Book Review: 'Let's Get Lost' by Adi Alsaid // Summer Book Wrap-Up

I'll start by saying this: Let's Get Lost is a cute, easy read. And that's exactly what I expected it to be. It was just a little too cute at times for my taste, if you feel me.

The book follows the stories of four strangers completely unrelated to each other; Hudson, Bree, Elliot and Sonia, and their encounters with one lone girl who drives into their lives when they need her most: Leila. Honestly, that little description I just came up with on the spot makes the book sound better than it actually is. But like I said, it's a cute book, just a little too cute at times. And when I say too cute, I mean in an unrealistic, picture-perfect, bubblegum pop kind of way. All the stories have a happy ending. And yeah, sometimes reading stories with happy endings is nice and refreshes your outlook on humanity. But Let's Get Lost isn't one of those books. It's one of those books that could use a touch of reality every now and then. We're supposed to believe that Leila just drives up into these people's lives and they accept her immediately into helping them figure out their "problems"? Puh-leaze.

Maybe I'm just too cynical to enjoy Let's Get Lost wholeheartedly. Don't get me wrong, I kind of enjoyed it when I first started. But there's only so much of tired stereotypical teen drama and overused cheesy passages that I can take. The premise is also asking a lot of the reader; we're supposed to read all of these people's stories and their encounters with a girl named Leila, all while having minimal information on Leila herself? I was eager to get to the last 40 pages, where we finally get some insight into her background. Let's just say it was soooo underwhelming. I actually put the book down and stared into the distance, rolling my eyes, because it was just so fitting with the rest of the book: nothing particularly special.

So many critics have compared Let's Get Lost to John Green's Paper Towns, and let me just say that the only thing that the two have in common are maybe their overuse of cheesy phrases. Other than that, Paper Towns at least has elements of mystery. Any elements of mystery in Let's Get Lost, if we want to call them that, are disappointing and, as already said, quite underwhelming. If you're looking for a cute, quick, easy read that's just like a thousand other YA books, this one is for you. 3/5 stars.

And so this concludes my summer of reading! I cannot tell you the last time I read as many books as I read this summer. Last summer I only made it through a measly 2 books. This summer has been the complete opposite. Here's my summer book wrap-up:

1. Paper Towns, by John Green: 5/5 stars.
2. Sister, by Rosamund Lupton: 2/5 stars.
3. Reconstructing Amelia, by Kimberly McCreight: 5/5 stars.
4. To the Lighthouse, by Virginia Woolf: 3/5 stars.
5. It's Kind of a Funny Story, by Ned Vizzini: 4/5 stars.
6. The BFG, by Roald Dahl (reread): 4/5 stars.
7. The Lake House, by Kate Morton: 2/5 stars.
8. The Lover's Dictionary, by David Levithan: 5/5 stars.
9. Will Grayson, Will Grayson, by John Green & David Levithan: 3.5/5 stars.
10. The Anatomical Shape of a Heart, by Jenn Bennett: 5/5 stars.
11. Finding Audrey, by Sophie Kinsella: 3/5 stars.
12. Shine, by Lauren Myracle: 5/5 stars.
13. I'll Give You the Sun, by Jandy Nelson: 4.5/5 stars.
14. Yes Please (audiobook), by Amy Poehler: 4/5 stars.
15. Naked, by David Sedaris: 2.5/5 stars.
16. Frances and Bernard, by Carlene Bauer: 5/5 stars.
17. Let's Get Lost, by Adi Alsaid: 3/5 stars.

17 books. Wow. Not gonna lie, I'm kind of proud of myself.