Review: If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch

If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch

Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin 

Pages: 256 

Format: eARC 

Buy the Book: Amazon  

Goodreads:  There are some things you can’t leave behind…

A broken-down camper hidden deep in a national forest is the only home fifteen year-old Carey can remember. The trees keep guard over her threadbare existence, with the one bright spot being Carey’s younger sister, Jenessa, who depends on Carey for her very survival. All they have is each other, as their mentally ill mother comes and goes with greater frequency. Until that one fateful day their mother disappears for good, and two strangers arrive. Suddenly, the girls are taken from the woods and thrust into a bright and perplexing new world of high school, clothes and boys.

Now, Carey must face the truth of why her mother abducted her ten years ago, while haunted by a past that won’t let her go… a dark past that hides many a secret, including the reason Jenessa hasn’t spoken a word in over a year. Carey knows she must keep her sister close, and her secrets even closer, or risk watching her new life come crashing down.


Kritters Thoughts:  Carey is no ordinary 14 year old, she has spent 10 years in the woods with her mother fighting for her and her younger sister's life each and every day with no help.  After being found after an unusual circumstance, she has to quickly adapt to a whole new and different world while helping her sister see the outside world for the first time.

At the beginning, when I started this book, I was definitely concerned with the way Carey spoke, as she was the main narrator I knew I would be hearing from her a lot, it was definitely southern and I was nervous that the dialect would trip me up.  Thankfully once she was found, she quickly turned her language up a notch and I stopped noticing the way she spoke.  The author did such an amazing job with the integration of the girls and the impact it had on this family as they tried to rearrange their lives to make a new normal.

Although a YA book, this subject matter was definitely difficult and deep at times, maybe a little too rough for some young readers at times.  I would think this may be a YA book for an adult audience and with a quick twist at the end, it takes this one to a whole different level that gave Carey a very interesting history.


Rating: definitely a good read, but can't read two in a row

Ebook 2013 Challenge: 19 out of 50

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Edelweiss.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.