Book Review: How I Found You by Gabriella Lepore

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Sixteen-year-old Rose comes to the sleepy village of Millwood to spend her summer holiday with her aunt and uncle while her parents work in Africa. For Rose, she’s expecting the same quiet summer as she always so it’s surprising when two brothers suddenly showed up and make themselves comfortable in her family home, and no questions asked from her other family members.

I’ve heard good things about Lepore so I read this book with good thoughts, and I certainly wasn’t disappointed yet there were a couple of flaws. I really enjoyed her new take on witches and the plot was a great combination of intense moments, an evil prophecy, and a continuous threat of a supernatural being that looms over the character.

However, there were also some scenes that confused me. The character of Caicus felt messy at some points, he sort of alternated from being shady and a nice guy rather than going through the process of being more open to others – although I did find it cute how he really did enjoy being with Rose’s family in the end. Also, the great reveal when Rose realises they’re witches I felt happened a bit too early. I feel like more could have happened to add the mystery of the two brothers.

Overall, I’m sort of in the middle with this book. On one hand, I really enjoyed the characterisation of Rose and the witty conversations between Caicus and Oscar. However, I just didn’t connect with the story, especially when it came to the history of witches, and towards the end, it felt really rushed. Despite this, I did enjoy the book enough to know I’ll be reading more Lepore’s books!