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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
The book is cluttered with too much going on, the promising concept never has a chance to shine. Not recommended, July 17, 2008
Cousins Laura and Miles grew up like sisters, but high school has separated them--attending different schools, Laura has become attractive and successful, Miles overweight and underachieving. When Laura's sudden suicide separates them for good, Miles begins a downward spiral of overeating, drug use, and depression. You Know Where To Find Me is based on the absence of Laura, but it heart lies with Miles, her downfall, and her journey back to life. This should be enough content to make up a novel--but, unfortunately, it's not. Miles is a believable narrator, but there are so many issues cluttering the short book, from politics to drug use and of course Laura's suicide, that no one element has the chance to stand out. The subject matter may interest younger readers, and there's nothing outright bad or overly objectionable, but on the whole this book is lackluster and I don't recommend it.
You Know Where To Find Me has many promising aspects but no major strength. The initial concept--Laura's suicide--makes for an intriguing opening and an unusual book, where the primary driving force is not a character but instead her absence. Unfortunately, Laura's backstory is revealed so early and so easily that it is stripped of longterm interest. The book's of the other promising aspects have similarly anticlimactic developments. Cohn approaches these many aspects in good faith, creating both hopeful potential and premature world-weariness in Miles, and exploring things like the D.C. setting and Miles's drug use in realistically gritty and still approachable detail. However, there are so many factors--such as those I've mentioned, and young love, local politics, and issues with sexual activity, race, diet, and parental relationships, as well as suicide, loss, and grief--that no one aspect has the chance to rise above the others and shine.
As a result, this book is cluttered and brief, too short a text with too much going on. No one aspect is explored in enough interest or depth, and even worse the ending is too swift and too easy. Wrapped up in a simplified conclusion, Miles is stripped of her otherwise realistic character growth and the long, painful journey through her grief and personal problems. Despite the premise and promise, You Know Where To Find Me doesn't deliver much. Cohn has an adequate, unexceptional writing style, and there's enough taboo subject matter (mostly drug use and suicide) to hold the reader's interest, particularly in a young adult. It's not a bad book, and the content (especially the accepting messages about race and body type) is largely non-objectionable--I wouldn't warn away the interested reader. But there isn't enough to make this book worth reading, and so I don't recommend it.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Courtesy of Teens Read Too, March 10, 2008
Laura and Miles grew up together. They were cousins who lived so close that Miles could sneak out of her room on scary, stormy nights and escape to the safety of Laura's bed. They spent hours in their tree house and hiding out in their favorite bookstore. As little girls became adolescents, though, being related and living near each other didn't guarantee closeness.
Miles liked to eat and drink. And smoke. Her body put on weight, her poorly-dyed hair never behaved, and she escaped the world by reading. Her grades sucked. She didn't care.
Laura was a beautiful, social butterfly. She was pleasant. Got good grades. Had the perfect boyfriend. The adoring father. So why is she the one who killed herself?
And Miles wonders why Laura got everything. Everything. She even got to escape the world. She got what Miles wanted. Miles planned on joining her. Who would even care if Miles died, anyway?
With that frame of mind, Miles takes several downward turns which continue to lead her in the direction her life had been heading for a long time. Laura even left Miles a secret stash of drugs to help her cope. For a while, Miles chooses to live life in a state of numbness. The worst thing to her was when the fog faded and she had to face life
without her cousin.
As you read YOU KNOW WHERE TO FIND ME, you find touching characters. You care for them--not just Miles--but her father, Laura's father, even Laura herself. Miles falls to such a low that everyone worries about her chances of survival. But somehow in this cocoon of a druggy fog, there's a spirit of a person. A person who is stronger than many people realized. People are not always what they seem. Sometimes they are stronger. Sometimes weaker.
Rachel Cohn has written a touching novel that covers so many issues. And it leaves you thinking. Wondering. Hoping.
Reviewed by: Dianna Geers
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Lost after Loss, February 28, 2008
Two cousins grew up like sisters, and though their life wasn't ideal, it was bearable because they were together. Then Laura commits suicide, and Miles, the girl left behind, falters.
You Know Where to Find Me by Rachel Cohn is intense, to say the least. While detailing Laura's death and Miles' downward spiral, Cohn doesn't soft-pedal anything. The fallout is intense without being overwhelming.
One of the many things I enjoyed about Find Me was the search. I didn't know exactly what Miles would do next or where she would end up. I didn't predict the ending. I didn't need to. And with this, with her, I wished for peace and hope. Also, for something she could call her own.
With this novel, Cohn definitely challenges readers. If she gets just one person to reevaluate what could be the ultimate decision . . . wow.
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