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Thanks to @BarbaraBB who knows my book preferences, I found this book. Now I need to read all of Denfeld‘s books. I gobbled this right up. The main character searches for missing children & Madison is 1 of the children she is looking for. This book takes you on a journey. We learn of the child finder‘s background, we move through the cold woods as she hunts for the child, & we listen in to Madison‘s thoughts & situation. I couldn‘t put it down.

Naomi has become a private investigator specialised in finding missing children because she too is a missing child.We follow her working 2 different cases: Madison who vanished aged 6&a baby,the daughter of an autistic black woman called Danita.The story is also told from Madison‘s point of view who has retreated into the persona of snow girl to survive captivity&abuse.Those chapters are particularly difficult to read.Well written detective story.

#AboutABook. #FromTBRList

Top 3 on Litsy TBR all from recent reviews.

@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs

What a beautiful book. Naomi is a private investigator, specialized in finding missing children. In the forests of Oregon she is looking for a little girl that has been missing for three years and she is looking for herself and her past. Atmospheric, pageturning and at least as good as The Enchanted, which I loved too. I will definitely read the sequel. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

📸: Nachi Taisha, Japan

I already posted my fourth of the #WeeklyFavorites but then I flew through the tagged book and that‘s the one that‘s this week‘s and even this month‘s favorite!

I‘ll delete my earlier post!

Wow, I was on the edge of my seat through this entire book.

Naomi is an investigator in missing children cases. She is looking for a little girl who disappeared in an Oregon forest when her parents took her to cut their own Christmas tree. She‘s been missing for 3 years.

Fast paced, gut wrenching, and emotional. I love this author. Looking forward to a second in this series.

This book grabbed me from the beginning. It‘s a bit of a slow build, but I loved the premise of it, right away. Who better to find missing children than Naomi Cottle, a former missing child? This latest, disturbing case feels familiar to her, somehow. Will she find this child and herself? ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I read this for my IRL bookclub discussion. It‘s not a book I would have nominated for us because I‘ve read so many discussion-worthy books. I liked the actual story here quite a bit but found I really wanted an epilogue. When tracking my completion on GRs, I noticed there‘s a sequel for the finder, Naomi - perhaps others gets a mention in book 2, as well.

#BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks

I was not fully prepared for this ending. I saw it coming, but it still got to me. 😢

The base of this novel is the search for a missing child, but the search uncovers many other things that makes this a heartbreaking tale of people dealing with horrific events in their past and struggling to be better in the present.

Naomi is a special woman who can find missing children. As she searches for Madison, who has been missing for 3 years, Naomi remembers significant details from her own past. She begins to understand why her constant searches are so purposeful to her life. The ending was suspenseful and quite emotional. #MountTBR

On the one hand, this was a well-written, atmospheric book about a woman who searches for missing children. But it was also a little too graphic for me and made my stomach turn. So I recommend it but with the caveat that you shouldn‘t read it if you have a weak stomach (like I do!). 😬 Now I need something happy and pleasant to counteract it, like a fun graphic novel.

I went in with high expectations as I loved THE ENCHANTED. This one didn‘t come close but it was still an ok read. Naomi, a once missing child now dedicates her life to finding missing children. Here she‘s searching for Madison, who‘s gone missing in the same woods were Naomi was once found. Parts of the story worked well others not so much. Though, I‘m curious to see where the sequel takes us. Light pick.

I think I‘m liking the book jacket wayyy more than the book so far #ReadingUSA2020 #Oregon And I had high expectations because I LOVED the book The Enchanted by the same author.

It‘s a beautiful 92 degrees outside at 7:30pm with a delightful breeze. Enjoying dusk and this book, although subject matter is sad😢

Just starting this tonight, and all I can think about is Serenity Dennard. Ran off from a Children‘s home and vanished and has not been found since February 2019 in South Dakota.

I really liked the plot of this but something about the writing style didn‘t work for me. It felt too... ethereal? I prefer a bit more grit in my thrillers. And Denfeld left a fair bit unsaid, which I don‘t necessarily mind but in this case, what she didn‘t say felt like a cop out. Will put more in a spoiler-tagged comment below.

Great book well written .. but you may want to look up the summary before adding this to your list. Hard topic .. looking for missing children 😭 had me till the last page and not gonna lie, left me wanting more!

We follow Naomi, who once was a girl held captive, but cannot remember anything before she was free. Grown up now, she finds children. She‘s looking for Madison, a girl who has been missing for 3 years but whose mind has projected a fairy tale to keep her alive. This was a hard emotional read about all those who go missing, who want to be found, who have been found but who are now lost. The writing is beautiful. Pick!

This was not exactly what I expected. I thought it would be more mystery, less literary, but I enjoyed it. I do think it felt as though the author barely skimmed the surface of what was possible here but again, still enjoyable overall.

#Movember #day3 #RescueMe This book was on my #TopReadsOf2017 list, it‘s a great thriller about a young girl that was abducted 3yrs ago, but it‘s also about the investigator the family turns to when all hope is near lost. Naomi is known as the Child Finder, she has a talent for locating & rescuing missing children, because she once was one herself. It has a lot of deep & dark emotion in the story, and does it very well.

Up next! (With my reading buddy Winston) 🐶❤️ #Deweys24HourReadathon #deweysoct #readathon

#SeptemberSins After reading The Enchanted earlier this year I became obsessed with reading more from author Rene Denfeld. Tagged book is first in a series about an investigator who specializes in finding missing children. And before Rene Denfeld became an author, she was indeed an investigator working with missing children. Her writing is mystical & lyrical.
#BackForGood

#7days7covers #covercrush #day4

This was one of my favorite reads of 2018 and I recommend it to almost everyone.
The writer spins words so beautifully. It wasn‘t my first choice in topics and I went in thinking it would be different but the symbolism of the the woods just blew me away. I actually put this BACK on my TBR pile so I could read it again.

A bit of a slow start, but in the end it was what I was looking for. 4⭐

Lunch and a book.

It was a late night last night, with some great friends. I always go back home for the Petunia Fest and that means a lot of walking. #BFCr2 @wanderinglynn

Madison has been missing for three years. Naomi is an investigator who specializes in finding missing children, as she was once a lost girl herself. Her search for Madison leads her closer to her own awful truth. There is a side story about a missing infant that also got me right in the feels.

The writing is gorgeous and the abuse is mostly seen through a child‘s eyes (more emotional than graphic), but trigger warnings for harm to children.

4/5⭐

I liked this book! It's so suspenseful and intriguing, reading about Naomi and her search for the lost girl Madison. The writing is quite simple but it does te trick! The ending was amazing as well, I really loved that. I know that's all really generic stuff, but I don't want to say too much about it, because I went in blank and I want you (if you decide to pick it up yourself, which I would recommend!) to have that same experience.

Next up: The Child Finder.

I recently watched the Netflix documentary series about the disappearance of Madeleine McCann and then found this book... It seemed weird, but the topic of children just disappearing intrigues me so I decided to pick this up

Just finished this! I would give it 4/5 stars and that‘s only because I figured out the ending earlier in the book. Still an enjoyable read!!!

Trust the ones you know and love ❤️

What a bunch of empty garbage. Supposedly a mystery but the only mystery is how an editor read this & was like, “Yes, this is something I want to publish.” The writing was aiming for deep & poignant but landed on “rejected by Lifetime writers as too corny and try-hard.” Naomi is a blank slate who for some reason attracts the horniness of every man she meets. The child molestation was salacious IMO. Setting was good altho OK SNOW WE GET IT. 1/5 ⭐️

I just sprained something from rolling my eyes too hard. What kind of sappy Hallmark movie garbage is this?

Ummmm I work in the Montessori field (not as an educator or anything) and it‘s not about “playing” with toys all day. Far from it, in fact. It‘s hands-on practical life education, with a focus on grace and courtesy and applicable skills. So what they‘re saying is their kid was a lazy git who probably wanted to do nothing BUT play around and not actually learn. Also the author doesn‘t know what she‘s talking about so maybe she should stop, LOL

Am I a sociopath if I kind of don‘t give a single fuck what happened to Naomi or Madison? I don‘t know, something about the writing style is just so cold and empty and distant. I don‘t feel like I‘ve been given any reason to care, and I definitely feel like whatever reveals we get are going to be just 🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️

Pretty sure about 90% of mystery/thrillers have a fucking forest on the cover. If I were an alien and I came to Earth and was hanging out in a bookstore (because even as an alien, I still gotta be me), I‘d be like, damn I am never going to these tree places because they are filled with death. 🌲👻

It‘s finally beautiful outside and I‘m spending all my time with a book filled with snow. 🤷🏻‍♀️

The story of a list girl and the woman who finds her.⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A kidnapped girl, the woman searching for her, and a fairytale of sorts, this book isn‘t really the thriller it‘s billed as. Instead it‘s a layered and beautifully written story about trauma and hope. Full review at https://booknaround.blogspot.com/2019/01/review-child-finder-by-rene-denfeld.htm...

Finished this up during my lunch hour. It was darker than I‘d expected, but it was done in such a tasteful, sensitive way. There was a lot of intrigue with not only the case but the MC herself. Enjoyable read!

#booked2019 #newtoyouauthor

@Cinfhen @4thhouseontheleft

I‘m not the kind of person that‘s up early on Sundays, but I went to bed super early last night because of a headache. And I have to say to all you morning people, there is something peaceful about reading on a Sunday morning.

#catsoflitsy #morningread

❤️ The Child Finder by Rene Denfeld
❤️ No plans
❤️ Orange
❤️ Christopher
❤️ #friyayintro @howjessreads

With a lovely writing style and subtle insights about human behaviour, The Child Finder presents a “thriller” that is less thrilling than it is introspective. I was let down by the fact that it was marketed as a thriller/mystery/suspense novel, but I was able to figure out who the captor was by page 19 of the book, with the rest of the puzzle pieces falling into place shortly after. Overall, it was just a 3-star read for me. #LitsyAtoZ #LetterC

I'm not sure why this book didn't really click with me, because I've seen lots of rave reviews. The setting was beautifully described (it was perfect for some cold wintry #audiowalking), but the story itself felt a little thin and un-mysterious to me. I was a bit underwhelmed by the investigation and was not expecting the romance at all. Still, it was a nice and short palate-cleanser to listen to between longer books. I'm going with a 3.3/5 :)

I‘m not sure what didn‘t do it for me, but I didn‘t feel a connection to the characters or the plot. Not a thriller - you can guess who did what as the story goes on - but well written. However, I don‘t think I want my murder mysteries to be well written. 1/5.

“Stop thinking that you have to know everything to understand it.”

Y‘all like this book? I‘m not getting into it.😔

Book #2 of 2019.