Sarah Lyu

This book was very bleak with a dark tone that never let up. It dives into the topics of grief, depression, suicide, and drug abuse, among others as it follows the main character, Chase, as she deals with the grief of losing her (ex-)girlfriend and life-long best friend, Lia.

I enjoyed the very flawed relationship between Lia and Chase. They were nearly always there for each other but very often not what the other needed. They'd been a part of each other's life for so long and seen sides of each other that no one else did, but they still fundamentally failed to understand or accept each other's struggles. The education system, the mental health system, and their own families really failed these girls, leaving them stressed and unwell with very few people to turn to other than each other and not in a position to be good for each other either. I will say though at times their arguments and misunderstandings get a little repetitive.

The ‘twist’ revealed at the end of part 1, though, was one of my least favorite plot devices. I guess I have to thank it for enabling the exploration of grief and guilt and all these characters' complexities since the story would have to be presented totally differently without it, but I still wasn't a fan. Hunter, who Chase had believed to be Lia’s new girlfriend, was not real. Chase had rewritten her memories to include Hunter to block out certain events leading up to Lia’s death and all of Hunter’s appearances after Lia’s death were her hallucinations. Kind of cliché, but more than that it took me out of the story as I was thinking about whether that made any sense with the event we’d been shown up to that point and, if I suspend my disbelief, had me questioning what of the story so far even mattered. There’s also the issue of blurring the line between genuine portrays of mental illness (or drug addiction) and unrealistic plot devices, which I find kind of uncomfortable even if it wasn’t too egregious here.… (plus d'informations)

Take constant pressure to excel, blend in guilt, anger, and a somewhat dysfunctional teen relationship. Add a generous dose of a drug akin to Adderall and mix well. This is what you find when you open the cover of this book.
Chase and Lia are in love, but have totally different personalities and parents/parental expectations. Chase is driven, Lia is more likely to drift. When things get rocky, Chase's dive into over self-medication in an attempt to stay current with her insane school workload is a huge part of what follows. It's a journey that has Lia vanishing and Chase losing her tenuous grip on reality. The last part of the book is painful and enlightening.
As a long time mental health professional, I applaud the author for her taking such a risk, but she gets things right, educating while enmeshing readers in this story.… (plus d'informations)

"Responsibility is simply the ability to respond to respond...It's understanding our lack of control and then choosing to act anyway, choosing how we want to act."

I Will Find You Again by Sarah Lyu was a heart wrenching read that left a pain in my heart after reading it. It's a YA story that will appeal to all ages, especially anyone who has felt the pain and crushing anxiety of trying to live up to others' expectations. The main "mystery" is revealed early on but the real story unravels slowly, revealing all the little things that send our two main protagonists spiraling. The writing is so captivating that by the time the heart of the conflict is revealed you are left reeling wondering what is really the truth and who is responsible.

What really makes this book so special is how the author highlights the experience of being a trans-racial adoptee and how that affects Asian self identity and how others perceive Asian identity. Lyu also does a fantastic job of showing how the pressure to perform shapes teenagers' ideas about the future and success and how that immense pressure deteriorates self esteem and mental health. Grief is also a big theme in this one and manifests differently for the characters. Chase finally coming to terms with Lia's suicide, her sexuality and her own survivor's guilt in therapy brought me to tears because I know personally how hard it is to ask for help when you're used to being strong all the time & you feel undeserving. I loved that was intentional & included resources for mental health.

Thank you for the gifted copy @ireadya & @coloredpagesblogtours. I really loved this one and the emotional journey that it took me through. This book had so much heart

This book would pair nicely with:
📗 History is All You Left Me- Adam Silvera
📕 Searching for Sylvie Lee- Jean Kwok
📘 Everything I Never Told You- Celeste Ng
📙 Iveliz Explains It All- Andrea Beatriz Arango… (plus d'informations)

This story 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 voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advanced Review Copy from the author or publisher through TBR and Beyond Book Tours.… (plus d'informations)