Author: Katrina Leno
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Source: HarperTeen via Edelweiss
Goodreads
A charming and imaginative new novel about getting lost before you can be found.Review by Nara
LOST:
Frannie and Louis met in an online support group when they were both younger. They have never met face-to-face. They don’t even know each other’s real names. All they know is that they both have a mysterious tendency to lose things. Well, not lose them, exactly. Things just seem to…disappear.
FOUND:
They each receive news in the mail that sets them off on a road trip to Austin, Texas, looking for answers—and each other. Along the way, each one begins to find, as if by magic, important things the other has lost. And by the time they finally meet in person, they realize that the things you lose might be things you weren’t meant to have at all, and that you never know what you might find if you just take a chance.
The Lost & Found is a bighearted novel about connections (missed and found), family (the kind you’re born with and the kind you make for yourself), and unexpected journeys (on the road, and of the heart), from an author who Publishers Weekly called “a fierce new presence.”
The Lost & Found was actually this close to getting an Incredible rating. And honestly, it would have if only the ending had satisfied me a bit more. It was unfortunately quite open and abrupt. I really didn't like the last line, which just seemed quite jarring. I don't usually mind open endings in contemporary novels, as that's what most YA contemporaries these days seem to have anyway, but I like to have a little bit more closure than what The Lost & Found gave me.
Anyway, taking a step back from the ending, I quite liked the dash of magical realism included in this book- not so often that you see those in YA. I still think the book was mostly a contemporary novel, and if I had to name it as one genre, it would be contemporary. The magical realism aspect didn't play a large role as it does in something like The Raven Cycle, and was in there as a bit of a quirk, so to speak.
It was great how effortlessly Leno was able to drop diversity into the characters without making it seem forced. Too often, it seems like a random gay character or an Asian character is thrown in to be all "look at how diverse my book is!", but that's definitely not the case in this book. Leno was also quite fantastic at developing the relationships between the characters, with a big emphasis of friendship and family rather than simply on the romance.
This was my first book by Leno, and I'm sure that it won't be my last. The Lost & Found has shown me just how impressive an author she is.
Really liked it
RatingsOverall: 8/10
Plot: 4/5
Romance: 4/5
Writing: 4/5
Characters: 4.5/5
Cover: 3.5/5
