Review: Lost It

Lost it by Kristen Tracy
Date Released: January 23, 2007
Published by: Simon Pulse
Pages:  Paperback, 288 pages
Young Adult
Overall:

...if your best friend were plotting the annihilation of a small, furry neighborhood poodle? Or if your parents up and moved to an Outward Bound-type survival camp in the middle of the desert? How about if your grandmother bought you new bras and underwear -- and you actually thought they were a teensy bit, umm, sexy?
Most people would not react well.
Tess Whistle's junior year of high school is off to a fairly bizarre start. One might even say her life is spiraling out of control. But with her sense of humor firmly intact and her first real boyfriend on her arm, Tess is dealing with the ridiculous twists quite well, thankyouverymuch.
Just wait until her shoes explode.
Synopsis via Goodreads

My Thoughts:

Lost It is the coming-of-age story of Tess Whistle an innocent and very quirky teenager.  With a fear of wild animals (things she can't control,) parents who I have no words for, a Grandma who doesn't fit the knitting-Betty Crocker mold, and a boyfriend who at the beginning who seems to fall in love with her quirks, Tessa wasn't an easy character to read.  With a rather annoying personality, innocence based on ignorance I just didn't believe, and a voice I didn't enjoy following I wasn't surprised at her match of a poodle-exploding BFF and very surprised by her cute-butt-having boyfriend.

While the title provided us with numerous definitions for this books I felt it was anti-climatic and that it left too many loose ends.  This story went beyond using your own imagination to make up the rest of the story- in my opinion it was left unfinished and the first thing after reading the last sentence I did was get online to check for a sequel.

The writing was mediocre, which I can over look because I love simple writing, but with a voice like Tess' it just wasn't enough to glue the book together.  I did laugh out loud several times during this book which helped boost its rating, but those moments simply couldn't overcome what this book lacked.  Like many others, I wanted to love this book and I expected more from it, but it just didn't do it for me.



Don't let my negatives make up your mind yet on whether or not to read this book just yet.  Kristen Tracy provided us with a quick read which truly lives up to it's title in more then one way and a cover to match- which is one of those 'I totally get it' moments.  Kristen Tracy provided us with a light hearted and at times hilarious story that won't be easily forgotten with the amount of quirks that you'll find throughout.  Honestly, I think there is a little bit of Tess' awkwardness in all of us that will take us back to a time that was once forgotten.

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