There You'll Find Me by Jenny B. Jones: Book Review

Title: There You'll Find Me
Author: Jenny B. Jones
Pages: 320
Published: October 4th, 2011
Genre: YA Fiction, Contemporary, Christian, Inspirational, Romance, Tough Issues
Content: kissing, anorexia

Summary: When Finley travels to Ireland as a foreign exchange student, she hopes to create a new identity and get some answers from the God who took her brother away and seems to have left her high and dry.

But from the moment she boards the plane and sits by Beckett Rush, teen star of the hottest vampire flicks, nothing goes according to Finley's plan.

When she gets too close to Beckett, a classmate goes on a mission to make sure Finley packs her bags, departs Ireland-and leaves Beckett alone.

Finley feels the pressure all around. As things start to fall apart, she begins to rely on a not-so-healthy method of taking control of her life.

Finley tries to balance it all-disasters on the set of Beckett's new movie, the demands of school, and her growing romance with one actor who is not what he seems. Yet Finley is also not who she portrays to Beckett and her friends.

For the first time in her life, Finley must get honest with herself to get right with God.(from Goodreads.com)

My Thoughts:

There You'll Find Me by Jenny B. Jones is an inspirational tale of God, love and those we lose along our Way.

Finley, our narrator, has had her brother ripped from her, murdered during an act of terrorism in Afghanistan where he had been building children's schools. Anguished and hurt, Finley searches for comfort around a bubbling and bouncing South Carolina, only to end up feeling empty and lacking, afterwards. After counseling and therapy, Finley decides to change her life around and find answers in the same place her brother, Will, had found them - Ireland. By following his travel journal, Finley will go to Ireland and follow the trail Will has left her, in the hopes that she will once again find God and closure toward her brother's death. Except, things don't go exactly as Finley planned and on the airplane to Ireland she ends up sitting by the famous teen heartthrob/vampire actor, Beckett Rush, a guy who exemplifies everything she is leaving behind. And while Finley snarks his flirting right back to where it came from, he still seems to be everywhere she is trying to get to, and the path she feels she must follow is not as strait and clear as she thought it would be.

"Page fifty-one." The dimple in his cheek deepened. "And as for girls who try to stay away from me--my charm always wears them down." [Beckett Rush]

"I'm up-to-date on my shots, so I'm pretty much immune to everything." [Finley]

Beckett just tipped his chair back and laughed. "Famous last words, Flossie. Famous last words."

There You'll Find Me, is a journey of a girl who only wants to find her place in life. A girl who has so many questions, but not a single answer. I supposed this was one of the reasons I so connected with Finley. She feels lost and alone, and in a world as bleak as hers, that is a devious road to travel. I haven't read much Christian Fiction as of late, although I read a lot in high school. There You'll Find Me is my jump back in and I must say that I was more than pleasantly surprised. Ms. Jones' characters are layered and loveable while also being raucously conflicted, making their need for God and love more believable and less preachy. Because while Finley struggles with all the raging emotions inside of her, she grasps for any control she can find which comes in the form of food and exercise. As Finley slowly withdraws from things she probably shouldn't, she acts like nothing is wrong, lying to all those she learns to care for.

And while the plot and interweaving storyline of Finley escalates and grows, causing the underlying tone to be serious, Ms. Jones' characters add the perfect amount of comedic relief at just the right moments, helping me to understand and appreciate them and all they are going through and striving for, while still allowing me to connect with them and retain some humor in such a serious world.

Becket Rush, the male lead in the novel, and the flirtatious actor with sharp pointy teeth, was probably my favorite character of the book. He was able to look at his life and understand that it wasn't always about him. He was fun and light while also deep and serious. Beckett is a difficult character to understand because he seems to have so many faces and while reading, we aren't sure of anything about him, but I always had this underlying feeling of what kind of person Beckett was. His kindness and loyalty in a world that seems to lack for it daily, was refreshing and poignant.

"It's touching to know you were praying for me." He looked down, pinning me in place with that gaze. "And to think I believed you were ignoring me."

Good heavens, Harry Potter didn't have any magic like the kind this boy was brewing. "Why would you think that?"

There You'll Find Me is a sensational book that I loved immensely and will not forget easily. Finley and Beckett, two young people wearing the skins they think everyone wants to see, but the truth underneath clashes harshly and isn't always pretty. They portray how trials and decisions affect our lives and those around us and that right decisions are not always easy to find, let alone make. But in the end, it is always worth it.

"Johnny." My Charleston accent was just as exaggerated as it was loud. "Don't worry about that rash you have. Our love will see us through." [Finley]

His arm squeezed a little tighter. "Frances, dearest," he drawled, "when we get back home, I will give you that wedding ring you've begged me for. It's only right after you gave me those triplets at the ripe age of sixteen." [Beckett]

"I'm an unwed mother?" I hissed.

"I'm a diseased baby daddy."

This made me laugh. "I think you just got the title for your next movie."

4.5/5 Hearts

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