I couldn't get into this one and didn't finish. It was just too sad and depressing at the start.. The author's use of language had too much of a flourish. I also questioned the author's use of hoarder. Some of the characteristics described didn't seem to really match that diagnosis.

This book takes the reader through the life of a young woman dealing with forced adulthood while wrestling with the normal life decisions a teenager must make. Darcy’s mother suffers from a mental illness - a secret she keeps from everyone except her childhood friend. As the book progresses, we see each characters personal growth and development. This is a coming-of-age story. A story about trust, true friendship and love.

I dont have words to describe the ferocity of feeling and meaning in this book. The author has captured the daily life of teens, the uncertainty of next steps, and the acknowledgment of reality no matter how monumental or mundane. The case of the mental health syndrome of hoarding that has been overlooked in many of the newer novels that do tackle this reality for an unknown number is presented in an eye-opening story. All without dismissive judgement. All of this phenomenal-ness (the only way I know how to describe it) is wrapped in a flow of poetry and words that capture the essence of life. I cannot wait to purchase this for my library and recommend it accordingly. Amazingly well done!

Darcy isn't exactly a normal teenager. She's a bookworm with an almost photographic memory of her favorite books (these include Peter Pan, Jane Austen, most of Shakespeare). More pressingly, her mother is a hoarder. The book starts with some bad news: the apartment complex Darcy and her mom live in is having renovations done, and this means people want to enter the apartment that Darcy has worked for years to keep hidden. Second, Darcy's grandmother, who has been providing financial support to Darcy, plans to cut things off on her eighteenth birthday to encourage Darcy to move in with her and leave her mother. Further complicating things, her father reaches out to her for the first time in 18 years, and there's a cute boy named Asher who is making serious eyes at Darcy. How can Darcy protect her mom but still take care of herself with all this going on?

There's a cute boy mixed up in this, so you will likely enjoy this book if you're a fan of light, fluffy family dramas combined with puppy love stories starting a bookworm of a heroine. I say "light" because this truly is hoarding on light-- Darcy's mom seems to mostly hoard expensive makeup and bourgie housewares rather than more stereotypically hoarded items (junk mail, newspapers, old food, and so on), so this isn't a gross read. The book emphasizes both the value of family members setting healthy boundaries to protect themselves and the importance of professional therapy, which are both good lessons.

The end of the book is a bit messy with all of these subplots coming together-- her mom's hoarding, keeping a secret from a friend, resolution on the cute boy plot, unexpectedly pinch hitting for a starring role in the school play-- along with several surprises, but everything ends up being wrapped up.

My biggest issue with the book is how several things are equated to hoarding because I think this misrepresents the severity of hoarding and puts a negative cast on what are usually some very positive things. In both cases, it seems like a real missed opportunity to distinguish between collecting and hoarding. At one point, when thinking about how much love and happiness coalesce at her best friend's house during a family gathering, Darcy thinks that they're hoarding these things. Several times later in the book, including while confronting her mother about her own hoarding, Darcy says that she's a book hoarder. I think both instances are inappropriate uses of the term because both familial love and books bring the parties involved so much pleasure-- there's a positive and beneficial cast to both that's missing from the portrayal of hoarding, which is filled with self-recrimination and self-loathing.

My favorite part of the book was the janitor. That guy definitely has stories to tell.

I could not put down this book. It was so interesting and the writing was great. I will definitely be recommending this to customers at my work!

My official rating would be 4.5 stars, I very much enjoyed reading this book. This is a young adult novel which centers around Darcy, a young lady who hides herself within books and words. She has spent most of her life viewing her world, friends, and troubles through book characters and vocabulary. The friendship between Darcy and her best friend, Marisol, is a genuine, heartfelt relationship, one that many teens have experienced or strive for. Darcy's mom suffers from mental health issues, which becomes a key part of the story. Darcy has support from her maternal grandmother but, even that relationship is rocky at times. While Darcy is working at a local bookstore, she becomes friends with Asher, Tess, Jase, and others in her town and at her high school. The characters are engaging and the storyline moves at a pace that allows for easy reading. I would recommend to any teen, or adult, who is looking for a read with characters who overcome mental health hardships, teen angst, romance, and friendship.
- Thanks to NetGalley for the eBook copy.

Four in the name of romantic book nerd and hoarders’ love, lyrical, family-troubled, emotional, heart-warming, making you sigh incessantly stars!

If you’re not a YA romance fan, what is still intriguing about this book?

-Complex mother and daughter relationship: Check!

-Amazingly developed real best supporting character and sidekick Marisol’s existence on the book: Check!

-References from the great classic authors from Bronte, Austen to Shakespeare and bringing a different and creative approach to Peter Pan’s story: Check!

-Heart-felting, sometimes a little bit more dramatic but still swoony and sweet love story between Darcy and Asher ( I know you may not love YA love stories but the age is not important when you read a heart-warming one!) : Check, check and check!

-When you need an urgent summer read and looking for a book that brings you the softest, sweetest and most genuine story which makes you smile: Check!

- When you need a quick escape from daily dramas, stress, turmoil and irritating people around you by reading with a soul-brushing, mind-relaxing story: Check!

If you also checked all the listed reasons to love this book, grab it, read it and fully enjoy it!

Special thanks to Inkyard Press and NetGalley to provide me this lovely book in exchange my honest review! I wholeheartedly loved this one!

For this book, I had a hard time getting into the story. I just had a hard time connecting to the characters, although I liked the premise of the book. I think that some students will really love it though, so I will definitely recommend it to my readers. I think that the book covers an issue that isn't commonly discussed, but that people definitely have experiences with, so it could be really meaningful for many readers.

This was a really sweet and enjoyable read. Darcy is a really relatable character in terms of her love for books and words and what they mean to her. Her world is built around the novels and characters she's read. She's constructed this space for herself to help cope with the hoarding her mother deals with and at many times, in denial about. The story slowly built with Darcy and her best friend, Marisol. The bond and closeness and the amount of trust the two have with one another. I really loved seeing their relationship and the strength they give to one another throughout the entire book. Exactly how best friends should be, with each other and for one another.

I also really loved Asher, too. From the first moment he's introduced on the page, I liked his character.. His addition to the story really help set the path for Darcy to eventually want to try even harder to make the situation she's in better. I think the patience and kindness Asher provided, really helped Darcy to get to a point she needed to to take the next step in confronting her mother with the reality of their situation. As well as highlight how much loving, admiring and finding comfort in her books obviously is to her, but help her realize that she wants more than to watch the characters find love and life for themselves, she also wants that for herself too.

This story in some ways, gave me Words in Deep Blue vibes and I adore that book as well. I think a lot of people will resonate with Darcy and care for her in a way that they'll be rooting for her to get her happy ending she deserves, just like I did!

Darcy Wells is full of books... and full of secrets. Her amazing brain lets her recall almost anything she's read - a neat party trick and something that will land her in the school play despite her vow to be invisible. But Darcy's home life is a disaster of boxes and wasted money as she lives in a rabbit warren that pays homage to her mother's hoarding. When Darcy meets Asher Fleet - a wounded teen pilot - she thinks it's just another story - a fictionalized friendship that will never go anywhere since Darcy is determined to keep her situation under wraps. As they friendship grows, Darcy begins to want to talk to Asher and the more he shares with her, the harder it will be to keep him in the dark.

I can't tell you how much I enjoyed Darcy's character. She's grounded, sensible and trying very hard to keep her life together no matter how much she wants to flee from it. It was wonderful to see her blossom and grow as she made new friends. I also appreciated the plethora of literary references scattered throughout the novel.

I look forward to reading more from Maura Taylor Namey.

Bibliophile Darcy has successfully kept to herself while keeping her home life--and her compulsive shopper mother--together. That is, until a new landlord's presence threatens to get them evicted from their apartment complex where she lives next to her best friend, her grandmother cuts off her allowance, and she starts developing a serious crush on Asher Fleet--who, by the way, happens to have a girlfriend. But as she starts to come out of her shell and live her own story instead of someone else's, she begins to realize she needs to let people in to move forward.

Darcy's story was fun, and I loved Darcy's character arc. The secondary characters were also realistic and lovable, especially Marisol! I feel like I need a sequel with Marisol and Jase. Asher was also wonderful, and I didn't feel like he was exactly the same as every other teen male lead. It was lovely the way he fell for Darcy over time, and their relationship felt real and earned. The only thing that was a bit lacking was Darcy's relationship with her mother. I just didn't feel like the reader got great catharsis at the end, but that was just me--I'll still definitely be purchasing this one for my collection.

I really enjoyed this book. It wasn't what I expected, but in a good way! It deals with mental illness in a real way, and I think a lot of us can relate to the main character. She's strong, but is dealing with so much and tries to hide it from everyone around her.

Wow, wasn't expecting this book to go to the depths it did with hoarding and all that. It's a very interesting, well-written read with a likeable protagonist.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed this refreshing book. Namey has written a story unlike any I've read before. As the daughter of a hoarder, I could relate deeply to Darcy's struggle with her often contradictory feelings regarding her well-intentioned mother. I have felt the anger, hopelessness, and contempt, but I also know the love, admiration, and trust she simultaneously has for her mother. I just want us to be okay too.

I absolutely love the relationship between Asher and Darcy, and again, the confusing feelings of first love were palpable. I enjoyed seeing them both try to be what the other needed while struggling with their own challenges. I enjoyed knowing that they were both genuine people.

Marisol is the best friend I've always wanted but never had. I have lots of friends, but the way Marisol's whole family sorrounds Darcy in love is touching.

Finally, the words. The dictionary game was especially fun, and I enjoy the open quotes to each chapter.

If I had to make suggestions, I would say that the format of the ebook was frustrating as a ebook reviewer. It was pdf and I had to set the size of each page. Perhaps changing the format to something more user friendly would attract more readers. The Shakespeare play plot point was a little out there for me. It stood out as unrealistic in an otherwise authentic book.

*In exchange for an honest review, I received an advanced e-copy courtsey of Harlequin TEEN, Inkyard Press, and NetGalley.com.

While slow moving at first, the story did pick up and I found myself not wanting to put it down. It was a pretty realistic look at a teen living with mental illness in the family. I thought it was well-written and kept a steady pace throughout. It will definitely hold appeal for a number of teens, so we will be ordering several copies. Thank you so much!

#TheLibraryOfLostThings
Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for the opportunity to read and review this novel.
A well written and at times realistic look at a teen dealing with social and mental health issues within the family. I felt that this book will appeal to a select audience of teen, yet is does move a little slow to begin with in developing the characters. I really think teens can relate to the main character she comes off very realistic in her life of secrets and having to cover up what goes on within the family life.

Title: The Library of Lost Things
Author: Laura Taylor Namey
Publisher: Harlequin TEEN

Review to be posted to Goodreads on July 15, 2019 and on retail sites, such as Amazon and Barnes and Noble, upon publication date, October 8, 2019.

This eARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Laura Taylor Namey has brought to life a new coming of age story in her debut novel that speaks to people of all ages who love literature. Even though she is looking forward to her 18th birthday, Darcy Wells has had to be an adult for most of her life in order to protect her mother and herself from their secrets getting out. She has an amazing gift of memorizing literature that moves her and she uses that gift to imagine what her favorite characters would do in situations that arise throughout her life- something many of us can relate to. Darcy has used books to cope with everything life has thrown her, including her mother’s compulsive shopping and hoarding problems stemmed from her father leaving them before she was born. Because of that, Darcy has tried to make herself invisible her entire life to ensure her secrets don’t get out but her lies are slowly unraveling and it is forcing her to stop hiding in books and write her own story.

Darcy Wells is me. And probably you. She puts up walls, tells lies and keeps secrets, and puts on a strong face to trick the people around her that everything is okay. She is so relatable and you are completely invested her story from the start. The only person she lets in her life is her amazing best friend, Marisol, who is the best friend we should all strive to be. Then she meets Asher Fleet, my new literary boyfriend, who is not perfect but faces his problems head on and encourages Darcy to do the same.

Asher and Marisol are just two of a wonderful cast of characters who each have their own unique stories that make up this brilliant book. Namey’s writing is absolutely beautiful and there are several sections that I highlighted because they resonated with me so much. This novel has the important message that life is messy, but all we can do is embrace it and write our own stories with the ending we want to see. Any book that has me laughing, crying, and swooning in a matter of pages is a winner to me.

My only complaint about this book is something the author actually mentions in the novel- there is something magical about reading an actual, physical book. While I was fortunate to receive an eARC, I felt some of the magic was lost reading this book electronically, but I look forward to having this novel in my hands to reread when it is published. My only other suggestion to people looking to read this novel –make sure to have authentic Cuban food on hand because this book will make you hungry for it.

This is an outstanding YA book in which--and I am grateful--no one gets pregnant or raped or is a cutter or drinks too much, but in which young adults are smart and thoughtful and good friends to one another and deal with challenges and problems with honesty and humor and intelligence. Darcy is a reader with an unusually good memory; her best friend Marisol is the only person who knows that Darcy is also dealing with a mother who is a hoarder, a manipulative grandmother, and the stress of trying to keep the landlord and property manager out of the apartment she shares with her mom, which is packed high with hoarded stuff. In her last year of high school, Darcy is forced to deal with all of these things, and survives, and even blooms, thanks to Marisol and a new friend, Asher, who is recovering from a car accident and has trauma of his own. There's a slow-burn romance, a reckoning with the grandmother and mother, and more, as Darcy grows into a stronger and better-equipped adult.

This is so much more than a YA love story. There are so many layers to Darcy’s story and they are all interwoven here with grace, realistic dialog, and compassion. I didn’t know much about the reasons for heading so I learned a lot from Darcy’s mother and I love how the author showed us very subtly how hoarding begins and grows, and even how hoarding might have to do with words and stories, not just physical objects. I especially loved the relationship between Darcy and Marisol. Between Marisol and Asher, Darcy receives enough unconditional acceptance that she is able to give it to her mom as well.

A perfectly satisfying read in so many ways. I’ll be recommending this one!

I cannot write a full review on this title as I did not finish it. It was a very slow start through the first 20%, and I simply couldn’t bring myself to follow through.