Review: Here Lies Daniel Tate by Cristin Terrill

So thrilled to have finally gotten to read another book by Cristin. Eee. I have been waiting years for the chance to read another story by her. And oh gosh, this one was all kinds of amazing, and so worth the wait. I enjoyed this book so much. The writing is all kinds of gorgeous. And the story was so incredible. Loved it so.

I'm unsure how to describe this book without giving spoilers. But I shall try my best. It really was a stunning book. I enjoyed every single moment of it. I only wish it had been even longer. I wish it hadn't ended. But yeah, I really enjoyed the plot in this one. It's exciting and heartbreaking and full of surprises. I enjoyed it tons.

I'm giving this book four stars, though, but only because I had some issues with the ending, and because I wanted there to be more romance, haha, and because I felt like there could have been a bit more action in this. But that is the only parts about it that I did not like. The rest of the book I loved like crazy. Sigh. This book was just all kinds of amazing and I'm so glad that I read it. The writing is just awesome. And the characters were amazing to read about. While my favorite character was the main boy, I liked reading about the others, though I didn't love them the same way. This book is mostly about the boy. And I loved that so much. I just wish I had gotten to know more details about him. Hmph. There is so much missing. I needed more.

Here Lies Daniel Tate tells the story about a boy. He is somewhere above eighteen years old. And he is homeless. Without family and friends. He finally left his home at sixteen, and he hasn't been back since. He stays alive by conning people, tricking them into thinking he's fifteen or sixteen years old and have been hurt, so that he will be able to sleep in a bed at night. While that was pretty rude of him, I did not blame him one bit. I wanted this boy to have it good, to be able to rest. I just loved reading about him.

But then one day when he's trying to get a place to stay, he says he's a boy that's been missing for six years, Daniel Tate. And gosh, things go wrong for this boy from that moment. Because the police believes him. Daniel Tate's family believes him. They believe that he is their missing sibling come back from being kidnapped. And ahh, this was such an interesting plot twist. Horrible at times. Yet so so interesting and I was so curious about how it would all work out. It was beyond exciting to read about. I was so nervous.

Because this unknown boy is lying. And he is lying so much that it was a bit hard sometimes to know the truth. Yet I loved it so. And I loved this boy beyond words. Only calling him that, because we do not know his real name. Aw. I wanted to know more about him so badly. I wanted to know if something in his past really happened, or if he made it up. Bothers me a bit. I must know. But either way, reading about this boy was the best thing. I loved learning more about him. I loved how he had a heart too, and how he cared.

This boy have not known love. He hasn't had a family. And so when he goes to the Tate's, pretending to be their kidnapped boy, he finally finds a home. He learns to love them all. And to know how it feels to be loved back. And oh, it broke my heart a bit. Especially when the plot starts getting more twisted. When the boy starts to find out what happened to the real Daniel Tate. And that someone else knows too. And ahh. It was all just pretty nerve wracking. While not much happened, it was still so exciting and I loved it.

There is so much happening in this book. The boy has to figure out what to say to the police, and to the family he's now in. He has to decide what to share about how he was kidnapped, and what happened to him. It was pretty awful. And I loved every moment of it. I loved how he started to care for them, despite lying to them. This boy is not heartless. He shouldn't have lied, yes, but I can't blame him for it either. I just wanted him to be happy. Sigh. And I really enjoyed reading about him having a good life, for a time.

There are some pretty awesome characters in this book. The boy meets a girl, Ren. And I liked her a lot. Sadly, she's not really a big part of the story, aw. But she's there. And she's pretty sweet. I wish that the romance had been bigger. But I loved that it was small too. Then there is the whole Tate family. I liked the little sister, Mia. She was adorable. I loved her relationship with the boy so much. The youngest brother, Nicholas, was pretty awesome too. I adored his story. Got a bit upset with him, but I loved him. So much.

Then there was the mom, Jessica. I didn't like her much at all, sadly, and that was how I was supposed to feel, I'm sure. Was curious about her, though. There was also the oldest brother, Patrick. I liked him most of the time. He seemed like a good older brother. And then the older sister, Lex. She was a bit too much at times, yet such a sweet sister as well. I'm conflicted about her. She was a bit overprotective, yet I did like that too. I loved how much the boy grew to care for her, and care for all the others too, aw. I loved it.

I just really enjoyed this. Here Lies Daniel Tate is an amazing story about love and loss. About friendships and family. There is also a big mystery, which was all kinds of exciting and evil. I loved figuring it all out. Some things I saw coming a little bit, but most of it were a surprise as well; I enjoyed that a whole bunch. Thank you so much to the sweetest person for letting me read this eARC early. I must get the print one too. I cannot wait to read this book again. I loved it. It's so good. I really think you should all read this one.

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