Truthfully, there just aren’t enough words for me to say how much I loved The Lost by Sarah Beth Durst. It’s a book so good, and so delightful, that I’m left inarticulate. But let me give it a try, once you’ve read what this amazing book is all about:
It was only meant to be a brief detour. But then Lauren finds herself trapped in a town called Lost on the edge of a desert, filled with things abandoned, broken and thrown away. And when she tries to escape, impassible dust storms and something unexplainable lead her back to Lost again and again. The residents she meets there tell her she’s going to have to figure out just what she’s missing – and what she’s running from – before she can leave. So now Lauren’s on a new search for a purpose and a destiny. And maybe, just maybe, she’ll be found.
Against the backdrop of this desolate and mystical town, Sarah Beth Durst writes an arresting, fantastical novel of one woman’s impossible journey, and her quest to find her fate.
What I love so much about The Lost is how universal some of the underlying themes are. Lauren struggles with loss – sickness and death, with facing a loved one’s mortality. She’s fighting to find her place in the world, trying to decide between who she wants to be (who she is) and who society expects her to be. Between what she is passionate about, and what seems most practical.
And though Lauren is an adult – and though The Lost is technically an adult book – these themes are not unique only to adults. In truth, these are things we all struggle with, throughout our lives — be it adolescence or adulthood, or that murky pace in between. In fact, I found the book to be largely accessible for both teen and adult readers. Durst deftly tackles these tough emotional struggles, against a fantastical and starkly beautiful landscape.
Durst has crafted a truly brilliant and unique fantasy world, giving thought and purpose to the things we lose – and questioning what it is that makes a person go lost, and the many ways they can be found again.
And I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the steamy love interest that Durst has conjured up, creating a character so enticing that both Lauren and the reader questions if being found is really worth losing this guy.
There are no words adequate to convey how much I adored this book – but perhaps my semi-coherent babble, and my promise that it is OMG SO FREAKING GOOD is enough to convince you that you just can’t go another minute without reading The Lost. It is in stores now, and is not to be missed!
And once you’ve finished reading it, you can join me in anxiously awaiting the sequel, which will be released in December.
Novel Novice 