Review: Perfect amount of Intrigue & Romance
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 07 23, 2013
*Actual Rating: 4.5 Stars*Losing Francesca is a young adult contemporary romance but it was also so much more. It had the perfect amount of suspense, intrigue and romance to it that left me on the edge of my seat. I swear every one of my Goodreads status updates involved WTF and what is going on. This book was in no way predictable and I had to keep reading because I desperately needed to know what the truth really was and how this book would end.Francesca is sent to live with the Sullivan family in Ohio, by order of a judge, until Fiona Sullivan's 18 birthday in seven weeks. She is believed to be Fiona, who went missing on a family vacation in Italy 12 years ago. She swears she is not Fiona Sullivan over and over but the more time she spends with the Sullivans and with Brody Mason, Fiona's childhood best friend, the more questions she has about her life and what the truth really is.Francesca/Fiona was very feisty and very stubborn. When she first went to the Sullivans, she refused to speak English as a form of rebellion and she would only say "Io non sono Fiona Sullivan." She was angry and scared and unsure of how to handle such a situation so I sympathized with her. Her father kept her very guarded and she lived a very secretive and dangerous life. However, her attitude started to grind on my nerves because I felt like she was acting childish and like a spoiled brat. Frank Sullivan had lost his wife and his daughter, Sean Sullivan had lost his mother and sister. Even though she knew she wasn't Fiona, I think she could have been more adult and at least empathized with their situation and handled herself better in the beginning. However, when she started spending time with Brody and getting to know the Sullivan's a little better, her attitude changed dramatically and I began to really like her. She grew up a lot and starting seeing things from the perspective of everyone else involved. She recognized that her life was very different from normal and she kind of liked the idea of "normal.""It's amazing really, how much easier it is to be happy and honest than it is to be angry and lying."I absolutely adored Brody. He has been pining after Francesca since they were children and her disappearance has been eating away at him for the last 12 years. He always knew she was his soulmate, even from childhood, and when she disappeared he became angry and troubled. When he finds out Fiona is back, she is all he can think about and I loved his dedication to bring her around and make her see what everyone else does. He doesn't want to lose her again and he will do anything to keep her this time. His love and dedication was sweet and endearing. He was also incredibly sexy and charming. I loved the way he exuded confidence in himself and his ability to convince Francesca of who she really is."I relive that feeling over and over and it strikes me as funny that the feeling you get over a boy, the swooning, as they call it in stories, is real. I swooned."I was sitting on the edge of my seat throughout this entire book. I never really knew whether Francesca was really Fiona or not. I constantly wavered back and forth between, "She has to be Fiona" and "Maybe she isn't Fiona." This book was so well written that even when I thought I could predict what was going to happen and I may even have figured out some parts early on, I always had doubts about what I thought I knew. The balance between mystery and romance was perfect. I was just as caught up in the romance as I was in the intrigue of the plot. The interactions between Francesca and Brody were sweet and I loved seeing the way spending time with him softened her. I also absolutely loved the development of her relationship with the Sullivans and her growth as a character. She started to see what a normal life with a normal family could be like and while she is certain she isn't Fiona Sullivan, she begins to think she might want to be. I loved that the intrigue and mystery was saved until the very end and all secrets weren't revealed until then. I needed to find out if Francesca was really Fiona and there was no way I could stop until I knew."I feel like I'm floating between identities, between families, between boyfriends, between futures. I've had to lose myself so many times, I'm not even sure who I am right now. I can't go on like this, wondering whoI was, who I should be, who I will be."J.A. Huss is a fantastic writer and she is so versatile. It amazes me the way she can move through genres and write incredible books that are so different but all so amazing. This book had everything I look for in a YA contemporary novel and I was blown away. The ending could be contrived as too perfect by I liked the happily ever after that it implied because sometimes I just need to believe that it exists and that there can be peace and love and a ride off into the sunset.