Author: Jennifer Spence
ISBN: 9781925791372
RRP: $29.99
Publication Date: February 2019
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Copy: Courtesy of the Publisher
The Lost Girls was a captivating read that was nothing like what I expected. This was a book I read early in the month but life has given me a run for my money this month and I haven’t had a chance to sit and write any reviews. If I’m not careful my To Be Reviewed pile will catch up to the size of my To Be Read pile and that’s dangerous.
Jennifer Spence is an author I had not read before but I will definitely be keeping an eye out to read her again. The Lost Girls is a tale of love and loss that employs a story telling tool that is definitely not for everyone. I loved the way the book was written and the way it all played out but I did at times get caught up in the how. It’s difficult for me to decide what to say and what not to say because I am very conscious of spoilers, and that makes it tough.
Stella finds herself in a position to make changes to her life, an opportunity that we never really have; and one that we shouldn’t have because it’s disturbing to explore just how much can be affected by the smallest changes to everyday life.
I loved The Lost Girls, it was extremely thought provoking and has stayed with me since I finished reading. It has been compared to Sliding Doors, which is a movie I haven’t seen so can’t comment on; I find it reminiscent of The Butterfly Effect which is a darker tale of the affect changing the past has.
In the beginning I struggled a little with getting past the how, I’m a reader who needs to understand and I can only suspend disbelief so far. Once I realised there wasn’t going to be a satisfactory explanation for how I got so immersed in the story that it ceased to matter. In the end I think the lack of a how actually helped, I didn’t get weighed down in trying to work out the science of it all – it was one of those things that just was.
Stella finds herself in another time, in a familiar place, and though she is completely disoriented and uncertain of anything she knows she needs to tread carefully. She understands the havoc small changes could make. But she also knows that she lost someone so dear to her that she would do anything to save them.
Spence has not tried to come up with an intricate and believable how and why, she has left it completely unexplained and disconcerting for Stella so we feel that same sense of displacement with her as she tried to get her head around what is going on in her life and how it all works, but never finding the answers.
The tone of this tale is haunting and heart-breaking. The lengths some people will go to in the hopes of saving a loved one, the secrets hidden in our family trees and the massive changes that could be made by the tiniest decisions.
Simon & Schuster have stickered this one a Guaranteed Read, love it or your money back and I think they are right. This one is going to be a hit. I haven’t read Jennifer Spence before but I will be certainly looking out for her in the future.
The Lost Girls is published by Simon and Schuster and is available now were all good books are sold.
Thanks to Simon & Schuster 25 of our Beauty and Lace Club members will be reading The Lost Girls so please be aware there may be spoilers in the comments below.
I devour books, vampires and supernatural creatures are my genre of choice but over the past couple of years, I have broadened my horizons considerably. In a nutshell – I love to write! I love interacting with a diverse range of artists to bring you interviews. Perhaps we were perfect before – I LOVE WORDS!
I really enjoyed this book!
The first thing that attracted me to this book was its cover, yes I know the saying but I am always attracted to the book covers first. To be honest I had no idea it was a time travel novel until a friend mentioned it was compared to the Time Travellers Wife! So i really went into this one blind but was certainly not disappointed!
I found the writing fluent and easy to read. In fact I really struggled to put it down! A very addictive read. This will be one staying in my collection for sure!
Its a book that makes you wonder, what if you had the chance to go back and change something? How would you do it? What would you change? Its a book that stays with you long after the last chapter.
I am very impressed and looking forward to more from Jennifer!
Thanks to Beauty and Lace and Simon and Schuster for the chance to read this captivating book!
The Lost Girls is a captivating and thought provoking tale, it kept me guessing, kept me turing the pages and I really didnt want it to end!
Stella, a 60 something woman, catches the bus one day & as she walks home, she realises she’s been transported 20 odd years into the past, back to the late 90’s.
She goes to her old home, where she used to live with her hubby & 2 kids & stumbles upon her younger, 43 yr old self.
She claims to be long lost Aunt Linda who went missing as a 16 year old some 50 years earlier, so she can live with the family (her younger family) & try to prevent a tragedy that is set to happen a few years down the track.
Stella/Linda’s internal dialogue, telling herself to follow the ‘rules’ of time travel and not to upset the future too much make for very interesting reading.
She also gets to spend time with her long departed Mum once again, under the guise of Linda to begin with, but it doesn’t take Mum very long to figure it out, who still continues wondering what really happened to Linda all those years ago.
This book kept me thinking, wondering, pondering. It was a really great read, and I felt I got all the answers I’d been waiting for in the end.
Well done to the author, brilliant, can’t wait for another book!
The Lost Girls has an unusual theme, while on the one hand it deals with the issue of time travel and what would you do or fix if you had that chance… it also deals with solving what can only be called a mystery disappearance or cold case.
Initially Stella portrays herself as the long lost family member, Linda. The “present day” Stella/Linda is faced with many aspects of looking into her family life and it is quite interesting that she does not remember most of the tension in her marriage of those early years and how naive she was with her kids and what was happening. She was however lucky to be able to step back into Linda’s shoes to solve the mystery of Linda.
I found the plot a little different and how this story looked at all of the ethics of changing something in the past and wondering what will happen if too much is changed and affects the present. At times it was a little confusing to work out which Stella and which time era the story was referring, but on the whole the story panned out well. I like that all of the storylines were neatly tied off and all of the readers lingering questions are answered before the book finishes.
Quite a good read but will provoke a few thoughts of what would you do if you got this opportunity to change the past to save your most precious family….. but you didn’t and you know by leaving things as they are …the ones you loved the most were also the ones you lost first….
Thank you Beauty and Lace and Simon & Schuster Australia for the opportunity to read and review this book.
I found this book started off slowly as it takes the main character Stella a lot longer to comprehend her reality than the reader, but it does pick up pace. The book is told entirely from the perspective of current stella so we only see one side of the story.
The book was unusual in that it was about the main character going back in time, but the how and why was not ever resolved. While this was a point that made parts of the story a little unbelievable for me, I think this worked as it was just a means to the purpose of the story.
It was a thought provoking read touching on issues surrounding how you would change the past if you could, should you and how would that impact the future. It worked well that in the past time, current Stella was able to investigate her missing aunt as well as trying to save her loved ones, so there was a bit of a dual storyline with two aims. It was interesting the effect that each move Stella made when back in time had. I can’t say too much more without giving away parts of the story but I can say I enjoyed this read. I thought the end would be a bit predictable but I was wrong as it didn’t finish how I expected which was good.
Thank you Beauty and Lace for The Lost Girls by Jennifer Spence.
This book keeps your mind asking questions all the way through.
It starts with a lady called Stella finding herself after getting off the bus, in her life 20 years earlier.
The story twists and turns and follows her through her life. The hardest thing is she knows what is going to happen in her life, but how does she warn others without them thinking she’s lost the plot? She’s sets out to change big events that have happened in her life, but if she changes them will it make the event better or worse?
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The Lost Girls book was a thoroughly enjoyable book to read.
At first I wasnt really sure if the character Stella had dementia or what was going on, but once I worked it out, I really got into it.
Its kind of a trip down memory lane but with consequences. In a lot of the time travelling books and shows etc, it doesnt matter what you do, if someone dies they will still die no matter what you do. I just love how this concept was explored and the twists that came with it. It only took me 3 days to read this book because it was so easy to read and kept leaving me wanting more and to find out more.
Thank to B&L and Jennifer Spence for the opportunity to review this book.
Firstly Thank You Beauty & Lace for choosing me to review this book second Thank You Jennifer Spence and The Lost Girls.
I didn’t know where this book was going when I first started reading it and the more I got into the more intrigued I became little did I know I would get stuck with Stella in the past, & future not knowing where it would turn next, I loved this book because the journey you thought was going to happen and the ending you were expecting was very far from what really happened and I love that, I could guess a 1 thing towards the end but that was all and it didn’t ruin the end by any means just made me more determined to get there faster ha ha. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and the wonderful mystery it gave, if you want something a little different then this book is for you and suitable for anyone.
Thank you Beauty and Lace & Simon and Schuster for the opportunity to review The Lost Girls by Jennifer Spence.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, it was not a genre I would normally go for.. once I got my head around what was going on I struggled to put it down.
It was a very thought provoking book and made me ponder if I would change anything if I had the chance again
I am looking forward to reading reading more of Jennifer’s books.
Time travel, if you could go back in time would you? should you? change the past?
And if you do is it for the better?
And do you really remember exactly what did happen I mean it was the past,
Kept me hooked till the end
A great read and a great thought provoking novel, my hubby got sick of me saying….what if we could go back and change this and that
Twists and turns! I have often wondered myself, if I could change anything, would I, and what path would I take? It was very interesting to watch the way the story played out and how changing events in the timeline altered Stella’s memories (as they would, but it was very cleverly written!)
Parts got quite deep and heavy and I had to slow myself down and read carefully so I could fully understand what was happening – it got a little confusing, and as much as I wanted to keep reading, my brain really had to take a little break every now and then.
A great read that with all the timeline changes, led to a completely different ending to what I expected