What Was Lost

Not Too Bad, Slightly Twisted

I was drawn to this book from the plot and I enjoyed the book, but it isn't one of my top books. The ending is crazy and twisted but very predictable from the beginning. I can see how they could of made the story a little better, but I can't say it was a bad book. I guess it was a little jumbled at points which was one of the main problems and felt like they wrote it too fast instead of taking more time to write a solid plot. Still, I enjoyed it.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

jaunty and easy to read, but somewhat convoluted.

the writing style and author's voice were what made the book very readable. however, the central tension in the book remained a bit hard to follow.

in fact, if i hadn't read the back cover synopsis, i might have missed one aspect of a central character's part in the plot.

i did enjoy the set-up and the menacing presence of the mall.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

...CAN BE FOUND HERE!

This is a juicy delight filled with curious characters with hopes and fears.I have gotten into the habit of reading saturday morning 10 - noon.
Well, I didn't want to put this one down not even when lunch arrived.Bob Marley's Three Little Birds playing in the background. A perfect afternoon! Saying don't worry about a thing...

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Nope, didn't really like this one.

I'd heard a lot about it, it won a Costa First Novel Award, but it just was NOT what I thought it would be and wasn't enjoyable either. This is another case of don't believe the cover blurb. this is not a mystery, this is not really about the girl who disappears, this is a character study of lonely, lost people. And boring. I finished it for two reasons: it was short and I really hoped to find out what happened on the day Kate Meaney disappeared. You do, in the very last chapter. Finally.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

I was thrilled

This book surprised me in how it grabbed me. I had started it as an "in-between" book; I had just finished a different great book and didn't think I'd end up with two in row! The writing style required attention, but it wasn't difficult. I thought her characters were typical of the reality of being an adult -- she broached some tough subjects with unerring honesty. Life in the city is not always little black dresses and martinis. Books like "What Was Lost" help us to not feel so lost as we trudge through our days. It's nice to be reminded you're not alone and that in itself portrays the book's message of hope.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

A reviewer

This book was dull and disconnected. I forced myself to finish it in the hope ther was some revelation. A big waste of time!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Awful

I was very disappointed in this book. I was under the impression it was going to be action packed and I wouldn't be able to put it down, well it was the opposite. It was dull and hard to follow. I forced myself to finish it, hoping it would get better. I was left disappointed.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

wow..

at first i wasn't sure about this book, i read a little and then put it down and stopped for a few weeks. i then picked it up, read quite a bit of it and got really into it. at times it was hard to follow, but i continued reading. i was glad i gave it another chance and finished it.. its a really amazing book.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Our book group votes NO

We just had our book group discussion tonight and the overwhelming, unanimous consensus was bad. We all thought it was dreadfully slow, depressing, disconnected and hard to follow. Most of us had a tough time forcing ourselves to finish it. If the author truly wrote this influenced by experiences in her life, she must have a very depressing life. It seemed to be a book about the futility of life, and how much more depressing can that be?

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Could not put it down....

Oh wow - what an amazing little gem this book was! This was O'Flynn's debut novel. She's got a fan here that will be looking for her second. The novel opens in 1984 and we meet nine year old Kate Meaney. She is a bit of a loner, preferring adults to children her own age. One of her favourite adults is Adrian, the son of a local shopkeeper. Kate is determined to be a detective. This is the driving force of her days. She carries a notebook and makes observations of all the people and situations she comes across. She has staked out both her neighbourhood and the new mall, Green Oaks. She decides to concentrate her time on Green Oaks. She shares her sleuthing dutiher little stuffed monkey. Until....she disappears. es with O`Flynn's portrayal of this little girl is amazing. Her determination, earnestness, and curious mind are all vividly painted with words. I was somewhat reminded of Christopher - the main character in the Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night. (Another really good read!) Fast forward to 2003 at the Green Oaks Mall. It has expanded and is very large now. Kurt works as a security guard on the night shift. One night he inexplicably see a young girl with a stuffed monkey on the security camera. When he searches, she is gone. Lisa, Adrian's sister works at a music store in the mall. Working late one night, she gets lost in the staff only corridors and finds a stuffed monkey lodged down by a pipe. Lisa and Kurt are both lonely and feel their lives are empty. They meet and their lives become connected by a long missing little girl. The development of the characters of Lisa and Kurt is excellent. As with Kate, you immediately feel a real sense of their lives. Having worked in retail hell for many years, I found O'Flynn's descriptions of the mall, it's workers and customers to be spot on, very funny at times, but also very sad. This book is as much about the mystery of what happened to Kate as it is about Karl and Lisa reclaiming their lives. O'Flynn was listed for many prizes for this debut novel - and rightly so!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

hard to put down

This book really captures the feeling of soul-crushing futility of people caught in dead-end jobs and who don't have the energy or courage to make a change until something happens to propel them out of their ruts. But that's not all of what the book is about-I read about the little girl who imagines herself a detective with a growing sense of dread. I was mesmerized by the interweaving of the people whose lives were affected by the missing girl, and how the girl's disappearance continues to affect them even twenty years later. I read this book at every opportunity, eager to see how it turned out, and was not disappointed.

A reviewer

I finished this book in 3 days and although it's not very long, it keeps your interest throughout. You will not be disappointed.

A reviewer

In 1984 in the Birmingham, England area, ten years old orphan Kate Meaney, accompanied by her sidekick a stitched stuffed monkey pretends to be a private investigator. The preadolescent especially keeps an eye out for criminal activity in Green Oaks shopping center near her home. When she is not sleuthing, Kate spends time at the sweetshop next door to her home discussing music with twenty-two tears old Adrian, the son of the owner. Her grandmother who raises Kate directs her to take an exam to gain entrance to a boarding school. Adrian takes her there, but no one sees Kate again. The police suspect Adrian of murder as they cannot comprehend a friendship between the tweener and the adult, but have no evidence to prove their case. However, the neighborhood condemns Adrian forcing him to move away.---------------- Two decades later on a CCTV monitor Green Oaks night shift security guard Kurt Jump notices a girl wandering seemingly lost holding a stuffed monkey. He rushes over to where he saw her, but no one is there. Not long after that Kurt mentions the girl with the monkey to Your Music store manager Lisa, Adrian¿s sister. They begin a search for the girl as Lisa hopes to solve the disappearance of Kate that destroyed her family especially her forced exiled brother.-------------------- WHAT WAS LOST is a superb thriller that uses a mall, especially what happens outside the shops, as a terrific backdrop to a fascinating mystery. In many ways Green Oaks is a major character as the audience learns its economic impact on a blue collar neighborhood in which factory workers are forced to accept shop jobs at extremely diminished income a subtle slap at the gurus who insist the economy is strong as everyone is working. The atmosphere of the non-shops is a part of the mall that is dark and gloomy at least through the surveillance cameras. With the mall playing a key role and Lisa and Kurt jumping into the cold case seeking the truth, the bottom line is fans will need to know the answer to the title question.------------ Harriet Klausner

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