Finding Salvation (The Finding Series #1)

At 13, coming out the foster system with parents willing to adopt both of them, Madison and Charlotte, and new brother Donovan, form friendships stronger than blood. At least, that’s what Charlotte has always believed. Until Donovan, Madison, and fiancée Landon start ignoring her, and she becomes an unwanted fourth wheel. What she doesn’t know is that they’ve been keeping secrets - lots of them.

Writing in two first-person voices can be hazardous and is a risk because it’s often not done well. That’s not the case with this story. Though Madison and Charlotte are absolutely nothing alike, and are not often in the same location, the switch between the two characters, and what they are doing, is seamless. This realistic and sometimes graphic story is heartbreaking on many levels, with years and layers of deception that have to be uncovered and resolved, and often doesn’t seem like that is possible. Everyone but Charlotte believes her to be fragile and breakable, yet nothing in any backstory or memory tells why.  With the strength she shows in being able to walk away from self-destruction to fix herself, the entire basis for why everyone would lie to her has no merit. Madison is what one thinks of when they hear “foster kid” – loose, hooked on drugs, just this side of legal work and activities. Her weaknesses are legion, and Landon and Donovan’s enabling helps no one. There are some rocky moments that need a bit of smoothing, but this story about finding strength inside you first, then with others, is one that readers will fall in love with!

Julie York