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sleeptalked's review
emotional
mysterious
sad
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death
mariahistryingtoread's review
2.0
Long Lost peaks at the 50% mark. Everything from that moment on is disappointing.
The first half is a fantastic, moving set-up for an eerily prescient warning about the harm a sister can wreak on another if they're not careful. The second half is an underdeveloped race to the finish that does nothing to bolster the intentions laid forth in the former.
I'm going to just come right out and spoil the secret book storyline so don't keep reading if you care to experience it yourself.
The so-called mystery that occurred years ago is that two sisters Hazel and Pearl were at a carnival. Hazel wanted to stay and watch the clean up on the final day. Pearl wanted to go home because she was still feeling some residual anger at Hazel for abandoning her to hang out with two kids who worked the carnival. The two bicker and Pearl ultimately runs home alone. Hazel is the golden child so she's usually the one to get them out of scrapes as the two are prone to troublesome antics. When Hazel finally returns they both get into trouble because Pearl was never going to be believed regardless of what she said.
A few days later Pearl is out in the forest. Hazel decides to scare her. The two quarrel again. Hazel takes an unsafe way home to try to beat Pearl there to continue her mischief, slips in the river and drowns. Pearl blames herself and in her trauma makes up a story about The Searcher - a town legend that kidnaps people when they're out alone - taking her away so as not to have to face what happened.
The story is meant to parallel Fiona's experiences with her own sister. Fiona is the younger, less beloved sister Pearl. Arden is the older, much beloved sister Hazel. While the parallel has merit, it breaks apart for one crucial reason: it ignores the parental involvement.
Arden, like Hazel, is the golden child in the family. Absolutely everything in their lives has to revolve around the ability to get Arden to ice skating practices and/or competitions. Fiona is an afterthought proven explicitly at one point by them choosing to take Arden to a competition instead of honoring a promise to Fiona when a scheduling conflict arises due to their own mistake. Not only do they never make up for this despite making a promise to do so, the parents are literally never relevant again after this point. The mom appears a few pages or so later to scold Fiona for something unrelated and that's it. They never appear again despite them being the root of the conflict between the two sisters.
Hazel and Pearl’s parents are hardly mentioned in the secret book. The most we know is that they are indulgent enough of their children to allow them to display ‘unladylike’ behavior the rest of the town looked askance at. We can assume that they played favorites based on context clues and from drawing our own conclusions, however, the parents do not have enough on-page influence to know how far that extended. We cannot conclude with certainty that they were encouraging anything - if anything it seemed both girls were emotionally neglected equally.
The parallel doesn’t work because while sisters can simply have differing temperaments, interests, personalities, etc that conflict all signs in this book point to it being the parents’ fault that the two groups of siblings strain their respective relationships so badly.
It’d be different if these were older kids or adults because you could argue it was more about the individual sisters choosing for themselves not to get along. But these are minors in the same household still largely impacted by their parents’ choices. The parents are actively catering to Arden. The parents are ignoring Fiona’s burgeoning resentment. The parents are choosing their own convenience over what is best for the entire family unit. And that is the sole reason that Arden and Fiona are so at odds.
Siblings argue. Not all siblings are destined to be close either way. Sometimes parents can try their best to foster closeness only for there to be discord regardless. You’re rolling the dice on some level when having multiple kids. That is not the case here where there is no evidence whatsoever that parents care at all for Fiona as much as they care for Arden or rather, Arden’s ability to skate her way to the Olympics. They are not even trying to make sure both girls needs are attended to.
The fact that the family never has a heart to heart as a whole unit is a major strike against the book. Especially when Arden inadvertently reveals to Fiona that she is on the verge of a mental breakdown regarding her skill level in ice skating. Arden is sitting in the living room, sobbing alone in the dark hidden away because she’s so stressed out. Yet, the parents are never made aware of how much she’s hurting or the pressure they are unintentionally putting on her. In fact, the two seem oblivious to the emotional state of both their daughters.
Hazel and Pearl’s parents at least have the excuse of ‘it was a different time’, what is Fionas’ parents' excuse?
The two sisters bonding in the end is incidental. It was not due to any continued narrative effort to unite the two. It happened purely because it was supposed to at that juncture. Arden just happens to show up at the right moment. She was not a genuine part of the mystery like the synopsis heavily implies.
The unfolding of the ghost story was disappointing. I was super invested in finding out what happened, but the execution was flawed. All it amounted to was Fiona and a random boy that doesn’t get included until over halfway into the book going back and forth to the library attempting to find the book again and hoping that more information would appear in it. They had to do no other research, visit no other locations, chase down potential leads, or explore the town in any capacity. It really was just mining the same well i.e. playing find it for the same book until the story was ready to wrap up.
A very interesting premise that was ultimately not worth the time I spent on it. It feels like a debut even though Jacqueline West has written like 10 books so far. If the parent plot had been finished out I’d have still generally recommended this, but I can’t in good conscience give a book that advocates for rug sweeping to this degree a pass.
The first half is a fantastic, moving set-up for an eerily prescient warning about the harm a sister can wreak on another if they're not careful. The second half is an underdeveloped race to the finish that does nothing to bolster the intentions laid forth in the former.
I'm going to just come right out and spoil the secret book storyline so don't keep reading if you care to experience it yourself.
The so-called mystery that occurred years ago is that two sisters Hazel and Pearl were at a carnival. Hazel wanted to stay and watch the clean up on the final day. Pearl wanted to go home because she was still feeling some residual anger at Hazel for abandoning her to hang out with two kids who worked the carnival. The two bicker and Pearl ultimately runs home alone. Hazel is the golden child so she's usually the one to get them out of scrapes as the two are prone to troublesome antics. When Hazel finally returns they both get into trouble because Pearl was never going to be believed regardless of what she said.
A few days later Pearl is out in the forest. Hazel decides to scare her. The two quarrel again. Hazel takes an unsafe way home to try to beat Pearl there to continue her mischief, slips in the river and drowns. Pearl blames herself and in her trauma makes up a story about The Searcher - a town legend that kidnaps people when they're out alone - taking her away so as not to have to face what happened.
The story is meant to parallel Fiona's experiences with her own sister. Fiona is the younger, less beloved sister Pearl. Arden is the older, much beloved sister Hazel. While the parallel has merit, it breaks apart for one crucial reason: it ignores the parental involvement.
Arden, like Hazel, is the golden child in the family. Absolutely everything in their lives has to revolve around the ability to get Arden to ice skating practices and/or competitions. Fiona is an afterthought proven explicitly at one point by them choosing to take Arden to a competition instead of honoring a promise to Fiona when a scheduling conflict arises due to their own mistake. Not only do they never make up for this despite making a promise to do so, the parents are literally never relevant again after this point. The mom appears a few pages or so later to scold Fiona for something unrelated and that's it. They never appear again despite them being the root of the conflict between the two sisters.
Hazel and Pearl’s parents are hardly mentioned in the secret book. The most we know is that they are indulgent enough of their children to allow them to display ‘unladylike’ behavior the rest of the town looked askance at. We can assume that they played favorites based on context clues and from drawing our own conclusions, however, the parents do not have enough on-page influence to know how far that extended. We cannot conclude with certainty that they were encouraging anything - if anything it seemed both girls were emotionally neglected equally.
The parallel doesn’t work because while sisters can simply have differing temperaments, interests, personalities, etc that conflict all signs in this book point to it being the parents’ fault that the two groups of siblings strain their respective relationships so badly.
It’d be different if these were older kids or adults because you could argue it was more about the individual sisters choosing for themselves not to get along. But these are minors in the same household still largely impacted by their parents’ choices. The parents are actively catering to Arden. The parents are ignoring Fiona’s burgeoning resentment. The parents are choosing their own convenience over what is best for the entire family unit. And that is the sole reason that Arden and Fiona are so at odds.
Siblings argue. Not all siblings are destined to be close either way. Sometimes parents can try their best to foster closeness only for there to be discord regardless. You’re rolling the dice on some level when having multiple kids. That is not the case here where there is no evidence whatsoever that parents care at all for Fiona as much as they care for Arden or rather, Arden’s ability to skate her way to the Olympics. They are not even trying to make sure both girls needs are attended to.
The fact that the family never has a heart to heart as a whole unit is a major strike against the book. Especially when Arden inadvertently reveals to Fiona that she is on the verge of a mental breakdown regarding her skill level in ice skating. Arden is sitting in the living room, sobbing alone in the dark hidden away because she’s so stressed out. Yet, the parents are never made aware of how much she’s hurting or the pressure they are unintentionally putting on her. In fact, the two seem oblivious to the emotional state of both their daughters.
Hazel and Pearl’s parents at least have the excuse of ‘it was a different time’, what is Fionas’ parents' excuse?
The two sisters bonding in the end is incidental. It was not due to any continued narrative effort to unite the two. It happened purely because it was supposed to at that juncture. Arden just happens to show up at the right moment. She was not a genuine part of the mystery like the synopsis heavily implies.
The unfolding of the ghost story was disappointing. I was super invested in finding out what happened, but the execution was flawed. All it amounted to was Fiona and a random boy that doesn’t get included until over halfway into the book going back and forth to the library attempting to find the book again and hoping that more information would appear in it. They had to do no other research, visit no other locations, chase down potential leads, or explore the town in any capacity. It really was just mining the same well i.e. playing find it for the same book until the story was ready to wrap up.
A very interesting premise that was ultimately not worth the time I spent on it. It feels like a debut even though Jacqueline West has written like 10 books so far. If the parent plot had been finished out I’d have still generally recommended this, but I can’t in good conscience give a book that advocates for rug sweeping to this degree a pass.
mbenzz's review
4.0
This was an enjoyably middle grade story! I wasn’t expecting it to be a ghost story, but I liked it nonetheless. It has a good message and was creepy without being gory or over-the-top scary. I would definitely recommend this to kids ages 7+ who like ghost stories.
vyhurz's review against another edition
4.0
Sometimes it’s a little hard to review middle grade books because they’re not meant for an adult audience. Some parts of the story may feel flat or predictable, but those parts wouldn’t necessarily feel that way to the intended audience. I always have to remind myself of that when I read these books. The reason I go back to them is for the simplicity and pure fun that they give. Usually, the middle grade books I pick up are fantastical, and I just love the pure imagination I find.
Long Lost is about Fiona Crane who has to move away from her old life to Lost Lake with her family. She’s very unhappy about it and jealous of the attention her older sister, Arden, receives for being a figure skater. The story takes place during the summertime, so Fiona has to find something to do with her time. She turns to the local library and discovers a mysterious book. This leads her on a hunt for truth.
I highly enjoyed reading this book. It’s about Fiona and her family, but it’s also about the mysterious book she discovers, which is also about two sisters, Hazel and Pearl, who lived about a hundred years ago. The story of Fiona involves her reading this story, and it’s hard to say which story is more interesting. At first, I thought it was going to be a frame story, but Fiona gets interrupted in reading the Hazel and Pearl book. This brought some intrigue since you, as the reader, wanted to finish it with Fiona.
I personally don’t like too much detail about the books I’m going to read, so I’m not going to give away much more details. But the adventure Fiona goes on is so much fun. I quickly read through the second half of the book, when things really started taking off. As I stated at the top, some things do feel flat and predictable, but that’s more on me. I’m not the audience for this. Even so, those few small things don’t kill the book. The overall story is a joy.
There’s many characters throughout the book, and most of them are pretty distinct. I can’t say the writing was anything special. It was all pretty straightforward, just telling us what we need to know, but there were a few pretty phrases. However, I think middle grades are more about the story instead of pretty writing. I’ve never read a book my Jacqueline West before, but the imagination in this book really impressed me.
tinyleafbooks.com
Long Lost is about Fiona Crane who has to move away from her old life to Lost Lake with her family. She’s very unhappy about it and jealous of the attention her older sister, Arden, receives for being a figure skater. The story takes place during the summertime, so Fiona has to find something to do with her time. She turns to the local library and discovers a mysterious book. This leads her on a hunt for truth.
I highly enjoyed reading this book. It’s about Fiona and her family, but it’s also about the mysterious book she discovers, which is also about two sisters, Hazel and Pearl, who lived about a hundred years ago. The story of Fiona involves her reading this story, and it’s hard to say which story is more interesting. At first, I thought it was going to be a frame story, but Fiona gets interrupted in reading the Hazel and Pearl book. This brought some intrigue since you, as the reader, wanted to finish it with Fiona.
I personally don’t like too much detail about the books I’m going to read, so I’m not going to give away much more details. But the adventure Fiona goes on is so much fun. I quickly read through the second half of the book, when things really started taking off. As I stated at the top, some things do feel flat and predictable, but that’s more on me. I’m not the audience for this. Even so, those few small things don’t kill the book. The overall story is a joy.
There’s many characters throughout the book, and most of them are pretty distinct. I can’t say the writing was anything special. It was all pretty straightforward, just telling us what we need to know, but there were a few pretty phrases. However, I think middle grades are more about the story instead of pretty writing. I’ve never read a book my Jacqueline West before, but the imagination in this book really impressed me.
tinyleafbooks.com
gardenfairyreads's review
4.0
There's just something about middle grades, man. Maybe it's because I was a weird little creature when I was a kid and I liked skulking in dark corners and collecting rocks and telling myself stories, but I always feel like middle grade stories awaken something in me.
fizzingweasleys's review
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
jkribbit's review
adventurous
dark
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.75
steepedpages's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0