Losing Faith (edition 2010)

I thought this was a very good YA book that tackled faith and death in an interesting way. It is also a great mystery that is intense and exciting mixed in with boys and high school drama.

Faith: the thing, not the girl. This book takes a very interesting look a faith. And it isn’t bashing you over the head, it is subtle and in the background, but it is there. Even though Brie does not have much faith anymore, it is a big part of her life because her parents are so involved in the church, so there are touches on religious faith and what happened when you lose it. Her parents handle things very differently, her father jumps back in and uses his faith to guide him, while her mother shuts down.

As much as it is about religious faith, it is also about faith in others. Brie and her sister were not close, but she knows her sister would not have killed herself. She has to use her own brand of faith to start to trust her new friends and let them help her, when everyone else is keeping their distance.

Death: This handles death really well. I felt sad for the family’s loss, especially when I realized that none of them really knew her. It did a great job of showing how true that is. Brie’s fickle “friend” said something along the lines of “your sister who you didn’t even care about until she was dead”. So much of the time we don’t get to know someone or show them we care while they are around because we figure we can do that later and they will be around forever, but they aren’t. We tend to realize it too late and this book reminded me to get to know my family a little better. I actually called my older brother that day and had a great conversation

High School: It also made me think of how mean high schoolers can be. Once her sister is gone, no one is really interested in her anymore. Her boyfriend acts like a jerk. Her best friend doesn’t care and betrays her. People show their true colors when times get hard and it is always tough, but the sting in high school can be even worse. Luckily, people show who they really are in a good way too

Boys: I couldn’t get interested in the romance. I mean, I liked Alis, he was a cool guy and sweet and everything, but with everything else going on, I just didn’t care. I liked their friendly interactions, but I felt that it took away a little from the other relationships in the book that were told better (Tessa, her parents, etc).

Mystery: Do not expect a fast paced mystery with this book. A lot of figuring things out was done slowly and over time in order to develop some of the other issues that I have discussed in the review. ( )

It was an amazing book about losing your sister after her mysterious dissapearace, and finding out the truth about how and why she was found at the bottem of a cliff. It shows ture emotion about what its like for a teenage girl to loose a sister even one she thought that she hated. ( )

First off, cults. This is a subject of great interest to me. My first semester of college, I did a massive research project on them - particularly ones that stalk college campuses. I don't think there is enough widespread awareness about the danger and seductive power that these groups have at their command. This holds even more true for small, mostly informal ones like the one featured in this book. So - bravo to Denise Jaden for writing about one.

Faith was by far the most complex and intriguing character, and even though she wasn't an active part of the majority of the story, she is definitely what kept the plot moving. All the other characters seemed to fall into the roles they played and remained somewhat to mostly one-dimensional.

My main complaint is the feeling of disconnect between the issues the characters faced and the characters themselves. Alis had one effed up sister - but after meeting Brie, she was always his main focus. I don't think there was enough Reena/Alis tension. Same goes for Tessa and her dad (although I did like Tessa a lot). I just don't feel like most of the relationships found within the book were portrayed very realistically.

That being said, the book is worth reading for subject alone. I'm all for cult awareness, and the plot is very original and intense - it remains captivating from start to finish. So, even though I have problems with character development - I think this book is very much worth picking up. ( )

My Review:
I don't generally read a lot of YA Contemporary. I usually read YA with magic, vampires, wolves, angels, etc. But once in a while I like to keep it real. Normally that's when I'd pull out a Jodi Picoult or Nicholas Sparks novel to read but this time because I've had my eye on this one for some time, I read this!
Denise Jaden tackles a very tough issue - religion. I think this is one of the hardest types of books to get into and really enjoy because of all of the different views on religion. Sometimes authors come across as preachy, and I can't stand this. Thankfully Jaden writes about religion respectfully and not once does it come across as preaching things to us. Religion was merely there as part of the story- not to be drilled into our heads.
The characters in Losing Faith are simple but not dull. Brie seems just like any other girl her age trying to fit in, have friends and then find out answers about her sisters death. Tessa is your goth/bad-ass chick, but when you get to really know her, you realize there's much more to her than her appearance. Alis is your cute guy who comes into the picture and steals the heart of some. What I loved about this YA contempt book was that Denise Jaden didn't overdo Alis' good looks/rock solid arms/chiseled chin/ whatever else could describe a good looking male lead character (as some YA books do -- nothing wrong with this -- but we can't always have unrealistically good looking males!) Jaden made it clear that while yes, Alis is a good looking guy, he isn't being drooled over by every single girl character in the book. So this is what I mean by simple but not dull.
It's refreshing to read a book with real life situations, and Losing Faith is full of real life. It's emotional and well written with a plot that moved along nicely. It's worth the read! ( )

Even though Brie and her sister are not at all close, Brie cannot help but feel completely lost and distraught after Faith's violent and mysterious death. The sisters may have been close in age, but their personalities were eons apart. As the younger sister, Brie does not even try to live up to the shining example set by her older sister. She is close to having sex with her boyfriend and lies to sneak out of her parents house for parties. Brie is a bit of a wild child in contrast to Faith, who spends every free moment reading the Bible and attending her local youth group.

The night that Faith dies, Brie bribes her into giving Brie a ride to their family's church. Of course, Brie has plans to go to a party with friends and her boyfriend, but she's not going to tell her "perfect" sister this. Faith seems to not want to go, which is weird since she never passes up a chance to spend time at church. Finally, Faith agrees to bring Brie to town. And that's the last time that Brie sees Faith alive.

According to police, Faith wandered away from her youth group friends that night while they were on an outing at a mountain. Later, a scream was heard and Faith's dead body was discovered at the mountain's base.

After the "accident," nothing is right in Brie's world. Her parents are unresponsive. Her boyfriend and friends can still only think about sex and parties. Even teachers are concerned with their own stuff--No one is paying attention to Brie and how she's coping with her sister's death.

Perhaps this lack of attention is what causes Brie's gaze to drift and for her to raise questions of her own. Why was her sister acting so weird about going out on the night of her death? Who is the strange boy that hung back from the crowd at Faith's funeral? And why is Faith's best friend avoiding Brie?

As it turns out, Brie and her sister had more in common than Brie originally thought. Faith was just as mysterious and skillful at keeping secrets as Brie.

* * *
I enjoyed this book a whole lot. I loved that there was a mystery at the center of this story and that it was filled with suspense. As far as religion goes, I am more with Brie than with Faith. Even though I don't identify with Faith's views, I loved getting to know her through her sister's quest to find out what really happened the night of her death.

Beyond Brie and Faith, I also liked getting to know some of the minor characters in this book. The school's resident "freak," Tessa, was probably my favorite. I would love to read a book written from her perspective.

And, even though this book followed a familiar pattern to lots of other YA books (close family member dies, parent(s) become absent, main character is alone), it somehow felt fresh. I think that this is because of Brie's character. She does not seem like someone who is going to wallow in misery, but is more about action. Without this dynamic main character, this book would've fallen flat.

I read this book as part of the Contemps Challenge. I have to say that I've read a bunch of these books now, and every one has been a winner. I hope that this streak continues, particularly because I have quite a few more to read! ( )