Member Reviews
A story of a blind widowed mother,a missing child and family dynamics.
This is a tense and fast moving novel.Crystal,Rebecca and Jessica are wonderful,multidimensional characters and their families and others close to them add even more depth.
In the over-saturated domestic thriller/missing child genre this a breath of fresh air that most people would enjoy.
I highly recommend this for those who like domestic thrillers,women's fiction or well paced thrillers.
Amazing story. The power of a blind single Mom to find her son, even when no one believes her. Lots of twists and turns and an ending that you don't see coming. Thanks to net Galley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Rea Frey is a master at domestic suspense! This one may be the best one yet!
Rebecca Gray has had a time of it. Diagnosed in her twenties with an eye disease that will leave her totally blind, every day she can see a little less. Shadows, outlines and soon there will be total darkness. To make matters worse, her husband is killed in an accident while she is pregnant with their son, Jackson.
Bec moves to the suburbs alone. In a home meant to be shared with her husband and son. She makes friends with a few other moms but suffers almost debilitating fear and anxiety over her ability to take care of and protect her son. Having lost her husband, she isn't taking any chances with her only child.
But life in the burbs isn't as idyllic as it sounds. And Bec finds this out in the most painful of ways. One day at the park she passes out. Her friends bring her to their house and talk to her about getting rest and taking better care of herself. With the aid of a friend's sleeping pills, she gets some rest and wakes up only to find that the child in her crib is not Jackson.
The police, as well as her friends, think she may be confused and still grieving her husband. Tiny babies all look alike. Except to their mothers. Mothers know their baby's smell, touch, and every breath. And Bec knows this is not her child.
With help from a past love, she will move mountains to find out who took her child and who is this baby in the crib? And the ending will leave you speechless!
I have to say that as I was reading this I am recovering from my 4th eye surgery, so this was already a scary time for me. Reading this had me jumping at every noise! And my husband wondering if I was ever coming out of the bathtub!
Another Great Job!
NetGalley/ August 11th, 2020 by St. Martin's Griffin
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! No spoilers. Beyond amazing I enjoyed this book so very much. The characters and storyline were fantastic. The ending I did not see coming Could not put down nor did I want to. Truly Amazing and appreciated the whole story. This is going to be a must read for many many readers. Maybe even a book club pick.
Thank you to St. Martins Press for the opportunity to read this advance reader copy.
This book is full of twists and turns, and just when I thought I had it figured out each time, it would twist again!
I loved Bec, and was pulling for her the whole time. She went through so much in the year preceding the timeframe of this story, and yet, somehow I felt it was believable. I don’t want to give anything away, so I will just say that if you want a book that will take you down a winding path while you try to figure out what happened, this is the book for you! I loved it!
A blind widow’s baby is switched with another. No one believes her and it is up to her to solve the mystery and get her baby back before it’s too late. This is the third Frey book I have read. I disliked the first but found redemption in the second.
Until I Find You is Frey’s most ambitious novel to date and what was lost in the thriller suspense aspect was made up for in writing a blind protagonist who is newly widowed with a three month old.
Watching Rebecca Gray navigate through the recent loss of her husband and mother while having to care for her three month old son, Jackson is nothing short of remarkable. She lives in a tightknit community in a suburb of Chicago and has friends but Rebeca is essentially alone among privileged white women living out their days in yoga pants and million dollar homes. She resides in her childhood home after the recent death of her mother who became her primary helper after the untimely death of her husband.
Once a promising travelling cellist, after she began to lose her vision, her career vanished. She learned to rely on her heightened senses to navigate her world. She recently has the feeling of being watched and followed. Along with disturbing dreams about her son, Rebecca moves into an anxious and fearful state.
One day, after passing out in the park amongst her friends, she later realizes that the baby in her crib at home is not her son. No one believes the blind woman who has recently exhibited what they deem paranoid behavior. Suddenly Rebecca is thrust into nightmare world where she needs to rely on the help of those who question both her sanity and her fitness as a mother.
Entering into the picture is Rebecca’s ex, the love of her life who happens to be a detective. Together they forge an alliance to find her missing baby and figure out whose baby was left in his place.
There were parts of the story that were never fully fleshed out and the big revel was not as exciting as her last book. The best part of this book is Rebecca herself and her amazing resilience in the face of such insurmountable odds. I do believe that the author put the bulk of her energy into researching and writing this character so that other characters paled in comparison including Jake, Rebecca’s ex-boyfriend. Though the storyline suffered, I enjoyed the book and look forward to reading more from Frey.
BRB Rating: Read It.
Local author alert 🚨 I am SO excited to have had the opportunity to read and review Rea Frey’s latest and greatest, Until I Find You!
Since Rebecca Gray was diagnosed with a degenerative eye disease, everything in her life consists of numbers. Each day her world grows a little darker and each step becomes a little more dangerous. Following days of feeling like someone’s watching her, Bec awakes at home, after fainting in the park, to the cries of her son in his nursery. When it’s clear he’s not going to settle, Bec goes to check on him. She reached in. Picks him up. But he’s not her son.
This was heart-pounding, heart-felt, and heart-wrenching. First and foremost, I am SO happy to read about someone with a disability. This is largely missing in literature, most notably in the thriller genre. The author did so well describing Rebecca’s world through her senses. The plot was very fast-paced, and I felt myself rooting for every single character at some point. I also really loved the fact that the “why” was way more important than the “who done it.” The character motives would make for great book club discussion. I love it when a book makes me think about what *I* would have done.
Until I Find You doesn’t release until August, but in the meantime, check our Rea Frey’s other books; you won’t be disappointed. Thank you @stmartinspress for the ARC!
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Thank you to Net Galley and St. Martin's Press for the chance to read and review this book. I have read all of Rea Frey's books, and this one did not disappoint. Rebecca Gray is a young widow with a baby named Jackson. Even worse, she has been diagnosed with a disease that is making her gradually go blind. One day she reaches into his crib to pick up Jackson, but it's not Jackson. Where is her baby? Who is this baby in Jackson's crib? When she reports this to the police, no one believes her (not even her friends). I enjoyed this thriller-I could feel Rebecca's fear. I was also surprised by the ending. This is another winner from Rea Frey!
4.5 stars!
This was a taught thriller, which kept me anxious throughout.. I was so nervous thinking how it would be to be deaf, a new mother, and a new widow. Its hard enough managing with sight and a new baby, this woman was an incredible force. I don't think I would have been able to even leave the house with my baby,
Rea Frey is an incredible author, this is my third read from her and it was wonderful. I put it on my too be read list on Goodreads before there was a synopsis or a cover and requested it before having read what it was about...that is how sure I was that Frey would delight me once again.
Thank you NetGalley and St. martins Press for an advanced copy of, Until I Find You, in exchange for my honest opinion.
The publisher sent me a free copy via email. I didn't start it right away, and after I did, it took me a while to really continue to read it once I set it down.
WOW. It's funny, I'm so accustomed to psychological thrillers that have such bad intent, that when I found out what really happened here, it was really emotional and conflicting. This is a fantastic read. Frey really captures what it's like to live without sight and all the fear and paranoia that Rebecca felt and dealt with on a daily basis is truly unimaginable to me. This book is really well done, and not the first book I've read by this amazing author.
10/10 recommend this to anyone who wants a good psychological thriller feel with a good ending.
Many thanks to the publisher for the free copy!
This story tells of a blind widow, Bec, who, despite the skepticism of the police and her friends, stays strong in her assertion that her own baby has been kidnapped and another baby left in his place. Rea Frey does a great job describing how a blind mother takes care of and protects her child. I felt bad for her that the police started wondering if she was even capable of taking care of a child. I did suspect that the individual who finally confesses to switching the babies had something to do with it, but I couldn’t figure out how or why she did it. I appreciated how Bec, instead of pressing charges, chooses a compassionate, forgiving route instead.
I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Rebecca has been dealt a rough hand. She is recently widowed, has lost her mother, her career, her sight, and is a new mother. It is terrifying to contemplate all the things that could go wrong taking care of herself and her son.
Rebecca is a fighter and she shows extraordinary strength in wanting the best life possible for her child. She knows exactly how many steps it takes to maneuver around her house and neighborhood. She also knows every inch, every sound, and every smell associated with her baby. When she believes she is being followed or when objects she knows she has placed in certain positions in her house are moved, she starts to panic. The more things go wrong, the more fearful Rebecca becomes.
Her friends are sympathetic, but believe Rebecca is overwrought and exhausted. When Rebecca claims that her son has been replaced with another baby, the police, as well as her friends, don't know what to think. Why would someone switch babies? Has Rebecca suffered a breakdown or is someone determined to wreck her life?
Was there one character in Until I Find You that I didn't suspect? Nope. Was the ending what my spidey amateur detective sense guessed. Nope. A fast-paced read that had me changing my mind again and again about what was going on with Rebecca.
Another emotional read from Rea Frey who has become one of my favorite authors.
I loved this book. An amazing story with an ending that I did not see coming. This is a must read book. Highly recommended
Loved this book! It was amazing and kept me intrigued the whole time I was reading. I loved the last book by this author and this one was even better. I did not expect the ending . I was wrestling with whether Bec was losing her mind or if she was right about Jackson not being jackson. Can't wait for the next book by this author. I reccomend anyone looking for a thriller to get their hands on this book and read away!
This book kept me reading late into the wee hours of the night. It was captivating storytelling at its best! The story is told from the points of view of the different women surrounding the main character Bec as well as Bec herself. Bec is a mother and a widow and her baby Jackson is the best little two-month-old baby ever. Bec is having some problems though. She is not only sleep-deprived but is also mourning the sudden loss of her husband Chris and her mother who died shortly after unexpectedly. And as if this poor lady didn't have enough to be stressed out about, she goes to the park one day and ends up fainting. It's a good thing her friend Jess and a few other mothers are there to help. Jess takes Bec over to their friend Crystal's house so that she can rest for a bit. Bec then takes Jackson home. Only when she wakes up she realizes that the baby that is in Jackson's crib is not Jackson. She is sure of it. Enabling the help of her friends and ex-boyfriend who is a police officer, Bec goes on a wild goose chase to find Jackson and find out whose baby she has. What I really enjoyed was that although the author made Bec seem like she was perhaps an unreliable character, she was also really likable and not stupid. She was a really strong main character that I think any mother missing her child would cheer on. The story is written so well with such a fantastic ending I'd say it is my favorite read so far for 2020. A must-read for fans of suspense!
Thank you to Netgalley, Rea Frey, and St. Martin's Griffin for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.
A special thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Griffin for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Having been diagnosed in her twenties with a degenerative eye disease, Rebecca Gray is losing her sight. Because of this, and her husband's death, Bec has moved to the suburbs to raise her infant son, Jackson. She gains a wonderful support system including Crystal, who she met at a grief support group. Crystal is also a widow.
After fainting in the park, Bec vows that she needs to prioritize herself and her health—get more sleep, eat better, go to therapy. The last few months have been incredibly stressful. Later that day, when she picks up Jackson from his nap, Bec instantly realizes that he is not her son.
But nobody believes her. The police think that she's just confused, and her friends don't see any difference. She must be suffering from sleep deprivation.
Relying on her mother's intuition, Rebecca will stop at nothing to find her son.
Until I Find You is framed by Bec's sight constraints and it is incredibly effective. Frey deftly weaves the narrative between the alternating perspectives of Bec and Crystal. There are added layers to Crystals' storyline with the mother-daughter dynamic, as well as the nanny who further complicates things. This all ties back to the theme of motherhood—how difficult and delicate a balance it can be.
This book is claustrophobic because of Bec's limited sight—my heart was literally in my throat for most of the time. Frey excels at building tension. The narrative is gripping and compulsive, while not being trite.
Through well-written characters and strong pacing, Until I Find You is a taut and emotional domestic thriller. Frey's latest work explores the powerful bond between mothers and their children and just how far one woman will go to bring her son home.
Rebecca Gray has a lot on her plate: a degenerative eye disorder, a new born, and is recently widowed and motherless. She navigates life through her using her photographic memory and with the guidance of her “mom friends” Beth and Jess as well as the one friend she made during grief group, Crystal. All of the stresses of life are catching up with her and her friends are insisting that she needs help. When she faints in the park one afternoon, she swears that she’s ok, but after a long afternoon she realizes that the baby in her crib is not her baby. With the help of ex-boyfriend, she tries to figure out how to convince everyone that although she cannot see, she is certain that the baby is not hers. Her journey to the truth is a difficult one to manage, but a mothers intuition is never wrong. Or is it?
I downloaded this book (finally) yesterday as it has been waiting for me on my shelf. This book was amazing. I am mad at myself for waiting this long to read it. It kept me guessing the whole way through. I read it in less than a day and only stopped bc I had to sleep. Definitely recommend! Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to publish my honest review.
An incredibly well-written book with great perspectives and unexpected twists!
"Until I Find You" is the story of a recently widowed wife/mother - who is also blind and is struggling to get people to believe that her baby son has been replaced. This story builds perfectly - and the twists are never what the reader thinks.
The story raises excellent questions about what it means to really believe your own mind - even when the world is convinced you're wrong. And then, using great supporting characters, leads into an exploration of the many ways to be a good mother.
I really enjoyed this book - The only reason why I'm giving it 4 stars is because of a slight lag at the beginning and a slightly unnecessary romantic subplot.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC of this great book!
This book was absolutely amazing! Loved every second of it! I couldn’t get through it fast enough and never saw the ending coming!!!