Review: Losing Faith by Denise Jaden

LOSING FAITH by Denise Jaden

Pub. Date: September 2010

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing

Format: Paperback, 400pp
Age Range: Young Adult

A terrible secret. A terrible fate.

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.

Brie Jenkins’s world is turned upside down when she learns of her sister’s death. She tries her best to fit the pieces of her life back together but things don't go as planned and everything else in her life starts to unravel around her when whispers of her sister’s death catches her ear. Denise Jaden pulled me into the heartbreaking mindset of Brie and the turmoil clouding her life. Brie's mission to find out what really happened to her sister the night of her death touched on many of the pressures teens deal with in today's society and how easy one could find them-selves part of the wrong crowd - In this case – a cult.

Brie went about her life just trying to fit in as best as she could when compared to her sister, who was seen as the one who could never do wrong. Brie went through so many changes in a short period of time. From being betrayed by her friends to meeting new friends who she could relate to, Brie managed to hold things together considering all she went through. Her parents’ grief and how it affected Brie’s family life had me sympathizing with her. She all but had to take care of herself as they wallowed in their grief. I enjoyed Brie’s growth throughout this novel. Her new best friend Tessa, the scary Goth was one of my favorites. This girl had just as many issues as Brie and it was nice that they could confide into one another. Alis, the love interest is very different from the typical guys you read about in YA novels. He’s homeschooled and has this naiveté about him. It was sweet and I enjoyed the innocence of his and Brie’s budding relationship.

This book was intense and had its heartbreaking moments but the writing and characters were well crafted making LOSING FAITH a highly satisfying novel. Mystery, Cults, Romance, Religion, and Death, this book has it all. I'm excited to see what Denise Jaden comes up with next.

Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars