Summary of Where You'll Find Me
When Hanley Helton discovers a boy living in her garage, she knows she should kick him out. But Nate is too charming to be dangerous. He just needs a place to get away, which Hanley understands. Her own escape methods (vodka, black hair dye, and pretending the past didn't happen) are more traditional, but who is she to judge?
Nate doesn't tell her why he's in her garage, and she doesn't tell him what she's running from. Soon, Hanley's trading her late-night escapades for all-night conversations and stolen kisses. But when Nate's recognized as the missing teen from the news, Hanley isn't sure which is worse: that she's harboring a fugitive, or that she's in love with one.
Ramblings. Ha! Yes, Where You’ll Find Me is still part of my "eliminating ARCs that are January releases" mission. This book will be released on January 7th. Thank you, Netgalley and Entangled Teen for this ARC.
Immediate thought after reading this book. That sure was a very convenient, neat and HEA ending. I’ll try to elaborate on this statement later on.
Story Proper. Flat out lie in front of her parents’ faces, sneak in and out of their house, acquire detentions and party hard are what Hanley Helton knows best after experiencing such a traumatic and unfaithful event in the past. Alongside with the company of her friends Rosalinda and Misty, she embarks on this routine to avoid remembering and temporarily numb the guilt that she’s been imposing on herself ever since THAT happened.
One night, as she was about to sneak out of their house through their garage … she discovers that there’s a stranger living in with them. Screaming isn’t an option for her, if she still wants to sneak out and attend a friend’s party. She obviously wants that, so she decided to just deal the matter with herself. It ended up with her still leaving and going to the party, while Garage Boy with no other option handed out to him left the safety of their house.
Hours after they’ve separated ways, Hanley is in the position of being utterly drunk and can’t even place the key in its lock. Enter Garage Boy and whooping in to save the drunken damsel in distress. Acts of kindness does pay up big time (or maybe it’s just Hanley’s fuzzy brain), Garage Boy aka Nate ended up having a shelter for the night. A night which eventually turned into a series of nights…
Where You’ll Find Me is a story that tackles family issues, extreme guilt built up from the past and deals with the bonds and relationships a person should have. Join Hanley and Nate as they unexpectedly experience comfort and understanding in each other’s arms. Witness them as they maneuver through their own unforgettable pasts and how they break free of it.
My thoughts. This book is definitely a very fast paced one. I’m sure reader’s attention will immediately be captured because of how this book got started. Right off the bat, it will trigger you to keep on turning its pages. This one didn’t disappoint in sparking up my curiosity BUT sure enough there were parts of the book were I had problems with. Thus, the reason for my rating. Here you go…
Hanley’s reaction when she discovered Nate was not just realistic to me. Seriously? If I’m in her position, there are two possible things that I would’ve done: (1) screamed already at the top my lungs and waking up the entire neighbourhood or (2) stunned, figure a way to make myself move and grab the attention of my parents. THERE’S. A. FREAKIN’. STRANGER. IN. OUR. HOUSE. Hellooooo?! I wouldn’t even worry if I’m gonna be busted by my parents for sneaking out, as long as I tell them truth on what’s happening. And I wouldn’t even care if that stranger looks like a sex God! Just because he’s hot and charming, it doesn’t diminish the idea of him being dangerous and a threat to you and your family.
Hanley’s past. Readers will immediately take a hint that there’s something big that happened to Hanley it’s of the question of WHAT that’s you’re going to crave for during the course of the book. But here comes where I find the problem with the execution for the part of this book… Yes, Hanley’s back story was mentioned in the book but it wasn’t given that great EMPHASIS. It could've been explored a lot more. The way it was presented was just a normal narration; I didn’t feel any ounce of pity or anything towards Hanley. It sort of just became secondary to Nate’s. With no emphasis about her past, it was still used as backbone idea that will knock some sense into the characters. Therefore, the idea that will weave everything. (So, what if nobody remembers and took notice of Hanley’s past because of how bland it was presented … uh oh, there you go.)
Nate. Nate's character will be the reader's driving force to continue on reading the story. There's so much mystery surrounding his character and just want to figure him all out. Questions like, why is he living in Hanley’s garage? Who is he running from? What could he possibly have done that will lead him to live in someone’s garage rather than stay in his own home? See.
Hanley and Nate. This is a case of insta-love. And this is a stupid kind of one, because of their situation. I can’t even fathom the idea of having a relationship with a total stranger. Yes, you may be having a conversation but given the scenes that I’ve read in this book, there’s no depth in those conversations. And yes, Hanley maybe revealing and divulging her past/problems to Nate but on the other hand Nate doesn’t do that. Things that they talked about were just the normal and superficial stuff.
Hanley’s relationship with her parents, Heather (sister) and friends (Rosalinda and Misty). This is the part of the book that I like the most. We see their relationships and their characters grow in this book. Heather and Hanley treats each other like sisters already rather than just continuing their non-existent relationship from the beginning of time. Rosalinda and Hanley opens up more towards the end of the book and creates this big step in their friendship.
THE Ending. Fletcher truly pushed it too far in the HEA zone for my liking. In my opinion, I would’ve liked it far better if she just omitted the last chapter. The book could’ve just ended with the hopeful note and leaning in towards a HEA, which (I think) Chapter 24 already gave. But then she decided to pull that last chapter, which just catapulted it to a mushy and convenient ending.
*I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley and the publisher for an honest review*
Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars
This review is also posted on my Goodreads account.
Bye x
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