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3.65 AVERAGE
3.65 AVERAGE
Loved this book! I understood Darcy's need to hide in words and not say things aloud to voice them true. I connected with Darcy as a Lover of books and learned valuable life lessons.
lighthearted
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was a cute YA romance. Darcy is a teenage girl living in the shadows of the real world. She would rather immerse herself in stories and make-believe worlds than build a true story for herself. It’s too hard and too messy. She thinks it would be easier to be invisible than have her friends witness her mother’s hoarding lifestyle.
She meets Asher and she slowly starts to realize that she doesn’t want to live immersed in books all the time, she wants those love stories she reads about to truly happen to her as she’s slowly falling for Asher- a guy she can’t have as he’s dating someone else. Along the way, they become friends and that person for each other.
A few things:
- I did like the disability representation in this book.
- I don’t think there was much character growth at all until the end where you see the beginnings of it.
- The main character is in high school, yet I didn’t feel any adversity that is typical for that setting. We don’t need straight-up bullying but there could have been some sort of drama involving teenagers. That one little bonfire scene didn’t really add much.
- Drawing from the previous note, I felt next to no angst that you can normally find in YA romance novels. This is a sweet contemporary story, but missing that bit of flare, which causes it to fall flat a bit. Still good, but not perfect.
- Personal note, I don’t really feel the title fits the book. Not that I can come up with a better name right now, it’s just not what I would immediately associate with this story.
challenging
emotional
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The Library of Lost Things revolves around a family of lying liars who lie!
We have Darcy's mother lying to herself and her family on why she is a compulsive hoarder
Then there is Darcy who lies to everyone regarding reasons for why they cannot come to her home, lies to her mother about her side hustle on ebay, and lies to the landlord but we don't really care about that one.
We cannot leave out Darcy's grandmother who kept secrets from her regarding her absentee father and what her mom did when she was just a baby.
Secrets and lies are not lost in this one! However, flaws are life reality and the journey these women take to finally just coming out with it is a hard and emotional one. To note I do not condone lying I believe in open honesty. The characters in this book created snowballs that could have been avoided with some solid communication and possible therapy.
Marisol, Darcy's best friend and birthday buddy, is our non liar. She is so raw and wonderful. She doesn't let Darcy fall back on the things she must do in regards to her family and potential love life.
Asher is a too good to be true love interest but his flawed self just meshed so well with Darcy's life mess.
This book is a journey of emotions and self realization. It was a quick read. I wish I had Darcy's skills of basically memorizing books.
During the reading process I was wondering where the title for this book came from but by the end I realized the lost things must be the people themselves!
Thank you to Netgalley and Inkyard Press for an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review. You made my place ride enjoyable!
We have Darcy's mother lying to herself and her family on why she is a compulsive hoarder
Then there is Darcy who lies to everyone regarding reasons for why they cannot come to her home, lies to her mother about her side hustle on ebay, and lies to the landlord but we don't really care about that one.
We cannot leave out Darcy's grandmother who kept secrets from her regarding her absentee father and what her mom did when she was just a baby.
Secrets and lies are not lost in this one! However, flaws are life reality and the journey these women take to finally just coming out with it is a hard and emotional one. To note I do not condone lying I believe in open honesty. The characters in this book created snowballs that could have been avoided with some solid communication and possible therapy.
Marisol, Darcy's best friend and birthday buddy, is our non liar. She is so raw and wonderful. She doesn't let Darcy fall back on the things she must do in regards to her family and potential love life.
Asher is a too good to be true love interest but his flawed self just meshed so well with Darcy's life mess.
This book is a journey of emotions and self realization. It was a quick read. I wish I had Darcy's skills of basically memorizing books.
During the reading process I was wondering where the title for this book came from but by the end I realized the lost things must be the people themselves!
Thank you to Netgalley and Inkyard Press for an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review. You made my place ride enjoyable!
I wanted to love this book, and it had its moments. But often it just felt kind of off, and it's a little hard to know why. The whole concept of the main character and her relationship with words and books never quite made sense to me, even when she had her revelation at the end. I thought that the mom's miraculous admission and recovery at the end seemed really unrealistic, especially because she was a flat character leading up to that moment. Everything tied up too neatly. And some moments felt so realistic, while others felt completely unrealistic--like when the main character holes up at her best friend's house for three days.
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Laura Taylor Namey shines with her debut novel. A beautiful story with sentiment that narrates the life of Darcy Wells, a young girl who hides in stories to escape the stressors of life. The romance was a nice touch to this story, but it was refreshing not having it be the center of the book. The most important part is the relationship between a mother, a daughter, and a hoard that gets in the way. Dealing with subjects such as abandonment, mental illness, and loss, the Library of Lost Things is an instant favorite.
challenging
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I’m surprised I didn’t read this when it first came out since I am such a big fan of YA coming of age stories. Darcy’s life is not something anyone would want to deal with and shining a light on these real life situations is certainly eye opening for the reader. Will anything ever go right for Darcy? Enter Asher and of course, she would be lost without Marisol and Tess. I very much identified with the introverted book girl. The title still kind of puzzles me. Was this a standout? No, but still a strong and most importantly, a unique story.