Elena Reviews: Finding You By Lydia Albano

Title: Finding You

Author: Lydia Albano

Publication Date: September 19th, 2017

Genres: Young Adult

Taken from home and family, all they have is each other.

Isla is kidnapped from a train platform in broad daylight, and thrust into a nightmare when she is sold to a sadistic aristocrat. Locked in a dungeon with a dozen other girls, Isla's only comfort is a locket and the memory of the boy she loves. But as days pass and more girls disappear, she realizes that help is not coming... If they're going to survive, they'll have to escape on their own.

Swoon Reads is proud to present Lydia Albano's debut novel, a powerful story of a teen girl finding strength and hope in even the worst circumstances.

*I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.*

Finding You was a book that intrigued me from the moment I read its synopsis. It sounded quite dark and mysterious, something that you don't come across often in YA literature. It really peaked my interest and I decided to give it a fair chance. I went into with some expectations, which means that I had hopes of it being at least as great as the synopsis made it out to be. 

Don't get me wrong, the idea behind the plot and the story itself were interesting enough, but after the first couple of chapters I started getting quite bored. The beginning was amazing and made me eager to keep reading and find out what would happen next. The kidnapping scene was extremely unexpected and after that, I expected to be blown away by everything that would follow. I really did not. 

The pace was so slow after the scenes that followed the kidnapping and kind of cleared things up that, I actually found myself skipping pages and frantically looking for something that would make me get back on the anticipation track and regain my excitement for the book itself. The ending wa close to getting me half way where I expected to be while reading this book but, it was so rushed and abrupt that I was actually overwhelmed. There were so many things that weren't thoroughly explained and I felt like the author just wanted to wrap things up and get it over with. 

I really liked the main characters and found them to be very courageous and loyal. Isla was a very brave main character who was willing to do whatever it took in order to save, not only herself but also everyone else who was trapped with her. Her determination really showed through when she had to take really tough decisions and make choices that would affect everyone around her. The demons she had to fight were the definition of evil and I think that she did a great job. I didn't get to connect with her as much as I would've liked to but, I still admired her strength throughout the book and her sense of right and wrong. 

Tam was also likable enough as a character but I feel like we didn't really get the chance to know him completely. He was introduced at the beginning, Isla mentioned him and her love for him throughout the book but, that was it. There was no character development on his part and we just got glimpses of what happened to him during the last couple of chapters. That was basically it. Which was very disappointing since, the majority of the book revolved around him and Isla's fierce determination that he would save her from Hell. He just wasn't physically there enough, which makes sense considering the path the story followed but, even when he was there, his contribution to the plot was minor.

The final chapters were getting me somewhere - as a dedicated reader ready to be thrown into an unexpected twist - but it just wasn't enough. They were still very rushed and not as well developed as I would have liked them to be. Unexpectedness turned into predictability fairly quickly and I realized that, the ending had arrived and I felt absolutely nothing for it. It might sound kind of dramatic but, that's the truth of the matter.

Overall, Finding You started out as a great and very promising read, just to become a repetitive cycle of events with a rushed ending. It was definitely my cup of tea but, something went horribly wrong. I would have loved it if the story had progressed differently and included more breath taking and exciting scenes. Something to keep me at the edge of my seat. Also, I didn't manage to connect with the characters completely, especially Tam, which is always a big problem for me. I think this is one of those books you'll either love or hate so, I would definitely recommend going into it knowing very little and expecting nothing. Hope you found this review helpful!