Finding Me

by Kelly Gunderman

Can you ever truly love someone who robbed you of everything?

Sixteen-year-old Claire Williams spends most of her days feeling angry and alone. After a car accident took her mother and Claire’s ability to walk, life in a wheelchair is the new normal.
When she’s sent to live with her grandmother, away from school and friends, Claire has a chance for a fresh start. Just when Claire thinks she can handle things, she runs into Todd - the son of the man who caused the car accident.

At first, Claire wants nothing to do with him, but the more time they spend together, the more she hates to admit her feelings. She’s slowly falling in love with Todd.

Now, Claire’s father wants to move and take Claire with him. But she can’t go. Not now when everything is falling into place, and she’s just now finding herself. Claire’s defiant. She won’t leave Greenwood, her new friends, her grandmother, or Todd.

Can Claire find the strength to let her dad go on with his life while leaving her behind to live hers, or will she allow the guilt and shame of surviving the accident pull her back under?

306 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 30, 2019

About the author

Kelly Gunderman was born a child of the late eighties in small-town Pennsylvania. A bibliophile in her own right, she is hoping to one day surpass the number of pages she has turned with those she has written of her own accord.

Having recently completed her Bachelor’s in Early Childhood Development, Kelly suddenly found herself with a bit more free time than usual, and began her immediately successful foray into blogging and Freelance Writing, which subsequently led to her renewed desire to finally put her ideas and imaginings “on paper.”

Focusing primarily on the Young Adult genre, Kelly is the author of Finding Me and Living Dead Girl.

She currently resides in her original home town with her husband, their two daughters, and a few cats that constantly challenge the sanity of all with their ill-advised attempts at what can only be assumed to be world domination.

Reviews

[Danielle's · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finding me is my kind of story. When I read the blurb I knew it would be for me. Claire and her mum were in accident. It changed their future forever. Unfortunately Claire’s mum didn’t make it and Claire is left in a wheelchair.

Claire’s now lives with her grandmother and her dad has moved on with someone else. When she starts her new school the son of the drunk driver is a student. Todd is nothing like his dad. Can something so bad also inspire a connection worth having?

This is more than a romance. It’s about Claire finding her place and compassion. This is an interesting read. I would have liked it to have focused more on the romance but the story kept me hooked right to the end.

4 stars out of 5. I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review as part of the chapter by chapter tour.

[Nadia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I want to state that this was a sweet, and emotional book. Claire lost her mom and her abilities to walk after a drunk driving accident. She was sent to live with her grandma after her dad abandoned her to find himself a new family. That whole situation was horrible. Claire though finds new friends and love. Her new love, Todd, was the son of the man that killed her mom. She learned to forgive his father and to move forward. Which was amazing and heartfelt. Todd was amazing to her and for her. Of course, the drama was her dad coming around and being a nuisance. In the end, everything falls into place and the ending was perfect.
My only complaint was the scene that Claire’s dad was drunk and they let him drive himself home. Which was crazy and stupid. Also how old was grandma?

Overall, it was a good and heartfelt book.

I was given this book by the publisher in exchange for my honest review and opinion.

[Born To Read · Rating 3 out of 5]

Claire's life changed forever the day she had an accident. Her mother died and she is paralysed from the waist down. She is living with her grandmother because her father could cope and left.
But she has the opportunity of a new beginning. She is starting a new school.
And she meets new friends. What she wasn't expecting was meeting Todd. He is nice, fun and handsome. But he is connected to Claire in a way she can't even imagine.
This story is good. It is sweet, although a little bit cheesy in some moments. But I liked Claire's evolution. Her acceptance. And her forgiveness.
This book will leave you smiling, that's for sure.
I received a free copy via Xpresso Book Tours in exchange for an honest review.

[Katherine Paschal · Rating 3 out of 5]

**Review can be found at https://smadasbooksmack.blogspot.com/

3.5 Stars
Two years ago Claire lost her mom and the use of her legs when she was hit by a drunk driver. Now her life is in a state of upheaval since her father dropped her off at her grandmother's to live with no warning. Claire is not sure how she is going to get through the year in a new school, her old friends are leaving her behind, her family is drama- and the son of the man who hit her goes to her school.


I understand a lot of the story dealt with forgiveness but I will never forgive Claire's father for his actions. Sure, Claire can be a bigger person and do so, but I can't! He ditched his disabled, depressed and lonely daughter in a new place with someone she did not really know to go live his new fantasy life. He was despicable and I refuse to give in. But that does bring me to my favorite part of the story- the relationship between Claire and her grandmother.

Her grandmother was so warm and welcoming, the two were almost strangers before Claire was dumped there but after just a few months they were like best friends and a stand-in mother. I thought it was really sweet that the Grandmother had a loving relationship with her daughter-in-law and was willing to discuss and share all she could with her about Claire.

Overall this was a cute, fast YA read that dealt with forgiveness and all the different kinds of love that there can be, especially romantic love when you give some. Even though there were a lot of potentially dark and depressing subject matter, Kelly was able to keep the tone of the book light and positive.

I reviewed a complementary copy of this title.

[(Love, Stars and Books) · Rating 3 out of 5]

(I received a free eARC from Fantastic Flying blog club for a voluntary and honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own)



Book review: Finding me by Kelly Gunderman (3.5 stars)

Finding me by Kelly Gunderman
Genre: YA, contemporary, Romance
Rating: 3.5/5 stars

(Synopsis from Goodreads) 

Can you ever truly love someone who robbed you of everything?

Sixteen-year-old Claire Williams spends most of her days feeling angry and alone. After a car accident took her mother and Claire’s ability to walk, life in a wheelchair is the new normal. 
When she’s sent to live with her grandmother, away from school and friends, Claire has a chance for a fresh start. Just when Claire thinks she can handle things, she runs into Todd - the son of the man who caused the car accident.

At first, Claire wants nothing to do with him, but the more time they spend together, the more she hates to admit her feelings. She’s slowly falling in love with Todd. 

Now, Claire’s father wants to move and take Claire with him. But she can’t go. Not now when everything is falling into place, and she’s just now finding herself. Claire’s defiant. She won’t leave Greenwood, her new friends, her grandmother, or Todd.

Can Claire find the strength to let her dad go on with his life while leaving her behind to live hers, or will she allow the guilt and shame of surviving the accident pull her back under?

(Review)
(DISCLAIMER: All thoughts and opinions are my own.)

This novel plays with the enemies to lovers trope and Todd’s obsession with To kill a mockingbird kinda makes me want to read it.

This book was emotional with good character arc and focuses on the importance of love and family. I love the way the story was set up and how the conflict fuels the story forward, pushing the characters into uncomfortable places where they learnt to grow.

[Shirley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Original review

This book was provided by the author through Chapter by Chapter in exchange for an honest review. Thank you Kelly Gunderman and Chapter by Chapter!

Finding Me is a Contemporary book about a girl in a wheelchair called Claire and a guy called Todd. Finding Me is Kelly Gunderman’s debut novel.

When I started reading Finding Me, I thought this book was going to focus on love but it’s more about finding and accepting yourself, grief, family and friendship. I really liked that it wasn’t just about love, I love reading books where important things are being discussed or real-life problems occur in them.

I really liked the characters. Claire and Todd been through a lot and still they’re great people. Claire’s been struggling since her mum died but because of Todd everything’s changing for her. The same goes for Todd. His dad is in prison, he hasn’t the best situation at home but being with Claire changes things for him.

Finding Me is Kelly Gunderman’s debut novel and I think she did an amazing job! Finding Me was such a good and quick read and I cannot wait to read more books by her!

[Deanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Original review: A Novel Glimpse

Claire is a sixteen year old who lost both the use of her legs and her mother in a car accident. She’s forced to change schools when her father dumps her on her grandmother’s doorstep. Starting a new school and making friends is hard enough without the added pressure of being around Todd, the son of the man who put Claire in a wheelchair and killed her mother. Claire’s just made friends and figured out that she might have more in common with Todd than she thought when her father reappears and wants her to move away with him. It’s all more than Claire thinks she can handle.

Claire’s story was emotionally packed. Her world had completely crumbled two years ago, and she was already having to rebuild it a second time since then. All of her relationships were changing. Some were in a good way, others in a bad one. Throughout everything, Claire had this quiet strength. She didn’t always hold it together, but she grew and fought for herself. She was a lot stronger that she thought she was. I loved the progression of her character.

I have to go back to that first comment I made about Claire’s story being emotionally packed. Finding Me was filled with emotion. Moments in Claire’s story brought tears to my eyes. I feel that it’s important to mention this because that doesn’t happen often. I was pleasantly surprised Kelly was able to do that with her first book.

As for the rest of the characters, they were perfect for this story. I loved Claire’s new friends Lisa, Mark, and Dillon. I also liked Todd and how he fit into the forgiveness aspect of Claire’s story. I adored Claire’s close relationship with her grandmother. I even found myself liking bubbly Sara. The only person I didn’t like was Claire’s dad. My dislike for him surprised me because his character was someone I didn’t expect.

The one thing that made me think a bit when reading this book was Claire being in a wheelchair. I had to remind myself that she had been in one for a couple of years now, so maybe some of the daily details of her life in the wheelchair wouldn’t be a big deal to her anymore. There were some mentions of the things that had to be accommodated for, but I guess I thought there would be more frustration or emotional reaction to them.

Finding Me was a great début novel. I was impressed with the writing. Sometimes the writing in a début novel can rely a lot on telling instead of showing, but that wasn’t the case here. It was as good as I was expecting it to be. There was plenty of dialog, the writing moved at a pace I liked, and I was completely pulled into Claire’s world. I can’t wait to see what Kelly writes next.

[Stéphanie Louis · Rating 4 out of 5]

What I liked

The first thing that I immediately liked was the authors writing style. I didn’t have any problems getting into the book and was directly feeling like a character in this book. Which is always a great thing if you’re asking for my opinion!

Another thing I liked was the attachment to some of the characters. There were some characters that you just had to like or had to hate. There was no in between. You either liked them or hated them. Gunderman did a great job writing her characters and the story. At some times it was heartbreaking in a way that you felt like crying. I really had to stop at some point because I wanted to cry and I’m definitely not the sentimental type of person!

What I didn’t like

Sometimes the main character got on my nerves. Especially in the beginning afterwards I warmed up to her and then it was okay.

There is also the fact that the story got redundant after some time. I think the book could have been a little bit shorter and it still would have been perfect!

Overall, Finding me is a book that I recommend to all the Contemporary lovers out there. It’s a fast-paced book that you can easily read in one sitting.

A copy of this book was sent to me by the author in exchange for an honest review!
This review can also be found at my blog: https://phanniethegingerbookworm.word...

[Christina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was not sure how I felt about this book. At first, there was a lot of clunky paragraphs and a ton of repetition of the same items over and over again lots of telling not showing 🙃. But there are some merits to it as well.
• The disability rep is realistic in the sense that the description throughout the story shows what the main character does throughout the day.
• There are also discussion about drifting apart from your friends and gaining new ones with minor LGBTQIA+ rep which was an added bonus.
• This also reminded me the most of a Sarah Dessen novel which is a good thing but at the same time if you do not like dark subjects such as drunk driving, car accidents, parental abandonment, parental grief, friendship loss etc. Do not read this if you do not want these in your stories.
Overal, you're looking for a high school romance that has some dark elements + disability rep with a happy ending I would definitely recommend it. I enjoyed my read of this in the sense of something to start for a darker high school contemporary but if youre an adult you may be annoyed with how things go. Because of these points I have to give this a 3.5 out of 5 stars.

[Jen Kowalski · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I started reading Finding Me, I was expecting a contemporary young adult romance. But this book is so much more. It has a little bit of everything- dealing with loss, adjusting to a new way of life after a life-altering car accident, feeling old friends drifting away, finding new friends at a new school, family drama, and a new relationship with an unexpected love. This book was such a quick read too! Claire's relationship with her grandmother is so perfect and allowed her to maintain her connection with her mother. Lisa, Matt, and Dillon were fun side characters that helped to round out the story. And Todd is an adorable character - he is so kind and compassionate toward Claire. It would be interesting to see parts of the story from his perspective - like when he visits his father or to see more of his relationship with his mother. And I kind of wanted to see more of Claire and Todd’s relationship, but their love story is well worth reading. Excited to read more from this author too!

[Tasha Cockburn · Rating 3 out of 5]

A charming YA read. Claire, the main character now lives with her grandma after her mother’s tragic death and faces a new town, new school and new friends. To begin with I felt like Claire was rather Whiney and I didn’t like her, however as the character grew more and more I learnt to fall in love with her. The new friends she makes you instantly love, the type of kids you wanted to be friends with at school. Her father however is another kettle of fish. A horrible character I could never be fond of.
As the story went on I found myself being drawn further and further into the characters lives and I instantly wanted to continue reading. A slow starter with good promise.
I was sent this book, by Voracious Readers Only, for free in return for an honest review

[Mru Natu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kelly Gunderman has a lovely haters-to-lovers story going here. It’s light, simple and quick. At 188 pages you could finish it in a weekend. The characters are all very sweet. None of them had mean shades or twisted histories. Just regular people living a real life, with real problems. The writing is simple to follow. I loved the bit where Todd and Claire bunk school and go to a lake. The scene was endearing. I also liked the author’s emphasis on small things in life like when Claire is making an observation about her Grandma – “I love watching her make it, the way she boils the water in the kettle and then pours it carefully. It’s such a simple task, but she has perfected making a cup of tea like artists perfect their craft.”

[anie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heartwarming story, that makes you feel all the feels ...

Two years ago Claire was in a car accident that changed her life, forever. She and her mother were hit by a drunk driver. Her mother died and she was left in a wheelchair. And that just the start of bad things. Not only did she lose her mother, but after the accident, her father was barely home, until he left her at her grandmother's away from everything she knew.

She spends a lot of time with her grandma, baking cookies, and waiting to go back. She has to go to a new school, find new friends, and a whole new life basically.

And then she meets Todd, on the first day of school. He is the son of the guy who caused the accident, and he is also the guy she is falling for.

It's one of those stories that leave you thinking about it for days. I felt like I was the with Claire, I rooted for her, felt with her, and was crying right along. I love writing, when I've read it, it came to life in front of me.

And the characters are awesome, especially Claire and her grandmother, she was one of my favorites in the story. :)

Highly recommend it!

received from Xpresso Book Tours

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tis the season for emotional books. Loved it . cried. Great story.

[Raquel · Rating 3 out of 5]

For my full review click here
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But even then, it was really hard to enjoy the story when the first part of the book read as though I was reading a computer manual. Very clear and concise and communicated perfectly but stated very matter of factly.

The story itself was kind of interesting. Finding Me talks about forgiveness and accepting new changes into your life, especially after a horrific accident that leads to completely changing the way you live.

But the story itself didn’t pick up until around 60%.

The relationships Claire develops are interesting. Not interesting in terms of content but more interesting in terms of development.

[Esther Haddie's Haven · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fall in love with Claire and Todd

I fell in love with this book. The story and the characters wete amazing and so up my ally. Its not your typical sweet romance, it has depth as well. So pleased with this book and looking forward to more from this author.