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a_mae13's review
2.5
“Be careful what you wish for; not all lost things should be found.”
I definitely have mixed feelings about this book. It was a very slow burn with way too many characters and split POVs. The last quarter of the book more or less made up for the the drag. We have the POVs of three girls, Olive, Hazel, and Laurel. I don't care about Laurel's stories whatsoever; the entire premise of her POV is that someone stole her diary and classmates read it out loud during the school day. While this is a YA book, that specific plot felt extremely juvenile. Laurel and her best friends, Ash and Holly, find The Spellbook of the Lost and Found and decide to cast the spell to get back their diaries. In the process, they meet Jude, a boy who seemingly lives in the forest.
The majority of the book focuses on Olive and Hazel, which was much more enjoyable than Laurel and her friends. Olive and her best friend Rose go to a party where everyone is horribly wasted. After the party, they both seem to be "losing" things that are important to them. Everyone at the party lost something, and this plotline continues throughout the book. Olive begins to notice her mother saying strange things to her, like "stay away from that boy, he's lost more than you realize." She shrugs these things off until the duo meet Hazel.
Hazel lives in an abandoned housing plan with her twin brother Rowan and her best friend Ivy (even more characters). The trio is under the guardianship of Mags Maguire, who is a friend of Ivy's family. When Olive and Rose meet Hazel, Rowan, and Ivy, the group discovers that they are all missing things, and suddenly diary pages start to appear in place of their lost things. The diary pages are from Laurel, her lost diary. They believe that the three girls cast the spell on the night of the party, which is why the town keeps losing things.It's revealed that Rose was raped by a boy named Cathal Murdock at the party where things started to go missing . The group believes that if they cast the spell again, they can get back the things they've lost. Hazel and Rowan come from a broken home, with an abusive father and timid mother. Ivy never knew her father. Rose is missing who she was before the party, and Olive just plays along.
Naturally, after the spell is cast, all chaos breaks lose. Cathal Murdock is now missing. Olive's sister Emily and her best friend (again more characters) are both missing. The group is experiencing very strange encounters, including meeting Ash, Laurel's friend.As the plot ramps up, we discover that the diary pages from Laurel were actually from 20+ years ago. Laurel is Olive's mother. Ash is the mother of Hazel and Rowan. And Holly is Ivy's mother. I didn't love this plot twist because it felt rushed being thrown in at the end. We learn that Ash married Jude, the alleged lost soul living in the forest, and that he's also the father to Ivy. Ivy and Rowan had a fling, unknowingly committing incest. Mags Maguire finds Emily and Chloe and returns them home. Ash is found alive and well in rehab. Everything sort of just, ends.
I didn't think I would like this book, but after reading it, I'm torn. The magic system is random and confusing. The plot twists are there but rushed. And we have several characters that we learn very little about. Is Jude really a lost soul? Who is Mags? Did Jude father Olive, too? Did everything just go back to normal after re-casting the spell? I was more intrigued by the end of the novel than the majority of the content, but I finished it and thought it was a fun, strange read.
I definitely have mixed feelings about this book. It was a very slow burn with way too many characters and split POVs. The last quarter of the book more or less made up for the the drag. We have the POVs of three girls, Olive, Hazel, and Laurel. I don't care about Laurel's stories whatsoever; the entire premise of her POV is that someone stole her diary and classmates read it out loud during the school day. While this is a YA book, that specific plot felt extremely juvenile. Laurel and her best friends, Ash and Holly, find The Spellbook of the Lost and Found and decide to cast the spell to get back their diaries. In the process, they meet Jude, a boy who seemingly lives in the forest.
The majority of the book focuses on Olive and Hazel, which was much more enjoyable than Laurel and her friends. Olive and her best friend Rose go to a party where everyone is horribly wasted. After the party, they both seem to be "losing" things that are important to them. Everyone at the party lost something, and this plotline continues throughout the book. Olive begins to notice her mother saying strange things to her, like "stay away from that boy, he's lost more than you realize." She shrugs these things off until the duo meet Hazel.
Hazel lives in an abandoned housing plan with her twin brother Rowan and her best friend Ivy (even more characters). The trio is under the guardianship of Mags Maguire, who is a friend of Ivy's family. When Olive and Rose meet Hazel, Rowan, and Ivy, the group discovers that they are all missing things, and suddenly diary pages start to appear in place of their lost things. The diary pages are from Laurel, her lost diary. They believe that the three girls cast the spell on the night of the party, which is why the town keeps losing things.
Naturally, after the spell is cast, all chaos breaks lose. Cathal Murdock is now missing. Olive's sister Emily and her best friend (again more characters) are both missing. The group is experiencing very strange encounters, including meeting Ash, Laurel's friend.
I didn't think I would like this book, but after reading it, I'm torn. The magic system is random and confusing. The plot twists are there but rushed. And we have several characters that we learn very little about. Is Jude really a lost soul? Who is Mags? Did Jude father Olive, too? Did everything just go back to normal after re-casting the spell? I was more intrigued by the end of the novel than the majority of the content, but I finished it and thought it was a fun, strange read.
thebookstackattack's review
It's just so boring and without depth. I don't care about any of the characters. And there are SO MANY of them
kailynpreston's review
5.0
At first I was confused by the three simultaneous plots, but I loved the way they all fit together in the end. There was multiple twists and turns — I never knew where this book was heading next. There are still questions left unanswered. I loved the flaws in these characters, and their interactions with each other. I couldn’t recommend this book enough.
pixiepages's review
3.0
I thought I was going to love this book but I just couldn’t connect with it. None of the characters drew me in and there were a lot of characters for me to not be able to connect with one of them. I will say the twist at the end of the book I didn't see coming. Her writing and story line are amazing so I'm sad I couldn’t like this book more.
ifollowedthatrabbit's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
4.0
missbookiverse's review against another edition
4.0
3.5
Es beginnt mit dem Verlieren kleiner Dinge wie Haarspangen und Armbändern und steigert sich schnell in Abstrakteres wie Vertrauen und Freundschaft. Aber Olive und Rose finden auch neue Dinge, z.B. die Zwillinge Hazel und Rowan, oder mysteriöse Tagebuchseiten, die das gleiche Verlieren und Finden beschreiben, das Olive und Rose erleben.
Obwohl mir Fowley-Doyles zweites Werk nicht so gut gefallen hat wie ihr [b:The Accident Season|23346358|The Accident Season|Moïra Fowley-Doyle|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1428338423s/23346358.jpg|42905086] Debüt, würde ich es bedenkenlos empfehlen. Einfach weil es eine andere Art von YA ist als die vielen amerikanischen Marktüberschwemmer. Die Atmosphäre ist magischer, das Wetter launischer, die Freundschaften wahrer und die Familien echter. Die europäischen, insbesondere irischen, Wurzeln sind in jedem Kapitel zu spüren. Selbst die Diversity wirkt natürlicher. Die Charaktere sind halt zufällig dunkelhäutig, halb taub oder bisexuell und werden nicht auf diese Eigenschaften reduziert.
Warum es mir trotzdem stellenweise nicht ganz so gut gefallen hat, lag zum einen an meiner Lesestimmung (zu viele Seiten an zu wenig Tagen, also vollkommen unabhängig vom Buch) und zum anderen an den vielen Perspektiven und der Länge. Gerade im letzten Drittel wiederholt sich unnötig viel, das hätte straffer sein können. Erzählt wird aus drei Perspektiven, deren Zusammenhänge sich nach und nach erschließen. Dabei waren mir die Stimmen von Olive und Hazel aber oft zu ähnlich und am meisten interessiert hat mich sowieso Olive. Ich hätte das Buch am liebsten ausschließlich auf sie, ihre Familie und ihre beste Freundin Rose fokussiert gesehen.
Herbstlich, magisch und wieder in Irland geerdet. Moira Fowley-Doyle hat es mit ihren Zaubersprüchen zwar nicht genauso gut hinbekommen wie bei The Accident Season, aber die kleine Familiensaga über verlorene Dinge beschert trotzdem herbstlich-gemütliche Lesestunden.
Es beginnt mit dem Verlieren kleiner Dinge wie Haarspangen und Armbändern und steigert sich schnell in Abstrakteres wie Vertrauen und Freundschaft. Aber Olive und Rose finden auch neue Dinge, z.B. die Zwillinge Hazel und Rowan, oder mysteriöse Tagebuchseiten, die das gleiche Verlieren und Finden beschreiben, das Olive und Rose erleben.
Obwohl mir Fowley-Doyles zweites Werk nicht so gut gefallen hat wie ihr [b:The Accident Season|23346358|The Accident Season|Moïra Fowley-Doyle|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1428338423s/23346358.jpg|42905086] Debüt, würde ich es bedenkenlos empfehlen. Einfach weil es eine andere Art von YA ist als die vielen amerikanischen Marktüberschwemmer. Die Atmosphäre ist magischer, das Wetter launischer, die Freundschaften wahrer und die Familien echter. Die europäischen, insbesondere irischen, Wurzeln sind in jedem Kapitel zu spüren. Selbst die Diversity wirkt natürlicher. Die Charaktere sind halt zufällig dunkelhäutig, halb taub oder bisexuell und werden nicht auf diese Eigenschaften reduziert.
Warum es mir trotzdem stellenweise nicht ganz so gut gefallen hat, lag zum einen an meiner Lesestimmung (zu viele Seiten an zu wenig Tagen, also vollkommen unabhängig vom Buch) und zum anderen an den vielen Perspektiven und der Länge. Gerade im letzten Drittel wiederholt sich unnötig viel, das hätte straffer sein können. Erzählt wird aus drei Perspektiven, deren Zusammenhänge sich nach und nach erschließen. Dabei waren mir die Stimmen von Olive und Hazel aber oft zu ähnlich und am meisten interessiert hat mich sowieso Olive. Ich hätte das Buch am liebsten ausschließlich auf sie, ihre Familie und ihre beste Freundin Rose fokussiert gesehen.
Herbstlich, magisch und wieder in Irland geerdet. Moira Fowley-Doyle hat es mit ihren Zaubersprüchen zwar nicht genauso gut hinbekommen wie bei The Accident Season, aber die kleine Familiensaga über verlorene Dinge beschert trotzdem herbstlich-gemütliche Lesestunden.
thebookishunicorn's review against another edition
4.0
"What will you let go of? What can you not afford to lose? Consider carefully before you cast the calling; it may not be for you to choose. Be careful what you wish for; not all lost things should be found."
A spooky tale set in modern day Ireland, where the magic is real, but what you see may or not be. The blending of the magic with the real world was really well done and had you second guessing everything up until the end.
I did have problems at first keeping all the different characters straight (I believe there were 8 in total) since there were initially 3 different points of views with different people in each one, and sometimes they blended together. But once the story picked up it became easier to tell who was who and I really enjoyed the story.
A spooky tale set in modern day Ireland, where the magic is real, but what you see may or not be. The blending of the magic with the real world was really well done and had you second guessing everything up until the end.
I did have problems at first keeping all the different characters straight (I believe there were 8 in total) since there were initially 3 different points of views with different people in each one, and sometimes they blended together. But once the story picked up it became easier to tell who was who and I really enjoyed the story.
nomad_wander27's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0