Melissa Writes Fiction: Book Review: Losing Faith by Denise Jaden

When Brie's sister, Faith, dies suddenly, Brie's world falls apart. As she goes through the bizarre and devastating process of mourning the sister she never understood and barely even liked, everything in her life seems to spiral farther and farther off course. Her parents are a mess, her friends don’t know how to treat her, and her perfect boyfriend suddenly seems anything but.

As Brie settles into her new normal, she encounters more questions than closure: Certain facts about the way Faith died just don't line up. Brie soon uncovers a dark and twisted secret about Faith’s final night...a secret that puts her own life in danger.

I've been wanting to pick up this book for awhile now, but for some reason I didn't get around to it. Other than the fact that I've been reading like a total snail, I don't really have the extra funds to pick up all the new books I want. Enter, Shana. A total lifesaver. (And one of Denise's critique partners, and the person Denise dedicated the book to! How cool is that?)

Reading the blurb, I expected something like The Sky is Everywhere from this book (and we all know how much I loved that one!), but I got something very different and unique. I guess that's the thing about grief. You can write a million stories about the subject, and they'll never be the same because everyone experiences it a different way.

The story picks up a few hours before Brie finds out her sister jumped off a cliff. Right from the beginning, Brie feels like something is off about the whole situation. Faith would never commit suicide. So she starts to poke around and that's when the story really gets interesting.

There were several times I thought I knew what was going to happen, but then Denise threw me for a complete loop. Last night, I was only about halfway through the book, but then I got to one page that kicked off all the action and I could not stop reading. It took me about an hour to get through the rest of the book because I had to know what happened.

In addition to a great story, there are also some great secondary characters. At first I wasn't a fan of Tessa, but I grew to love her. I may have even liked her character arc the best. Tessa's story was a great complement to the main plot.

Overall, this was a great book, and I can't wait to read whatever Denise comes out with next! Thanks to Shana for sending me her copy to borrow!

I'd recommend this book to people who liked: The Sky is Everywhere and Fall for Anything.

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