I tried to read this book but I struggled with the opening chapters and decided not to continue. I may revisit at a later time.

We Are Lost and Found was the perfect follow up for the people who loved The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Unfortunately, between the slow narrative and characters, this book wasn't exactly for me. While I think the book will appeal to a lot of people, it isn't exactly for me. I wasn't a fan of the narrator or his friend group, and frankly, this kind of contemporary doesn't appeal to me. As important as the work is, it just didn't live up to what I thought it would be. I did like that the setting felt true to the time and era it was set in. I liked feeling transported back through time a little, even if I wasn't a huge fan of the book as a whole. The time era and issues presented in the book were true to the historical nature of their conflict, and I think to a lot of teen (the audience to which it's marketed) it's an important part of history to hold on to. So while I didn't like it myself, I can acknowledge it's important as a piece of work I think the author has a lot of potential for me to read her other works, but I wasn't the biggest fan of this one. Overall, I'm more hopeful for Helene Dunbar's other work because I do feel like I will continue to read what she writes.

4.5 stars

Michael is a sixteen-year-old boy in 1982 NYC, around the time when AIDS began gaining notice. After his older brother, Connor, is kicked out of the house for being gay, Michael realizes that he must stay silent about his own homosexuality. This book follows Michael and his best friends James and Becky as they navigate love, fear, and finding themselves.

This was a really well-written and interesting read. Helene Dunbar's writing flowed beautifully, and the story touched on so many important issues, many that current teenagers can identify with, and shed some light on what it was like to be gay in New York City at a time when people were just starting to learn about AIDS.

A powerful read on a powerful topic that was engaging all the way through. I would absolutely recommend.

A fascinating look into what the world was like in the early 80's during the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The story contained elements of true locations and information regarding that time e.g. pamphlets and music.

Michael is a adolescent young man who had to come to terms with his own life and sexuality throughout the course of the book. Dealing with his families problems and his own, he encountered a huge struggle internally to find the true Michael. The story is a fulfilling journey of a character who just wants to be loved and not have to deal with the fear in society in that time.

I commend the Author for the accurate depiction and exploration of a trying time in the LGBTQ+ community.

I did not finish this book. I found that the author - as a cisgender straight woman - did not and could not accurately capture the queer experience.

2.5 stars-ish?

I'm so sad that I didn't like this. I love books following queer teens in 80s NYC. It's one of my favorite coming-of-age settings, frankly. But I don't know why I couldn't connect to any of these characters. There was something about them that felt kind of removed from the story if that makes sense, like I never really knew any of them. The plot was also fairly lackluster, and I was not a fan of the ending. And honestly, I'm really bummed about it.

<B> Trigger and Content Warnings: </B> Homophobia (physical acts of violence, violent language, disowning family members, slurs, etc), AIDS and AIDS related death, conversations about sex, but no on-page sex, brief hospitalization

A poignant story of a young man coming of age in the middle of the AIDS epidemic. Michael was such a beautiful character and this was a unique story of a time in which homosexuality was feared for many reasons. The 80s were a complex time, and this book explores that. I enjoyed this.

This book is so important and showed us a young boy's pov of the beginning of the AIDS epidemic in NYC in the 80's. I loved Michael's voice; wanting to be free but feeling guilty because he didn't want to put life as he knew it in jeopardy. And how he couldn't love as he wanted because he didn't wanted to die of AIDS like so many people were. So many. Those numbers. The government's silence. The press' choice not to talk about it. People letting fear cloud their judgement.

I loved all the characters. Micheal and his desire to be himself in a world who sees him as a monster who deserves to die, giving himself to the music and his friends. James and his fear, living as best as he could with what he had. Becky being an adult when she should've been a kid enjoying her last years of school. Connor and his life after he publicly came out to the world resulting in him being kicked out of his house, his safety. Gabriel and a life working to have a better life with his family.

I truly found this book honest and important. Everyone should read this.

This book ripped my heart into a thousand tiny pieces and I love that it did that. The author really delves into what it must have been like for homosexuals in the 80s and did it in such a way that wasn't exploiting their lives for the purpose of the story. Because their lives were the story. This was one of my fave reads of 2019 and I know it's going to stay with me for a long, long time.

I really enjoyed a great many things about this book. Characters were fleshed out and the plot was well spaced. Some of the secondary storylines could've used a bit more page space but all in all an enjoyable read!

It's intriguing to look at the late 80's through an historic lens, to see club culture and the beginnings of the AIDS crisis. Especially how those things impact one another. Dunbar examines this relationship in detail, using the experience of a single character as a focal point. We see the balance between the fear of disease and the fear of being rejected by his parents and the desire to live fully. He's reminiscent of Holden Caulfield, preferring inaction and ennui to actual decision making. Much like Catcher in the Rye, not a lot happens in this book, more attention paid to contemplation than events.

This was an amazing story about navigating life through the AIDS outbreak while being part of the LGBTQ+ community. It was fascinating to see the execution of such a delicate topic and to see how the characters tackled the struggle of being outcasted by society. There was also a hint of self-discovery as our main characters decide what they want to do with the rest of their lives and who they want to be.

Coming of age novel set during the AIDS epidemic. An important topic for teens unfortunately, this book wasn't very memorable. The lack of quotation marks also made it a bit confusing.

My heart hurts.

While I was expecting the pain to be a lot worse, this still hurts. The writing conveys such a fear that I have felt for so long. That fear was so much worse back when no one knew anything about HIV/AIDS. We have so much more information now and it's so much easier to stay safe. But, damn did this book get me. It was so emotional and powerful and I want to read it all over again.

The only things I didn't like was 1.) how the dialogue was written, 2.) certain aspects of the ending. You can't really tell when someone's done talking because there aren't any quotation marks ( this could've been fixed in the final copies). Certain things about the ending really fell kind of... flat. No spoilers but I just didn't like who Michael most likely ended up with.

Overall, loved this book to pieces. Please pick it up and read it.

Wow. I'm speechless.

It's 1983, Michael is 17 years old, lives in New York, has two best friends.... and he's gay. AIDS is growing in victims and Reagan's Homophobic America has Michael's father calling it 'what they deserve' for their lifestyle. Michael's older brother, Connor, had already been kicked out for being gay and Michael is terrified of being next.

I always find reading any art that takes place during the AIDS epidemic incredibly upsetting. The desperation, the lack of information, and the blatant homophobia that prevents people from learning how to protect themselves, what to look out for, and getting help.... it's heavy. A heavy that is one hundred percent necessary. Today, the knowledge about this time period is limited to those who survived and to those who are diligent about keeping that knowledge, the stories, alive.

We must keep making these stories, bringing these experiences to the center of attention, even if it is just for a little moment like James' play. Because, like Michael says, "It doesn't feel like a lot, but it's a start" and the more people like Helene Dunbar make books honoring those who didn't make it to today, then the more likely we are to get the help we need, to make their lives not be in vain,

The writing is beautiful. It's definitely an acquired taste, one that thankfully I have, but I felt that it added to the uncertainty of the environment and the ability to build fear and keep it in the forefront.

We are lost and Found is a poignant coming of age story about growing up gay in the midst of the AIDS crisis in the early eighties.

Michael Bartholomew is a junior in high school, he has a close circle of 3 friends and he is gay. His older brother is also gay and when he graduated 4 years earlier he came out very publicly and his father kicked him out.

So not only is Michael learning to accept himself the way he is he is learning to accept that his father will not accept him and his brother the way they are. His family is broken and he desperately wishes to fix it.

Unfortunately some things can never be fixed, his family nor this new disease that is ravaging the Homosexual community.

Michael and his friends traverse the year with ups and downs like any other group of teenagers. Becky is trying to hold on to her boyfriend. James is trying to make positive impacts through the theater arts. And Michael is trying to find himself and love along the way.

During the year Madonna breaks it big and Michael finally puts himself out there in more ways than one.

In the end you can’t change others nor their opinions but you can be true to yourself and that can mean a world of difference in your life where as the other can do little but harm.

The story itself was good at it’s core. It was interesting and meaningful. The way it was written or laid out I can’t say that I am a fan of. There are few chapter breaks so the majority of the story is like a big long run on of broken conscious thoughts. Like an extreme case of ADD. It is also broken into 2 parts which I didn’t understand. Usually parts are befores and afters to some big event but there is no defining event like that.

I give We Are Lost and Found a 3 out of 5 stars and hope that this read it anyway because I really do believe the story is meaningful.

Oh how I love the 80s. I was a child in the 80s but clearly remember all the issues such as the fear of AIDs and the AIDs epidemic that was taking place during this time. How taboo it was to be a homosexual and how hard it was to come out to parents.

The book wrecked me, the coming of age wrecked me as well. Michael was a beautiful character whose fear came across the pages. You felt the same fear he felt about coming out to his parents, especially because his older brother came out first and was thrown out of the house.

James is one of his best friends and you could almost feel the little bit of resentment he had for him for being able to know and be confident in who he is. He also was tired of people using him to get close to James. Until he meets someone who likes him for him.
Such a wonderful read that stays with you for days after reading it.

This was an okay read for me, but unfortunately, I didn't love it as much as I expected to.

The lack of quotation marks was a bit hard to adjust to at first, and is not a style choice I usually like in writing but it didn't affect my reading experience once I had spent some time with it.

My biggest issue was with the (lack of) plot. Im usually fine with a more character-driven story with little plot, but this didn't have strong enough characterization for me to get invested in. I didn't find any of the characters particularly well developed, and I knew this would be a book I'd walk away from and not really remember much.

Still, I think a lot of this is just my taste in storyline and characters, so it's still a book I'd recommend to the right reader.

Thank you NetGalley for this book in exchange for an honest review.

We Are Lost and Found is a beautiful yet heartbreaking coming of age novel that takes place during the AIDs epidemic. It's a wonderful narration about a group of friends and the obstacles they overcome and learning to accept themselves for who they are. The characters really resonate with readings and the development is admirable.

“How do I live my life without becoming a statistic?”

I’ve come to realize that I enjoy reading stories with LGBTQ+ main characters. Especially if it’s during a historic time. We Are Lost and Found focuses on Michael, a teen during the early 80s dealing with the struggles of being a gay male.

This book doesn’t utilize quotations for dialogue. I’m not a big fan of this style and found it confusing and frustrating. I’m never sure why authors make that choice.

This novel didn’t really bring anything new to the table and felt like a typical YA novel. While there are some difficult topics discussed, I wouldn’t consider this to be “heavy” like other comparable titles. It seemed like what could have been some great conversations were glossed over or ignored completely. When Michael eventually comes out as gay at the end, everyone accepts him and the only “backlash” that he faces is that his parents kick him out. I find that hard to believe from story taking place in 1983.

I think there are plenty of other YA books that deal with these topics in a much better way. While I commend the author for creating a likeable and well-rounded gay character, I think more effort could have been put into the story and pacing.