Review: 'Finding You' by Giselle Green (2014)

Julia and Charlie are ecstatic to be reunited with their stolen child, Hadyn. A year after he was snatched from a beach in Spain during a family holiday, they had feared that he would never be found alive. 
Now the couple are eager for their lives to return to normal – but something is very wrong. Hadyn is still in many ways a ‘lost’ child. He seems to have been badly affected by the abduction, making it impossible for the family to simply pick up the pieces and move on.
In their efforts to unravel exactly what happened to their son and to find a cure, Julia and Charlie clash as to the best way forward. As their own insecurities surface, their relationship comes under threat - a situation not helped by the appearance of a former lover who is only too happy to rock the boat. 
As dark secrets are uncovered, the couple’s love for each other is tested to its very limits, and they begin to doubt that they will ever be able to help their troubled little boy...
Until, at last, they stumble across an unexpected truth. A truth that might be the only thing left that could save their family.
I have to admit I wasn’t familiar with Giselle Green ‘s work before she contacted me about possibly reviewing her latest novel, ‘Finding You.’ The e-book version was released on the 30th of March 2014 and the novel is a sequel to Giselle’s 2009 book ‘Little Miracles.’ The book can be read as a stand-alone, and the blurb had me fascinated. It made me think of the whole Madeleine McCann case, which I think everyone will still remember. I can’t even imagine what it would be like to discover your child is missing. I was interested to see how Giselle Green would deal with this topic in her novel, and I was glad with this chance to check out the work of a so far to me unfamiliar author!
Julia, Charlie and their young son Hadyn have been through a lot. After Hadyn disappeared on a summer’s day in Spain, Julia and Charlie’s lives were completely turned upside down. After a year of despair and hope, they managed to find Hadyn and they are now ready to pick up the pieces and go back to their normal life as a family. Yet, things aren’t that simple. Ever since they found Hadyn, he has been acting strange which is making it really difficult for all of them to move on. Next to that, Julia and Charlie are still keeping secrets from one another , which slowly leads to even more misunderstandings. Their bond as a family and their love for one another is tested in various ways, and the question is whether they will manage to stay together throughout it all. 
I wasn’t familiar with Giselle Green’s writing before I sat down with ‘Finding You’, but I was straight away taken in by her detailed and touching style of writing. The two main characters, Julia and Charlie, have been through a lot and their struggles and pain clearly come through in the writing. I thought the subject matter was really fascinating and the fact that the story is told from both Julia and Charlie’s perspectives shows their individual fears and troubles. I was keeping my fingers crossed for Julia, Charlie and Hadyn and really hoped everything would work out for them, especially after all the things they have been through together. 
Although enough information is given to be able to read this novel as a stand-alone, I personally think I would have enjoyed it more if I had been familiar with the entire background story. I didn’t really manage to get into the novel 100%, which was a shame. There was still a certain distance between me as a reader and the characters, and I somehow couldn’t get past that feeling. I think if I had already been familiar with Julia and Charlie, and the details of Hadyn’s disappearance, perhaps I would have been able to really get into the book as much as I had liked. Overall, ‘Finding You’ is an emotionally charged and in-depth family drama, but to new readers I’d recommend reading ‘Little Miracles’ first, so you can enjoy the entire story to the fullest. 

Rating:

7,0/10

  For more information about this book: Amazon.co.uk / Amazon.com / Goodreads
Thanks to the publisher for providing me with a review copy in exchange for an honest review.