Reviews - When We Were Lost

102 reviews for:

When We Were Lost

Kevin Wignall

3.65 AVERAGE

booklovertamisha's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

eniahreads's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

C'était vraiment sympa comme lecture ! Les seuls points qui font que ce soit pas un coup de coeur sont le fait que j'aurais aimé qu'il y ait plus de morts (oui je suis comme ça) et que Tom, notre personnage principal, fasse plus d'erreurs de jugement et de choix.

Autrement, c'était super. Les chapitres sont très courts et donnent un rythme rapide pour la lecture et l'action. Il y a un bon équilibre dans les ados survivants entre ceux qui sont complètement inutiles, ceux qui prennent de mauvaises décisions, et ceux qui s'y connaissent un peu plus et aident vraiment. Il y avait des hauts et des bas, pas mal d'embûches, et ça se passe sur plusieurs jours pour rendre ça plus réel. J'ai beaucoup aimé !

tuckeralmengor's review

2.0

2.5 Stars

A gripping, white-knuckle survival story set in the unknown depths of the Amazon jungle, When We Were Lost explores the razor-thin line between life and death, and what it really means to be alive.

Lies! All lies.

JIMMY Patterson who published this novel, also published my all time favorite book, Stalking Jack the Ripper so I obviously had high hopes for this book. Most of the stuff I've read from Patterson's Imprint has been very good or at the very least, mediocre. I think the reason I didn't enjoy this is in part because it felt very off. It felt so different to what JIMMY Patterson usually publishes. Most of the book from this Imprint are either horror, or mystery. This being survival story, it felt very off brand and alien.

Another thing, the cover says:
A plane carrying a high school class crashes in the jungle.
Who lives?
Who dies?
Who becomes a killer?

First, I need to point out that I really struggled to even keep track of who died and who lived because everyone had white people names! Alice, Tom, Chris, Kate, Joel!? Come on people. Be more creative (*cough* and diverse *cough*) with your characters. Second, it says Who becomes the killer. The answer is not a single person. NO ONE! There was no killer. I went into this expecting a survival story/murder mystery. I kept comparing it to Hachet and Lord of the Flies in my head but it fell very short of both of the novels.

I like when a book jumps right into the story but it must do it right. When I opened this book, I admit, I was intrigued at first but I slowly lost interest. The whole plane crash was brushed over. We never find out why or how the crashed which was very frustrating because in Hachet everything is very clear.

Another thing. I could not connect with the characters at all. It felt like when you try to push two magnets with the same charge towards each other. No matter how hard you push it pull, you just can't make them click. Partly, it was because the characters felt so flat and generic, like something you pull out of a pre-made meal box. We had Tom, the protagonist(?). Even though he was a lot like me, anti-social, anxious and the like, I still hated him. Instead of feeling like he was strong in spite of all his faults, it felt like he just didn't give a sh*t. Now, I would talk about the other characters but I honestly can't remember them because they were so boring and forgettable. The only reason I remember Tom so because he was shoved in my face throughout the whole book.

It really annoyed me that I felt like the book was going so fast and yet a was ridiculously bored. Even though they were supposed to be in danger, the whole situation felt silly. All of them were fine and never got hurt. Except for the ones that did but even then it felt so dumb. I felt like I was supposed to feel something but I just didn't because I did not give a sh*t about any of the characters! Also, the cause of death was just brushed over. Like, they would say one sentence and then move on. Ugh.

Even once they get rescued (I'm not even marking that as a spoiler because it was so predictable), they didn't not to into it at all. They just were like: Welp, we're rescued now. Everything's great. And then it ended. We never hear about the families reactions, which kids get PTSD. Nothing!!!

Overall, a big disappointment. I expected more.

Bottom Line:
2.5 Stars
Age Recommendation: 12+
Cover: 3/5 Stars • Plot: 2/5 Stars • Characters: 1/5
TW: Body horror, plane crash

Many thanks to Jimmy Patterson for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review

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vickypik's review against another edition

4.0

Actually this is a 4.2 read, just because i didn't love it as much as other books.

To start with the good, i really liked the characters. They all were a bit different and some of them had a really great character development. The story was all in all a page-turner and really had something special. Also I liked that the main character wasn't presented as a perfect person.
To come to the only part I didn't like, i think some parts especially in the middle of the book were slow, so i had to force myself to continue it.

In general i would still recommend this book, if you like a survival story with a jungle vibe.