Reviews with content warning for Injury/Injury detail - Lose You To Find Me

So this is my first read by Erik J. Brown! A lot of friends of mine had read All That's Left in the World and really loved it, so I was interested in this since it's by the same author. I'll definitely be reading All That's Left in the World after reading this, because this was such a nice book with good surprises in it.

First, as many reviews have stated, there are some instances of cheating in this book. However, I think the circumstances around it are important. Especially with how the book ends, it's clear the author didn't put these instances in frivolously. So I disagree with some reviews calling the MC a "homewrecker" especially since they are 17 yr olds and also

Spoiler

the person being cheated on was an adult college student (at least 21 yrs old) who had no business being with a child anyway (there is an important subplot to this and it, thankfully they aren't together by the end, but these details should be noted. That, along with some other behaviors from the bf, as well as some background info on the MC and the LI, there's just a lot going on.

While I don't think these things make the cheating okay by any means, I think context matters a lot.

So, with that being said, the characters ! I loved the MC, Tommy. He was a messy character, but what I felt in all this was that these characters felt so real and authentic, it was kind of wild how well Erik J. Brown was able to capture the woes of being a teenager. That was probably my favorite aspect of this entire book. The teenagers felt like teenagers. Tommy was stupid at times and made really bad decisions, same for Gabe. Sometimes, I wanted to shake Tommy and plead for him to stop this nonsense and attempts on getting someone to like him. But I feel like that's kinda what having an unrequited crush as a teenager feels like? I remember feeling the exact same way as him and I can't applaud the author enough for capturing such complex feelings so authentically. Not only that, but all the characters felt very authentic to me in their motivations and reactions. And I liked that this book will show teenagers there's not one, correct path to take after high school.

This brings me to my next point: the message of this book is beautiful. I truly want to cry just thinking about it. Life doesn't always go how we plan, no matter how hard we plan. And it's so amazing how the author weaved this into the storyline so many different ways. I think it's an extremely important message that any teenager reading this book needs to know. I wish I had this book when I was in high school because I think it would've done wonders for me (it's still done wonders for me as someone in her early twenties).

My main critique for this is that I felt like some scenes/plotlines went on longer than they needed and some should've been longer. Also, I would've liked to have seen more scenes with Brad (for reasons more obvious once you finish the book). He stole every scene he was in and I liked his growth a lot, but I needed like 2 scenes more with him haha. But, those are small gripes. The ending was exactly how I wanted it to be and it made me smile so big. This book is really great and I will be recommending it to many. I'm so happy Erik J. Brown wrote it.

Thank you so much to Balzer + Bray and NetGalley for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Content Warnings

jbt1234's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny lighthearted sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Content Warnings

heyyoufinch's review against another edition

Go to review page

medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

Content Warnings

annatina's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

Content Warnings

piperclover's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional funny mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

This reminds me of The Sky Blues by Robbie Couch a little and I loved that book too. If you're familiar with that book this one ends similarly and I think it's done equally as well as in The Sky Blues. The ending of this book is really what saved it for me from being just a 3.5 star to being over a 4 star. It's really funny, all sides characters are interesting and fleshed out enough that they have distinguishing characteristics, and the instigating plot isn't as stupid as I feared.

For a large portion of the book I was wishing it was 3rd person and dual POV but by the end of it I was actually very glad that it was a first person solo POV because I think you get more out of the story that way. I also absolutely love that Tommy is super blunt and honest but not in a mean way. He calls out people's bad behavior and to their faces but also accepts when hes done wrong and apologizes for it appropriately. YA novels tend to make the main character very one-note and overly accepting of other people's bad behavior but not this one. I'm so pleased withe end couple and would love a sequel about them. The narrator is good too.

I do wish that certain points were emphasized more like

Spoiler

how creepy and gross it is for a 21yo to be dating a 17yo. Tommy points out that the 21yo buying alcohol for minors is skeevy but doesn't outright say that the age gap is actually disgusting. Also there are 2 instances of cheating by kissing and Tommy doesn't feel outraged or guilty enough about it.

.

I really disliked that the timeline is fairly vague so I was confused when suddenly a character would say "that was 4 months ago" bc I had no idea a week had even passed. And if you have a fear/dislike of blood like I do, you want to be really careful around chapters 34 and 35. The blood and injury description is very graphic and made me physically ill.

Content Warnings

phoebesnow's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Content Warnings

More...