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A review by cottageivy
The Lost Girls by Sonia Hartl
hopeful
reflective
relaxing
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
i liked this a lot! it was a fun autumnal read, and the overall premise was executed well and in an interesting way! even tho the book is on the shorter side, and therefore the pacing is pretty fast, it gets you to really feel the bond between holly, ida and rose! like their relationship did develop which is hard to do with fast pacing but they managed to pull it off! i will say, holly and parker was a little too fast, but also, love at first sight and being drawn to a person is something i can vibe with, and they were cute so i can excuse it. (this is also coming from someone who absolutely loved first kill with a burning passion, so as you can see i do enjoy fast love too lol. just something to note if it’s not your thing)
also !! loved the revenge story line. elton was so hateable. i also love how they never had the characters shame parker for falling for his lies and facade, and despite the clock ticking, were sympathetic to her taking a bit to truly get it. it was really well done i liked that :)
i will say the lore is well thought out and makes sense, however there isn’t much explanation given for how they know it other than that rose and ida having studied ways to do it for a long ass time since they’re older, and we go into it with rose and ida already having a very well backed theory about how to kill elton. you just kinda have to believe them, which is fine for me, and benefits the plot by not taking up pages of just them researching, especially since we’re in hollys pov and she is apart of none of the discover that they do, even when she knows them. i think it’s a bonus for the pacing, but if you like that part and want more detailed lore, that might be a turn off. this story is here to just show them gathering supplies and then figuring out plans, and it does that well!
i will say the mental aging thing was a lil confusing the way it was described, but i think it meant like. they were 16/the age they were mentally and didn’t grow mentally, but still grew as people and picked up slang and shit. like their life experiences impacted them while staying mentally 16 still. but i get that’s such a tricky thing to make sense and i think the way they showed it made more sense than the bit they tried to explain it in. i was good with it tho
i also love how they didn’t have the vampires too human-y? like there was a distance between humans and vampires and it was felt, and their morals were different. even tho holly was more connected to her humanity the way we see it bc she killed only sleazy guys until the bank teller but. she felt like not quite guilt over it? and i really like how they handled that kill too. it wasn’t like human guilt, but she didn’t suddenly relish it. but she wasn’t all high and mighty when her friends didnt abide by her moral code, and didnt judge them. they felt like actual vampires, who had different views on time and life like you’d expect vampires to have, while also feeling sympathetic. idas art projects were fun aksbsjs
overall such a fun book, i LOVED the ending i kinda saw it coming with parker losing her memories and the fact that they made an emphasis on holly honoring her promise to burn the bangle, but i was honestly half expecting them to not go through with parker actually losing her memories and resetting the progress in their relationship, but it was actually super cool and i was happy they did it bc it felt natural and i feel like it set up something beautiful, yet open ended. i love it
it was such a nice starter to my spooky season book list, i read it in one sitting, highly recommend for a fun read with a cool message about memories and time :)
also !! loved the revenge story line. elton was so hateable. i also love how they never had the characters shame parker for falling for his lies and facade, and despite the clock ticking, were sympathetic to her taking a bit to truly get it. it was really well done i liked that :)
i will say the lore is well thought out and makes sense, however there isn’t much explanation given for how they know it other than that rose and ida having studied ways to do it for a long ass time since they’re older, and we go into it with rose and ida already having a very well backed theory about how to kill elton. you just kinda have to believe them, which is fine for me, and benefits the plot by not taking up pages of just them researching, especially since we’re in hollys pov and she is apart of none of the discover that they do, even when she knows them. i think it’s a bonus for the pacing, but if you like that part and want more detailed lore, that might be a turn off. this story is here to just show them gathering supplies and then figuring out plans, and it does that well!
i will say the mental aging thing was a lil confusing the way it was described, but i think it meant like. they were 16/the age they were mentally and didn’t grow mentally, but still grew as people and picked up slang and shit. like their life experiences impacted them while staying mentally 16 still. but i get that’s such a tricky thing to make sense and i think the way they showed it made more sense than the bit they tried to explain it in. i was good with it tho
i also love how they didn’t have the vampires too human-y? like there was a distance between humans and vampires and it was felt, and their morals were different. even tho holly was more connected to her humanity the way we see it bc she killed only sleazy guys
overall such a fun book, i LOVED the ending
it was such a nice starter to my spooky season book list, i read it in one sitting, highly recommend for a fun read with a cool message about memories and time :)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Blood, and Death