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A review by cupiscent
The Lost Girl by Sangu Mandanna
4.0
All the reasons why I enjoyed this are probably also the reasons it doesn't seem to have set the world on fire. From the book description I sort of expected a standard-ish YA book about a girl against the system, about identity and choice, probably with a love triangle of the old environment's boy versus the new environment's boy. But it's actually a lot more complicated, more about grief and conforming to expectation, responsibility and self-determination. The heroine is noted as "reckless", but I found her far more sensible, introspective and aware than I'm used to in a YA heroine (so it was really interesting to watch her wrestle with her impossible situations). And that love triangle is a far murkier thing.
It wasn't all wine and roses. There are some brow-furrowing elements of the world. Some aspects of the Loom's operation seem logistically impossible (my major concern being) and the Weavers throughout manifested an "ineffable immortals playing games with the lives of men" that never quite came through in genuine plot intrigue. But I feel like this was meant to be a series and sadly never got to be, so perhaps those things would've been unravelled further if given space.
Probably more like three-and-a-half, rounded up because I'm generally feeling benevolent towards this book.
It wasn't all wine and roses. There are some brow-furrowing elements of the world. Some aspects of the Loom's operation seem logistically impossible (my major concern being
Spoiler
how on earth do you have short-haired echoes, of either gender, when they must not reveal what they are, but they're all marked on the back of the neck?Probably more like three-and-a-half, rounded up because I'm generally feeling benevolent towards this book.