If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch - Review & Guest Post

THERE ARE SOME THINGS YOU CAN'T LEAVE BEHIND ...

A broken-down camper hidden deep in a national forest is the only home fifteen-year-old Carey can remember. The trees keep guard over her threadbare existence, with the one bright spot being Carey's younger sister, Jenessa, who depends on Carey for her very survival. All they have is each other, as their mentally ill mother comes and goes with greater frequency. Until that one fateful day their mother disappears for good, and the girls are found by their father, a stranger, and taken to re-enter the "normal" life of school, clothes and boys.

Now, Carey must come to terms with the truth of why their mother spirited them away ten years ago, while haunted by a past that won't let her go ... a dark past that hides many a secret, including the reason Jenessa hasn't spoken a word in over a year. Carey knows she must keep her sister close, and her secrets even closer, or risk watching her new life come crashing down.

Hardcover, 320 pages

Published May 2nd 2013 by Indigo
 

My Review

I loved this book and it actually managed to move me in ways that I never thought quite possible. Emily Murdoch's writing is simply stunning and demanded my attention from the very first page!

The storyline itself is quite simplistic but I think that there in lies the beauty of If You Find Me. The emotion pours out of every page and the subtle mystery will keep you wondering right up until the final pages. I think the brutally raw but very honest storyline will emotionally tie and invest readers of all ages.

The most wonderful thing about this is main character Carey - She is brave and definitely one of the fiercest characters I've ever came across. I love how protective she is of her little sister, she has been hardened by life and comes across older than her years - because she has had to mature quickly in order to survive.

The storyline follows Carey and her 6 tear old sister Jenessa, they look out for each other in a little camper in the middle of the woods. Their mother is an addict and is hardly ever  there, leaving the girls starving, cold and all alone!

But when strangers stumble upon their hidden world, everything is thrown up in the air and the girls lives will never be the same again! Carey will have to think seriously about revealing some very shocking secrets, if she and her sister has any hopes of trying to move on.

The ending is fabulous and I loved how everything played out and clicked so perfectly into place. I was on edge when things were eventually revealed and I really couldn't have felt more for Carey!

I think If You Find Me is an absolute MUST read that is full of beauty. It has the most amazing characters that will will take you on a roller-coaster ride of emotions. An astonishing debut that I could recommend wholeheartedly!

A BIG 5 Stars!

*Special thanks to Indigo for the review copy*

Carly :)

Now, for a little treat we have Emily Murdoch talking about her inspiration! I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did! I would like to thank the lovely Emily for doing this post, I know she is very busy! :)

About the Author

Emily is a writer, a poet, and a lover of books. There's never a time she's without a book. Her debut novel, If You Find Me, will be available from St. Martin's on March 26, 2013 and from Orion/Indigo UK on May 2, 2013.

When she's not reading or writing, you'll find her caring for her horses, dogs and family on a ranch in rural Arizona, where the desert's tranquil beauty and rich wildlife often enter into her poetry and writing.

Emily's other passion is saving equines from slaughter. She uses her writing to raise awareness of this inhumane practice, with the goal of ending the slaughter of America's equines through transport to slaughterhouses in Canada and Mexico. She offers sanctuary to abused and slaughter-bound equines who dazzle her every day with their forgiving nature and gratitude in exchange for security, consistency, food and love.

As Mahatma Gandhi said, “Be the change you want to see in the world.” Emily hopes her penchant for writing will do just that.

All-in-all, she's a lefty in a right-handed world, writing her way through life and smearing ink wherever she writes.

(Taken from Emily's Goodreads profile) 

Guest Post

Thank you for having me on your lovely blog!

I love the question of what inspired If You Find Me.

I’m learning as I go along that there are many answers to this question, some I didn’t even know of consciously at the time of writing If You Find Me.

Such as how easy it was to write a portrait of an abused child, having been one, myself. It wasn’t something I set out to do. The voice, the thematics, came to me and I stayed out of my own way and wrote it down. To me, that means it was a story that needed to be told. A story that transcends its story, as the best stories usually do.

That said, I believe all children deserve to see themselves in the mirrors of books. Some desperately need to see themselves … to find themselves portrayed in hopeful and heroic ways.

Sometimes books can explain us to ourselves in ways no one ever has, or could. Sometimes the truth, however sad or grim, is the very light we need.

I’m honored if my words can help fashion this mirror. As people have been quoting from the novel, “words are weapons”. They can also be weapons of profound and lasting change.

As for what inspires me in life, I’d have to say the little things, or, the little big things. Acts of kindness. Thoughtfulness. The whole spectrum of life’s colors and emotions. The miracle of our existence. Animals. Books. Quotes. Music. Art.

I’m the kind of person who doesn’t take life for granted. Each day is another chance to figure things out, to ponder, to write, to enjoy the adventure (and our companions on the adventure) while hoping for another tomorrow, to do it all over again!

However, if I could change one thing in life, I’d add another hour to the day, and call it “Book Hour”. Everyone read! But that’s just me.