I’m not sure how I feel about this one still. I liked it while I was reading it but I found it very forgettable. I did really like the characters and the story line.

I saw this title on my shelf but it’s not on my device and now it’s archived and I can no longer download it. So I cannot give it a proper review.

This book was not for me, so you might want to go check out other reviews. I just could not get invested in Chase. I was a little worried about Lia, so I kept reading. It was hard to believe such a gifted student was so easily turn to drugs and toxic relationships.

I am sure there are a lot of students who can relate to these characters, but for me it was too dark and took some of things too far.

I loved this book when i read it but as time went on i realized it wasn’t as memorable as The Best Lies.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book, as this book has already been published, I will not share my review on Netgalley at this time.

This novel deals with a lot of tough and relevant topics for teens (suicide, school pressure, parent pressure, anxiety, depression), it hits everything, but not in a new or really compelling way. I did not like the way part 1 ended with a jarring reveal that you couldn't have anticipated and then part 2 took a while to unravel it.

First up thank you for the opportunity to read this book, it was one of the books I really wanted to read this year. But until now sadly wasn't in the mood for it. Yesterday I was. But then I got confused by the names (Chase and Hunter for girls?) decided to check for reviews and I am glad I did that, because apparently this one is less a thriller and more about drug addiction/mental health and apparently people warn for suicide and suicide ideation. Given my mental health I am very glad that there are reviewers who let me know about that, because I really have a hard time reading books with that due to personal reasons. Some days are better than others, but for now not a good idea, so I am DNF-ing.

Absolutely loved this one - it was darker than I expected but I really liked it. I loved an unreliable narrator, loved the romance, loved the mystery of it.

The book is a YA mystery and it starts with that note but it deals with more serious issues like mental health, drug addiction etc. It also showcases sapphic representation. The book shows how good grades and pressure of over-achieving can affect kids and teens adversely and how that can lead to mental health problems and serious drug addiction.
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The narration and the storyline is amazingly written. The story is fast paced and it also has mysterious moments.
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The characters are beautifully written. You will sympathize with Chase in some moments.
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Overall it's a mysterious yet heart-breaking read.

he story follows a teenage girl, Chase, who feels overwhelming pressure to constantly be performing at 100%. She is already juggling sports, college applications, and student government when she suddenly learns that her ex-best friend (and ex-girlfriend) has gone missing. Trying to solve the mystery of what happened the weeks before her ex’s disappearance throws Chase into a whirlwind of hidden secrets and dramatic realizations.

The pacing of this book was pretty slow for me in the beginning, which resulted in me feeling kind of bored for around half of the book. Things picked up at the halfway point though, and it was a wild ride from then on. I’m not yet sure how I feel about the depictions of mental health in this book, but I do think the explorations of the different ways that overwhelming pressure, depression, and grief can affect a person’s life is important, particularly for teenagers who are experiencing these things on a daily basis. There are important lessons in here about self-care, self-worth, and active communication that I think all of us can learn from.

A lot of characters in this book are guilty of not taking the time to understand each other, often only taking away from conversations what they wanted to hear rather than what was actually said. Relationships are formed, broken, repaired, and lost throughout these pages, but there is a good amount of growth being accomplished as well.

there’s amazing characters that will make you extremely devastated as well as amazing writing and plot twists.

in this novel we see multiple characters who are just so tired and dealing with all sorts and pressure and the effects of this. the general plot is also just amazing which is hard to really talk about without spoilers but trust ✊ overall this was just a book I flew through and that was just an enjoyable time despite how dark it can be.

My Rating: 3/5 Stars

Additional Trigger Warnings: suicidal thoughts, suicide, addiction, death of a loved one, grief

My Review:

I received a digital ARC of this book from the publisher via TBR and Beyond Tours in exchange for an honest review and place on this blog tour – thanks!

This book was absolutely nothing like I was lead to believe it was from the synopsis, and I am still grappling with how I feel about if after finishing it. I Will Find You Again is a mystery, but certainly not in the way it is advertised to be. I do not want to spoil the story for any potential readers, but I have included my own, more extensive, list of triggers that this book contains as I feel like the provided ones do not do the book justice. It is not enough to put in a “popular” book about suicide as a comp, I think reader’s need a proper warning of the book’s content before they decide to pick it up. And that is my brief rant to that.

I did enjoy parts of the book, especially Lyu’s writing. It was easy to follow and quick to read. The pacing of the book made more sense as it went along and the story continued to unfold. There was a lot of chapters but they were usually short, which is one of my favourite additions to a book. It kept the story moving forward, even when it seemed to be stalling.

Chase’s story is a very complicated one. She is not a reliable narrator, her mind is muddled by the drugs she is taking and all of the pressures she feels against her throughout the story. I am still debating whether or not she was a likeable main character, as I spent a lot of the book wanting to shake her, but I also felt sad when she was.

One of the main points of the story, at least I felt, was the pressure put on high school juniors and seniors as it relates to college. It is not as big of a pressure here, at least in my experience at a Canadian high school, but from what I understand it seems to be quite a big deal in American high schools. Test, after test, the pressure to get perfect grades and get into the perfect school, its definitely this book’s central conflict and I appreciated the way it was done.

This is a very complicated book and I honestly think its up to the individual reader to interpret it the way they see fit. It was a very hard read for me, but I still found myself unable to put it down once I got into the last bit of it. Lyu has a very unique writing style and it is one that I would certainly be interested in picking up again.

I Will Find You Again released March 14th, 2023

Thank You NetGalley and Simon and Schuster children's publishing for this ARC. Sarah Lyus writing is captivating and pulls you in from the first sentence. The mystery of Lias disappearance is intriguing and you are pulled along and happy to go for the ride. We get deep inside Chase's head. She is a complicated character with a strong voice which I enjoyed. The book also has important things to say about addiction, and depression and the ways in which grief changes the contours of your world. All of this makes this a good read. Then we get the twist of all twists and the story spins out onto its head taking the reader along. Nothing is as it seems. The people you've spent the first half of the book getting to know? Yeah. You don't know them. That twist takes this from a good read to a great read. Go in blind and make sure your schedule is free or your family doesn't mind going hungry.

Chase and Lia used to be best friends before they became an item and then, things exploded in their faces. Neither of them is doing too well even before things get worse and Lia goes missing. Chase can't help but blame herself and really wants to figure out what happened...

This was... unsettling... I don't know how else to put it.
The main character was so layered and captivating and I enjoyed getting to know her as much as I didn't like being in her head...
I didn't see a lot of the twists coming and the book really took me aback time after time but I still couldn't tell you how I truly feel about this book. It definitely wasn't bad but it didn't make me feel as much as I thought it would and some of the twists while surprising felt somehow improbable? I can't explain properly. What I can tell you is that I am intrigued by this author and am planning on reading The Best Lies and whatever else she might write in the future... And I would recommend that you read this book for yourself and tell me your thoughts. I did have a concussion while listening to most of it soooo.

I don’t really know what my expectations were for this book but this book just blew all of them. This book took me by surprise due to how much I enjoyed it and how invested I was in it and how much I just wanted to keep reading it because I was super into it and I just had to see what would happen next. This book made me feel so many emotions while I was reading it, which is always a very good thing in my book.

I loved how this book was done. It had a super lovely vibe and it made for a very fun reading experience. And I really enjoyed reading along the mystery parts, I thought that they were super exciting and engaging.

This was a wonderful book and I had a very good time reading this book.

Chase, 17, is an overachieving senior in Meadowlark who struggles with depression to the point that she’s suppressing memories. She misses her ex-best friend and girlfriend, Lia, and she’s confused about why they’re not together or talking anymore. Little by little, as she’s looking to understand, she discovers that she’s been through trauma. Chase also learns that she does need to rely on others and she needs their help and support. The truth will help her heal or completely break her. This story is a mystery tied into the trauma and overwhelming stress of two high school students, 4 stars!

Likes/dislikes: The unraveling of the mystery surrounding Chase and Lia is very interesting. The author includes a resource list for anyone needing help or knowing someone who needs help for suicide or mental health struggles. I appreciate Chase’s honesty and the sisterly bond she has with her younger sister.

Mature Content: PG-13 for underage prescription drug addiction (Focentra/Adderall), thoughts of suicide, lingering kiss, suicide by drowning.
Language: R for 43 swears and 84 f-bombs.
Violence: PG for suicide by drowning.
Ethnicity: The ethnicity is mixed with Korean, Italian American, White, Japanese, Vietnamese, Chinese, Taiwanese, Dutch and French.

I want to start off by saying that this book deals with many difficult topics so be sure to check out the content warnings to see if this book is right for you. I Will Find You Again explores a lot of hard hitting concepts including grief, depression, and suicide. Sarah approaches each of these subjects with care and sensitivity. I think that those who love emotional stories will enjoy this book, however the topics it featured became too much for me at times. I enjoyed the writing style and thought it kept the story moving and allowed me to connect more with our main character Chase. The past perspectives were also well done and explained in an easy to understand way how Chase and Lia got together and the events leading up to Lia's disappearance. Chase goes through many difficult challenges throughout the story, and underwent a lot of development as a character. The idea of the "academic pressure cooker" was also highlighted, and I think many students today can relate to the stress Chase and her classmates were under to achieve the best possible marks.

I Will Find You Again is an emotional story with rich character development.

I Will Find You Again will mesmerize readers from start to finish.

I Will Find You Again by author Sarah Lyu is a brilliant contemporary young adult novel that will mesmerize readers from start to finish. What starts out as a well-told tale of the stresses and rigors of the senior year of high school, deciding a path for the future and nailing down final details, is revealed to be so much more. It was like watching a duck paddling on a pond, calm on top but a flurry of motion under the water.

Chase is a driven soul, trying to live up and surpass her parents' expectations, and doesn't understand her friend Lia's attitude toward life, her future, or her family. She sees what Lia has and thinks she's got it made. It seems that resentment and envy have been bubbling below the surface of their relationship from the start. When Lia goes missing, readers watch as Chase tries to find out what happened to her friend, not realizing that Part One of the book isn't the beginning of the story. That's when suspicions about Chase's involvement in Lia's disappearance take a big left turn.

The writing is smooth, and every aspect of the story is realistic. I liked that the girls' relationship felt accepted. This isn't about their love being challenged, picked apart, or the girls being ostracized. Finally. Excellent descriptions, natural dialogue, and clever twists and turns move the story forward in one direction, only for the reader to realize that wasn't where things were headed after all. The tension in the story is there from the beginning and builds with every turn of the page. I couldn't put the book down, and I was completely invested.

With its engaging, sympathetic main characters and riveting plot, I recommend I WILL FIND YOU AGAIN to readers who enjoy contemporary young adult fiction with an LGBTQ+ storyline.

I’m so torn between giving this book 3 stars vs. 5—mostly because of the pacing and ending—so I’m evening it out to 4.

The story started off slow but picked up after the third chapter. The middle section was brilliant, especially around the end of Part 1 and beginning of Part 2. The storytelling was quite unique, the narrative raw and haunting, and the characters felt very very real (and a little too relatable for me, which might alarm some people). Stellar representation of mental health! I just wish it had ended differently. I would erase the last three chapters from my memory if I could because it was all too *tied up in a bow* and preachy and didactic. It didn’t fit with the tone of the rest of the book and made the whole thing appear like sort of a cautionary tale or a story told for the sake of the moral. If Hunter had won in the end (IYKYK), it would’ve been a perfect novel for me!

For some reason, I find I’m always drawn to books about complicated grief. This one is no exception. It’s an intense story, both in its exploration of grief, but also in the way that it’s written like a thriller. I feel like all the stories I want to compare it to give things away about the plot, though.

After Lia’s death, Chase finds herself trying to sift through her memories and those of her friends to piece together what happened and understand why. She feels someone must be responsible, or that there must be an explanation that will make Lia’s death make sense, and she’ll do whatever it takes to find the truth.

I liked those things about her. Her desperation was palpable. Her grief exploded off the page. I couldn’t help rooting for her, even though sometimes she did self-destructive things.

The story explores the pressure that Chase and her friends feel at school. All of them have ambitious AP course loads plus extracurriculars. They decide that drugs and a cheating ring, in which one person completes an assignment or test and distributes the work to the others, is the only reasonable way to survive.

While obviously cheating is wrong, I couldn’t help pausing to think about why they chose that course and whether certain high-achieving academic programs do push kids too hard. I don’t know. It’s still something I’m thinking about.

All in all, I WILL FIND YOU AGAIN has perfect pacing in a deep, emotional landscape. Fans of E. Lockhart or Matthew Quick totally want to check this one out.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions my own.