Rea Frey is a new author to me and I was very excited to read Until I Find You because the premise of the story very much intrigued me. Rebecca is a young widow with a three month old son. She's navigating life on her own now, having lost her husband just about a year ago, and recently losing her mother as well. On top of these tragedies, she's slowly been losing her sight to a degenerative eye disease. Now living in her mother's house, she's made a few friends with the other mothers in the neighborhood, and also with Crystal, another mother she met in a grief group. She's managing okay for the most part, until the unthinkable happens one day and she becomes convinced that someone swapped her infant son with another baby.

As I said, the premise of this story really intrigued me, particularly with Rebecca being almost completely blind, and having to convince everyone around her that this baby she found in the crib is not her baby. Obviously that would be so much easier to accomplish if she could see because then she would be able to actually see him. But she's having to rely solely on touch and having a photographic memory, she can tell you exactly every inch of her son's skin, from the eczema behind his ear to the small divot in his collarbone. I really applauded Rebecca for not completely falling apart when she realized her son had been taken. I don't know that I would have been as steady and solid as she was.

Ms. Frey certainly takes the reader on a whirlwind ride with Rebecca, it being all the more tenuous with Rebecca's vision impairment. I was impressed with how mobile she was, walking to the park everyday, going to appointments, navigating the world with basically no one's help at all. Her friends were all there for her, but she had a tendency to push them away ALL THE TIME. I understand she felt the need to do things on her own, but she absolutely refused help at every turn. It became frustrating pretty quickly that she was SO stubborn and pushed people away so much.

I was really invested in the story. Ms. Frey really hooked me with how she laid out each chapter. One would be from Rebecca's point of view and end with a sort of a cliffhanger and the next chapter would be from her friend Crystal's point of view which I would want to hurry through to get back to Rebecca, BUT I figured out early in the story that Crystal was obviously a pretty critical facet of the story if she's getting her own chapters. I'll leave it at that.

I was impressed with how Ms. Frey interspersed the emotional and psychological aspects of the story throughout. Particularly the introduction of Rebecca's ex-boyfriend Jake, who was the absolute love of her life until he moved away for work. And the subsequent love she shared with Chris, her husband, who was the one who was there for her while she was losing the rest of her sight. The internal struggles Rebecca wrestled with in regards to the guilt she felt over still having feelings for Jake and how she felt she was betraying Chris. I really enjoyed the depth of emotion in these scenes throughout.

As far as the main storyline of the swapping of her baby. That was very intriguing, but there were quite a few plot holes and unanswered questions by the end of the story. Maybe some of the questions I was left with were never supposed to be answered and possibly they were just supposed to be chalked up to an overly tired new mother who was still mourning the deaths of her husband and mother, I am not sure. I just know that by the end, I was left with a few unresolved issues that I found myself focusing on instead of the ending. And the Crystal storyline was executed in such a way that had me shaking my head throughout the story. I just don't think that part of it all worked for me.

Overall, this story is a page turner, that is for sure!! I definitely plan to go back and look up Ms. Frey's other books and read those as well.

Many thanks to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for providing me with an advanced review copy of this book in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

UNTIL I FIND YOU follows Rebecca, a young mother with a degenerative eye disease that has left her nearly completely blind. Following the death of her husband early in her pregnancy, Bec has been raising her baby boy all on her own. She has her routines down, not letting her lack of vision slow her down. She knows how many steps it is to the nursery upstairs and how far it is to the park. She has supportive friends and a grief group that help her manage, but she is an independent enough woman to do this all on her own.

Though she has never seen his face, Bec knows every contour of her son’s face, the sound of his voice and everything else about him. So when she goes to pick him up one day, she knows the baby boy is not her own. The problem is no one else is so sure and Bec finds herself facing obstacles that no sighted mother would face. And if the boy is not hers, where is her son and where did this child come from?

I really loved UNTIL I FIND YOU! Having a blind protagonist was such a different perspective in the thriller world and it added a unique twist on the genre. Bec has had a lot to deal with between her husband’s death and the loss of her sight, but she is a strong and fiercely confident woman who knows her own mind and won’t take no for an answer.

The mystery is an interesting one. Though Bec is convinced the baby is not her own, how was a switch made, where did this baby come from, and is her son okay? Knowing that her son is out there somewhere makes the time it takes to search for him critical. Supporting Bec are her close friends and an ex who step up to help her even when they aren’t entirely sure if she is right. The author managed to surprise me with some of the twists along the way!

UNTIL I FIND YOU is out on 8/11/2020 and I suggest you add it to your TBR! This was my first book by Rea Frey, but it absolutely won’t be my last!

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley.

The main character in this story, Bec Gray, takes her 3-month old son to the park every day where she socializes with the other mothers. Unfortunately, she is suffering from a degenerative eye disease and is nearly blind. Despite this handicap, she is well aware of her environment and can care for her son and herself. She relies on her cane, counting steps, and her photographic memory to navigate her surroundings.

For several days, she has felt that someone has been following her and has been in her apartment. One day, when she picks up the baby, she realizes that something is terribly wrong but nobody believes her!

Ok so this book was right up my alley, missing babies, swapping babies, thriller. It also kept my interest, had short chapters and I was always looking forward to picking it up. That being said I just feel like the way it’s all played out and revealed at the end just wasn’t plausible and made it just an ok read. Wasn’t a waste of my time but it wasn’t great.
Thank you NetGalley for an ARC of Until I Find You for my honest review!

This one was a struggle for me. The writing was good. I just think this wasn’t enough of a “thriller” kind of book for me. The idea is original and the ending was well written and not rushed. Overall a decent book, but just not for me

What a refreshing change from the boilerplate thriller fictions we’ve seen lately! Rea Frey’s main protagonist has a disability- she’s almost totally blind. But does she let that slow her down? Oh wow, no!
Rebecca Gray has no fear. She has accepted the loss of her loving husband; she has accepted her degenerative eye disease and is determined to live life at its fullest. She’s a wonderful and active mother to her baby, Jackson; she goes for walks, shops, stays social, and doesn’t let her lack of clear vision change her outlook on life or her ability to successfully raise her son.
That is, until the day she goes to the nursery to check on her crying son and discovers the poor little darling in the crib is not her baby.
Facing insurmountable odds, stubborn police, and doubting friends, Rebecca never stops and never rests in her search for her son and his kidnapper. In the midst of this emotional turmoil, Rebecca finds love and the desire to nurture this stranger’s baby that has been literally dropped into her care.
Full of twists and secrets with the added bonus of seeing life through the eyes of a blind person, (which is a huge learning experience; I would love to see more books with physically challenged protagonists) Rea Frey’s new novel will keep your interest to the final page.
(I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review. Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for making it available.)

This was my second book by Rea Frey, and as much as I loved the first one, Because You’re Mine, this one was just an ok read for me. Until I Find You was a quick and suspenseful read even though the plot pace was dragging at times. There are many twists and turns in the story to keep the reader engaged, however I had to suspend my belief quite often to make sense of what was happening in the story. In addition, the ending was just too perfect with many loose ends that I wished were tied up at the end. I was curious how the author would have explained some of the events in the story and perhaps that is why they were never clarified, because there was no appealing resolution to them.

Thank you NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and the author for providing me with an ARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Until I Find You is another great twisty read from Rea Frey! I’m a big fan of her books and this one didn’t disappoint. Bec is dealing with the sudden loss of her husband, a new baby, and losing her sight due to a degenerative eye disease. Add on to that her lingering feeling that she’s being watched and followed and you’ve got a stunning plot. This is one of those books that I found myself thinking about during the day and I couldn’t wait to get back to reading it. Read and enjoy!

What would you do if you were blind and realized the baby you were caring for was not your child? How would you convince those around you that you weren't crazy. Would that tell you you were mistaken? Would they say poor lady she has had too much tragedy in short life? What if you answered yes to all those questions. Then you would understand what Rebecca Gray is fighting. Yes she has a degenerative eye disease, yes the authorities and her friends think she is finally losing it due to the death of her husband. This is the journey she takes to finding answers she so desperately needs. This is the third novel by Rea Frey and each one gets better. She keeps you on the edge of your seat the whole time. This story is a mother's worse nightmare and she takes us on the journey so cleverly.

4.5/ 5 stars

Until I Find You is my third book by this author. I would categorize it as a mystery/thriller

I went into this book completely blind, which is what I would recommend. There are quite a few things that are mentioned in the book blurb that were surprising. And honestly I don't know if I would have been on the edge of my seat like I was if I had already known about these things beforehand.

The main narrator is Rebecca/Bec (1st person POV). She has a disability. And I found that part of the book to be outstanding. It added so much to the story. And made everything about this book so much more powerful.

The story takes place in a suburb outside of Chicago. Bec plays the cello and is a music teacher. She has a 3 month old son, Jackson.

The second narrator is Crystal (3rd person POV). Even though Crystal is written in the 3rd person I think that the author did an amazing job. The POV is written so seamlessly that the reader does not even notice that some of the chapters are not in 1st person.

Crystal is an interior designer and has a young daughter.

There are things happening to Bec. And honestly I was scared and terrified. And I was wondering what was happening to her.

The author manages to take some things that would be hard to read ... but she makes the story absolutely riveting.

For most of this book I could not turn the pages fast enough.

The book has some romance. Although it's not the main focus of the book.

The ending is everything, especially in a thriller. And that is the only part of the book that I am not sure about. It wasn't a bad ending. But I think that I would have preferred something different. I was mesmerized by much of this book. And the reveal was interesting. But I just wanted more.

But overall this was a really good thriller and I could not put this book down.

Thanks to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for an egalley in exchange for an honest review.

Dear Rea Frey, how is it that you manage year after year to put your characters and me in such tense situations and I always come back for another? All I can say is keeping waving that magic spell because I fell for this one instantly. We have widow Rebecca(Bec) who is raising her infant son all by herself after losing her husband and mother. If that's not enough heartache for one person to go through, Rebecca is also blind and has a very stubborn streak in allowing others to help her. However, Rebecca's life is about to be turned upside down, even more, when something happens to her son.

Then we have Rebecca's friend Crystal, also a widow, raising a tween daughter on her own, dealing with friction from her daughter's nanny and having a difficult time fitting in with the other moms in the neighborhood( except for Rebecca). But will Crystal be there in Rebecca's time of need?

My thoughts: Although I had a sensation that I knew where this story was headed, I still enjoyed it enough to linger on my balcony this afternoon. I will leave it to other readers to raise doubts as to the plausibility of the storyline, but I was happy to bask in the fictional world of Rea Frey once again.

Goodreads review published 21/07/20
Expected publication 11/08/20

I received an ARC of this book. Thank you for allowing me to read this book early and to share some of my thoughts on it!
Any time I read a book that has anything to do with a mother losing their child in any capacity, I begin reading it with a strong sense of nerves. What's going to happen to the child? What has happened? Will the mother and child be reunited? I was both excited and hesitant to read this title, as it deals with a mother with a vision impairment having her child swapped - knowing that her child was taken from her - and yet no one believing her due to her impairment.
The author, Rea Frey, did a wonderful job depicting a woman struggling without her sight (after losing it due to illness) and portraying her emotions as a woman desperate to find her child when no one believes her. Following Rebecca's journey to find her son, trying to figure out who would betray her in such a way, was riveting. There were times it was hard to continue reading, as I felt the panic from this character and I honestly didn't know how it was going to end up.
A solid read, for sure.

Thank you to St. Martin's Publishing and NetGalley for the early copy of Until I Find You by Rea Frey.

Until I Find You tells the story of a blind mother who, after fainting in a park and not holding her son for almost 24 hours, discovers the baby she has isn't her son. The challenges she faces are immense.

What I enjoyed were the characters in general, and the writing made for easy reading and following of the storyline. The therapy sessions was especially insightful in terms of the loss of a spouse when it said that you could honor their memory and still have future relationships, and that the only person hurt by not moving on is yourself. Very sage advice.

What didn't work for me was when DNA testing, which normally takes 2 to 5 days, was said to - take months if they would even do it - in order to make the plot work. That then played into making law enforcement look both inept and bad, her friends inability to believe her/recognize the baby, thereby empowering this blind woman to basically go out and solve the case. There are so many ways this could've worked, but it didn't for me. She fought help throughout the story (to make her look strong?) and yet she falls apart all over the place. There was just too much inconsistency.

I did finish the book for the reveal.

I'm definitely in the minority with my rating of Until I Find You, so I encourage readers of this review to check out more reviews before they make a decision on whether or not to read this book. I think it wasn't right for me. I couldn't turn off my critical mind and go with the story. 

Rebecca Gray slowly went blind in her mid twenties. About twelve years later, she is a new widow, whose mom has just died, and the mother of a three month old baby boy. The book opens with Bec making her daily trek to the park where she meets with other mothers and babies. She knows that someone is stalking her, she can feel it. Luckily she has a photographic memory, which serves her well, making every path she has traveled a memory that she can follow, the next time she covers that ground. 

Once Bec gets home, she knows that someone is or has been in her house. Later she bumps into things, in her house, that have been moved from the place she had put them. Is extreme grief and sleep deprivations causing Bec to experience out of control paranoia? Despite her fears and certainty that things are not right, that someone is following her and entering her home, Bec refuses anything but token help. Rather than let others check out her house, she does it herself, sticking her cane in closets and calling out to the stalker. When friends offer to walk her home or give her a ride, she refuses. Finally, after an outing in the park, when she faints, and later recovers, she is sure that her three month old son has been swapped with another baby.

Throughout the next few days, when Bec gets frustrated, angry, tired of waiting for the police to practice the protocol for this type of incident, Bec will grab the baby (or not) and her cane and stomp out of the house, night or day. She stomps to the park to "search" for clues, or around the neighborhood, or sometimes even just stomps out of the house and gets no farther. Bec is a strong woman to have navigated the troublesome events of her life so well, to this point, but I think her acts of stubborness and impetuousness didn't sit well with me. It's one thing to go charging (literally) blindly around town, but she doesn't seem to have the immediate welfare of the baby that is with her, in mind. 

As I said, this book has had rave reviews, so it'd be a good idea to see what others have to say about the book. Expected publication: August 11th 2020. Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this ARC.

Until I Find You is a domestic thriller that will take your breath away, with a story that will get your heart racing even as your heart aches, with characters that are unforgettable, and a main character who is extraordinary. Rebecca is a widow, she is the mother of a baby boy, and she is blind. Her world is upended when, exhausted and overwhelmed, she reaches into her son's crib when he is crying--and knows without a doubt that it is not her son. The best books are those that take you into the world of its characters, so that we feel we are living their lives right along with them; in this book, I felt like I was right next to Rebecca, not only feeling her anger, her despair, and her anguish, but also her blindness, as she traversed streets and buildings and staircases and hallways. Rebecca's visual impairment gave an extra layer to this story, as everyone around her doubted her--and she had to be strong and brave and fight to get her son back.

Captivating and a little crazy. "Seeing"the world through a main character who is legally blind was an interesting perspective I've never read before. There were several suspicious people to keep me guessing, and overall it was a good novel!

Another page turner by one of my favourite authors, Rea Frey. Thank you St. Martins Press for my advanced copy of Until I Find You in exchange for my honest review.

This story was so well written and Frey’s writing addictive. I love how she chose her main female lead, Rebecca a vulnerable woman who has lost her sight and her husband and mother and has just had a baby. The author addresses some sensitive issues in this novel surrounding parenting, friendships and the lengths people go to when their sanity is tested.

The short chapters always left me wanting to turn the page to find out more, I simply could not put this book down!

This was a well-written, quick read and I highly recommend it be added you’re your imminent TBR.

I read a Rea Frey book last year and immediately was hooked with what this author wrote. SO, when I was given the chance to read an early copy of Until I Find You, I was all in.
AND what an interesting premise for this story! A woman that was born with her vision intact is slowly losing her site due to a disease. But how much tragedy can befall a woman before she breaks??

Rebecca Gray has a 3 month old baby boy named Jackson. She lost her very caring husband a year ago due to a tragic accident and then she moved to the suburbs of Chicago to live with her mother. She was going to need all the help she could get. But her mother soon passes and Bec is left with a child and not much of her vision. Luckily, this upscale neighborhood has a lot of parents and mothers with children and Bec forms friendships with these women and meeting them in the park for playdates with their strollers and infants attached. One particular mother she becomes more close to than the others. Crystal. They form a bond over their grief of losing their husbands. She has an older child named Savi that ends up taking music lessons with Bec. Then the story alternates POVs from Crystal and Bec throughout.

Rea Frey wrote Bec's character as a very capable woman and right from the get go, I never saw her with a disability. She was a mom first that could do anything. I was surprised with how much she could do with her lack of vision. It was actually quite amazing. Besides her photographic memory, the way she navigated around her neighborhood and getting to appointments, checking Facebook and even cooking and such, blew me away. I liked seeing a "different" protagonist than what has become the norm.

So while Bec may seem like she has it together, we don't know what to believe. She is coming undone and thinks someone is following her and she just can't sleep. How can a blind person know someone is following if they can't see? The law enforcement doesn't take her seriously and her friends question everything. She becomes a character that we aren't sure we can depend on. When Bec believes her son has been switched and the real Jackson has gone missing, she resorts to contacting an ex that always had her back. But what would you do when no one believes you? You have no proof and you can't see. Who will be the one to believe you??

This book was high tension. I was continuously waiting for the ball to drop. And when it did, I didn't know if it was even true or not. It was like I couldn't breathe until I got answers and could figure out who was the right person to believe? Should I believe Bec without any solid evidence? Should I take the side of her friends that even questioned her? It honestly was stressing me out.

Overall, the book was original and had me questioning a few people. The story flowed well and the characters fit the story told. There were a couple little plot holes along the way, but nothing that took me out of the journey that Bec was taking me on. It was like a game of cat and mouse since we really didn't know what the heck who or what we were chasing since Bec couldn't tell us. I enjoyed this book and the originality of it and would recommend it for the suspense.

Until I Find You is a very captivating, emotional read. This story grabbed my attention right from the very beginning and all I wanted to do was keep reading. It’s about a woman who is almost completely blind, who is also a widower for about a year, who has a 3 month old son that goes missing. It showed just how strong a mother’s bond and connection is with her child. I had so many different ideas running through my head as to who took her son and why, but as usual, I was completely wrong! This is not my first time reading a Rea Frey book, I’ve also read Not Her Daughter and Because You’re Mine. I do believe though that this is my favorite. It’s a book I highly recommend and know everyone will enjoy as much as I have. I’d like to thank Erica Martirano, Senior Associate Director of Marketing at St. Martin’s Press for the invitation and NetGalley for the arc to read and review. I give this 5 stars!

I was looking forward to reading this book because I had really enjoyed a previous book I read by this author. I had high expectations, and I was a bit let down. I almost DNFed this at 35% because I was bored with it. It didn't seem like anything was ever going to happen. There was a lot of backstory and a lot stuff about motherhood. For those that enjoy reading about mothers and that experience, it would probably have been enjoyable, but I am not one of those people. I stuck with the book, though, and it definitely got better for me. I ended up liking the second half of the book.

In this story, the main character Rebecca is a widowed young mother who is also blind. One day after a fainting spell in the park, she becomes convinced that the baby boy she brought home that day is not her son. However, no one seems to believe her, and she has to fight just to get anyone to help her search for her missing child. This premise is quite intriguing, and after the incident actually happens (about 1/3 of the way into the book), it is very engaging. I felt sympathy for this blind woman who was doubted constantly because of her disability. On the other, I also found her frustrating because she never wanted to let people help her unless it was her idea.

Overall, the book is good. It moves a bit slower than I would like in the beginning, but by the second half it is more fast-paced and engaging.