Let's Get Lost

by Adi Alsaid

[Jo]

Originally posted on Once Upon a Bookcase.

I love a good road trip story, so when I first heard about Let's Get Lost by Adi Alsaid, I knew I had to read it! It wasn't the story I was expecting, but it was a great great novel!

Leila is going on a road trip, heading as far north as she can go to see the Northern Lights. On her way, she by chance meets with four very different teens, and makes a big difference to their lives. Hudson works at his dad's garage, but has an interview coming up for Med School, and he's about to have the best day of his life. Bree is a hitch-hiking runaway, for whom ordinary days should be few and far between. Elliot, obsessed with 80s movies, has just had his heart broken on prom night, and soon finds himself injured in an accident. And Sonia is still grieving from the death of her boyfriend, and finding it hard to move on. Leila touches each and every person in big ways, and changes the direction of their lives. But Leila herself has her own secrets; her reason for wanting to see the Northern Lights.

Let's Get Lost almost reads like an anthology, with a story for each teenager. Each is told in the third person from the perspective of the teenagers, until the final one, which is Leila's own story. Leila breezes into their lives for maybe 24 hours at the most before moving on on her journey northward, but making a huge impact on each of their lives.

Because it feels like an anthology of short stories, there isn't a huge amount I can say about each without spoiling them, but I can talk about the characters themselves. Each character is so well developed, their voices so individual, despite the multiple narrations. Hudson is a really nice, ordinary guy, with hopes and dreams and aspirations. He loves his town, and the very specific, unique things about it that you won't find anywhere else, the treasures of the town. He is completely enamoured by Leila, so he jumps at the opportunity to take her on a tour to show her the treasures. Bree is reckless but pretty brave - or idiotic, depending on how you look at things. But it's almost a front to cover how she's really feeling. Elliot is so sweet with an almost innocence about him, and thinks life should be like the movies. Sonia is a really lovely girl, suffering with her grief and whether moving on or holding on to her memories is the right thing to do. Leila herself is really wonderful, so supportive and encouraging of these strangers she meets, weaving magic into their lives simply by being on their side.

Let's Get Lost really is such a beautiful story, with wonderful insights that make you stop and think. These four teenagers' lives could have been so different if they hadn't met Leila. It's wonderful how a small change, a different perspective, the right words said at the right time, can turn your whole life around. Such a beautifully written story, it gives these little moments of wonder even more impact.

The only thing that bothered me was how nice it was. There are people with some big problems in this book, but I never felt that affected by them. It's always overshadowed by the events that happen. It's a pretty light and fluffy book, but I would have liked to have to have felt more about the sad parts of the stories.

But still, a beautiful and eye-opening novel! Really, really good! And I'm looking forward to seeing what Alsaid writes in the future!

Thank you to Mira Ink for the review copy.