Book Review: The Lovely and the Lost by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
A thrilling search and rescue mission with dogs, family secrets, and a whole lot of action, read my full review of The Lovely and the Lost by Jennifer Lynn Barnes below!
Book Information
Kira doesn’t feel human sometimes. Most times, she feels more connected to the dogs she and her adoptive family train for search and rescue than she does to people. Maybe it’s because she was found in the woods, surviving on her own for weeks, as a young girl. Maybe it’s because she had to become more animal than human to survive.
Now, her adoptive mother gets a call that a young girl has gone missing in the woods. Kira knows this is her chance to get rid of her demons and save this little girl even though Kira herself couldn’t be saved. But with secrets that her mother is keeping, Kira feels like she might become less human than she already feels.
Review | Heidi Dischler
I’m not gonna lie, I saw this was from Jennifer Lynn Barnes, read the description, and I was immediately hooked. Search and rescue dogs? Check. Family secrets? Check. A thrilling read? Check, check, and check.
I absolutely loved every minute of this book, but considering that Jennifer Lynn Barnes also wrote The Inheritance Games, I shouldn’t have been surprised.
So, plot, characters, and writing. For one, with the plot, I saw a lot of reviews complaining about the open ending. I didn’t find it that open in my opinion. I think it left just enough to let you know that people’s stories don’t end just because an event does. It’s more realistic that way and I seriously don’t understand why people get so mad about it. Besides that complaint from other people (not from me), every bit of the plot was exciting in this book.
As far as the characters go, if you love love love Jameson from The Inheritance Games, you’ll absolutely adore Jude. Same character type and everything. Kira was obviously very reserved and different as a person because of her trauma, but I liked her depth. I wish we would’ve gotten a little more backstory about what happened to her in the woods and why it happened, but that’s okay. And the dogs? Probably the best characters in the whole book.
Lastly, with the writing, if you liked any of Jennifer Lynn Barnes’ previous books, you’ll love this one. I seriously enjoyed this book so much.
Overall, this was a book that I couldn’t put down and literally kept me on my toes. One hundred percent worth it to read (unless you don’t like somewhat open endings). Definitely a top read for this year.
Source: Audiobook from Libby Public Library
(P.S. You can read this book for free by signing up for a free trial of Audible, which gives you two free audiobooks of your choice!)
