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Let's Get Lost
Five strangers. Countless adventures. One epic way to get lost.
Four teens across the country have only one thing in common: a girl named Leila. She crashes into their lives in her absurdly red car at the moment they need someone the most.
Hudson, Bree, Elliot and Sonia find a friend in Leila. And when Leila leaves them, their lives are forever changed. But it is during Leila's own 4,268-mile journey that she discovers the most important truth—sometimes, what you need most is right where you started. And maybe the only way to find what you're looking for is to get lost along the way.
Four teens across the country have only one thing in common: a girl named Leila. She crashes into their lives in her absurdly red car at the moment they need someone the most.
Hudson, Bree, Elliot and Sonia find a friend in Leila. And when Leila leaves them, their lives are forever changed. But it is during Leila's own 4,268-mile journey that she discovers the most important truth—sometimes, what you need most is right where you started. And maybe the only way to find what you're looking for is to get lost along the way.
338 pages, Hardcover
First published July 29, 2014
About the author
Adi Alsaid
24books1,285followersAdi Alsaid was born and raised in Mexico City, where he now lives, writes, and spills hot sauce on things. He's the author of several YA novels including LET'S GET LOST, NEVER ALWAYS SOMETIMES, and NORTH OF HAPPY.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,909 reviews
December 4, 2013
Please note, I am biased as I'm the editor of this book. However, this book has been an utter pleasure to work on, and I can't recommend it enough! Watch for it in August 2014!
August 20, 2014
When you want a book to escape reality for a few hours, Let's Get Lost is what I would hand you. A road trip, intriguing characters, wild adventures, and, of course, a healthy dose of romance - this is the perfect beach read!
I've read a few road trip books and this one is just as much fun, yet different in many ways. We follow Leila's trip to Alaska, but we follow it through others' eyes - the story is told using the point-of-views of the people she gets to meet during her trip. I found this very unique and it allowed us to get to know Leila through different perspectives. We start with Hudson who quickly becomes the love interest. I can see why some have different reactions towards him, he can be frustrating especially at the end of his POV, but he came off as a realistic teenage boy who's afraid of going after what he wants. While some might consider this romance insta-love, they had so much chemistry that I could legitimately feel their connection. His part also made me instantly click with Leila and her boldness. I knew then that she was a character I would really like. Then we move on to Bree who, coupled with Leila's boldness, puts them in trouble, but not without first having a blast. The third character, Elliot, takes the hopeless romantic out of Leila when they try to get him his girl. And finally, Sonia - though I felt the least connected with - brought us on a fun adventure across the border.
While meeting all those people, we also get the hint that Leila's story is not as simple as she makes it seem. There's darkness and sadness hidden behind her carefree persona, and when we finally do get to see her POV, we learn of the tragic past she's trying to heal from by going on this trip. It's emotional and gives the journey that much more meaning. We also meet more characters that help her along in those final chapters that are just as colourful, adding even more heart and personality to this story. Because we only get to see Leila's perspective at the end, I do feel as if her character was… not exactly underdeveloped, I will say kept at arm's length. For this reason, I don't think I was as emotionally invested as it was intended, but I still felt she was genuine, and her voice, compelling.
Though it may seem this book has emotional depth - and it does - it remains a lighthearted read regardless. It's well balanced with enough humour, joy, and just plain recklessness to keep it fun; the emotional stuff gives it substance without weighing it down. The ending is maybe a bit too perfect, and definitely predictable, but those who love HEA endings will appreciate it.
Entertaining and full of adventures, Let's Get Lost will make you laugh and smile and want to take a trip across the country yourself. This is the perfect beach read; the perfect rainy Sunday afternoon read; the perfect get-out-of-a-reading-slump read!
--
An advance copy was provided by the publisher for review.
For more of my reviews, visit my blog atXpresso Reads
I've read a few road trip books and this one is just as much fun, yet different in many ways. We follow Leila's trip to Alaska, but we follow it through others' eyes - the story is told using the point-of-views of the people she gets to meet during her trip. I found this very unique and it allowed us to get to know Leila through different perspectives. We start with Hudson who quickly becomes the love interest. I can see why some have different reactions towards him, he can be frustrating especially at the end of his POV, but he came off as a realistic teenage boy who's afraid of going after what he wants. While some might consider this romance insta-love, they had so much chemistry that I could legitimately feel their connection. His part also made me instantly click with Leila and her boldness. I knew then that she was a character I would really like. Then we move on to Bree who, coupled with Leila's boldness, puts them in trouble, but not without first having a blast. The third character, Elliot, takes the hopeless romantic out of Leila when they try to get him his girl. And finally, Sonia - though I felt the least connected with - brought us on a fun adventure across the border.
While meeting all those people, we also get the hint that Leila's story is not as simple as she makes it seem. There's darkness and sadness hidden behind her carefree persona, and when we finally do get to see her POV, we learn of the tragic past she's trying to heal from by going on this trip. It's emotional and gives the journey that much more meaning. We also meet more characters that help her along in those final chapters that are just as colourful, adding even more heart and personality to this story. Because we only get to see Leila's perspective at the end, I do feel as if her character was… not exactly underdeveloped, I will say kept at arm's length. For this reason, I don't think I was as emotionally invested as it was intended, but I still felt she was genuine, and her voice, compelling.
Though it may seem this book has emotional depth - and it does - it remains a lighthearted read regardless. It's well balanced with enough humour, joy, and just plain recklessness to keep it fun; the emotional stuff gives it substance without weighing it down. The ending is maybe a bit too perfect, and definitely predictable, but those who love HEA endings will appreciate it.
Entertaining and full of adventures, Let's Get Lost will make you laugh and smile and want to take a trip across the country yourself. This is the perfect beach read; the perfect rainy Sunday afternoon read; the perfect get-out-of-a-reading-slump read!
--
An advance copy was provided by the publisher for review.
For more of my reviews, visit my blog atXpresso Reads
October 17, 2016
I let this little gem of a tome sit on my shelf for far too long. Lelia's courageous quest to see the Northern Lights is captivating, compelling, hopeful and often quite comical.
If there are any HS students out there searching for Summer Reads, I highly recommend Adi Alsaid's LET'S GET LOST.
If there are any HS students out there searching for Summer Reads, I highly recommend Adi Alsaid's LET'S GET LOST.
Shelved as 'dnf'
August 3, 2014Pages Read: 21
I am by no means the authority on this book and I'm sure plenty of people will love it. From what I read and the research I did prior to DNFing, I think it's very John Green, but the John Green of the novels I didn't much care for (Looking for Alaska and Paper Towns). If you loved those, you probably want Alsaid's debut.
That said, I bowed out after one chapter of the first perspective. WHY?
All of these quotes happened in the section I read, pages 11 to 21 of the ARC. Now, I get that there are other perspectives and they'll probably better. However, this guy, Hudson, goes on for 77 pages. SEVENTY-SEVEN. It was a conscious decision to choose to start with a point of view like this, one which puts Leila in the position of being a full-on MPDG (a term I try not to use very often). Leila herself only gets forty pages at the end. I don't like what this says about the book. Plus, I really don't want to spend an hour reading about this guy fawning all over Leila. Because blech.
I am by no means the authority on this book and I'm sure plenty of people will love it. From what I read and the research I did prior to DNFing, I think it's very John Green, but the John Green of the novels I didn't much care for (Looking for Alaska and Paper Towns). If you loved those, you probably want Alsaid's debut.
That said, I bowed out after one chapter of the first perspective. WHY?
"He only allowed himself a quick glance at her, knowing as soon as he saw her that she was the kind of girl who could make you think your life was not complete unless she was in it. She was a jumble of contradictions: short but with long legs, fierce green eyes but a kind expression, baby-faced but wise."
"He meant to bury himself in work right away, but against instinct he stole another glance. How long would the memory of her face haunt him? Days? Weeks?"
"...slipping her hands into the back pockets of her shorts, which made her posture change in a way Hudson couldn't help but notice. The quiet world outside the garage noticed the change in her posture, the damp Mississippi air noticed, even the various grease stains spread out on the garage floor noticed."
"Weeks,he thought to himself.I'll be thinking about that face for weeks."
"Usually, no matter what distractions there were around, he could shut everything out and delve into his work. It was the same with studying at the library; friends could come by to tease him, cute girls from his class could take a seat and try to engage in conversation, but Hudson never let himself be swayed.
But there was something about this girl that made him want to hear her opinions on everything, hear about her day, tell her about his own. "
"The girl turned to him, an eyebrow arched, containing a smile by biting her bottom lip."
"What had driven him to make such a silly comment, he couldn't say, nor could he explain why it had felt so good when she called him a dork."
"She gave him a smile and then turned to look out the garage, her eyes narrowed by the glare of the sun. Hudson wondered if he'd ever been so captivated by watching someone stare out into the distance. Even with the pretty girls he's halfheartedly pursued, Kate and Suzanne and Ella, Hudson couldn't remember being so unable to look away."
"The girl hadn't just let him ramble on; she'd known exactly what he meant. No one, not even Hudson's dad, had ever understood him so perfectly."
"Months,he thought to himself, his fingers practically buzzing at the touch of her skin.I'll be thinking about her for months."
All of these quotes happened in the section I read, pages 11 to 21 of the ARC. Now, I get that there are other perspectives and they'll probably better. However, this guy, Hudson, goes on for 77 pages. SEVENTY-SEVEN. It was a conscious decision to choose to start with a point of view like this, one which puts Leila in the position of being a full-on MPDG (a term I try not to use very often). Leila herself only gets forty pages at the end. I don't like what this says about the book. Plus, I really don't want to spend an hour reading about this guy fawning all over Leila. Because blech.
July 13, 2015
Buy this book on AMAZON
or buy this book on BookDepository with FREE WORLDWIDE SHIIPPING
I received a free hardcover of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
3.5 of 5 stars (Please read my rating system further below).I NEED LEILA TO FIX MY LIFE. LIKE NOW. AT THIS INSTANT. WATCH MY VIDEO REVIEW ON YOUTUBE HERE
My rating system:(Idouse half stars.)
5-I do not use the 5 star.Not because a book might not be worthy, but because a book is never perfect.
4- Ilovedit! There weren't too many flaws, and I had no trouble getting through it. (A 4 star rating is the highest rating I've ever given a book.)
3- Ienjoyedthe book, but there we're flaws that made me enjoy it less.
2- Ifinishedthe book, but there were too many flaws for me to enjoy it.
1- Icould not finishthe book, and I probably did not finish it....
or buy this book on BookDepository with FREE WORLDWIDE SHIIPPING
I received a free hardcover of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
3.5 of 5 stars (Please read my rating system further below).I NEED LEILA TO FIX MY LIFE. LIKE NOW. AT THIS INSTANT. WATCH MY VIDEO REVIEW ON YOUTUBE HERE
My rating system:(Idouse half stars.)
5-I do not use the 5 star.Not because a book might not be worthy, but because a book is never perfect.
4- Ilovedit! There weren't too many flaws, and I had no trouble getting through it. (A 4 star rating is the highest rating I've ever given a book.)
3- Ienjoyedthe book, but there we're flaws that made me enjoy it less.
2- Ifinishedthe book, but there were too many flaws for me to enjoy it.
1- Icould not finishthe book, and I probably did not finish it....
July 29, 2015
*My copy is actually 359 pages before Reader's guide and book previews*
4.5 Stars overall I think:)
*Warning: this review has my fan casting for the book, simply because it is fun:-P*
This was a fun book right off the bat... the format didn't bother me at all. It was fun getting to see Leila through each of the people she met on her journey. Each adventure had it's own charm and quirks, in turn having me crying/laughing/giving hugs to everyone. Each adventure wrapped itself up nice but I found myself wanting to spend more time with these people... imagining what happened to them after Leila came like a whirlwind into their lives and then left.
Leila:
Throughout the story, she has this aura about her... making her seem older than her years (to me a least) but her age at the same time. You can tell she has her own story to tell through the little glimpses of things and I was semi-patiently waiting for her POV;-). When her story does come come, I don't feel sorry for her exactly... not unsympathetic understand but a little sad for her and glad that she was alright but yet wishing I could do sometihng for her.
Making any sense?
Her motivation for seeking the lights was sweet and I found myself hooping alongside her that she would get what she came for.
The scenes at the campsite were fun and sweet in turn, specially with Dee and her family:).
It all ended on a lovely note... I was glad for what happened yet sad to turn the last page on this magical journey. It makes me want to take a roadtrip to the Northern Lights someday now, dangit Leila!;-)
"Hudson, I've decided that my trip to see the Northern Lights will be a treasure hunt. I'm going to steal your idea to look at the world as if it's always hiding something of value. I hope that's okay.
Northern Lights:
Gorgeous hmm?
Fancast for my favorites:
Hudson:
Bree:
Alexis:
Elliot:
*still unsure here, any suggestions??*
Jeremiah:
Sonia:
*again, only my opinion and the ages might be off but a girl can dream:)*
Overall this was a really great read and I would recommend it... happy reading! *waves*
4.5 Stars overall I think:)
*Warning: this review has my fan casting for the book, simply because it is fun:-P*
This was a fun book right off the bat... the format didn't bother me at all. It was fun getting to see Leila through each of the people she met on her journey. Each adventure had it's own charm and quirks, in turn having me crying/laughing/giving hugs to everyone. Each adventure wrapped itself up nice but I found myself wanting to spend more time with these people... imagining what happened to them after Leila came like a whirlwind into their lives and then left.
Leila:
Throughout the story, she has this aura about her... making her seem older than her years (to me a least) but her age at the same time. You can tell she has her own story to tell through the little glimpses of things and I was semi-patiently waiting for her POV;-). When her story does come come, I don't feel sorry for her exactly... not unsympathetic understand but a little sad for her and glad that she was alright but yet wishing I could do sometihng for her.
Making any sense?
Her motivation for seeking the lights was sweet and I found myself hooping alongside her that she would get what she came for.
The scenes at the campsite were fun and sweet in turn, specially with Dee and her family:).
It all ended on a lovely note... I was glad for what happened yet sad to turn the last page on this magical journey. It makes me want to take a roadtrip to the Northern Lights someday now, dangit Leila!;-)
"Hudson, I've decided that my trip to see the Northern Lights will be a treasure hunt. I'm going to steal your idea to look at the world as if it's always hiding something of value. I hope that's okay.
Northern Lights:
Gorgeous hmm?
Fancast for my favorites:
Hudson:
Bree:
Alexis:
Elliot:
*still unsure here, any suggestions??*
Jeremiah:
Sonia:
*again, only my opinion and the ages might be off but a girl can dream:)*
Overall this was a really great read and I would recommend it... happy reading! *waves*
July 3, 2014
"People hurt each other," Leila said without much inflection in her voice. "It happens to everyone. Intentionally, unintentionally, regretfully or not. It's part of what we do as people. The beauty is that we have the ability to heal and forgive."
The plot:
Leila is on a roadtrip to Alaska to see the Northern Lights. I won't tell you guys why since that will spoil the story. On her way there, Leila met four people. Each of them have problems and even if these people are strangers to Leila, she tried to help them in her own little way. Leila felt lost and she wants to find herself but maybe some lost things are not meant to be found..
This was such a delightful and heartwarming debut! I love the adventures and the feeling of anticipating what's next. I feel sad that I didn't know how to drive yet (yeah, ew) but when the time comes that I know how already, I will absolutely have a roadtrip of my own.
The characters:
Each characters in the book are different. They are flawed and complicated. They made excuses but Leila doesn't put up with them. She pushes them to live life, to continue even though it's better to give up, and to always seize the day.
I really connected with the people in this story. I cared about them and kudos to the author for making me feel that way because it's hard to do. Sometimes, when I read I couldn't care less what happened to the people in the story.
The only problem I have is that I wished these characters were explored more. Their encounter with Leila is good but it feels short to me.
The ending:
I know some people will react badly at that ending but not me. I kind of liked it. After everything that happened to Leila, she deserved her happy ending.
I look forward to reading more of this author's works. Definitely recommended.
Final Rating: 3.5/5 stars
**ARC provided by publisher/author in exchanged for a honest review.
August 31, 2014
See more reviews atYA Midnight Reads
It's moments like these when I need to take a minute and check my temperature to make sure there's nothing wrong with me. Because looking at this high average Goodreads rating, I'm pretty shocked. Like, really shocked. I had high hopes for Let's Get Lost: it's said to be a fun road trip book about finding yourself, finding love, finding hope and just getting lost for a while. It definitely has that, though very basically. Throw in a moral, throw in a logically incorrect and not-so-intriguing adventure and there's all that this book has. There's no depth in the characters, there's instant-love/attraction and the story line is oh-so boring.
More or less, this book is a series of 5 short stories, bound together as one by a spine. The only thing that truly connects them is the same reoccuring character, Leila. And I think that's where this book went wrong for me. Because this book was basically just 5 short stories, (only 70 pages long for each story) and each one was told in a different POV; I couldn't connect with the characters and their situations. Each time, I felt like I was thrown into a random person's life and was told a bunch of information about the person, then taken on a little uninteresting adventure when they meet Leila. It just didn't work. I couldn't care less about what was happening to them because there was no establishment of a connection between us and the characters.
There is, a romance in this novel. And, it was a terrible one. So basically, this romance occurs in the first story, which is told in Hudson's point of view. The second he sets his eyes on Leila, he cannot stop talking about her beauty and her face and her face and her face...you get the point. There is instant-attraction. I don't hate instant-attraction, so this wasn't a huge problem until they both start making out a few hours later. What. The. Hell. And they call this love, guys. Hudson literally meets beautiful stranger who has been road tripping, then takes her on a tour around the town and then his house because she could totally not be a axe murderer. *face palm* And only hours after meeting, they start making out.
My sole reason for not DNFing this novel was because I liked the themes the author was trying to say and portray; showing us the different statuses of love and hope these characters held, or lack thereof, and how through meeting a girl and going on a spontaneous adventure, they began to change. While I found these character developments very weak or just not very believable in my opinion, all kudos to the author for thinking of a brilliant idea to show these morals and themes.
Also: I didn't like how each time Leila met someone, they just so happened to be in a crisis or huge milestone in their life and were happy to just let a stranger know everything about their life. While the concept of this novel was good, it was far-fetched. I mean, you'd need at least 70 pages to get to know the person and their situation, but in this case, 70 pages and the short story is already finished and the next one is starting.
All in all, I'm rather shocked that I didn't like this and how disappointing it turned out to be. The hype and campaigning for this novel has been huge, but I just don't see how it stands out.
It's moments like these when I need to take a minute and check my temperature to make sure there's nothing wrong with me. Because looking at this high average Goodreads rating, I'm pretty shocked. Like, really shocked. I had high hopes for Let's Get Lost: it's said to be a fun road trip book about finding yourself, finding love, finding hope and just getting lost for a while. It definitely has that, though very basically. Throw in a moral, throw in a logically incorrect and not-so-intriguing adventure and there's all that this book has. There's no depth in the characters, there's instant-love/attraction and the story line is oh-so boring.
More or less, this book is a series of 5 short stories, bound together as one by a spine. The only thing that truly connects them is the same reoccuring character, Leila. And I think that's where this book went wrong for me. Because this book was basically just 5 short stories, (only 70 pages long for each story) and each one was told in a different POV; I couldn't connect with the characters and their situations. Each time, I felt like I was thrown into a random person's life and was told a bunch of information about the person, then taken on a little uninteresting adventure when they meet Leila. It just didn't work. I couldn't care less about what was happening to them because there was no establishment of a connection between us and the characters.
There is, a romance in this novel. And, it was a terrible one. So basically, this romance occurs in the first story, which is told in Hudson's point of view. The second he sets his eyes on Leila, he cannot stop talking about her beauty and her face and her face and her face...you get the point. There is instant-attraction. I don't hate instant-attraction, so this wasn't a huge problem until they both start making out a few hours later. What. The. Hell. And they call this love, guys. Hudson literally meets beautiful stranger who has been road tripping, then takes her on a tour around the town and then his house because she could totally not be a axe murderer. *face palm* And only hours after meeting, they start making out.
My sole reason for not DNFing this novel was because I liked the themes the author was trying to say and portray; showing us the different statuses of love and hope these characters held, or lack thereof, and how through meeting a girl and going on a spontaneous adventure, they began to change. While I found these character developments very weak or just not very believable in my opinion, all kudos to the author for thinking of a brilliant idea to show these morals and themes.
Also: I didn't like how each time Leila met someone, they just so happened to be in a crisis or huge milestone in their life and were happy to just let a stranger know everything about their life. While the concept of this novel was good, it was far-fetched. I mean, you'd need at least 70 pages to get to know the person and their situation, but in this case, 70 pages and the short story is already finished and the next one is starting.
All in all, I'm rather shocked that I didn't like this and how disappointing it turned out to be. The hype and campaigning for this novel has been huge, but I just don't see how it stands out.
~Thank you Harlequin Australia for sending me this copy!~
March 2, 2021
Full Review on The Candid Cover
This was such a fantastic book! One of my favourite things about this book was the different perspectives. I really enjoy when books have lots of perspectives, because it gives you a deeper understanding of what's happening in the story and makes you like all the characters a bit more. One cool thing about this book is that all the characters are connected through one girl, Leila. She appears when they are most in need of a friend. Its kind of like a puzzle, or an equation. Each piece slowly fits together to complete the puzzle leaving you satisfied with the final product. I like this quality in a book!
Another great thing about Let's Get Lost is how fun it is to read. The second I opened it, I was like, YES! ROAD TRIP! These kinds of books really appeal to me. I zoomed through this book. I love a good contemporary adventure kind of story to warm my soul. This was a very unique idea for a book! If you're tired of those basic, predictable books, definitely pick this one up.
Finally, this book was so unpredictable. Who Leila's next friend would be and their personality was a mystery to me. The guessing doesn't stop until you physically close the book upon finishing it. I loved it so much! Again, my kind of book. These final twists are so exciting to read about!
If you haven't read Let's Get Lost yet, give it a try before Never Always Sometimes is out on August 4th.
This was such a fantastic book! One of my favourite things about this book was the different perspectives. I really enjoy when books have lots of perspectives, because it gives you a deeper understanding of what's happening in the story and makes you like all the characters a bit more. One cool thing about this book is that all the characters are connected through one girl, Leila. She appears when they are most in need of a friend. Its kind of like a puzzle, or an equation. Each piece slowly fits together to complete the puzzle leaving you satisfied with the final product. I like this quality in a book!
Another great thing about Let's Get Lost is how fun it is to read. The second I opened it, I was like, YES! ROAD TRIP! These kinds of books really appeal to me. I zoomed through this book. I love a good contemporary adventure kind of story to warm my soul. This was a very unique idea for a book! If you're tired of those basic, predictable books, definitely pick this one up.
Finally, this book was so unpredictable. Who Leila's next friend would be and their personality was a mystery to me. The guessing doesn't stop until you physically close the book upon finishing it. I loved it so much! Again, my kind of book. These final twists are so exciting to read about!
If you haven't read Let's Get Lost yet, give it a try before Never Always Sometimes is out on August 4th.
July 18, 2015
2.5 stars
There's plenty of cringe-inducing elements in Adi Alsaid's Harlequin Teen road trip novelLet's Get Lost.Certainly leading the cringe parade is the 17 year-old road tripper, Leila, a Manic Pixie Dream Girl in a zig-zag northerly quest to view the Northern Lights, who randomly arrives at various parts of the US (Vicksburg, MS; Kansas; Minneapolis, MN, Seattle, WA) just in time to sprinkle fairy dust on fellow teens, enchanting boys and girls alike with either insta-love or omniscient life lessons as she herself, as it is slowly revealed, is similarly in need of the advice and life lessons she dispenses.
Also, the males Leila encounter on her trip are so darn milquetoast-y, they exist in some kind of wimp-vacuum of Alsaid's design (Case in point: boy gets jilted at prom, boy goes up on stage with the band and sings Ace of Base's "All That She Wants (Is Another Baby)" Really.)
Then my parental hackles are repeatedly raised by all the unrepentant alcohol consumption by the teens in this book (Case in point: wimpy prom jiltee above is first met by MPDG Leila as she clips him with her car as he staggers out into the street, shit-faced drunk.) Also, the parents in this book are so ineffectual and faux-involved in their kids lives it's almost scary.
Yet, I'm still giving this almost three stars because I'm thirty years removed from Alsaid's target audience. Despite the cringe-inducing, I think I would've somewhat enjoyed this light and frothy road-trip novel when I was the same age as its protagonists.
There's plenty of cringe-inducing elements in Adi Alsaid's Harlequin Teen road trip novelLet's Get Lost.Certainly leading the cringe parade is the 17 year-old road tripper, Leila, a Manic Pixie Dream Girl in a zig-zag northerly quest to view the Northern Lights, who randomly arrives at various parts of the US (Vicksburg, MS; Kansas; Minneapolis, MN, Seattle, WA) just in time to sprinkle fairy dust on fellow teens, enchanting boys and girls alike with either insta-love or omniscient life lessons as she herself, as it is slowly revealed, is similarly in need of the advice and life lessons she dispenses.
Also, the males Leila encounter on her trip are so darn milquetoast-y, they exist in some kind of wimp-vacuum of Alsaid's design (Case in point: boy gets jilted at prom, boy goes up on stage with the band and sings Ace of Base's "All That She Wants (Is Another Baby)" Really.)
Then my parental hackles are repeatedly raised by all the unrepentant alcohol consumption by the teens in this book (Case in point: wimpy prom jiltee above is first met by MPDG Leila as she clips him with her car as he staggers out into the street, shit-faced drunk.) Also, the parents in this book are so ineffectual and faux-involved in their kids lives it's almost scary.
Yet, I'm still giving this almost three stars because I'm thirty years removed from Alsaid's target audience. Despite the cringe-inducing, I think I would've somewhat enjoyed this light and frothy road-trip novel when I was the same age as its protagonists.
August 26, 2016
I WAS bored, but now I'm pissed. More detailed review to come.
--
Ugh. Okay. I wasn’t initially interested in this book at all, just based on the cover. When it was first on NetGalley and was being super hyped up on Twitter, I was immune. But then I attended the Harlequin breakfast at BEA, and Adi Alsaid made a little speech about his book and well, color me intrigued. Let’s Get Lost is a series of short stories about four completely random people who have absolutely nothing in common, nothing to do with one another, except one girl. They each meet Leila right when they need to, and she flies in on her manic pixie dream wings and saves the day. The story normally wouldn’t be my thing, but I thought the idea of writing four different points of view that each come in contact with her was clever. I really should have known better though.
I mean, on its surface, the idea is fine. Leila is on a road trip with no real itinerary outside of “North” and during her travels she meets a bunch of other kids her age. The first story with Hudson was a bit sappy for me, but whatever. She takes her car to his garage and then they have this magical night together and it’s ruins his plans for college and he realizes, wow, maybe I don’t want that life anyway. After meeting a girl and knowing her for 16 hours, he completely changes his life. Right. I rolled my eyes more than a few times. And the fucking writing was JUST LIKE John Green, so negative one thousand bonus points there.
The second story was about a runaway named Bree who is reeling from the death of both her parents and a horrible fight with her older sister. Bree is reckless and wild and ends up getting them both arrested. There’s no one else to call so they call Bree’s sister and all is well in their universe thereafter. I actually really enjoyed reading Bree’s story because it was about two young, attractive, and wild girls who got along so well, didn’t compete with one another, and didn’t secretly hate one another. THAT is refreshing to say the least – it never freaking happens. The friendship these two girls built together in just one day was wonderful, and I’m actually really disappointed that this book wasn’t about Leila meeting Bree and them having a wild and crazy road trip together. That would have been a wayyyy better book.
Honestly though, I was basically bored throughout the whole thing so far. I put the book down to go have dinner and I just dreaded picking it up again. It was so dull. The characters with real depth and development don’t stay on the page for longer than 50 pages, so there’s no one to get attached to. There was no central plot, and like Kara said in her GR review, there was no suspense. There was nothing to keep you turning the page.
But the story that actually made me mad and had me DNFing finally was that of Elliot. It opens up during prom night, right after Elliot proclaimed his undying love for his (girl) best friend. But she doesn’t like him like that and tries her best to let him down easy. This leads to this enormous inner monologue of entitlement – basically, Maribel OWES it to Elliot to love him back because he’s always been there for her and they’re such great friends and he had all these dreams of their romantic summer together. I’m sorry, Elliot, but fuck you. And I know how this story goes because it’s already happened twice: Leila is going to swoop into Elliot’s life (like she did with Hudson and Bree) and make things better. So he’s trading in his entitlement to Maribel for just another girl making his life better. Girls to Elliot are just tools for his own personal gain and just fuck that. I am seriously not okay with the manic pixie dream girl trope anymore. I over it. Girls are not just there to spur male leads to life and make them see the error of their ways, question their judgment, give meaning to life. No. Girls are their own fucking people and I’ve had enough of them being written this way.
What started out as a sort of promising road trip book devolved into a boring mess, and then actually offended me. Honestly, the writing wasn’t too bad, but it reminded me of writers before Alsaid, like John Green (who I also passionately dislike, so.) Maybe this will work for other people – it’s always so nerve wracking to be one of the earliest reviewers of a book. I should have known better though.
--
Ugh. Okay. I wasn’t initially interested in this book at all, just based on the cover. When it was first on NetGalley and was being super hyped up on Twitter, I was immune. But then I attended the Harlequin breakfast at BEA, and Adi Alsaid made a little speech about his book and well, color me intrigued. Let’s Get Lost is a series of short stories about four completely random people who have absolutely nothing in common, nothing to do with one another, except one girl. They each meet Leila right when they need to, and she flies in on her manic pixie dream wings and saves the day. The story normally wouldn’t be my thing, but I thought the idea of writing four different points of view that each come in contact with her was clever. I really should have known better though.
I mean, on its surface, the idea is fine. Leila is on a road trip with no real itinerary outside of “North” and during her travels she meets a bunch of other kids her age. The first story with Hudson was a bit sappy for me, but whatever. She takes her car to his garage and then they have this magical night together and it’s ruins his plans for college and he realizes, wow, maybe I don’t want that life anyway. After meeting a girl and knowing her for 16 hours, he completely changes his life. Right. I rolled my eyes more than a few times. And the fucking writing was JUST LIKE John Green, so negative one thousand bonus points there.
The second story was about a runaway named Bree who is reeling from the death of both her parents and a horrible fight with her older sister. Bree is reckless and wild and ends up getting them both arrested. There’s no one else to call so they call Bree’s sister and all is well in their universe thereafter. I actually really enjoyed reading Bree’s story because it was about two young, attractive, and wild girls who got along so well, didn’t compete with one another, and didn’t secretly hate one another. THAT is refreshing to say the least – it never freaking happens. The friendship these two girls built together in just one day was wonderful, and I’m actually really disappointed that this book wasn’t about Leila meeting Bree and them having a wild and crazy road trip together. That would have been a wayyyy better book.
Honestly though, I was basically bored throughout the whole thing so far. I put the book down to go have dinner and I just dreaded picking it up again. It was so dull. The characters with real depth and development don’t stay on the page for longer than 50 pages, so there’s no one to get attached to. There was no central plot, and like Kara said in her GR review, there was no suspense. There was nothing to keep you turning the page.
But the story that actually made me mad and had me DNFing finally was that of Elliot. It opens up during prom night, right after Elliot proclaimed his undying love for his (girl) best friend. But she doesn’t like him like that and tries her best to let him down easy. This leads to this enormous inner monologue of entitlement – basically, Maribel OWES it to Elliot to love him back because he’s always been there for her and they’re such great friends and he had all these dreams of their romantic summer together. I’m sorry, Elliot, but fuck you. And I know how this story goes because it’s already happened twice: Leila is going to swoop into Elliot’s life (like she did with Hudson and Bree) and make things better. So he’s trading in his entitlement to Maribel for just another girl making his life better. Girls to Elliot are just tools for his own personal gain and just fuck that. I am seriously not okay with the manic pixie dream girl trope anymore. I over it. Girls are not just there to spur male leads to life and make them see the error of their ways, question their judgment, give meaning to life. No. Girls are their own fucking people and I’ve had enough of them being written this way.
What started out as a sort of promising road trip book devolved into a boring mess, and then actually offended me. Honestly, the writing wasn’t too bad, but it reminded me of writers before Alsaid, like John Green (who I also passionately dislike, so.) Maybe this will work for other people – it’s always so nerve wracking to be one of the earliest reviewers of a book. I should have known better though.
July 23, 2014
***This review has also been posted onThe Social Potato
Actual Rating 3.5
Let’s Get Lostwas a book I was looking forward to reading and I am really glad I wasn’t let down. I wouldn’t say it blew my mind away, but I definitely had the feels.I think the best way to think of this book is to allude it to one of those you read when you’re not having a great day.It’s far from perfect as when I look back, I can think of so many things that could have been better, but in spite of this I'm not even tempted to lower the rating, because I still remember this book with fondness (although it hasn’t been all that long since I’ve read it).
This won’t be for everyone, though. There are an awful lot of conveniences and problems that are solved quite easily, but, if you, like me, love happy endings then this book is for you.If you get warm cuddly feelings when everything works out for someone then you’ll love this. Just like I did.
And no, saying that isn’t really a spoiler. This book consists of 5 short stories, and personally, I think it was a very interesting way to develop the plot. We get the stories of each of the 4 people whose lives Leila has made a difference and then we finally get hers.
Leila is a very interesting character.She seems to be this happy-go-lucky kind of person in everyone else’s story, but when you get to hers, you realize there is so much to her. She has her own problems, but in the one day she gets to know each of the other characters in this story, she manages to have a huge impact in their lives.
Hudson was a likeable character, as far as I am concerned,but at the same time, the insta-love like feels between him and Leila were a little off-putting and did take away some from my enjoyment. His story is nothing out of the ordinary, but at the same time, it's something many people experience, and while I wish the ending to his story hadn't been that vague, we did end up getting closure, so there was that.
Bree’s story was my favorite though,which is surprising, because I was completely frustrated by her character at first, but it turns out her childishness and immaturity were important to the story and her conclusion left me with tons of warm happy feelings.
Elliot's story was adorable.He is in love with his best friend, but she turned him down, and so he and Leila spend the whole night trying to win her back. It does have that romantic comedy-like feel to it and is slightly unbelievable, considering all of that happened in a night, but at the end of the day, I enjoyed his story.
Sonia’s story was perhaps my least favorite, because it was pretty heart-breaking for me.Sonia’s ex-boyfriend died a year ago and she’s been seeing this other person for a while and loves him too, but she’s too afraid to really do something about it because she constantly feels like she is cheating on her ex who she loved, too. The adventure she and Leila share was pretty unbelievable, and although it did make the story a lot less gloomy, I had a lot of question-mark moments when I wondered how that was even possible (no spoilers).
I do think that each of their stories could have benefited from being longer so that the characters could have had more depth,but I don’t have a lot of qualms when it comes to this story.
Alsaid tells each of their stories in such a manner that you cannot help but be swept along in each of their stories and hope that they all get an HEA.
It was Leila’s story that surprised me the most, though, especially when we finally get to her POV and realize there is so much more to her. She is the character who you really want to cuddle with and I think her story is one of the most realistic in this ‘collection’.
I wish I could say more, but I don’t want to spoil these stories and am trying to keep this as vague as possible so that you can experience all of these characters journeys for yourself.
This is a beautifully written book and I’d definitely recommend it to anyone who doesn’t mind a slow pace and stories that aren’t all about something big happening.It’s a perfect summer readand I had a lot of fun reading this.
Actual Rating 3.5
Let’s Get Lostwas a book I was looking forward to reading and I am really glad I wasn’t let down. I wouldn’t say it blew my mind away, but I definitely had the feels.I think the best way to think of this book is to allude it to one of those you read when you’re not having a great day.It’s far from perfect as when I look back, I can think of so many things that could have been better, but in spite of this I'm not even tempted to lower the rating, because I still remember this book with fondness (although it hasn’t been all that long since I’ve read it).
This won’t be for everyone, though. There are an awful lot of conveniences and problems that are solved quite easily, but, if you, like me, love happy endings then this book is for you.If you get warm cuddly feelings when everything works out for someone then you’ll love this. Just like I did.
And no, saying that isn’t really a spoiler. This book consists of 5 short stories, and personally, I think it was a very interesting way to develop the plot. We get the stories of each of the 4 people whose lives Leila has made a difference and then we finally get hers.
Leila is a very interesting character.She seems to be this happy-go-lucky kind of person in everyone else’s story, but when you get to hers, you realize there is so much to her. She has her own problems, but in the one day she gets to know each of the other characters in this story, she manages to have a huge impact in their lives.
Hudson was a likeable character, as far as I am concerned,but at the same time, the insta-love like feels between him and Leila were a little off-putting and did take away some from my enjoyment. His story is nothing out of the ordinary, but at the same time, it's something many people experience, and while I wish the ending to his story hadn't been that vague, we did end up getting closure, so there was that.
Bree’s story was my favorite though,which is surprising, because I was completely frustrated by her character at first, but it turns out her childishness and immaturity were important to the story and her conclusion left me with tons of warm happy feelings.
Elliot's story was adorable.He is in love with his best friend, but she turned him down, and so he and Leila spend the whole night trying to win her back. It does have that romantic comedy-like feel to it and is slightly unbelievable, considering all of that happened in a night, but at the end of the day, I enjoyed his story.
Sonia’s story was perhaps my least favorite, because it was pretty heart-breaking for me.Sonia’s ex-boyfriend died a year ago and she’s been seeing this other person for a while and loves him too, but she’s too afraid to really do something about it because she constantly feels like she is cheating on her ex who she loved, too. The adventure she and Leila share was pretty unbelievable, and although it did make the story a lot less gloomy, I had a lot of question-mark moments when I wondered how that was even possible (no spoilers).
I do think that each of their stories could have benefited from being longer so that the characters could have had more depth,but I don’t have a lot of qualms when it comes to this story.
Alsaid tells each of their stories in such a manner that you cannot help but be swept along in each of their stories and hope that they all get an HEA.
It was Leila’s story that surprised me the most, though, especially when we finally get to her POV and realize there is so much more to her. She is the character who you really want to cuddle with and I think her story is one of the most realistic in this ‘collection’.
I wish I could say more, but I don’t want to spoil these stories and am trying to keep this as vague as possible so that you can experience all of these characters journeys for yourself.
This is a beautifully written book and I’d definitely recommend it to anyone who doesn’t mind a slow pace and stories that aren’t all about something big happening.It’s a perfect summer readand I had a lot of fun reading this.
July 13, 2016
*4.5*
I loved this book so much! My favorite part is the cast of characters in this story. They are all so unique and I loved learning about each of them. It was so fun going on this journey with Leila and figuring out her story. I think it's very creative how Adi Alsaid wrote the book. It's almost like 5 different short stories all tied together by Leila's road trip.
My only complaint is I want more! I want to know more about each of the characters we met and know how things ended up. I also want to know what happened after the ending of the book.
Seeing the impact all of these characters had on Leila was so interesting and I felt connected to each of them. I definitely laughed and teared up at times. Everything in this book felt so real. I love Alsaid's writing style, some of the passages were very beautiful. He definitely has a way of making scenes come to life.
Overall, it's a wonderful summer read. There's a ton of adventure and fun, but also depth. There's a little romance, but mostly it's about self-discovery. I really loved every moment!
I loved this book so much! My favorite part is the cast of characters in this story. They are all so unique and I loved learning about each of them. It was so fun going on this journey with Leila and figuring out her story. I think it's very creative how Adi Alsaid wrote the book. It's almost like 5 different short stories all tied together by Leila's road trip.
My only complaint is I want more! I want to know more about each of the characters we met and know how things ended up. I also want to know what happened after the ending of the book.
Seeing the impact all of these characters had on Leila was so interesting and I felt connected to each of them. I definitely laughed and teared up at times. Everything in this book felt so real. I love Alsaid's writing style, some of the passages were very beautiful. He definitely has a way of making scenes come to life.
Overall, it's a wonderful summer read. There's a ton of adventure and fun, but also depth. There's a little romance, but mostly it's about self-discovery. I really loved every moment!
November 22, 2015
Un 3,5 en realidad
Desde hace bien poquito he desarrollado una cierta debilidad por las historias que se desarrollan durante algún tipo de viaje por carretera o road trip. Suelen ser lecturas que se hacen muy amenas, con toques divertidos pero también con un trasfondo y alguna moraleja final, y por ello Aquello que creíamos perdido captó mi atención desde el primer momento. Había oído que era una novela que recomendaban a todos los fans de John Green y la verdad que puedo entender el porqué ya que, a pesar de que ambos autores tienen estilos narrativos completamente diferentes sí que podríamos considerar que comparten un mismo tipo de historia.
Tengo que confesar que al principio no terminaba de pillarle el punto a la historia, y es que esta está contada de una forma algo curiosa: se divide en cinco partes y cada una cuenta una trama distinta, con unos personajes diferentes y un planteamiento, nudo y desenlace propios, lo único que tienen en común todas es la aparición de Leila en cada una de ellas. La chica se encuentra inmersa en un viaje por carretera y a medida que va pasando por diferentes ciudades va entrando en la vida de los protagonistas de estas cuatro historias y ayudándolos en la lección que necesiten aprender. Se podría pensar que Leila es la narradora de todo, pero no, cada historia está narrada por uno de los cuatro chicos que conocerán a Leila por lo que nosotros no vemos el viaje de la chica -cómo llega de una ciudad a otra- sino sólo los momentos en los que coinciden con el personaje cuya historia se esté desarrollando. Y eso fue lo que me lió en un principio ya que en vez de parecerme una historia completa me daba la sensación de ser relatos con un nexo común: Leila. Y aunque eso durante las dos primeras historias me descolocó un poco, más adelante descubrí que era una de las cosas que más me gustaban porque nos permitía sentirnos tan intrigados por Leila como se sentían las personas a las que ella ayudaba; y es que el autor daba tan poca información del pasado de la chica que no podía evitar verla como una pequeña hada madrina que llegaba cuando ellos más la necesitaban, vivía una aventura con cada uno y luego desaparecía para proseguir con su viaje y ayudar al siguiente.
Hudson, Bree, Elliot y Sonia. Cuatro historias y cuatro lecciones que aprender. Unas las disfruté más que otras, pero tengo que reconocer que todas son preciosas, se centran en un tema en concreto -problemas amorosos, algún drama familiar, la superación de la muerte de un ser querido...- y cada una de ellas busca transmitir una cosa diferente y, por ello, cuenta con un protagonista completamente distinto al anterior. Y esto me encantó, el que hubiera tanta variedad y el que todos los personajes fueran tan humanos, tan reales, que me resultara imposible no congeniar con ellos, no entenderlos, a pesar de que no compartiera su forma de actuar o sus pensamientos. Y aunque Leila es la que entra de improviso en sus vidas para mostrarles algo de lo que ninguno de los cuatro habían sido conscientes hasta ese momento, también ellos, sin saberlo, ayudarán a Leila en su propio viaje personal. Ains, Leila... ¡qué gran protagonista! Me ha encantado, en serio. Me parecía una persona muy especial, que me inspiraba mucha ternura y cuya historia -que nos la desvelan al final- me tuvo completamente intrigada durante toda la novela; y cuando por fin llega el momento de descubrirla me maravilló de principio a fin. Es cierto, que pude llegar a olerme por donde iban los tiros pero eso no hizo que lo disfrutara menos cuando por fin llegó el momento de desentrañar el misterio de su viaje.
A pesar de que he disfrutado mucho leyendo el libro por las divertidas y disparatadas situaciones que se daban a veces, también he de reconocer que cuando terminé de leer me quedé con una sensación algo agridulce. No porque tuviera un final triste sino porque sentí que la lectura me había sabido a poco y que se acababa justo en lo mejor. A mi parecer la historia de Leila tenía mucho más que ofrecer y la novela se hubiera podido alargar un poco más mostrándonos tanto el futuro de Leila como el de los otros personajes, que aunque sus historias tienen un final cerrado, a mí me hubiera gustado que al final nos dieran un pequeño atisbo de cómo había continuado todo para ellos. No sé, tampoco me decepcionó su desenlace pero creo que me dio tanta pena despedirme de los personajes que si el autor hubiera escrito un epílogo se lo hubiera agradecido, la verdad.
Más en...http://lavidasecretadeloslibros.blogs...
Desde hace bien poquito he desarrollado una cierta debilidad por las historias que se desarrollan durante algún tipo de viaje por carretera o road trip. Suelen ser lecturas que se hacen muy amenas, con toques divertidos pero también con un trasfondo y alguna moraleja final, y por ello Aquello que creíamos perdido captó mi atención desde el primer momento. Había oído que era una novela que recomendaban a todos los fans de John Green y la verdad que puedo entender el porqué ya que, a pesar de que ambos autores tienen estilos narrativos completamente diferentes sí que podríamos considerar que comparten un mismo tipo de historia.
Tengo que confesar que al principio no terminaba de pillarle el punto a la historia, y es que esta está contada de una forma algo curiosa: se divide en cinco partes y cada una cuenta una trama distinta, con unos personajes diferentes y un planteamiento, nudo y desenlace propios, lo único que tienen en común todas es la aparición de Leila en cada una de ellas. La chica se encuentra inmersa en un viaje por carretera y a medida que va pasando por diferentes ciudades va entrando en la vida de los protagonistas de estas cuatro historias y ayudándolos en la lección que necesiten aprender. Se podría pensar que Leila es la narradora de todo, pero no, cada historia está narrada por uno de los cuatro chicos que conocerán a Leila por lo que nosotros no vemos el viaje de la chica -cómo llega de una ciudad a otra- sino sólo los momentos en los que coinciden con el personaje cuya historia se esté desarrollando. Y eso fue lo que me lió en un principio ya que en vez de parecerme una historia completa me daba la sensación de ser relatos con un nexo común: Leila. Y aunque eso durante las dos primeras historias me descolocó un poco, más adelante descubrí que era una de las cosas que más me gustaban porque nos permitía sentirnos tan intrigados por Leila como se sentían las personas a las que ella ayudaba; y es que el autor daba tan poca información del pasado de la chica que no podía evitar verla como una pequeña hada madrina que llegaba cuando ellos más la necesitaban, vivía una aventura con cada uno y luego desaparecía para proseguir con su viaje y ayudar al siguiente.
Hudson, Bree, Elliot y Sonia. Cuatro historias y cuatro lecciones que aprender. Unas las disfruté más que otras, pero tengo que reconocer que todas son preciosas, se centran en un tema en concreto -problemas amorosos, algún drama familiar, la superación de la muerte de un ser querido...- y cada una de ellas busca transmitir una cosa diferente y, por ello, cuenta con un protagonista completamente distinto al anterior. Y esto me encantó, el que hubiera tanta variedad y el que todos los personajes fueran tan humanos, tan reales, que me resultara imposible no congeniar con ellos, no entenderlos, a pesar de que no compartiera su forma de actuar o sus pensamientos. Y aunque Leila es la que entra de improviso en sus vidas para mostrarles algo de lo que ninguno de los cuatro habían sido conscientes hasta ese momento, también ellos, sin saberlo, ayudarán a Leila en su propio viaje personal. Ains, Leila... ¡qué gran protagonista! Me ha encantado, en serio. Me parecía una persona muy especial, que me inspiraba mucha ternura y cuya historia -que nos la desvelan al final- me tuvo completamente intrigada durante toda la novela; y cuando por fin llega el momento de descubrirla me maravilló de principio a fin. Es cierto, que pude llegar a olerme por donde iban los tiros pero eso no hizo que lo disfrutara menos cuando por fin llegó el momento de desentrañar el misterio de su viaje.
A pesar de que he disfrutado mucho leyendo el libro por las divertidas y disparatadas situaciones que se daban a veces, también he de reconocer que cuando terminé de leer me quedé con una sensación algo agridulce. No porque tuviera un final triste sino porque sentí que la lectura me había sabido a poco y que se acababa justo en lo mejor. A mi parecer la historia de Leila tenía mucho más que ofrecer y la novela se hubiera podido alargar un poco más mostrándonos tanto el futuro de Leila como el de los otros personajes, que aunque sus historias tienen un final cerrado, a mí me hubiera gustado que al final nos dieran un pequeño atisbo de cómo había continuado todo para ellos. No sé, tampoco me decepcionó su desenlace pero creo que me dio tanta pena despedirme de los personajes que si el autor hubiera escrito un epílogo se lo hubiera agradecido, la verdad.
Más en...http://lavidasecretadeloslibros.blogs...
Shelved as 'dnf'
August 9, 2015Unfortunately after 106 pages, I'm not going to finish this book.
To be quite honest, there's no substance for me. The main character is not a character at all but a plot device for the other characters in the story.
This book is broken down into 5 sections. The first 4 sections follow Leila as she goes on a road trip to see the Northern Lights. Each of these first 4 sections comes from the third person perspective of a different character. I read the first 1.5 sections and just couldn't keep reading.
Leila has no personality. In section 1 she is the manic pixie dream girl for a small town mechanic named Hudson. In section 2 she is influenced by a rebellious hitchhiking teen girl named Bree. It's all very stereotypical.
Perhaps if Leila had a voice in the narrative as well, and there was more explanation for her road trip and her motives behind her actions, I would be intrigued. Instead I'm not invested in these characters because I know that the next section will be following a new one. And Leila, the only consistent character in the book, has no development whatsoever.
Basically, it's not worth my time to keep reading. Not going to give this a star rating because that's not fair, I didn't finish it. If you really really enjoy road trip books with a John Green feel (whose books I do occasionally enjoy), you may like this.
To be quite honest, there's no substance for me. The main character is not a character at all but a plot device for the other characters in the story.
This book is broken down into 5 sections. The first 4 sections follow Leila as she goes on a road trip to see the Northern Lights. Each of these first 4 sections comes from the third person perspective of a different character. I read the first 1.5 sections and just couldn't keep reading.
Leila has no personality. In section 1 she is the manic pixie dream girl for a small town mechanic named Hudson. In section 2 she is influenced by a rebellious hitchhiking teen girl named Bree. It's all very stereotypical.
Perhaps if Leila had a voice in the narrative as well, and there was more explanation for her road trip and her motives behind her actions, I would be intrigued. Instead I'm not invested in these characters because I know that the next section will be following a new one. And Leila, the only consistent character in the book, has no development whatsoever.
Basically, it's not worth my time to keep reading. Not going to give this a star rating because that's not fair, I didn't finish it. If you really really enjoy road trip books with a John Green feel (whose books I do occasionally enjoy), you may like this.
July 21, 2018
Originally published on The Nerd Daily| Review by Blake Smith
“When you don’t have any reason to think of days of as weekdays or weekends, you start to realise that all days are pretty much the same. And that kind of gives you the freedom to do whatever you want. It’s a lot easier to seize the day than it is to seize a Tuesday. You have errands on Tuesday. On Tuesday you eat pizza again. Your favourite TV show is on Tuesday, you know? But the day…” she said, adding hand gestures to signify the importance. “The day is all just hours you’re alive for. They can be filled with anything. Unexpectedness, wildness, maybe a little bit of lawlessness, even.”
I was traipsing through the bookshop with a dear friend of mine recently, my arms already heavy laden with novels that were begging to come home with me all while balancing a hot cup of coffee on top the mountain of pages. I was all set to check out when I noticed this book and of course, had to pick it up. My wallet was screeching at me to put the book down as to not make him any slimmer than he already would become after checking out, but the description enamoured me. So, I left it up to fate and quite literally flipped a coin at the register to determine whether or not the book would return home to my bookshelves. 2 hours and 100 pages later, I was deep into Let’s Get Lost.
Let’s Get Lost follows an intrepid young girl by the name of Leila and her road trip to see the Northern Lights in Alaska. On this road trip, she meets four different strangers all in desperate need of a friend, however, not knowing that this friend would forever change their lives and leave them in awe of her unequalled kindness. But, is Leila’s road trip and kindness purely out of spontaneity and altruism or is she running away from something herself? Her journey introduces her to a litany of unique and interesting characters and some truly amazing places, all which help guide Leila in reaching her dream of seeing the Northern Lights.
Let’s Get Lost is the perfect summer read! It is light, fun, romantic, and filled with adventure. Sure, it has the usual young adult cliches—young love, road trips, relationship drama, and the coming of age sort of vibe to it, but isn’t that why we all love young adult novels to begin with?
It is very easy to get lost in Let’s Get Lost right from the first page. Adi Alsaid does a fantastic job of developing his characters and getting you invested in them even though each character only occupies about 60-80 pages of the story.
What is great about this book is that it is broken up into 5 different sections, with each section highlighting a different character. Essentially, you are getting 5 different stories wrapped up into one overarching book. Leila is the common denominator between all five sections, but each section or character rather, has a different feel to it making the book profoundly hard to stop reading. Trust me, once you have picked it up you won’t put it down.
I am rating this book a 7 out of 10. Although it is riddled with young adult clichés and quite predictable, it is a fun summer read that will certainly leave you with an incurable wanderlust. This is a wonderful book to take on vacation, road trip, or just a day by the pool/beach. Don’t wait like me and leave it up to a coin flip; go read this now! Happy reading!
“When you don’t have any reason to think of days of as weekdays or weekends, you start to realise that all days are pretty much the same. And that kind of gives you the freedom to do whatever you want. It’s a lot easier to seize the day than it is to seize a Tuesday. You have errands on Tuesday. On Tuesday you eat pizza again. Your favourite TV show is on Tuesday, you know? But the day…” she said, adding hand gestures to signify the importance. “The day is all just hours you’re alive for. They can be filled with anything. Unexpectedness, wildness, maybe a little bit of lawlessness, even.”
I was traipsing through the bookshop with a dear friend of mine recently, my arms already heavy laden with novels that were begging to come home with me all while balancing a hot cup of coffee on top the mountain of pages. I was all set to check out when I noticed this book and of course, had to pick it up. My wallet was screeching at me to put the book down as to not make him any slimmer than he already would become after checking out, but the description enamoured me. So, I left it up to fate and quite literally flipped a coin at the register to determine whether or not the book would return home to my bookshelves. 2 hours and 100 pages later, I was deep into Let’s Get Lost.
Let’s Get Lost follows an intrepid young girl by the name of Leila and her road trip to see the Northern Lights in Alaska. On this road trip, she meets four different strangers all in desperate need of a friend, however, not knowing that this friend would forever change their lives and leave them in awe of her unequalled kindness. But, is Leila’s road trip and kindness purely out of spontaneity and altruism or is she running away from something herself? Her journey introduces her to a litany of unique and interesting characters and some truly amazing places, all which help guide Leila in reaching her dream of seeing the Northern Lights.
Let’s Get Lost is the perfect summer read! It is light, fun, romantic, and filled with adventure. Sure, it has the usual young adult cliches—young love, road trips, relationship drama, and the coming of age sort of vibe to it, but isn’t that why we all love young adult novels to begin with?
It is very easy to get lost in Let’s Get Lost right from the first page. Adi Alsaid does a fantastic job of developing his characters and getting you invested in them even though each character only occupies about 60-80 pages of the story.
What is great about this book is that it is broken up into 5 different sections, with each section highlighting a different character. Essentially, you are getting 5 different stories wrapped up into one overarching book. Leila is the common denominator between all five sections, but each section or character rather, has a different feel to it making the book profoundly hard to stop reading. Trust me, once you have picked it up you won’t put it down.
I am rating this book a 7 out of 10. Although it is riddled with young adult clichés and quite predictable, it is a fun summer read that will certainly leave you with an incurable wanderlust. This is a wonderful book to take on vacation, road trip, or just a day by the pool/beach. Don’t wait like me and leave it up to a coin flip; go read this now! Happy reading!
April 5, 2020
2.5 Stars
This was all kinds of messy. 17 year old Leila decides to drive all the way north to see the Northern Lights and along the way she meets some interesting people and those stories are shared in this book. But sadly, those stories fell flat for me.
I love road trips. The snacks, the music, the scenery. All put together just makes for this memorable and fun experience that you always remember. But it was those little nuances that I felt were missing from these stories. Each one was so over the top and extremely unbelievable that they took me out of the moments and I never connected to the heart of the story.
First up we had Hudson - a story of instalove. Then Bree - which could have been a good story about grief but because this convoluted mess about stealing and ending up in jail. Next up was Elliot - a boy who needs to understand that no means no and get his head out of 80's movies. Finally Sonia - which was the best story but was still bogged down by so much over the top drama that I found myself rolling my eyes. The final story was Leila's herself, and by the time we got to her, I was so annoyed with her that I just didn't care about her history.
Let's Get Lostwanted to be a story about finding yourself, but it just ended up getting hidden in the extravagance of each story that the meaning was, well, lost.
This was all kinds of messy. 17 year old Leila decides to drive all the way north to see the Northern Lights and along the way she meets some interesting people and those stories are shared in this book. But sadly, those stories fell flat for me.
I love road trips. The snacks, the music, the scenery. All put together just makes for this memorable and fun experience that you always remember. But it was those little nuances that I felt were missing from these stories. Each one was so over the top and extremely unbelievable that they took me out of the moments and I never connected to the heart of the story.
First up we had Hudson - a story of instalove. Then Bree - which could have been a good story about grief but because this convoluted mess about stealing and ending up in jail. Next up was Elliot - a boy who needs to understand that no means no and get his head out of 80's movies. Finally Sonia - which was the best story but was still bogged down by so much over the top drama that I found myself rolling my eyes. The final story was Leila's herself, and by the time we got to her, I was so annoyed with her that I just didn't care about her history.
Let's Get Lostwanted to be a story about finding yourself, but it just ended up getting hidden in the extravagance of each story that the meaning was, well, lost.
December 11, 2015
2.5-3 stars
Let's Get Lostis a book that had a good amount of hype surrounding it before its release, but it fell short of those expectations for many bloggers, now including myself. The premise certainly had potential: four vignettes about teens going through a hard time in their life, connected by a teenager on a road trip to Alaska to see the Northern Lights. I like traveling books. I like books that connect characters together through theme and random oddities and a single person. The idea that one person can make a difference in your life - mark it, somehow - in a short amount of time. It's the execution that's severely lacking.
For one, the characters feel like nothing more than cardboard cutouts. We've met them before - the guy in love with his best friend (Elliot), the girl whose parents have died and she has a different way of responding to her grief than her sister (Bree), the boy who has a path set out for him that he doesn't really want (Hudson), and the girl whose boyfriend's death she can't get over (Sonia). While I did find a couple of them endearing (Elliot and Sonia's), they're such short stories that I couldn't form much of an emotional connection. There's very little time spent with each to get to know them as individuals and care about them. Instead it's one kid after another making really bad decisions and being reckless and being caught in the most ridiculous and unbelievable circumstances that turn out okay in the end and they've now reached a state of enlightenment about their lives. It was pretentious as hell, if I'm being honest. It sort of sucks because there were times when the writing is super pretty and Adi Alsaid shows that he has a great sense of humor, but there's just too many cliches. Even the endings aren't as satisfying as one would hope; they stop just when it seems like they're actually starting.
Then there's Leila herself, who is a puzzle and a mystery until she's finally given her own section at the end, which is probably my least favorite of the book (or a close second, after Bree's). I can say a couple of good things about her - that she's funny and caring and has a good heart - but her role as fairy godmother to these teens quickly grated. She was too much of a literary device for most of the book, that by the time we get to her own point-of-view I didn't really care to know what her deal was.
I'm disappointed I didn't likeLet's Get Lostmore! I was looking for a much different type of read, something more meaningful but still quirky, but instead it felt like one cliche after another. Oh, well, at least the cover will look pretty on my shelf.
This review can also be found atLove at First Page.
Let's Get Lostis a book that had a good amount of hype surrounding it before its release, but it fell short of those expectations for many bloggers, now including myself. The premise certainly had potential: four vignettes about teens going through a hard time in their life, connected by a teenager on a road trip to Alaska to see the Northern Lights. I like traveling books. I like books that connect characters together through theme and random oddities and a single person. The idea that one person can make a difference in your life - mark it, somehow - in a short amount of time. It's the execution that's severely lacking.
For one, the characters feel like nothing more than cardboard cutouts. We've met them before - the guy in love with his best friend (Elliot), the girl whose parents have died and she has a different way of responding to her grief than her sister (Bree), the boy who has a path set out for him that he doesn't really want (Hudson), and the girl whose boyfriend's death she can't get over (Sonia). While I did find a couple of them endearing (Elliot and Sonia's), they're such short stories that I couldn't form much of an emotional connection. There's very little time spent with each to get to know them as individuals and care about them. Instead it's one kid after another making really bad decisions and being reckless and being caught in the most ridiculous and unbelievable circumstances that turn out okay in the end and they've now reached a state of enlightenment about their lives. It was pretentious as hell, if I'm being honest. It sort of sucks because there were times when the writing is super pretty and Adi Alsaid shows that he has a great sense of humor, but there's just too many cliches. Even the endings aren't as satisfying as one would hope; they stop just when it seems like they're actually starting.
Then there's Leila herself, who is a puzzle and a mystery until she's finally given her own section at the end, which is probably my least favorite of the book (or a close second, after Bree's). I can say a couple of good things about her - that she's funny and caring and has a good heart - but her role as fairy godmother to these teens quickly grated. She was too much of a literary device for most of the book, that by the time we get to her own point-of-view I didn't really care to know what her deal was.
I'm disappointed I didn't likeLet's Get Lostmore! I was looking for a much different type of read, something more meaningful but still quirky, but instead it felt like one cliche after another. Oh, well, at least the cover will look pretty on my shelf.
This review can also be found atLove at First Page.
August 19, 2018
This didn't do it for me
August 4, 2014
Let's Get Lost is sweet, quirky, and more than slightly implausible in places, but it's one of those books where the characters act like and say things you wish people would in real life.
Leila is a free spirited young woman on the ultimate road trip—she's headed from her home in Louisiana to see the Northern Lights, which she has always wanted to see. Driving her bright red car, moving from place to place, she comes upon several different people, each in a time of need or dealing with an emotional crisis. Acting as a cross between a fairy godmother and a partner in crime (sometimes literally), Leila tries to help each of them find a way to solve their problems, winding up in some interesting and occasionally zany situations.
In Vicksburg, Mississippi, she comes upon Hudson, a young mechanic who has a great deal of pride in his hometown, but is heading toward a life-changing opportunity. On a highway in Kansas, she encounters Bree, a runaway shouldering some heavy emotional burdens, but who still has a zeal for seizing opportunities that come her way. Leila finds Elliot in Burnsville, Minnesota on the night of his high school prom, when he's dealing with disappointment that his love of the movies had never prepared him for. And in British Columbia, Leila crosses paths with Sonia, a young woman with a tough decision to make.
To each of the people she encounters, Leila appears as a mystery and a savior (although their interactions don't always end with them feeling the same way), and she helps them find solutions to the things that are bothering or worrying them—sometimes she guides them, sometimes she helps them find the answers within themselves. While the issues they deal with aren't unusual, sometimes the manner in which they try and solve their problems is, and that's where the book sometimes loses steam, because the situations they find themselves in a few times are just too implausible.
But Hudson, Bree, Elliot, and Sonia aren't the only ones changed by these experiences. As helpful as she is, Leila, too, has her own issues, and her own journey of self-discovery to make, and it takes her to Alaska and back. She, too, realizes there aren't always answers to the questions that plague us.
I enjoyed this book a lot, even if I had to suspend disbelief a few times. This is a book about realizing that as insurmountable as your problems may seem, you can actually solve them—all it takes sometimes is the opportunity to talk them out with someone, plus a little faith. It's also the story of how it's so much easier to help others than it can be to help yourself. It's an emotional, funny, sweet book.
I really liked the characters and felt that Adi Alsaid did a great job giving them complexity. Each of the sections of the book read like their own novellas—I just wish that I knew where things ended for them. That's definitely a mark of a good storyteller.
Leila is a free spirited young woman on the ultimate road trip—she's headed from her home in Louisiana to see the Northern Lights, which she has always wanted to see. Driving her bright red car, moving from place to place, she comes upon several different people, each in a time of need or dealing with an emotional crisis. Acting as a cross between a fairy godmother and a partner in crime (sometimes literally), Leila tries to help each of them find a way to solve their problems, winding up in some interesting and occasionally zany situations.
In Vicksburg, Mississippi, she comes upon Hudson, a young mechanic who has a great deal of pride in his hometown, but is heading toward a life-changing opportunity. On a highway in Kansas, she encounters Bree, a runaway shouldering some heavy emotional burdens, but who still has a zeal for seizing opportunities that come her way. Leila finds Elliot in Burnsville, Minnesota on the night of his high school prom, when he's dealing with disappointment that his love of the movies had never prepared him for. And in British Columbia, Leila crosses paths with Sonia, a young woman with a tough decision to make.
To each of the people she encounters, Leila appears as a mystery and a savior (although their interactions don't always end with them feeling the same way), and she helps them find solutions to the things that are bothering or worrying them—sometimes she guides them, sometimes she helps them find the answers within themselves. While the issues they deal with aren't unusual, sometimes the manner in which they try and solve their problems is, and that's where the book sometimes loses steam, because the situations they find themselves in a few times are just too implausible.
But Hudson, Bree, Elliot, and Sonia aren't the only ones changed by these experiences. As helpful as she is, Leila, too, has her own issues, and her own journey of self-discovery to make, and it takes her to Alaska and back. She, too, realizes there aren't always answers to the questions that plague us.
I enjoyed this book a lot, even if I had to suspend disbelief a few times. This is a book about realizing that as insurmountable as your problems may seem, you can actually solve them—all it takes sometimes is the opportunity to talk them out with someone, plus a little faith. It's also the story of how it's so much easier to help others than it can be to help yourself. It's an emotional, funny, sweet book.
I really liked the characters and felt that Adi Alsaid did a great job giving them complexity. Each of the sections of the book read like their own novellas—I just wish that I knew where things ended for them. That's definitely a mark of a good storyteller.
February 21, 2016
This and other reviews can be found onThe Psychotic Nerd
MY THOUGHTS
I, honestly, had no idea what to expect from this book. I knew that it was about a road trip, but that's it. I was in the mood for a summer read and this looked like the perfect summer read!
This was not what I was expecting.
I was expecting a fun road trip book and I got this.
This beautiful, unique monster that made me laugh but cry in the span of only a few hours.
This book was much more than a road trip.
Reading this book, is like reading five short stories.
This book is separated into five different parts: Hudson, Bree, Elliot, Sonia, and Leila.
Hudson, Bree, Elliot, and Sonia are each going through their own problems. Each of them have never met each other and never do. But Leila meets every single one of them and changes each of their lives.
You see, that's how this book feels like a collection of short stories.
Each story is an adventure that Leila has with that particular character.
Now, Leila...
I'll get to her later.
But I loved the unique way that this book's story was told.
And I loved all of the characters. Yes, they had their flaws, but that's part of the reason way I loved them. The characters were REAL. They weren't perfect and they were facing problems that many people face.
This did not feel like a serious book for the most part. The adventures that all of the characters have with Leila are oftentimes fun, ridiculous, and absolutely hilarious. Sure, the characters change after the adventure and while that gets more serious, the adventures in the book are more of the fun variety.
Now that I talked about the first four characters, I can talk about Leila. Leila is probably my favorite character, but it's really hard to talk about her without spoiling things. I loved what she did for these complete strangers that she meets on her road trip to the Northern Lights. These strangers don't want to face their problems or change, but Leila won't take that and helps them out in these crazy adventures and I just love her for that. Throughout the book you will become curious about Leila. You will notice that she never gives any information about herself and when she does, it will change in every part. So, by the end, you will really want to hear Leila's story and I have to start talking here...
IN CONCLUSION
This is a uniquely told story. I loved the separate little adventures and all of the characters that went with them. This book will make you laugh. Not only are the characters funny, but the situations they get into are hilarious. But this book will also break your heart.
I definitely recommend this book!
MY THOUGHTS
I, honestly, had no idea what to expect from this book. I knew that it was about a road trip, but that's it. I was in the mood for a summer read and this looked like the perfect summer read!
This was not what I was expecting.
I was expecting a fun road trip book and I got this.
This beautiful, unique monster that made me laugh but cry in the span of only a few hours.
This book was much more than a road trip.
Reading this book, is like reading five short stories.
This book is separated into five different parts: Hudson, Bree, Elliot, Sonia, and Leila.
Hudson, Bree, Elliot, and Sonia are each going through their own problems. Each of them have never met each other and never do. But Leila meets every single one of them and changes each of their lives.
You see, that's how this book feels like a collection of short stories.
Each story is an adventure that Leila has with that particular character.
Now, Leila...
I'll get to her later.
But I loved the unique way that this book's story was told.
And I loved all of the characters. Yes, they had their flaws, but that's part of the reason way I loved them. The characters were REAL. They weren't perfect and they were facing problems that many people face.
This did not feel like a serious book for the most part. The adventures that all of the characters have with Leila are oftentimes fun, ridiculous, and absolutely hilarious. Sure, the characters change after the adventure and while that gets more serious, the adventures in the book are more of the fun variety.
Now that I talked about the first four characters, I can talk about Leila. Leila is probably my favorite character, but it's really hard to talk about her without spoiling things. I loved what she did for these complete strangers that she meets on her road trip to the Northern Lights. These strangers don't want to face their problems or change, but Leila won't take that and helps them out in these crazy adventures and I just love her for that. Throughout the book you will become curious about Leila. You will notice that she never gives any information about herself and when she does, it will change in every part. So, by the end, you will really want to hear Leila's story and I have to start talking here...
IN CONCLUSION
This is a uniquely told story. I loved the separate little adventures and all of the characters that went with them. This book will make you laugh. Not only are the characters funny, but the situations they get into are hilarious. But this book will also break your heart.
I definitely recommend this book!
November 14, 2014
I think I am too old for this book. Instead of being a great adventure story, I found it just one eye-rolling stupid, unsafe, unrealistic adventure after another. The situations the characters in this book get them into make me worry for the current teenage generation if this is the best they can do with their decision making skills.
It took till the final chapter of the book to find out what this whole road trip was about. Some foreshadowing would have been appreciated, as the way it was written left me scratching my head until the very end, and then the end wasn't enough to satisfy all the head scratching.
Maybe teens or early 20-somethings would appreciate the "adventures" in this story more.
It took till the final chapter of the book to find out what this whole road trip was about. Some foreshadowing would have been appreciated, as the way it was written left me scratching my head until the very end, and then the end wasn't enough to satisfy all the head scratching.
Maybe teens or early 20-somethings would appreciate the "adventures" in this story more.
August 8, 2014
3.5 stars.
I liked all of the middle stories, but the insta-love fell very flat for me, and I had to take off half a star for that. That said, this is a dreamy, wanderlust-y novel for anyone who believes in random acts of kindness and paying it forward.
Review to come.
I liked all of the middle stories, but the insta-love fell very flat for me, and I had to take off half a star for that. That said, this is a dreamy, wanderlust-y novel for anyone who believes in random acts of kindness and paying it forward.
Review to come.
August 29, 2022
Read more bookish goodness on my book blog:Cal's Constant Raving Reviews
MY EXPERIENCE WITH THE BOOK:
I had a wonderful journey withLet's Get Lost!I read it in one sitting, for about three hours. It was heart-wrenching from the moment you pick it up, and never stops being angsty and romantic.
CHARACTERS/DYNAMICS:
My favourite duo had to beHudson and Leila.But I did appreciate all the other storylines, which include:
PLOT:
Also how great is this fanart???
STRUCTURE:
This book is formatted into5 chunks.It follows Leila's road trip heading "North", to see the Northern Lights/Aurora Borealis.
Eachchunk(as I so eloquently phrased), is a short story with an encounter from a new angsty teen. It was very cliche but warmed my heart.
this amazing blog mapped out the journey.
THEMES:
Discovery, journeys, belonging, the future, love, loss, hope etc. + any other buzzword you can think of in a sappy novel/movie.
QUOTES:
THE ENDING:
HEA insured!YAY! It ends withhowever I'm sad we do not get to see the rest of the hitchhikers.
IMPACT:
This book was profound and will leave me thinking about it for a long time. I loved every theme and issue and crisis that was mentioned in this book, and I think it should be a necessity for all teens to read it (though I'm sure some would find it too pretentious and cliche to enjoy).
[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>
MY EXPERIENCE WITH THE BOOK:
I had a wonderful journey withLet's Get Lost!I read it in one sitting, for about three hours. It was heart-wrenching from the moment you pick it up, and never stops being angsty and romantic.
CHARACTERS/DYNAMICS:
My favourite duo had to beHudson and Leila.But I did appreciate all the other storylines, which include:
PLOT:
Hudson, who is willing to throw away his dreams for love. And Bree, a runaway who seizes every Tuesday- and a few stolen goods along the way. Elliot, who believes in happy endings...
until his own goes off-script. And Sonia, who worries that she's lost her ability to love.
Also how great is this fanart???
STRUCTURE:
This book is formatted into5 chunks.It follows Leila's road trip heading "North", to see the Northern Lights/Aurora Borealis.
Eachchunk(as I so eloquently phrased), is a short story with an encounter from a new angsty teen. It was very cliche but warmed my heart.
this amazing blog mapped out the journey.
THEMES:
Discovery, journeys, belonging, the future, love, loss, hope etc. + any other buzzword you can think of in a sappy novel/movie.
QUOTES:
"People hurt each other. It happens to everyone. Intentionally, unintentionally, regretfully or not. It's a part of what we do as people. The beauty is that we have the ability to heal and forgive."
"It was time to let go of the mad desire to remember. It was time to start living whatever life would come. In the present, not the past."
"What if she was supposed to be a painter, but no one ever gave her a brush?"
"So it's pretty simple. Go sing. Sing well or sing badly -it doesn't matter, as long as you sing your fucking heart out.”
THE ENDING:
HEA insured!YAY! It ends withhowever I'm sad we do not get to see the rest of the hitchhikers.
IMPACT:
This book was profound and will leave me thinking about it for a long time. I loved every theme and issue and crisis that was mentioned in this book, and I think it should be a necessity for all teens to read it (though I'm sure some would find it too pretentious and cliche to enjoy).
[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>
June 29, 2015
Let's Get Lost is about getting lost and being found.
The main character of this book is Leila, but we meet her and know about her from the perspective of four different people she meets on her drive to Alaska. The main goal of her trip is to see the Northern Lights. Leila is a mystery, she appears in the life of four teens when they need her the most and change their lives. I was not aware of the way this book was written before reading it, is four different stories with one character in common. When you finish one story you have no idea what character you are going to find next, so there's that element of surprise all the time. My most memorable stories are Hudson's and Sonia's. Sonia's part was my top favorite and the one that got me in tears. Her story was very emotional and contained that romantic element of forbidden love that I like. When you read Leila's part you get to know her real story and understand things she did before in the story. This book is amazing! Is the kind of book that makes you think, dream and hope. Is a simple book but with a powerful meaning of trusting your present and look forward to the future. I wish there was a sequel but no sequel is coming, so I will imagine her future of the characters.
The main character of this book is Leila, but we meet her and know about her from the perspective of four different people she meets on her drive to Alaska. The main goal of her trip is to see the Northern Lights. Leila is a mystery, she appears in the life of four teens when they need her the most and change their lives. I was not aware of the way this book was written before reading it, is four different stories with one character in common. When you finish one story you have no idea what character you are going to find next, so there's that element of surprise all the time. My most memorable stories are Hudson's and Sonia's. Sonia's part was my top favorite and the one that got me in tears. Her story was very emotional and contained that romantic element of forbidden love that I like. When you read Leila's part you get to know her real story and understand things she did before in the story. This book is amazing! Is the kind of book that makes you think, dream and hope. Is a simple book but with a powerful meaning of trusting your present and look forward to the future. I wish there was a sequel but no sequel is coming, so I will imagine her future of the characters.
May 24, 2023
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دستش را دراز کرد و خیلی کدتاه، بازویش را لمس کرد. لمس کوتاه و مختصر دست ها، همیشه شروع داستان های عاشقانه بزرگ بوده است.
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لیلا، دختری است که در یک سانحه رانندگی پدر، مادر و خواهرش را از دست داده و خاطراتش را فراموش کرده. او برای دیدن شفق هاس شمالی، که یادآور پدرش برا اوست، تنهایی در جاده ها به سفر راهی می شود. او در این میان با افراد مختلفی برخورد می کند که ما چهار روایت از چهار نفر از این افراد را در این کتاب می خوانیم و در انتها هم نوبت به خود لیلا و داستان خود اوست. تمامی این افراد ویژگی مشترکی دارند، فشاره و تنش هایشان با والدین. کتاب برای جوانان نوشته شده پس به دنبال چیزی فراتر از آن نباید بود به همین سبب کتاب به نوع شکل گیری و اختلاف نظرهای نوجوانان و جوانان با والدین آنها دارد. از طرفی دیگر معضلات دیگری که افراد در این سنین با آن مواجه اند تبلور احساسات و عشق و علاقه ای آتشین است. کتاب شاید برای منی که در حال شروع دهه چهلم زندگی خود هستم چیز دندانگیر و جذابی نبوده بلشد ولی برای افرادی که در سنین رشد و نمو و بلوغ جسمی و ذهنی و جتسی هستند، خواندنش خالی از لطف نیست.
دستش را دراز کرد و خیلی کدتاه، بازویش را لمس کرد. لمس کوتاه و مختصر دست ها، همیشه شروع داستان های عاشقانه بزرگ بوده است.
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لیلا، دختری است که در یک سانحه رانندگی پدر، مادر و خواهرش را از دست داده و خاطراتش را فراموش کرده. او برای دیدن شفق هاس شمالی، که یادآور پدرش برا اوست، تنهایی در جاده ها به سفر راهی می شود. او در این میان با افراد مختلفی برخورد می کند که ما چهار روایت از چهار نفر از این افراد را در این کتاب می خوانیم و در انتها هم نوبت به خود لیلا و داستان خود اوست. تمامی این افراد ویژگی مشترکی دارند، فشاره و تنش هایشان با والدین. کتاب برای جوانان نوشته شده پس به دنبال چیزی فراتر از آن نباید بود به همین سبب کتاب به نوع شکل گیری و اختلاف نظرهای نوجوانان و جوانان با والدین آنها دارد. از طرفی دیگر معضلات دیگری که افراد در این سنین با آن مواجه اند تبلور احساسات و عشق و علاقه ای آتشین است. کتاب شاید برای منی که در حال شروع دهه چهلم زندگی خود هستم چیز دندانگیر و جذابی نبوده بلشد ولی برای افرادی که در سنین رشد و نمو و بلوغ جسمی و ذهنی و جتسی هستند، خواندنش خالی از لطف نیست.
Want to read
March 9, 2014Think this will be my first time reading a book with a character that shares my name! Irrationally excited about that!!
August 21, 2019
È uno YA on the road molto bello e particolare.
La storia segue 4 ragazzi, tutti uniti da una ragazza, Leila, che è il filo conduttore della storia e a cui spetta la narrazione dell'ultimo quinto di libro.
Tutte e 5 le storie mi hanno emozionato sebbene la seconda mi abbia anche un po' irritata a causa della ragazza co-protagonista, che ho trovato immatura.
In ogni caso mi è piaciuto tanto, è una storia diversa dalle solite!
La storia segue 4 ragazzi, tutti uniti da una ragazza, Leila, che è il filo conduttore della storia e a cui spetta la narrazione dell'ultimo quinto di libro.
Tutte e 5 le storie mi hanno emozionato sebbene la seconda mi abbia anche un po' irritata a causa della ragazza co-protagonista, che ho trovato immatura.
In ogni caso mi è piaciuto tanto, è una storia diversa dalle solite!
March 3, 2023
توی این مدت خوندن برام سخت شده بود، اما این کتاب دوباره بهم یادآوری کرد که مهم نیست چی بشه، هنوز کلمهها برام نجاتدهندهان. به این فکر میکردم که بارها دلم میخواست مثل لیلا، فقط برم تا شاید رفتنِ پیوسته باعث بشه حس تعلق رو واقعا بشناسم.
"بیا گم شویم" یه طوری زیبا بود که از اولین صفحه تا آخرین صفحه فقط اکلیل میپاشه توی صورتتون.
5/5
"بیا گم شویم" یه طوری زیبا بود که از اولین صفحه تا آخرین صفحه فقط اکلیل میپاشه توی صورتتون.
5/5
July 31, 2014
"You know what I've never understood about life?"
"We've reached that point of the night already? It's epiphany o'clock?"
Let's Get Lostby Adi Alsaid was one of the books I've been eager to read since I picked it up at ALA. As soon as I discovered that it included a road trip that involves loss, hope and love, which you can clearly see based on the cover alone, I was sold. I love.love.love road trip books. It's a chance for me to live vicariously through characters that travel the states on a quest. And in this particular story, the potential was clearly there...
The story is told in the third person with the main character Leila journeying through the US. She is on her way to Alaska to see the Northern Lights, and along her journey she meets Hudson, Bree, Elliot and Sonia who are each on the cusp of a life changing moment. Leila meets Hudson on the eve before his college interview for a full scholarship. She collides with Bree who is on a journey of her own battling an itchy soul that just wants to seize the Tuesday. Leila literally crashes into Elliot the night of his prom and spends the evening helping him chase the love of his life. And finally, she stumbles upon Sonia who is rediscovering love after a tragic loss.
Meeting all of these characters was rewarding in more ways than one, as I enjoyed learning about them and their hopes. I definitely had the best time with Elliot, whether it be because of their witty dialog together or the possibility of these two really becoming good friends. Through her travels, Leila changes each of their lives in some small way, which left me wanting to know who Leila truly was.
Unfortunately, what I felt was missing was the necessary character development around Leila. It's not until the final chapters of her story that we discover the true reason for her journey, which in my opinion misses the real essence of road trip books. I believe the magic in this type of fiction is getting to know the main character as he or she travels to their destination, but that never occurred until the very end. I feel if I would have know her circumstance, it would have made her adventure more meaningful to me.
In addition, I question the author's decision to write this in the third person because I sensed there were missed opportunities to feel a more profound connection with the main character. So overall, it wasn't until the final chapters that I felt a connection with the experience, which was a bit disappointing.
Overall, I loved the concept, but the execution just didn't quite do it for me. A slight miss in my opinion, but I'll definitely consider picking up other books by Alsaid to see how this author's writing style changes over time.
"We've reached that point of the night already? It's epiphany o'clock?"
Let's Get Lostby Adi Alsaid was one of the books I've been eager to read since I picked it up at ALA. As soon as I discovered that it included a road trip that involves loss, hope and love, which you can clearly see based on the cover alone, I was sold. I love.love.love road trip books. It's a chance for me to live vicariously through characters that travel the states on a quest. And in this particular story, the potential was clearly there...
The story is told in the third person with the main character Leila journeying through the US. She is on her way to Alaska to see the Northern Lights, and along her journey she meets Hudson, Bree, Elliot and Sonia who are each on the cusp of a life changing moment. Leila meets Hudson on the eve before his college interview for a full scholarship. She collides with Bree who is on a journey of her own battling an itchy soul that just wants to seize the Tuesday. Leila literally crashes into Elliot the night of his prom and spends the evening helping him chase the love of his life. And finally, she stumbles upon Sonia who is rediscovering love after a tragic loss.
Meeting all of these characters was rewarding in more ways than one, as I enjoyed learning about them and their hopes. I definitely had the best time with Elliot, whether it be because of their witty dialog together or the possibility of these two really becoming good friends. Through her travels, Leila changes each of their lives in some small way, which left me wanting to know who Leila truly was.
Unfortunately, what I felt was missing was the necessary character development around Leila. It's not until the final chapters of her story that we discover the true reason for her journey, which in my opinion misses the real essence of road trip books. I believe the magic in this type of fiction is getting to know the main character as he or she travels to their destination, but that never occurred until the very end. I feel if I would have know her circumstance, it would have made her adventure more meaningful to me.
In addition, I question the author's decision to write this in the third person because I sensed there were missed opportunities to feel a more profound connection with the main character. So overall, it wasn't until the final chapters that I felt a connection with the experience, which was a bit disappointing.
Overall, I loved the concept, but the execution just didn't quite do it for me. A slight miss in my opinion, but I'll definitely consider picking up other books by Alsaid to see how this author's writing style changes over time.
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