Natasha Preston's cliffhanger endings always kill me! This one was really good, though not a favorite. I'm always ready to read more of her books!

The Lost was quite the adventure Natasha Preston. It was a roller coaster of events!

First, this book is a standalone and is not a series. If you’re looking for a read that is quick and fun, give it a go!

Now for the Review!

The main character, Piper, is relatable if a bit….slow on the pick up? (aka she ignores all instinct and that’s rough haha) Initially, I was skeptical of her development but I really did enjoy her perspective and attack on the situation. Hazel however, drove me up the wall with her pessimism. Which I can understand but at some point it’s like a brick wall of ‘Again’? Overall, the dynamic between the characters is well done. The ending chapters specifically had excellent points of view and insight.

The plot is definitely for fans of thrillers or true crime. It gave me ‘Saw’ vibes but toned down a tad for YA. (Not by much though honestly) The world was well written and enjoyable to read. There were predictable moments but it was a fresh take on this type of genre.
THE ENDING. I don’t want to spoil but I will say the closure for me wasn’t hit haha. I wished the book had ended just a chapter earlier. That last chapter didn’t need to happen, but that’s my opinion. I know a few readers who would enjoy this type of send off but, for me it’s just not a full happy. haha
~I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.~

Overall Summary:
Overall Rating: 3.25
Plot: 3.0
Character Development: 3.0
Dialogue: 3.0
Writing: 4.0

HAPPY READING~~
Ash

I read this because I wanted to go deeper into the the horror genre that I'm usually too much of a baby for. This book felt like a great intro scary novel, but not the best it could have been. I liked all the characters, but sometimes the protagonist didn't make much sense to me. I loved the pacing and aesthetic of the book though. It felt eerie and suspenseful at all times.

Sadly, this was another one of those books where the premise sounded way better than the actual book turned out to be. It's quite unfortunate as I was hoping to enjoy this book, but instead we're given a book that is predictable and where the book doesn't really start till you're midway through it. Pass.

The premise of this book was super intriguing and I'm not going to lie I totally flew through it, but unfortunately, it just didn't work for me.

I think the biggest reason I flew through this is because of the short chapters and that definitely worked to the books advantage. But this was extremely predictable from the get go. The second we were introduced to a new character halfway through the story I knew how this was going to end. I wasn't ever able to fall in love or connect with any of the characters throughout this, so me flying through this was really just to see how and ends and not because I was rooting for any of the characters.

Overall, while this storyline didn't really work for me, I do have to say, I did enjoy the writing and most likely will continue to check out more of the author's work in the future.

Wow. I have been stuck in bed ill today and the only company I had was this book. Let me say this. I could not put it down! If I'm honest, the beginning of this book didn't give me much hope. I couldn't understand th fact that a seventeen year old would get into a car with a 22 year old man? But then walk into a field with him and just stroll into a building with him and think nothing of it. If you think this sounds normal then please read this book because it is true. Don't talk to strangers! Anyway, after I got over this I found the book thrilling and I couldn't stop. The whole idea behind the book is creepy but really, I couldn't stop reading. I really liked the main character, Piper, who is a strong fierce woman and I could see why Evan liked her so much. The different torture rooms and the suspense kept everyone fearing for there lives. Caleb, Matt and Owen are sick and to be able to hurt people in such a way, I just can't comprehend. The twist and the ending made this book everything I want from a thriller! I searched all over the internet to see if this would become a series but found no evidence but I still loved this book! Thank you NetGalley for giving me a copy of this!

I really enjoyed this story. The first thing that drew me in was the cover. It is beautiful. This story did have a lot of the common tropes of sociopaths and I was able to guess the outcomes of what was going to happen next however, it did keep me intrigued and by the end of the story I was wanting more. Hoping to see a sequel.

With the shows I watch I may be a bit harder to scare than others or younger readers. The test rooms didn't seem all that awful except for 0 and 5. Yes, they were bad but terrifying, no. Piper and Hazel were close friends in the beginning but you don't see that much in captivity. Piper tends to fall quickly for any boy's attention even while being held captive. Whole story seemed a bit off even though the idea was a great one. Ending was fast paced and had a twist.

Okay, this is. It the first book written by Natasha Preston that I have read. I’ve read, you will be mine and one other. I found this book a little more intriguing than You will be mine. There is something about the creepiness of the covers that emphasizes the creepiness of the story. I like how the covers are tied together. Very nice story. I would love to read something by her that has a little more romance. But I think she’s young if I’m not mistaken. So I’ll let it go for now. Lol

This book was not at all what I was expecting and it wasn't a good thing. I thought this would be a creepy story about teens going missing. It is basically that story, but it's an immature version of Saw/Battle Royale. The characters weren't great. They seemed hollow and I found myself not caring about them.

While the premise of The Lost was intriguing, have to admit that I was tempted several times to put this one aside as a DNF.

First off was the writing. The first few chapters really annoyed me for some reason. I think I got used to it because it didn’t bother me as much a few chapters in, but it was enough for me to consider putting the book down. I even checked to see if this was a debut author but no, she’s written several other books. It came off as awkward, stilted, and unpolished. Overly descriptive prose with awkward dialogue. Just didn’t work for me.

Then there were the main characters, Piper and Hazel.

We are told, more than once, that Piper and Hazel enjoy watching mystery movies and TV shows. That they are introverts. That they’re not like other teens. And did I mention that they watch lots and lots of mysteries and thrillers?

This totally qualifies them to solve the mystery of why so many teenagers have disappeared and been labeled as runaways. Their grand plan? Infiltrate normal teen society by going undercover as….regular teenage girls! *insert eye roll*

So what do they do after their very first “normal teen” activity of hanging out at the lake? After their first fact finding mission of the summer? They get in a car with a couple of strangers!

WHAT???

Yes, they are teenage girls. And yes, teenage girls can be stupid. But we’ve just been hammered over the head with how the BFFs are NOT like other teens and oh yeah, they watch a ton of mysteries and thrillers. So we’re supposed to believe they would do something so stupid? After Piper already talked to one of the strangers earlier, reminding herself that she didn’t really know him?

I was an introverted teenage girl and know that I would’ve been too shy to get in that car, no matter what. And that’s without being a mystery movie buff/Nancy Drew wannabe.

Didn’t care for the coincidence of the bad guys running into the girls soon after they decided to play Nancy Drew. I don’t like coincidences. Feels lazy to me.

Since the girls have never hung out at the lake with other teens before, how did the BGs (bad guys) know Piper was going to be there? And after talking to Piper before she walked down to the lake, they hung out and waited for her to come back? And being with Hazel didn’t deter them? You’d think that abducting two girls instead of one would have given them pause, but I guess not.

Piper had several red flags thrown at her after getting in the car, but she ignored each and every one. She even chides herself for being an idiot and worrying for no reason. Hello? Where are all those awesome mystery-movie-watcher skills?

Was ready to throw up my hands at this point and set the book down, but I settled for several more eye rolls and kept reading.

As mentioned in the synopsis, the girls are locked away in a secluded building with some of the other missing teens. That’s when things really went off the rails for me.

The building is pretty sophisticated. How did the bad guys renovate it? They weren’t exactly DIYers, so who did all the modifications? And if they hired someone, it would’ve hit the grapevine in town. One thing about small towns is that everything is worthy of gossip!

Another thing that bothered me were the mistakes that a decent editor or proofreader should have caught.

For instance, someone is released from being restrained and rolls to her side. A few sentences later it says that she hasn’t moved, as if she hasn’t realized she’s been released. She stares up at the ceiling, not wanting to get up. So did she roll to her side or not?

Or another instance where someone is carried to their top bunk, already asleep. In the very next sentence the person who carried her rises to his feet. If you put someone in the top bunk, how and why are you squatting?

Then there’s a sequence where another teen is being discussed and his name changes from Malc to James, mid discussion. Huh?

Little things, but they bothered me. And it’s funny because normally I barrel right past mistakes and plot holes without noticing, but all of these mistakes smacked me right in the face and took me out of the story.

Then there’s the ending. Ugh! This dropped the book from a 3 star rating to a 2 for me!

After having Piper as the main narrator for the entire book, one of the other characters suddenly takes center stage and starts narrating. Why?

And the sheer incompetence made no sense either. There is no way that that ending could have actually happened. Are we supposed to ignore the giant plot holes?

I was left angry and annoyed that I wasted my time instead of trusting my gut and putting it aside. I liked the premise, but ultimately felt let down by the execution.

When Piper notices a pattern of missing teens in her hometown, she does not believe the transparent excuses that others are accepting- she's convinced that something or someone sinister is behind the mass exodus. She and her best friend Hazel have barely begun investigating before they are abducted by a group of bored, rich, college students who have developed a house of horrors where they physically and emotionally torture their victims in some kind of sick game. Escaping will take every ounce of courage and ingenuity that Piper has- and in the end she might have to make some devastating choices about what she'll do to survive, and who she can trust to achieve her freedom.
This book was creepy as all heck! Although I'm not entirely thrilled about the twist ending, boy did Preston keep me turning pages!

This book such a long time to get started and when it did, the premise was kind of impossible.

Unfortunately, I could not finish this one.

Thank you so much to Sourcebooks Fire for providing me with an Advanced Readers Copy, via Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review. The quotes included in this review are subject to change upon publication.

The Lost is about two girls, Piper and Hazel, who are best friends that get abducted. They meet two mysterious boys that take them to a secluded building in the forest and lock them in. The girls soon find out that there are multiple missing girls and boys that appear in this building and are forced to play a “game.” There are 6 different rooms, one with water, one with temperature, one with light, one with sound, a sleep deprivation room and a fight until the last one standing room.

“I’m just along for the ride, and if I want to live, I have to do whatever they want.”

As soon as I started this story I quickly discovered that it was a fast paced, quick and engaging read. However, the plot and execution did not go over so well with me. The plot had a good storyline to it but it was told so basically that the writing did not stand out to me. I also did not establish a connection to any of the characters. The ending was also an issue for me, it was strange and disappointing.

Ultimately I did not enjoy reading this book, however if you love thrillers you may enjoy this book.

I made It through enough of this one to make an opinion on it even though I didn’t finish it. I could not connect with the characters or the story at all. The writing felt like it needed so much work and it felt like there was no emotion behind the words. Everything felt very rigid. When I read a book in this genre, I want to feel on edge, anxious, and not wanting to put the book down because I need to know what’s going to happen...this book didn’t even do a little bit of that for me. Thank you for the copy, but sadly it was not for me.

Thanks to Netgalley for allowing me to read this arc early.

Natasha Preston is sooo talented. I’ve been following her work since Wattpad. I’ve never been disappointed by any of her books, and this one is no different. Her books are sooo easy to read. There is never a slow point in my opinion. Her storylines are realistic. Characters are easy to relate to. And every book is easy to follow and quick to get through. Don’t question it, just buy it. You won’t be disappointed.

I want to thank NetGalley, the author and publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Well this is my very first time reading a book by Natasha Preston and I was pretty impressed. I haven't read many thriller/horror themed books. So I'm new to this. I really likes this book. It didnt take me long to finish it. The writing was good and it was engaging but sometimes with the narrative I would get a little confused with who was talking. I honestly couldn't put this book down. I had to know what was gonna happen next. There was a couple characters that kinda annoyed me but I was able to look past that. I really loved how at the end of the book she put some chapters from another characters perspective. I thought that was a nice touch. After the lake I really wanted to just scream at those girls for getting in that car. Why would you be that stupid. Piper should have known better
She was suppose to be a thriller fan. The ending was a little surprising to me I didnt think piper would do it and i honestly hope the author makes a second part or something because that was a dumb way for it to end. I just would like to know what happens after.

My first Natasha Preston book, but not my last. So glad I own most of her YA thrillers. While I could tell that this was written for a younger audience, compared to my normal thrillers, I was able to get into the book and really enjoy it. It had some good twists and some disturbing themes to capture my attention and get me engaged. I thought the writing was well done, and the characters seemed to be realistic and well developed. I thought overall it was a 4-5 star read, would’ve been a complete 5 star, but I felt it was a bit similar to Saw and I just like a bit more of the original things I don’t feel reminds me of others. I will be highly recommending though and becoming a huge fan of Natasha Preston’s!
Will use in a challenge, review, and highly recommend to the members of Chapter Chatter Pub!

Honestly, this was such a disappointing read.
I've read and own multiple books from this author so I went into this hoping to really enjoy it. Unfortunately, that was not the case.

I was surprised by how much I was put off while reading this book. The concept sounded really interesting and I was excited to read about the torture rooms and how they worked and how people experienced them. The pure intrigue of this aspect is what kept me reading and is the only reason why I finished this book at all. It's also pretty much the only thing that got the book to 2 stars.

While I was intrigued and kept reading to see what would happen, it seems like every single time it just fell short of what I wanted. The characters are SO dumb that it hurts. Who gets into a car with strangers they just met? Not only were they not very bright (and this goes for most of the characters, not just the main ones) but they are extremely irritating and childish. Getting jealous over making other friends and at one point the main character and her best friend are arguing and one of them says to the other that they aren't the same and they weren't friends. But then turns around in the next chapter and wants to say they are best friends again. *eye roll*

And that's not the only contradicting thing that happens, it's throughout the entire book. Like one specific scene that really had me annoyed was the main character deciding she isn't going to cry anymore and let the kidnappers think they are breaking her. And then just a few paragraphs later she is crying. Wow, seriously?

The characters aren't really likable in my opinion. There was no emotional connection to them at all and this may partly be the reason none of the torture rooms emotionally triggered me as I wanted. Because I just didn't care about the characters at all. The writing was juvenile as well. As I said, I've read other books by this author and they never bothered me the way this one did. It almost makes me feel like I'm too advanced for these kinds of YA books but that's not the case, it's just this writing that was awful.

There was a plot twist near the end that was pretty good. It was pretty predictable in hindsight but I didn't suspect it so I was pleasantly surprised by this part.

One of the things I liked the most about this book was the very end when we get two chapters in another perspective. We get to see into the mind of the bad guy. THIS was probably the single most enjoyable part of the book. Was definitely the most enjoyable part.

And the ending...sucked. I hated the way the book ended. Some people might love it but I didn't like it at all. I feel like it should have either continued to a certain point or cut off a little bit earlier than it did. So for me, it just stopped in a very bad spot.

I'm sad that I didn't like this as much as I wanted to. I liked the concept but not the way it was presented. I think if it was written better, in general, it would have been much better. And if it was written for more advanced readers it would have been creepy as hell and super fun.

This booked reminded me of a mixture of different movie dramas where missing kids end up being taken captive and put thru a series of events that can lead to their deaths.I wanted to like this but I felt like it was already done and nothing special stood out to me. Each room has a sensory torture and part of a game for spoil rich kids.

Wasn't my favorite but I know there are many who will love it. I wanted to be wowed but instead I keep thinking this reminds me of this movie or that. Some of the characters also got on my nerves and some parts were questionable to me.