You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
2.72 AVERAGE
2.72 AVERAGE
This is the first book by Gregory Maguire that I've read. It was perhaps not the best one of his books for me to have picked to read first, when Wicked, After Alice, and Son of a Witch are all still waiting on my TBR shelf.
I can't deny that I was pulled into this story, which speaks to Maguire's skill as a writer given that the story was very bizarre, all over the place, and in many ways, dreamlike. I had a difficult time following parts of it, which in part is why I waited several days to write my review. I'm not entirely sure what I think of it - I don't think I liked it but at the same time, I didn't absolutely hate it. Lost was more confusing than anything else, yet avoided eliciting many strong emotions.
The plot was everywhere. There was, at the beginning, a lot about Scrooge and Charles Dickens. This petered out further through the book. There were elements of Peter Pan and Jack the Ripper as well, of loss and obsession, of passion and depression, of madness and some gore. There was something to do with a ghost, but that became even more confusing when it felt that it was becoming clearer. There was a journey to France and a written journey to Romania, that we find out was more than just a story. There was a blizzard - real or just fiction? - there was the difficulty of parsing what really happened versus what is fiction, there was the difficulty of not being able to let go, there was the impossibility of moving on.
If you found it difficult to follow my last paragraph, you know how I felt reading Lost. Perhaps I'm being facetious, but I felt very lost throughout it. Not always in a bad way, but not always in a good way either, since I'm not exactly sure that I found what I had lost by the time the book was over.
Would not really recommend. Honestly I feel very ambivalent about this book - I don't feel that I wasted my time reading it but I also don't feel that I gained anything by reading it. An overall "meh" sensation.
I can't deny that I was pulled into this story, which speaks to Maguire's skill as a writer given that the story was very bizarre, all over the place, and in many ways, dreamlike. I had a difficult time following parts of it, which in part is why I waited several days to write my review. I'm not entirely sure what I think of it - I don't think I liked it but at the same time, I didn't absolutely hate it. Lost was more confusing than anything else, yet avoided eliciting many strong emotions.
The plot was everywhere. There was, at the beginning, a lot about Scrooge and Charles Dickens. This petered out further through the book. There were elements of Peter Pan and Jack the Ripper as well, of loss and obsession, of passion and depression, of madness and some gore. There was something to do with a ghost, but that became even more confusing when it felt that it was becoming clearer. There was a journey to France and a written journey to Romania, that we find out was more than just a story. There was a blizzard - real or just fiction? - there was the difficulty of parsing what really happened versus what is fiction, there was the difficulty of not being able to let go, there was the impossibility of moving on.
If you found it difficult to follow my last paragraph, you know how I felt reading Lost. Perhaps I'm being facetious, but I felt very lost throughout it. Not always in a bad way, but not always in a good way either, since I'm not exactly sure that I found what I had lost by the time the book was over.
Would not really recommend. Honestly I feel very ambivalent about this book - I don't feel that I wasted my time reading it but I also don't feel that I gained anything by reading it. An overall "meh" sensation.
Too many plots, too disjointed, characters were scattered brain and unlikable. The threads were there but none of the charm, magic, and enthusiasm that Wicked captured. What remains of his writing post-Wicked are vain attempts to recapture the Wicked lightening in a bottle and he continually falls short unfortunately.
I’m not sure I can organize my thoughts around this. I feel let down. I love a multi story plot, especially when they all tie back together. I understood the way the connections were made. I enjoyed several of the story lines and how they fit together. Ultimately, there was just too much going on. I was very excited to see how the Jack the Ripper portion would tie in, but for the most part they were just distracting from everything else happening. I hated every time the plot was interrupted to add in the Wendy/John storyline. Not because it was a bad story, but because it felt unnecessary to making the story work. The individual parts were all written well, and I would be willing to read more of Maguire’s work, but this book actually made me feel stressed trying to make all the bits work together properly without overshadowing one another or losing other threads.
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It’s okay. But it doesn’t have the same magic as his other novels.
I was a little disappointed with this one. It's not that it was bad, but it was definitely not on par with other Maguire books. It just didn't resonate with me.
The last 40-50 pages of this were interesting, but the 300 page slog to get to the good part wasn't worth it. Wicked was beyond brilliant. But that doesn't mean that every well-worn tale (fairy and otherwise) deserves a "retelling." Perhaps Gregory Maguire, admirable wordsmith that he is, should abandon this formula. Lost was a real disappointment and, hate to say it, a waste of time and words.
i have to say that i was disappointed by lost. in comparison to wicked, which i loved, lost was bland, empty and cold.
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It seems like a try out, not a real novel, like if Gregory was sketching a new one and the publishing company asked him to give it to them as is. It is not the great stories Maguire usually writes. The main character is off, mentally/socially/emotionally challenged and the author fails to make her seem normal
I can see why some people would think this book was horrible. It kinda gave a complete 180 from the beginning of the book. And at the end it was a rushed finish without the readers really knowing what happened. There are too many loose strings at the end of the novel that would leave any reader frustrated. Like how the hell did she get to come along when someone was picking up a child for adoption. What happened to the ghost, the horse blanket and all of that? What happened with Irv? I enjoyed the book, it was a complicated plot that made you think, but I really had the unresolved feeling the book self me with.