long lost review | Lost in a Good Book

Long Lost Review: Cress (#3) by Marissa Meyer

13 Feb 2025 Leave a comment

by Amy in 4 Stars, Fantasy, Long Lost Reviews, Young Adult Tags: #llr, four stars, long lost review, Long Lost Reviews, marissa meyer, the lunar chronicles

Long Lost Reviews is a monthly meme created by Ally over at Ally’s Appraisals which is posted on the second Thursday of every month. The aim is to start tackling your review backlog. Whether it’s an in-depth analysis of how it affected your life, one sentence stating that you only remember the ending, or that you have no recollection of reading the book at all.

Published: 4th February 2014
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Pages: 552
Format: Paperback
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
★ ★ ★ ★ – 4 Stars

In this third book in the Lunar Chronicles, Cinder and Captain Thorne are fugitives on the run, now with Scarlet and Wolf in tow. Together, they’re plotting to overthrow Queen Levana and her army.

Their best hope lies with Cress, a girl imprisoned on a satellite since childhood who’s only ever had her netscreens as company. All that screen time has made Cress an excellent hacker. Unfortunately, she’s just received orders from Levana to track down Cinder and her handsome accomplice.

When a daring rescue of Cress goes awry, the group is separated. Cress finally has her freedom, but it comes at a higher price. Meanwhile, Queen Levana will let nothing prevent her marriage to Emperor Kai. Cress, Scarlet, and Cinder may not have signed up to save the world, but they may be the only hope the world has.

I’ve been trying to get reviews out for this series for years and my stubborn perfectionism needs me to put them out in order. The issue is, if I haven’t taken notes, I am now years past when I read it and I only have a fraction of plot floating around my head.

I loved this series and I love how Meyer gives us different fairy tale retellings in a whole new landscape but creatively ties them together in a way that is true both to their original stories and this beautifully complicate new world she has created.

I liked the shift from a tower to a satellite and it ties beautifully in the technological era that the rest of the series has been working with. It also continues the story we already know from Cinder and Scarlett, the kingdom is still in danger and the Lunar Queen still means trouble. But in between that, we get to meet Cress, a wonderful girl trapped on a satellite and left alone among the stars.

I enjoyed Cress’ character, each of this band of misfits has a different personality and their own strengths which I love. Now that they are coming together to save the world it’s good seeing these unique skills come together.

The continuation of Cinder and Scarlett’s stories is excellent, I love that they play roles in the bigger story and aren’t forgotten entirely once their book has finished. There isn’t a full equal sharing of the story, Cress still gets her own book, but as they’re all working towards their goal Meyer weaves in the others and their storylines prompt action.

There is a strong romance element for everyone to swoon over in each book and Cress is no different. Each of our heroes is matched up to their own true love which gives you some cute moments away from the dire peril. It plays into the fairy tale element so while it can feel predictable, it is a nice one where the tropes of the originals are still in play. Plus Meyer is once again giving us fun play on words with names and circumstances to delight us as Thorne and Cress come together.

I can’t remember much besides vague plot points but I did give it four stars and I remember really loving it. So based off vibes it was a great book and a great next step in the series to the epic conclusion.

You can purchase Cress via the following

QBD | Dymocks | Booktopia

Wordery | Blackwell’s | Angus & Robertson

Fishpond | Amazon | Amazon Aust | Audible

Long Lost Review: Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

10 Oct 2024 Leave a comment

by Amy in 3 Stars, Long Lost Reviews, Young Adult Tags: laurie halse anderson, long lost review, Long Lost Reviews, three stars, young adult

Published: 01 April 2001
Publisher: Puffin
Pages: 202
Format: Paperback
Genre: Young Adult
★ ★ ★ – 3 Stars

The first ten lies they tell you in high school.

“Speak up for yourself—we want to know what you have to say.”

From the first moment of her freshman year at Merryweather High, Melinda knows this is a big fat lie, part of the nonsense of high school. She is friendless, outcast, because she busted an end-of-summer party by calling the cops, so now nobody will talk to her, let alone listen to her.

As time passes, she becomes increasingly isolated and practically stops talking altogether. Only her art class offers any solace, and it is through her work on an art project that she is finally able to face what really happened at that terrible party.

This book is revered and I enjoyed it when read it in 2017. I never got around to writing a review though. Not for lack of want, but time got away from me and then I didn’t have many notes to be able to give it a proper analysis, only the memory of a few scenes and the feeling it was impactful and important. Looking at my rating I only gave it three stars which isn’t terrible, but I was surprised given how impactful I remember some scenes being. Though a few great scenes mean little when I can’t remember a lot of the rest of the book.

What I do know is I really resonated with Melinda. I understood her, I understood her silence, and art was a great form of expression for her. You understand as you read what has happened, you piece it together and even though you know, you’re compelled to keep reading.

It definitely doesn’t escape you that this is an important book, and Halse Anderson has done a fantastic job at telling it from Melinda’s experience. We are shown so much more than we are told but shown so beautifully it’s basically spelled out on the page. Certainly from 1999 it was groundbreaking book and even now it’s been released as a graphic novel so Melinda can share her experience with a new audience.

It’s only short but packs a punch. Ironically writing this Long Lost Review might make me reread it again and understand why I gave it a three star rating. I feel a lot of the rest of the book was the usual US American high school stuff that feels unnatural and unrealistic (whether that’s true or not it’s how I feel sometimes reading it). I might pick up the graphic novel and see, or revisit the book and give it another chance.

Long Lost Review: Can’t Say it Went to Plan by Gabrielle Tozer

12 Sep 2024 Leave a comment

by Amy in 3 Stars, Audiobook, LGBTQIA, Young Adult Tags: #ll, Audiobook, gabrielle tozer, long lost review, Long Lost Reviews, three stars, young adult

Published: 14 September 2021
Publisher: HarperCollins
Pages: 384
Format: Paperback
Genre: Contemporary Young Adult
★ ★ ★ – 3 Stars

School’s out.

Forget study, exams and mapping out the future.

For the next seven days, the only homework is partying with friends, making new ones and living in the moment.

There are no parents or curfews – and no rules.

Zoe, Samira and Dahlia are strangers, but they have something in common: their plans for a dream holiday after their final year of school are flipped upside-down before they even arrive at the beach.

From hooking up and heartache, to growing apart, testing friendships and falling in love, anything can go down this week.

Interestingly I remember reading this book which is often rare for a LLR, but I can’t actually think of anything to say about it. I have tried twice before to read a Tozer book, I didn’t like the other two, but I was willing to give this one a shot. Unfortunately it befell the same fate. I felt it was a little too long, or at least too drawn out, after a while it started to fade out and I became disinterested.

The characters were fine, I never became attached to them and there were a lot to keep track of. There were three different groups with numerous storylines between them so you had to pay attention. I did enjoy when the different groups would cross paths and when they eventually joined up. There is decent character development for a few of the characters but it took a long time. I didn’t expect a quick change, but with the story feeling drawn out the moments in between anything happening felt eternal.

There’s characters to like and characters to dislike, and it was good to see our main players come to their senses and not deal with the idiots they come across. Being a schoolies week of course there had to be the toolies, but Tozer manages them really well and I liked her approach to their inclusion. Clear judgement of a guy who is too old to still be hanging around.

There is still one more Tozer book, I have it on my shelf but deciding when to finally read it will be hard. Do I dive in and get it over with? Wait a few more years to give it a gap between the last one, or do I never even try? These are the questions. It might be that Tozer isn’t the author for me and I should give up.

Long Long Review: The Light Fantastic (#2) by Terry Pratchett

08 Aug 2024 Leave a comment

by Amy in 3 Stars, Audiobook, Fantasy Tags: #llr, Audiobook, discworld, long lost review, Long Lost Reviews, terry pratchett, three stars

Published: 1st January 1986
Publisher: Corgi
Pages: 285
Format: Paperback
Genre: Fantasy
★ ★ ★ – 3 Stars

In this sequel to the much-acclaimed The Colour of Magic, Rincewind, Twoflower and the many-legged luggage return to the Discworld with the help of the Octavo and overcome the attempts by the wizards of the Unseen University to capture them, and then save the Discworld from an invasion from the Dungeon Dimensions.

I didn’t mean to make the first two books in the Discworld series long lost reviews, but I found them on audio and was reading them one after the other (intent on charging through the series) and then got stuck when I couldn’t source book three. Then of course life happened and here we are trying to remember the plot and my opinion of it.

I read this in 2019 and recall absolutely none of it except maybe Rincewind and Twoflower on a raft/boat near a waterfall which may or may not be the very first scenes or the very final scene. I have a lot of Discworld to get through so I’m not in a mind to reread it, though it is reasonably short.

I know people say the Rincewind ones aren’t the best, and I recall it being a bit boring. I don’t remember anything to even rate it, which also feels like a sign I should reread it. For now I will give it three stars, since that’s what I did the first time, and if I reread it I will reassess and adjust my rating. Maybe I could be sacrilegious and watch the movie?

Long Lost Review: Act Cool by Tobly McSmith

13 Jun 2024 Leave a comment

by Amy in 3 Stars, Audiobook, LGBTQIA, Long Lost Reviews, Young Adult Tags: #llr, Audiobook, lgbt, LGBTQIA, long lost review, Long Lost Reviews, shaan dasani, three stars, tobly mcsmith, trans, transgender, young adult

Published: 7 September 2021 (print)/7 September 2021 (audio)
Publisher: Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins Publishers
Pages: 352/9 hrs and 36 mins
Narrator: Shaan Dasani
Format: Audiobook
Genre: Young Adult
★ ★ ★ – 3 Stars

A trans teen walks the fine line between doing whatever it takes for his acting dream and staying true to himself in this moving, thought-provoking YA novel from the acclaimed author of Stay Gold.

Aspiring actor August Greene just landed a coveted spot at the prestigious School of Performing Arts in New York. There’s only one problem: His conservative parents won’t accept that he’s transgender. And to stay with his aunt in the city, August must promise them he won’t transition.

August is convinced he can play the part his parents want while acting cool and confident in the company of his talented new friends.

But who is August when the lights go down? And where will he turn when the roles start hitting a little too close to home?

It is hard to like August at the start. His show off style and desire to stand out and be noticed is grating but as you get to know him you see where he’s coming from and why he’s chosen to put on these various personas. August’s different personas is a clear way he adapts who he is for the people he is around. It’s also a great way to show even though August thinks he knows who he is, he still hasn’t quite figured it out.

He has great character growth and the different characters he interacts with help bring out different sides of him, as well as shape his character to the reader. We see more of him around different people and see his active decisions in his behaviour, coupled with the knowledge we already have of his past.

Other characters are great, well rounded, and real. Mr Daniels is a tough teacher who wants to make sure August is there for the right reasons, while his aunt is supportive in a way his other family isn’t. The plot is slow, it takes time getting going but it does eventually build to a pivotal moment. The slow reveal about different experiences August has had help you understand him as you go along, and it shifts how you feel towards him too. His goal to reinvent himself balances against his need to belong and his need for security and friendship which McSmith manages well.

This is a great found family novel, and one I didn’t mind being set in a school setting. The unique location of the acting school was a fresh focus of American YA and it is a great exploration of different aspects of hobbies and passions. Dasani does a good job as narrator, August’s voice comes through and it’s easy to get immersed in the story.

It has great representation but it wasn’t an amazing book. I liked it, it had its moments, and it is sure to resonate with someone or expose them to a different kind of story which is all you can hope in a book. There’s a few content warnings like transphobia, dead naming, as well as the prospect of conversion therapy but it’s important to include as it paints a realistic picture of the real world situations people like August go through and is a great mirror up to some people and their opinions.

You can purchase Act Cool via the following

QBD | Booktopia | Dymocks

Wordery | Angus and Robinson | Blackwell’s

Fishpond | Amazon | Amazon Aust | Audible