and now she's back with no warning. While Bliss tries to grapple with their broken relationship, she also needs to figure out who she is as a young adult.

This book was hard to read at times - my heart broke for Bliss and all the ways people have wronged her.

Thank you to HarperTeen and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this title.

17-year-old Bliss lives with her aunt, uncle, and cousin in rural Illinois after being abandoned by her mother. Her mother chose a modeling career over Bliss. The story opens with Bliss's boyfriend being a jerk. He's verbally abusive and generally unkind to Bliss throughout the book. Bliss's mother is a narcissist, and her cousin is jealous and often mean to her. There were almost no likable characters in this book. I wanted to throw the book against the wall every time Bliss made a poor choice or didn't put her own desires before others. Unfortunately, this book is just one bad decision after another. This wasn't an enjoyable read for me.

Dnf @ 25

I'm sorry but I didn't really like this book. I couldn't relate to any of the characters and they just felt really bland. I also didn't like the love interest and the main character was... Definitely something lmao.

This book starts poorly and just doesn't improve. That first paragraph is so bad. I know we are supposed to hate River and this is the way to do it, but I don't like Bliss either. I kept putting it down telling myself I was the problem. That there was just something I was missing. Ultimately, after I put it down for the 10th time in as many days, while reading 8 other books instead of this one, I had to decide it was not for me. I know how hard it is to write a book. I am always in awe of anyone who does so. This one just didn't work for me even though I was sure it would.

Much thanks to NetGalley for an e-arc of this book.

I loved the cover first, it is so gorgeous! The story is quite fun even though there are lots of stressful happenings that made me want to scream at Bliss so she can make a nice decision for herself. Finished reading this in less than a few hours.

All in all, it is a cute coming-of-age novel and I'd rate this book 3.6 stars.

When I was halfway through this book, I thought I knew how it was going to end. With a feel-good ending where she gets the guy, makes up with her mom, gets her family back, and she lives her dreams. It.. did end that way, but with a twist. Someday We'll Find It is a story about a girl, stuck in her small Illinois town, in a fog. Plagued by thoughts like "if I had just done this...", this girl is a victim of gaslighting and twisting that only people close to her would be capable of. As someone who has experienced these things, this is written so well. Doing what other people say because not only is it easy, but it's the path of least resistance where at least they'll get to see that other person happy. Even if it doesn't make you happy. Bliss's character development through the story is a slow progress to a not perfect, not fully free person, but one that is more aware of choosing the word "no". Especially when you think, and you're supposed to want it, you can still say no.
For a debut novel, I absolutely adored it and can't wait to see what Jennifer Wilson brings to the table next. I am going to gush about this book for years to come, and I hope others will join with me. Especially as a way to describe what I had been through and felt when trying to make the important people happy.

This book is one of the best coming-of-age stories I have read. Realistic and well written it is the story of a young woman at a crossroads of her life and a summer that will change her future and lead her down previously unthought-of paths.
Biss is a young woman who has lived with her aunt and uncle and cousin for the past 6 years. Her mother rather unceremoniously left her with them in pursuit of a modeling career. Bliss hasn't seen her since. She sleeps on the rollout mattress of her cousin Patsy's bed. She works hard to help her aunt and uncle with chores and not be a bother. Her only solace is with her boyfriend River, Her future, and almost everything she does is with him. She meets another young man that becomes her boss on a summer job and unexpectantly her mother comes back into the picture. In a series of events that rock Bliss's life in the sweltering summer between her Junior and Senior year, her self=awareness awakens and she sees a different future for herself. Who and where will it be with?
I loved everything about this book. The characters are so relatable I felt like I knew them. The plot is engaging, and the sweltering summer setting in rural Illinois is so real you can feel the heat. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and hope to read more from Jennifer Wilson. Thanks to #NetGalley#SomedayWe'llFindIt for the opportunity to read and review this book.

This book was absolutely fantastic. I've already added it to our list for order this year and will recommend it to students.

**2.75 stars out of 5**
**I received an e-arc through NetGalley**

Someday We'll Find It, focuses on 17-year-old Bliss Walker during the summer before her senior year. She has been living with her extended family for the past six years when her mother dropped her off there and never came back. She begins to question her life and what she wants for herself when she meets a new boy named Blake and when her mother appears back into her life with grand plans for them both.

Unfortunately, this book wasn't for me. I found myself reading it just to finish it and I wasn't really invested in the story or any of the characters, except for Blake honestly. I thought he was a wonderful character and a fantastic contrast to Bliss's boyfriend, River, who honestly was just a terrible person. I'm glad that near the end Bliss was able to stand up for herself to multiple people and finally start making her own decisions, but for 80% of it, I just wanted to scream at her and everyone else. Her cousin Patsy was unnecessarily cruel, her mother was flighty, rude, and selfish, and her boyfriend is just an all-around terrible individual. I enjoyed the moments in the book where it was just Blake and Bliss, and I wish there had been more scenes with Aggie and Beth as well. It was just very frustrating to read a book where the main character is continuously getting berated for no good reason and to have no real resolution to that. I appreciated the ending with her boyfriend, but I thought that she deserved so much more than a tiny apology from Patsy for all of the insensitive and cruel things that were said to her seemingly just out of pure spite. Overall, it was an average book but definitely not for me.

Bliss has been living with family in the town she was born in since her mother left her there for a modeling career in the city. She dreams of the day her mother will come back for her so in the meantime she struggles through school and finds comfort in unhealthy relationships such as with her current boyfriend, River. It is summer and Bliss wants to earn money so she gets a job with her cousin "walking beans" on a farm where she gets to know the farmer's son, Blake, who happens to be her new boss. In the meantime, Bliss' mother returns with a new adventure that promises to take Bliss away from her small town life and will allow her to spend time with the mother that she longs for. Can her mother's new promise become reality and will Blake be the person who lets her find herself? A great story about relationships, small town life, and broken families. Thank you to the publisher, the author and NetGalley for an ARC of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Started reading this book after an arc from NetGalley. It was such a cute novel and I loved the story and “character growth”. The cover is gorgeous and the story was too. Very enjoyable. A nice, southern (but it was a bit confusing as to why she didn’t know so much..) and coming of age story.