Losing Faith by Denise Jaden

Losing Faith by Denise Jaden


Released: September 2010
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Genre: Young Adult - Contemporary
Pages: 377
Source: Bought
Challenge: The Contemps


Rating: ♥♥♥♥


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.



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This was such a good read! Denise Jaden did a fantastic job of weaving in different elements of a teenage life, death, and a glimpse at a cult-like experience. Because of that last part - this was definitely different from what I've read before in the contemporary genre.

Brie faces one of the biggest aftermaths of someone's death: Regret. We've all experienced it. No matter how close or unclose you were with someone you knew that passed away, you always wish maybe you would have just hung out a little more, got to know them just a little bit more. With Brie, she never really knew her sister. Sure she knew her Christian sister. The one that drove her nuts, but after her death, she notices there was a lot of things she had missed out on. Memories flood her mind, brining the reader so much closer to Brie and the mystery of Faith's death.

Denise Jaden does something very tricky with her writing. She has the super writer's ability to lure you into the story without even realizing how hooked you are. Each chapter seemed to give just enough questions to make me keep turning the pages, wondering what exactly went on while Faith was alive. The characters in this book are so well developed. I loved how Jaden weaved in all these different personalities like Tessa and Alis into Brie's life. The three of them were the biggest odd trio, but yet, she made them fit perfectly together.

The only part I had trouble with was the middle. There was a great build up to the truth, but it started to drag just a bit. I do wish more was talked about with exactly what Faith was into while she was alive because I always find it fascinating how certain groups can suck a person in.

If you are worried that this book might come off as preachy due to it having religious type context, please don't let that discourage you from picking this up. This book was no way preachy or pushy on anything.

♥amber