Wednesday 15 July 2015

The Lost and the Found, Cat Clarke

Pages: 441
Publisher: Quercus
Release Date: 2nd July 2015
Edition: UK proof, review copy

Other Titles by this Author: Entangled, Torn, Undone, A Kiss in the Dark

LOST.
When six-year-old Laurel Logan was abducted, the only witness was her younger sister. Faith’s childhood was dominated by Laurel’s disappearance – from her parents’ broken marriage and the constant media attention to dealing with so-called friends who only ever wanted to talk about her sister.

FOUND.
Thirteen years later, a young woman is found in the garden of the Logans’ old house, disorientated and clutching the teddy bear Laurel was last seen with. Laurel is home, safe and sound. Faith always dreamed of getting her sister back, without ever truly believing it would happen. But a disturbing series of events leaves Faith increasingly isolated and paranoid, and before long she begins to wonder if everything that’s lost can be found again…

Cat has been one of the strongest voices we have in UKYA since her first book in Entangled and she’s continued to get better and better. The Lost and the Found was amazing.

Faith has lived in the shadow of her big sister for thirteen years – she doesn’t remember a time when Laurel wasn’t missing. And now Laurel is back. I really how complexly Faith was portrayed. She’s conflicted: of course she’s glad to have her sister back, but she feels a little bitter, resentful and abandoned in the wake of Laurel’s return. She was instantly relatable and I found myself reacting to Laurel in the same way.

One of the biggest elements of The Lost and the Found is the role of the media in the Logan’s lives since Laurel’s kidnapping. They’re violently intrusive on a daily basis: camping out in their front garden, swarming over every detail, twisting photos and words into whatever portrait they want to paint of the family and Laurel’s disappearance and reappearance. The invasiveness even made me uncomfortable sometimes so imagining living most of your life with reporters, TV spots, press conferences and interviews as Faith has is almost inconceivable. It’s such an interesting take on a kidnapping story, one that you don’t think of when a missing child is plastered across the media. The impact on the family, particular other children had never crossed my mind before. And neither had the thought of the children that don’t make the news. Fascinating.

Cat Clarke is a master of UKYA and I’ll always eagerly await her next offering. Her books are guaranteed to make you think, cause unbearable tension and hurt your heart – a winning combination!

(Just an FYI: I consider Cat a friend of mine, but that hasn’t influenced my review at all!)

Thanks to Quercus for the review copy.

Sophie 

1 comment:

  1. I just finished this a couple of days ago and loved it. You're right, I think this is Cat's best book yet. The role of the media was fascinating and uncomfortable and I loved how Cat examined it as well as all the different relationships. It was an engrossing and fascinating read. Great review!

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