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A review by alexfromistemor
The Lost Girls by Sonia Hartl
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
So, I really enjoyed this book, I did. However I need to preface that praise with a caveat...I had trouble seeing the appeal of that the girls ever had in Elton, regardless of the how many times the author stresses over and over that 'he's so beautiful'. Every time he's on the page he's almost comically, over-the-top skeezy that it was difficult to believe he ever had enough charm to score 1 of these interesting girls, let alone 4 of them, so I had some issues with buying the central antagonist that was supposed to tie the plot together.
With that out of the way, even with skeezebag Elton, I did really enjoy the book and most of the characters. The 4 main girls were all interesting, I really liked the depths in Ida and Rose that come across as we get to know them better, and Holly and Parker were fun and honestly cute together. Also, I found Stacey's story possibly even the most interesting of all of them. Maybe because she was the one character that didn't buy into the appeal of Elton, and yet still ended up a vampire. The things she had to go through, alone, while also stuck following along after Holly.
I also really enjoyed this fairly original take on vampires. At once very destructible (if feels like they get ripped to pieces so incredibly easily, to the point where Holly accidentally rips off her finger when she's at a diner with Parker), and yet at the same time so indestructible that any damage heals within minutes, even the loss of limbs and/or heads (though they still feel the pain). Also, the heirlooms, and the eventual loss of their mortal memories to gain their freedom was really interesting.
The book wrapped up differently that I expected (and if I'm honest, differently that I kind of hoped), but at the very least, it was satisfying finally seeing the skeezebag get what was coming to him.
Definitely worth the read.
With that out of the way, even with skeezebag Elton, I did really enjoy the book and most of the characters. The 4 main girls were all interesting, I really liked the depths in Ida and Rose that come across as we get to know them better, and Holly and Parker were fun and honestly cute together. Also, I found Stacey's story possibly even the most interesting of all of them. Maybe because she was the one character that didn't buy into the appeal of Elton, and yet still ended up a vampire. The things she had to go through, alone, while also stuck following along after Holly.
I also really enjoyed this fairly original take on vampires. At once very destructible (if feels like they get ripped to pieces so incredibly easily, to the point where Holly accidentally rips off her finger when she's at a diner with Parker), and yet at the same time so indestructible that any damage heals within minutes, even the loss of limbs and/or heads (though they still feel the pain). Also, the heirlooms, and the eventual loss of their mortal memories to gain their freedom was really interesting.
The book wrapped up differently that I expected (and if I'm honest, differently that I kind of hoped), but at the very least, it was satisfying finally seeing the skeezebag get what was coming to him.
Definitely worth the read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, and Gaslighting
Vampires with a very casual opinion on mortal lives, they kill a lot of people, sometimes very graphically