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A review by hollyk
Fragments of the Lost by Megan Miranda
3.0
3.5 stars
This book follows Jessa Whitworth as she begins to clean out her recently deceased ex-boyfriend's room at the request of his mother. As she does, she is bombarded with memories from their past, leading up to the fateful night of her ex's death. Jessa also begins to realize that their relationship was not quite what it seemed--Caleb wasn't quite what he seemed, and Tessa becomes determined to get to the bottom of it all, to the truth.
I'm very torn on this book. Whoever claimed it was a "fast-paced, suspenseful treat" was lying. The only fast-paced portion of this book was the latter two sections--which only made up the final 76 pages. I also felt torn over the entire premise of the book--why would a mother ask her son's ex-girlfriend to clean out his room? (Granted, this question is also answered in the last 76 pages of the book, but the answer seemed to come out of left field)
As I said before, the pacing of this book was so slow. I probably would've given up if I had other books to read. I'm also not quite satisfied with the answer to the mystery, what happened to Caleb. Spoilers to the mystery:He's not actually dead, he faked his death to get away from his mother who was controlling and was willing to let her son go down for the murder of her second husband--the husband that she framed her first husband with in order to get the first husband convicted of arson and attempted murder so that she could end up with the second husband. (Whew that's a mouthful). Caleb runs off to be with his father, who would inherit Caleb's inheritance upon his death. Otherwise, Caleb would be stuck with his mother for 7 more years until he turned 25. However, Caleb really planned out this fake death plot incredibly thoroughly, and put a lot of people he claimed to care about through a lot of pain, including his younger half-sister, best friend, and even his ex-girlfriend. It felt very selfish, and when Jessa confronts him on it because people blamed her for his death, all he has to say is that he wasn't thinking about that aspect. On the one hand, it's understandable that he left to escape his mother, but on the other, he did a lot of people wrong in doing so. Jessa is the one who cleans up his mess, helping prove Caleb's mother's guilt so that she goes to prison and Caleb is able to come back from the dead, so to speak. Jessa gets put through the wringer, and barely gets a thank you. I feel as though Jessa was treated poorly because of Caleb's actions. The more I think about it, the angrier I get on Jessa's behalf. And she just forgives him outright, which I find hard to believe. She spent the entire book feeling guilty and hurt, just to find out she was lied to for the entirety of their relationship, even down to Caleb's death, and when she finds out the truth she's suddenly okay with everything. Maybe this is just me, but I would not be so forgiving.
I don't think this is a book I would ever reread, the only reason I really kept with it was because I wanted to know the truth. And in this case, the truth was disappointing.
This book follows Jessa Whitworth as she begins to clean out her recently deceased ex-boyfriend's room at the request of his mother. As she does, she is bombarded with memories from their past, leading up to the fateful night of her ex's death. Jessa also begins to realize that their relationship was not quite what it seemed--Caleb wasn't quite what he seemed, and Tessa becomes determined to get to the bottom of it all, to the truth.
I'm very torn on this book. Whoever claimed it was a "fast-paced, suspenseful treat" was lying. The only fast-paced portion of this book was the latter two sections--which only made up the final 76 pages. I also felt torn over the entire premise of the book--why would a mother ask her son's ex-girlfriend to clean out his room? (Granted, this question is also answered in the last 76 pages of the book, but the answer seemed to come out of left field)
As I said before, the pacing of this book was so slow. I probably would've given up if I had other books to read. I'm also not quite satisfied with the answer to the mystery, what happened to Caleb. Spoilers to the mystery:
I don't think this is a book I would ever reread, the only reason I really kept with it was because I wanted to know the truth. And in this case, the truth was disappointing.