This was a fascinating story about self discovery, identity, and how family secrets impact us all. As a biracial women I enjoy reading a book with a character I could identify with in so many ways.

3.5 stars

I hadn't really heard anything about this, but Dellaira's debut, Love Letters to the Dead, was really popular when it was first published and was meant to be very good, so I hoped this would be too. I really liked the concept of this, of following a mother and daughter both at the age of 17, such a formative time in someone's life, and how their own relationships with their respective mothers, boyfriends, and families have shaped them as people so strongly, for better or worse. This structure of the dual narrative compelled me to keep reading, too, as I wanted the mystery of James, Angie's father and Marilyn's boyfriend, to be solved as to his disappearance, and while the answer was brutal I do think it highlighted the very present issues of police brutality and institutional racism, while also portraying the aftereffects of someone so important being missing from their lives. I definitely want to go back and read Dellaira's debut from this now.

Book Review:

Like a lot of people I had heard of Ava Dellaira because of Love Letters To The Dead, but when I got an opportunity to review her second book I was really excited although I haven't really heard that many people talk about it. Overall, In Search Of Us is an entertaining and heartfelt read that deserves to be read by everyone.


I don't really know what I was expecting when I picked up the good really. Even though I had had it on my TBR for a while, it was really the audiobook that made me pick it up and it was a great choice because the audiobook was amazing. I think that it was this low expectation that made me really love this book because I really did not know what to expect.

I think the thing that I loved about the book is that it actually cares about the parents. We get to see the sacrifices of Angie's Mum in the book which was equally engrossing as Angie's story herself. Also as someone who does not really love teenage pregnancy in books, I liked how it was dealt with her.

I think that as a teenager Angie can also often put her needs first and forgot that her mum had been through some of the same struggles that she had too which are equally valid. I think that this development of both characters made the book so engaging and entertaining and I cared so much about all the characters. I think more for myself, it made me think about my own mum and all the things that happened to her when she grew up and the things that she dealt with.

I think that the way that the two narratives were put together were just expertly done and I can't stop thinking about this book although it has been a really long time since I read it. I just want to post the review to hopefully inspire other people to read the book and give it a chance. I can't wait to read more books by Ava Dellaira in the future because she is a great writer.

The Verdict:

In Search Of Us is a great and unique YA story chronically two generations of a family. Whether you read YA constantly or want to try something new, In Search Of Us is perfect for everyone.

A beautifully written tale with twists and turns. I ice the main character and she reduced.e to tears. More stories like this should be out there for people to enjoy.

I just want to personally thank NetGalley for giving me the chance to read an advance copy of this book, I apologize that the review is late.

I highly enjoyed this book and its characters. I loved the two different stories of Marilyn and Angie and their journeys.

This book made me smile and also brought me to tears and I didn't want to put it down, I beg that everyone gives this book and read and I hope you love it as much as I did.

There will probably be spoilers in this but I figure that since it's been out for a while that should be ok.

I love the two parallel stories running through this, when we meet Marilyn at 17 years old she is a model- sort of, her mother aspires for her to be a model whereas Marilyn wants more for herself but she just goes along with what her mum wants.
When she meets James he eventually becomes her escape, he encourages her to make decisions for herself and start living the life she wants.
They very quickly fell in love, and I fell in love with their love it was so beautifully written.
Unfortunately as you saw above, James was killed before he knew Marilyn was pregnant.

Which brings us to Angie, Marilyn always led Angie to believe that James had died in a car accident, and when Angie finds proof of an uncle Marilyn tells her he died in the car accident too.
I know it's so tempting to almost dislike Marilyn for her decision, but by the end of the story I can almost understand why she did it.

I don't want to give any major spoilers as to what happened to James but I had tears in my eyes as I read it, it was so heart breaking.

I loved Angie as a character- and I know people may be sat there thinking "but why did she go away with her ex-boyfriend? that's just asking for trouble" their breakup isn't what you may think.
For Angie this whole trip to find her uncle and maybe her dad is about finding herself, she knows she loves Sam but she couldn't tell him.

One thing that is mentioned quite a lot is the fact that Angie is mixed-race and her mum is white, and how people would often mistake her blonde, white friends as being Marilyn's daughter. And I think this is so important to bring up because you still see people now asking "how can they have a child that's a different colour?" (I mean it's not exactly hard to work out how, but there are still people who question)

By the end of the novel Angie meets her uncle and finds out the truth about her dad, not only that she gets to meet her great grandma, Marilyn is reunited with Jame's family after running away 17 years ago worried that they would blame her for what happened to him.

While Marilyn and Jame's love story is a big part of the plot, this book to me is also about finding your family and yourself, both Marilyn and Angie spend quite a lot of time not really knowing what THEY want to do with their lives but somehow this one particular family, and a hummingbird are there to help them.

If you want a book that makes you "feel all the feels" then this is definitely one of those books, there were bits that made me smile, bits that made me cry, bits that made me happy cry.

It was all so beautifully written. And I may have to purchase the physical copy because I feel like I need to own it.

Beautifully written and poignant. The characters are multi-faceted, intricate and well-rounded, the timelines blend seamlessly and I found both utterly captivating.

The most striking thing about this whole book was how real it was. The relationships, the pressure, the worries about the future, the racism - both upfront in Marilyn's story and in regards to the micro-aggressions Angie faces.

There were parts that made me tear up and I'm a hard crier so that's a strong testament to the brilliant writing. The ending was also perfectly complete.

This book didn't suit my reading taste and sadly I couldn't get into the story. Therefore I did not finish this book.

Having loved Dellaira's first novel, I was disappointed to find myself really struggling to get into In Search Of Us. In the end, I gave up but will return in a month or two when my mood is different, as I often find when I DNF a book that it's the reader, rather than the book, at fault.

This was a fascinating story about the longing for identity and the secrets of the past. The only thing was that every time I got into a thread of the story, it switched back to the other thread. Though I liked both of the threads and Marilyn and Angie were both great characters, it just jarred me every time it switched.

I got into it more as I got further into the book though and it felt less jarring. The best thing about it was the romance. Marilyn's relationship with James felt so very real, which is something that I don't find often with book romance. And Marilyn as a character was so great and vivid. She felt like someone I just wanted to know more and more about.

Angie felt less detailed, but what I liked about her story was the sense of loss she felt at never knowing her father, never knowing anything about her father. Throughout the book she was searching for an identity that was so lacking throughout her childhood and was emphasised to her every time someone pointed out she didn't look like her mother.

I look forward to reading more of Dellaira's books.

Going into this, I knew I was taking a risk. It wasn’t my usual kind of book but something about it caught my attention. I had heard mixed reviews on the author’s previous book, Love Letters To The Dead, but figured I wanted to try some of her works. So I gave it a go.

Unfortunately, this book wasn’t for me. For some reason, I just couldn’t get into it. The characters were realistic and likeable enough, the plot has lots of potential, but it just couldn’t keep my attention.. I’m unsure of how much of it was to do with my health (It’s been pretty bad) so I do plan to try it again sometime in the future, when I’m in the right kind of mood for this kind of book.

As it is, I’m gonna give it a simple 3 out of 5 stars because it was an alright read.

4.5 stars

I went into In Search of Us not really knowing much about the book, I’d seen Sam give the book a five star rating and that’s all I needed to give this book a go. To be honest I really did struggle with the beginning of the book, the chapters alternate with perspectives from Angie in the present and her mum Marilyn in the past. And I found myself more interested in following Angie’s perspective, I wanted to follow her story and longing in discovering the truth in what happened with her father. But as the story progressed, I began to understand the importance of getting Marilyn’s story from the past, it played such an integral part to how far Marilyn had come and the person Angie had become today.

Dellaira gave us such a beautiful story with In Search of Us, I enjoyed going on this incredible journey with Angie to discover the truth about her father, the risks she took to get there and the fear that she had to deal with when she found out the truth. Angie was a character who I immensely liked, yes, she made mistakes along the way when she just had one focus in mind, but what 17-year-old would travel to LA to try and find her uncle, with only titbits of information? Yes, she was going behind her mum’s wishes, but I could understand her sense of longing and answers that she needed after she had first discovered the photo of her parents. I kind of had a feeling about how things would end up for Angie when she got to LA, but nothing could have prepared me for her story. It was heartfelt and raw, and left such a lasting impression with me.

In Search of Us was just a beautifully written story, I couldn’t praise Dellaira enough in giving us such a wonderful story. The overlap in stories from Marilyn and Angie was done majestically, with Dellaira constantly keeping us on our toes with us not knowing what could be around the corner. In Search of Us was really a gem of a read, one that I will be constantly thinking and talking about in the upcoming weeks.

This book truly embraces a new way of highlighting important social themes. Despite the overarching plot being fairly week the characters and their dynamics truly elevated this novel. I really enjoyed how all the social issues were simply laid out with no apology (how they would be in the real world).

In Search of Us tells two parallel stories, of a mother and daughter, and of love and trauma that span generations. The first story follows Angie, a seventeen-year-old, mixed-race girl who has always believed that her father, James, died before she was born. Until she finds out that her mother, Marilyn, lied about James's brother also being dead. With the news that Angie's uncle is still alive and living in LA, Angie doesn't know if she can believe what Marilyn tells her anymore, so she enlists the help of her ex-boyfriend, Sam, to drive her to LA so she can find out the truth about her family, and possibly find the father she never got to meet.

The second story follows Angie's mother, Marilyn, before she was Angie's mother, when she was seventeen, and her own mother, so determined for Marilyn to succeed, moved the two of them in with Marilyn's uncle in LA. All Marilyn wants is to get out of LA and leave her acting career and her alcoholic uncle behind. Until she becomes friends with the boy who lives in the apartment below her uncle's, James, Angie's dad. Marilyn falls in love, not only with James, but with his whole family, who make her feel at home in a way her own family never has, and over one summer Marilyn falls in love and begins to set out and choose her own path.

In alternate chapters we see Angie desperately search for the uncle who might lead her to the father she no longer believes is dead, and learn why Marilyn kept the summer she spent with James a secret from her daughter. Both girls are searching for different things. Angie, for a father who she can talk to about her African-American heritage in a way she can't with Marilyn and who can alleviate the difficulties she faces as the black daughter of a white woman. Marilyn, simply for an escape from her controlling mother, trying to live her dreams through her daughter at Marilyn's expense, and her volatile uncle who tries to forbid her from seeing James.

Angie and Marilyn's stories are both full of longing and desperation, one looking to get away from a family and the other looking to find one. Although the two stories are different, they weave together to eventually reveal the truth of what happened to James, and for both girls to learn what they need to carry on. The writing is vivid and beautiful, bringing to life both the LA setting and the characters' emotions in a way that is easy to get lost in. Personally, I thought James and Marilyn's love story was the most engrossing of the two, but neither story can really exist without the other, just as Marilyn and Angie would not exist as they are without each other. This is a beautiful and heartbreaking story about the things we unwittingly pass down through generations, and I highly recommend it.

I really enjoyed Ava Dellaira’s Love Letters To The Dead and when I saw this book could be requested, I knew I had to give it a read and I wasn’t wrong.

This book has such a human aspect to it and it feels like it’s happening right as you read it, and that reality makes for such a fantastic read as we see the two perspectives of two people as one falls in love and the other looks to find information on their family, and this book flows so easily that it’s hard to stop reading and seeing their stories unfold.

There are things that seem strange, the characters don’t really interact within the story, especially with such a big secret and the characters in some ways can across as unlikeable in moments. This is particularly the case for Angie when it comes to her love interest in the book who I feel is used, but then he is sort of boring - I would rather have had a friend than this. Marilyn’s parts at the start I feel are compelling, but as the book moves on, Angie’s chapters really begin to shine.

A really compelling story with a rare, well-written, mother/daughter relationship, In Search Of Us, is a great read.

I read ‘Love Letters to the Dead’ by Ava Dellaira a few years ago and although I don’t remember much about what happened, it’s one of those books that still haunts me today. So when I heard Dellaira had a new book coming out, I just knew I had to read it.

Admittedly, at first, I was a bit skeptical about the book. I’m not that into the whole flipping between characters because I become too easily attached. But the switch between Marilyn and Angie’s narrative was so necessary and done exceptionally well. It really helped understand both their struggles and how they got to where they are now.

Dellaira's writing is just so, so good. It’s smooth but comforting with the way she describes the colours in the sky to how Marilyn falls in love. But there’s a slight haunting and harrowing edge to it that brings the harsh realness into her works. I absolutely love it.

Overall, great story and definitely a one-up from ‘Love Letters to the Dead’. Solid characters that I couldn't help but connect with. It’s just a beautiful and compelling but haunting story to tell and I really enjoyed it.

I was so eager to read this book following Ava Dellaira’s other release, Love Letter’s to The Dead.’ I fell so in love with Love Letters so I had high expectations. And unfortunately they were not met. This story was so jumpy and confusing for me. I got the basic plot points like it was following a mother and daughter both at age Seventeen. But it got confusing in my head whilst reading. I forgot who’s POV I was on and it was just ahh. POV stories, majority of the time, aren’t for me but overall it was a good read.

I really enjoyed parts of this book, and other parts not so much. Overall I would recommend, particularly as a holiday read

i would recommend this book 100% i loved every minute from start to finish. There was so much going on , I loved the way the story was two different perspectives the mother when she was 17 and then her daughter when she was 17. It was beautifully written. I loved all the characters within the story each one had there own personality. I felt when reading the story that i was there and that the author painted a picture when telling the story it was so visual when i was reading the book i could see everything feel and smell everything it was like so real .

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest and fair review.

I absolutely loved this book, which is definitely not something I was anticipating given that I avoided reading the majority of the synopsis.

I absolutely loved the characters and the development through the novel - particularly the development of the two main characters as they came together. The developments of the story and th characters made it an intriguing read and I was desperate to see how they would mean the two timelines.

I loved the character of Angie and how she moved from spoiled brat to a girl who understood what her mother and father went through and grew to accept that she is someone who can let others in.


As a rule I never normally read novels with two timelines - i can sometimes very easily be confused - but the title of this one had me hooked and I wanted to try something new and I am very glad I did. Seeing the differences between the two timelines and how the world around them acted was amazing to see and I feel happy that we got to see how the two timelines met.

The writing was amazing and I felt that I was able to go between the two perspectives so easily and without any form of difficulty.

I would highly recommend this novel to anyone!