[REVIEW] I Found You

title: I Found You
author: Lisa Jewell
genre: contemporary, mystery
published: March 9th 2017 by Arrow
my copy: eGalley, 464 pages
purchase: Amazon | B&N | Book Depository
rating: 2.5 / 5 stars
goodreads

'How long have you been sitting out here?'

'I got here yesterday.'

'Where did you come from?'

'I have no idea.'

East Yorkshire: Single mum Alice Lake finds a man on the beach outside her house. He has no name, no jacket, no idea what he is doing there. Against her better judgement she invites him in to her home.

Surrey: Twenty-one-year-old Lily Monrose has only been married for three weeks. When her new husband fails to come home from work one night she is left stranded in a new country where she knows no one. Then the police tell her that her husband never existed.

Two women, twenty years of secrets and a man who can't remember lie at the heart of Lisa Jewell's brilliant new novel.

intriguing story but too much convenience.

I picked this up because I've seen Lisa Jewell's name on mystery thrillers a lot (why haven't I read her books before?). So why not try this when I got a chance, yeah? Also, that synopsis: 2 people, 1 huge mystery, w h a t is their connection to each other?

I Found You follows: (1) Alice, a single mom with a messy life, finds a man who's n a fugue state outside of her place. She thinks: why not let him in? Help him, maybe? Let him stay with me for a day or so? What's the harm? WHAT'S THE HARM? He's just a stranger who's mentally unstable at the moment; (2) Lily, a 22-year old Ukrainian who took a risk and got married and moved in with her husband who went missing three weeks after only to find out later that such a man doesn't exist. She thinks: who is my husband? Was marrying him after only knowing him for a month or so without even meeting his family the right move? But he loves me so much... I'm sure of it... but now that I've think about it, why do I not know anything about him?; (3) Gray whose family is staying in an inn for a vacation who then met a young man, a very nice and somewhat mysterious young man.

The mystery. This really kept me intrigued which is a good thing. I was curious of the connections of these people. However, halfway through (or probably not even) I understood the connection. But that didn't exactly spoil things for me. I'm used to solving mysteries and finding connections among deranged / unreliable characters.

I kind of like the development of Alice's relationship with "Frank", the man she found outside her place. But then again, her decision to let him stay bothered me because SERIOUSLY? What if he's a serial killer? What if he's faking it? The people around her kept giving her the seriously!? talk but she's basically like, he looks nice, I bet he's nice (lol). She's really written as a thriller protagonist (you know those in movies where they just make the most irrational decisions just to go with the flow of the story and satisfy their curiosity. idk). 

Similar to Alice's relationship with Frank, Russ, an ex-coworker of Lily's husband, and the constant help he's giving Lily really felt like a massive convenience. And do you know what I don't like about the main character's decisions? Convenience. I hate conveniences that would put the story to where the author just wants the to go. Story conveniences are basically points that makes certain parts feel forced. And, no, we don't like that.

OVERALL, I Found You isn't very high on my recommendations. While the mystery was intriguing and the ending was well done although I did guess the character identities correctly. I just did not like the conveniences and the irrational trust of Alice.

let's connect!