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A review by stephh
What Was Lost by Catherine O'Flynn
1.0
This is one of my least favourite reads of the year so far. It was shortlisted for the costa book award, and so I thought it would be a good read, but instead I found it very slow considering it's such a short book.
We start with Kate Meaney, a 10-year-old wannabe detective, hunting out potential crimes in the local shopping mall. Switching to twenty years later, security guard Kurt and music store clerk Lisa find Kate's toy monkey in the back passages of the mall. They start to work out who the little girl that lost it might be, which uncovers some uncomfortable truths about their own pasts.
I just found this an incredible slow read. The first part of the book dragged out trying to show you Kate's days, and then the adult POVs did too. This had an almost literary fiction feel, along the lines of a Sally Rooney book, but the characters and relationships just weren't well written enough to make it a good book.
We start with Kate Meaney, a 10-year-old wannabe detective, hunting out potential crimes in the local shopping mall. Switching to twenty years later, security guard Kurt and music store clerk Lisa find Kate's toy monkey in the back passages of the mall. They start to work out who the little girl that lost it might be, which uncovers some uncomfortable truths about their own pasts.
I just found this an incredible slow read. The first part of the book dragged out trying to show you Kate's days, and then the adult POVs did too. This had an almost literary fiction feel, along the lines of a Sally Rooney book, but the characters and relationships just weren't well written enough to make it a good book.