Until I Find You by Rea Frey Review by Morgan Moone

Until I Find You follows Bec Gray, a recently widowed mother experiencing progressive, degenerative eye disease that will eventually leave her blind. When we meet her, her world is already shrinking to hazes of color within darkness. Fiercely independent and still reeling from the loss of her husband, Bec attempts to maintain normalcy in her life as she cares for her infant child, Jackson. She relies on the help of a small group of friends in her neighborhood. When Bec believes her child has been swapped with another, Bec must decide whether she will believe her friends when they say she’s being paranoid, or if she’ll trust her instincts in order to find her son. Frey weaves this story seamlessly. I found myself flying through the chapters. Her writing was precise and mostly avoided cliches. (There was one instance where Bec let go of a breath she didn’t realize she was holding). Bec was believable and easy to empathize with, and I found myself fully invested in her story. Bec was a developed character and, because her journey prior to the story was clear, I easily bonded to her and stayed firmly on her side throughout the story. However, what Bec’s character had, other characters lacked. Bec’s group of female friends all blended together, as their personalities were incredibly similar and there wasn’t enough development to allow the reader to truly differentiate their purpose or role in the story. Until I Found you is a plot-driven story, but Bec’s attempts to find her son seem to be laced with implausible twists – requests to confirm the identity of the child through DNA testing go unanswered, and the response of the police and DCS is unbelievable. The suspense that could have been created through a more dynamic struggle between these entities and Bec is and opportunity that is woefully lost. While I remained invested in the story, I was thoroughly disappointed with the Epilogue, which attempted to tie everything up into a happy bow, without really considering realistic impacts and consequences of the kidnapping of a child. Thrilling? Yes. Realistic? Not entirely.