The Lost Girl

I found The Lost Girl difficult to get into at first, though, that could be due to the fact that I was obsessed with 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors when I started. However, it did pick up and I ended up really enjoying it.

Before I started, the concept seemed a little confusing, but Mandanna handles it well an it all ended up feeling pretty natural. Although, for some reason I had it in my head that the book was set in Victorian times so I was rather confused for a while and it took a bit to convince myself otherwise.

Eva is a strong character who I found easy to like. She cares so much about all the people around her that she'd do anything for them, yet she refuses to be the sacrificial lamb. Instead of saying "I'll stay if you let them go" and quietly taking what comes, she says she'll stay with absolutely no intention of doing so. I like that despite every crappy thing that was thrown at her she continued to fight for her right to live.

I really liked all the different relationships. Yes, romantic relationships play a role, but I wouldn't say it's the main focus. There's also Eva's relationship with her familiars (the parents of her original) as well as everyone else from Amarra's life. Not to mention all her relationships with her Guardians. It was nice to see her grow from her obligated like for Amarra's family into loving them.

I do have one complaint, though. I know Mandanna fleshes out the Loom pretty well, but I wanted more. I never quite understood the Loom or it's history and I desperately wanted to. I was also really fascinated by the process of stitching and creating and I was hoping to get a look at that. To be fair, I think the reader's understanding of the Loom is similar to the general population's (of the book) understanding of it: an idea that's a little blurry around the edges.

The Nutshell: All in all, is a good read. I'm normally a plot girl, but I really enjoyed the focus on Eva's relationships. I found myself constantly wishing she would spend more time with this or that character.

Hit

Sangu Mandanna’s YA debut is a quiet, contemplative piece of science fiction. Obviously inspired by Frankenstein, it deals mostly with identity—the book’s protagonist is out to prove that she can be her own person in spite of her status as a “thing” and not a human. In many ways, The Lost Girl is very groundbreaking and thought-provoking. But in some ways I found it to be rather dull.

Mandanna’s prose is undeniable good. She writes this story with refinement and skill. I, however, found the rambling, expansive patterns of her writing style to be boring and unengaging. It was something like riding down a river an an inner tube—I was half awake, just along for the ride. I’m not actually a big reader of action novels—I’ve never read an “action scene” without skimming in my life. However, I think there needs to be something in an author’s prose to grab me and, unfortunately, I did not find it in The Lost Girl.

Really, I felt similarly about all of this book. Eva’s struggles were interesting, and they had depth, but I found myself yawning through them. The plot twists were surprising, but I couldn’t muster the emotion to care. The end was, well, bittersweet and memorable, but I didn’t care. Really, I just couldn’t bring myself to care very much about The Lost Girl. It’s different and complex and well-written, with a character I could root for. But I didn’t care.

I don’t know exactly what it was that was so lacking in this book. Reading positive reviews from my friends, I readily agree with everything they have to say. Yet this book didn’t touch me on the same level as it did them. Something—I’m not sure what—was missing. Maybe it’s because I was never (and will never be) interested in Frankenstein?

In any case, I found that I did enjoy The Lost Girl to a certain extent. As I said, Mandanna’s prose is lovely, if overly dense, and Eva was a wonderful protagonist. I enjoyed watching her adjust to some situations, though I found the final few chapters to be somewhat at odds with the earlier passages of the book. It is an interesting concept, for sure, though I think it wasn’t explored quite as well as it could have been.

I do recommend The Lost Girl, though it’s not a particular favorite of mine.

I had no expectations going into this book. All I knew was that this was the book chosen for my first virtual book club/read along, and I was hoping it would be worthy of discussion. I quickly found that it surpassed anything that I previously thought. The Lost Girl was great! Hands down, no debate. Fantastic.

It's going to be hard to pinpoint what I loved about this book. Was it the amazing setting? Probably. I've never read a book set in India, so it was interesting. But that's probably not what had me turning the pages for hours. Maybe it was the characters? That could be it. Eva was amazing. Sean made my heart smile. Ray made me seeth with anger. Amarra's parents broke my heart. Ophelia made me cry. And there were so many other characters that had me running an emotional marathon. It's too hard to summarize the complicated relationships in The Lost Girl. Just know that they will grip you and you won't forget them.

But if I had to pick one thing that really spoke to me in The Lost Girl, I would say it was the highly original plot and story line. I am SO glad this was the book for the first read along on my blog! The discussions that stemmed from this story were amazing. The author is certainly talented (and that's such an understatement). There were so many symbols and quotable moments. Everything was poignant and almost philosophical in nature. I love that in a book! One thing that I thought of while reading (and relates so well to another of my favorite YA books) is the idea of 'what is a soul'. If you have read Neil Shusterman's Unwind or UnWholly, then you know this debate. Well, The Lost Girl gives it another spin that sparks a great debate. It's a modern Frankenstein with so much heart! (no pun intended... ok, maybe a little) You could analyze this book for hours!

You need to read The Lost Girl. Your friends need to read The Lost Girl. Then, you need to get your sister/brother/mom/dad/grandma/neighbor's dog to read The Lost Girl so you can all sit and discuss its amazingness.

Eva is an echo.
Someone that is created to live the life of another person after that certain person dies.
Eva's whole life, her whole existence is practically dedicated to this.

Whatever Amarra (Eva's other) learns in school, Eva has to learn to.
Whatever movies Amarra watches, Eva also has to watch.
(Keep in mind that Eva & Amarra are in completely different countries)
Amarra gets a tattoo? Eva also gets one!
Everything Amarra does, Eva also has to do!
Becasue when Amarra dies, Eva must take her place to ease the greif of her friends and family.
Except, Eva isn't Amarra and will never be.
She may be considered an "abomination" but she has feelings, she has a personality. And that makes her different than Amarra.
The problem is that when people see Eva, they see a monster.
They don't see a person with feelings, they don't see a human being.
But Eva is human, although very few realize that...

I know that I seem to be going off on tangents but this was an AMAZING story about what it means to be human and I recommend it to EVERYONE!!

Check out my blog to win a U.K edition of this book: http://perrytheplatypus1102-3daydreamer3.blogspot.com/2012/09/book-review-giveaway-lost-girl-by-sangu.html

In The Lost Girl, Sangu Mandanna weaves together a story of love,loss and freedom,the kind that every living person has.Taking figments of ideas from Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and then using them to create concepts of her own,the author does a truly wonderful job in writing a stunningly original debut novel.

What impressed me the most was the way she used Shelley's ideas to make her own new ones instead of just doing a complete re-telling of Frankenstein.Trust me,I have seen enough classic re-tellings gone wrong so from this aspect,The Lost Girl was actually a ray of hope to the new trend of modern re-tellings.

Yet,I wasn't so sure about the narration of the story during the time when the setting was in Bangalore.To other readers it might not mean much but as a native of the Indian subcontinent,I must admit that this felt a bit...um,how do I put it,unoriginal(not sure if that's the right word,though). Instead of making all of the narration in English,she could've mentioned that all the talking was being done in Kannad(that's what they use in Bangalore,right?). The only time she pointed this out was when Eva was paying off the rickshaw pullers.But then again,this might have made it even messy so maybe not mentioning it was the right choice,though I'm not so sure.

Also,if the author thinks of writing a sequel(which would be an awesome choice ;) ) maybe a bit more Indian-like names should do the trick?I'm not sure about Sasha,Neil and Amarra.They don't sound very Indian to me.Ray's off the hook since he happens to be half French ^^.Maybe she could use mine or even my nickname Dhara.(Shamelessly self-promoting)It'd be so cool to have my name in a book!Eeep! XD But anyways she'd better think about writing a sequel because if she leaves this as a stand-alone she's going to break my heart for giving such a sneaky ending to the story.

Now just to make everyone jealous,I'm going to admit having an autographed hardcover of this book thanks to Pam@Jellylovesbooks and Sangu Mandanna herself.

So if you haven't read this yet,I'd suggest you to run to your nearest store to grab a copy.It'd definitely be worth the money. :)

Other voices:

"The Lost Girl, filled with unexpected twists and tough decisions (and two sexy boys who don't want to want the girl), provides a captivating read which you can't put down till you reach the last page."-Maliha,bestie and classmate who borrowed the book.