Author: Romily Bernard
Genre: Young Adult, Mystery, Thriller
Source: S&S Australia. Thank you!
Goodreads rating: 3.81 out of 5.00 (570+ ratings)
Goodreads | The Reading Room
A girl is dead…
A killer’s closing in…
And two little words are the only clue…
“Find Me”.
These are the words that Wick Tate finds in Tessa Wayne’s diary. And now Tessa has been found … dead. Does someone out there really expect Wick to uncover the truth about her death?
An expert computer hacker, Wick has the skills for the job, but with the threat of her ex-con dad returning, the detective hunting him sniffing around and new foster parents to keep happy, getting involved with a murder case is the last thing she wants to do. Until her little sister, Lily, is the next target.
Foster child. Daughter of a felon. Loner hacker-girl. Wick has a bad attitude and sarcasm to spare. And now she’s going to find this killer, no matter what it takes. Because it just got personal.
Review by Nara
It's a trick I've learned over the years.Let me begin with an eloquent statement which perfectly encapsulates how I feel about Find Me:
I stay perfect on the outside so no one knows
I'm rotten underneath
- Page 22 of Tessa Waye's diary
kjashdflasdjflasdf!
Wow, this book was fantastic. I mean, okay there were definitely a few minor flaws in the book (which are what stopped me from labelling the book as "incredible") but overall, this was one riveting mystery/thriller.
In terms of the flaws, I feel like the reveal of the actual bad guy was very left field. It wasn't that it was completely unexpected (because I did have a fairly good idea as to who it might be) but it just seemed to come out of nowhere in the sense that I had no idea why the person would want to do what he did. A reasonable motive is explained at the very end, but I just felt like at the time of the reveal, it was a bit, wait what? Why is he doing this?! Despite that though, the scene at the climax of the action where the reveal happens is very well written. The tension! Bernard certainly kept me on the edge of my seat.
But anyway, in terms of the bad guy, I think most people would agree (actually not sure about this, haven't read any other reviews lol) that it was fairly obvious who it was. I mean, it's clearly not going to be the most suspicious looking character, because who does that? I'm going to stop here so I don't majorly spoil anything, but yes. It was predictable. But did it matter? I think on the whole, possibly knowing who the villain is didn't really affect my enjoyment of the novel. It was still action-packed and tense and awesome.
Of course, the mystery aspect of the plot wasn't the only good one. The romance was also quite well written. The love interest is Wick's computer lab partner, Griff, who perhaps isn't quite who he appears to be. He's certainly hiding a secret or two. Also, random, but I think I remember reading somewhere that Romily would cast Logan Lerman as Griff, and HECK YES I can definitely see that. (Question to people who've read the book- what was Griff's actual name? I don't remember seeing it, and I think Griff is actually a nickname- a shortening of his last name, Griffin? His mum was called Mrs Griffin, right? Argh, confusion. lol I guess it's a pretty minor point anyway.)
Well, overall, despite the predictability, Find Me was a terrific novel that I'd recommend to anyone looking for an action-packed, suspenseful thriller.
Really liked it
RatingsOverall: 9/10
Plot: 4.5/5
Writing: 5/5
Characters: 5/5
Cover: 4/5
