I loved In Search Of Us because its unusual take on perspective. Having a split narrative between Angie and her mother, Marilyn, meant that it had a depth her parental perspective that is often lacking in YA novels. It made the novel that much more heartbreaking, to be able to see where Marilyn’s protectiveness stems from and at the same time why Angie feels so lost and unimportant.

I also found it really refreshing to see a teenage YA character who doesn’t know what she wants to do with her life. I know often YA characters have a goal or an interest because that helps define them, but I think it’s important to have YA characters who can show that it’s ok if you don’t know what you want. This particularly resonated with me, and also Marilyn’s habit of taking mind-pictures in an effort to hold onto that fleeting perfect moment. The writing style and these details made it really easy for me to connect with both characters.

I found myself really drawn into the story not only because of how I quickly grew to empathise with Angie and Marilyn, but also in part due to the lush description of the settings which I found myself really getting lost in at times. I also was delighted by all the musical references in the novel and may have to go through and make a playlist of all of them. As the book went on, I began to feel that it was that kind of YA novel that goes much deeper than people expect YA novels to, and there was some content that felt more like New Adult fiction than YA. I also found myself saving far more quotes than I usually do.

If I had to criticise, I would say that Angie and Sam’s relationship often felt sidelined and not as important as Angie discovering her personal history. While I liked Sam, the whole romance felt a little forced and unnecessary, especially in comparison to James and Marilyn’s story.

Overall, In Search Of Us was incredibly absorbing and heartbreaking - I did almost cry at the bus stop near the end of the book. I think it’s definitely one I’ll be coming back to again and again.

Actual rating 3.5

I admit, I wasn't the biggest fan of Dellaira's previous work Love Letters to the Dead - the idea was stellar, the execution meh. Thankfully, this wasn't the case with In Search of Us.

This is a tale of a multigenerational conflict, told in a compelling dual POV - one is Angie, an African-American teen, the other Marylin, a white woman and Angie's mother. The story jumps back and forth between Marilyn in her teens as she falls in love with Angie's father James, and Angie living in the present, having been raised without a dad.
The "mystery part" a.k.a. finding out what happened to Angie's father was somehow my least favorite part of the book. While I did want to know what happened to him, I just didn't entirely comprehend why her mother lied about the events that took place in her youth.
For me, the strong parts in this book were the relationships - James and Justin's brotherhood, James' family in general, the budding romance between Marylin and James.
There is also Angie's relationship with her ex-boyfriend Sam that somehow both intrigued and irked me. While at times I completely understood why she treated him the way she did, other times it felt just like the conflicts were staged to add more tension to a story that didn't need it.
Still, I kept reading on. Something in this story that I can't quite make out kept drawing me in. Perhaps it was the fact that some parts hit too close to home - Marylin doesn't want to be what her mother wants for her, but she does it regardless, Angie wants to know more about her family but needs to hide it from her mother to not make her cry. The mother-daughter relationships in this book are complicated ones and they were also the most fascinating part of this book. YA rarely focuses on fleshed-out, complex mother-daughter relationships and it was like a breath of fresh air in this comtemporary.

All in all, a compelling, at times heart-wrenching read that I'd recommend to anyone looking for complex familial relationships.

Read the first twenty or so pages and it's just not my thing. I didn't feel any connections to the characters or anything that would grip me to keep reading.

This book is not at all what I expected it to be but I really enjoyed it nonetheless. Initially I found myself relating more to Marilyn (the Mother) and realised that she would have been born around the same time as me and she is the older generation in this book! I have to admit, I felt a bit old.
It was really great seeing the book come together from the different times and perspectives and I found myself not wanting to put it down nearing the end in anticipation to see how it all ended up.

This is almost two books in one. One story about Marilyn, her struggles with her mother and uncle and her new relationships with the family who lives below her; one story about Angie, searching for her possibly-not-dead father. Although I knew the connection between them, it was a long time before they really seemed to link up.

The struggles both girls went through were authentic, although I disliked Angie for the way she treated Sam. It was a good ending, though, and I loved Marilyn's hair of taking mind pictures - I might try and develop it myself.

A great, occasionally heartbreaking read.

Seventeen year old Marilyn and her mother must move out of their home, with nowhere else to go they move in with Marilyn’s Uncle Woody. After moving in Marilyn makes a connection with a boy her age from downstairs, James. Together they go on adventures, explore LA and planning their future together by studying at the local library, each trying to ensure they get into college. Marilyn snaps them as they go, documenting the world around them, what could go wrong?

Seventeen year old Angie has grown up being told her father and uncle both perished in a car crash before she was born, but when exploring online Angie discovers Justin, a video producer from LA. Justin has the same name as her uncle, he’s the same ages as he would be and in the same location. If it really is her Justin why has her mother lied? Does that mean her father could still be out there? After discovering a hidden photograph Angie is determined to find out for herself.

We read Marilyn and Angie’s story in parallel with both of them as seventeen year olds discovering the world. To begin with, I found it a tad difficult to follow but soon picked it up. One of the most important parts of the book is the highlighting of racial tension that existed in the 90’s and still exist today, the book deals with it well showing the injustices in the world.

When I picked the book up it was the first I’ve read from Ava Dellaira so I didn’t have any expectations, it was nicely written but I felt Marilyn’s story was much more in-depth. I felt a connection to her that I never did with Angie. Angie didn’t feel as developed and had no direction, she just wasn’t as likeable.

While I didn’t fall in love with the book, it was still a good read. Defiantly worth picking up!

I really enjoyed this book! It did take me a long while to get into it but overall i liked it. The character development was beautiful in this book and I loved the characters. It’s very in real with the journeys both of them go through as they’re trying to overcome life and live it to their fullest.

I recommend reading this book :)

I was looking forward to reading this as it was my first book by Dellaira and because of the parallel stories it told.
The stories of Angie and Marilyn were compelling and their struggles, often very different but in essence distinctly adolescent, sounded authentic and real. It turned out that the parallel structure, although easy to follow, turned out to be less than perfect because it created (in my mind, at least) a lack of connection, almost an abyss, between Angie and Marilyn because of their lack of interaction throughout the novel.
Angie’s relationship with Sam made me like her a little less because of how she treated him. The rekindling of their relationship at the end came a bit out of the blue because I didn’t think Angie’s feelings throughout the novel supported it.
I loved the road trip feel to the novel, though. And the language was almost poetic, a joy to read.