2 stars

Lost Girl hooked me up within the first 30% that I even tried to like the main character, Shelby Day.
Yes, she was selfish, annoying, and basically unlikeable character, but all in all, she was much better than the remaining characters (take Jack for example).
The plot was OK, the writing was OK except maybe the part where Holly kept the suspense out of the book to end a chapter then just told the reader what happened in the next chapter and completely changed the scenery. I felt (much like Shelby) lost sometimes because I might put down the book wondering who rang Shelby's door to pick it up again finding Shelby was alright and dandy and busy with work.
The proportion for love and mystery was alright, I guess. Although I wished the romance got pushed back a bit more.

Lost Girl: A Shelby Day Novel is perfect for those who are tired of straight up murder mystery and want more romance instead.

Shelby Day is an investigative TV reporter and when two young women are brutally killed one night in their home, she feels a connection to them and determines to hunt for the killer.

Jack, her cameraman and best friend, wants nothing but to protect her. But Shelby, the daughter of very wealthy parents, wants to go it alone. She needs to know she can be someone other than the pampered daughter most people see.

As she continues digging deep in her investigation, she begins getting threatening notes telling her to back off. But she's headstrong and determined that justice will be done for the two victims.

She doesn't realize ...yet ... that the closer to the truth she gets, the more personal danger she faces.

This young adult contemporary romance is well written and easy to read. I liked the character of Holly, even if she doesn't always make the best decisions. Jack comes across as a controlling kind of man ... even though his intentions are better than that. He also has an issue or two himself that he's hiding. I did not like Holly's mother at all. There is plenty of action and lots of suspects to follow.

Many thanks to the author / Netgalley for the digital copy of this YA murder mystery. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

3.5 STARS

So I started this book full of excitement as it had all the elements I usually love (strong female lead, murder, mystery etc) and a gorgeous cover but I have been left disappointed.

I didn’t like the main character, I felt she came across as spoilt and childish. The book focuses more on her that the murder element and I was bored 90% of the time (I can’t not finish a book).

I think some may enjoy this, maybe young adult or even people in their early twenties but not for a working mother in her 30’s ( I just wanted to yell at her to grow up! )

Before writing this review I did a little sneak peak to see the hype. Once I saw the mixed reviews I was like okay we will see everyone has different opinions. For the first five chapters I was very intrigued, I liked the characters and they seemed like they were going to be cool people. Then you know they just kept talking and I just wanted them to stop. I had high hopes for the love story, but then again I was disappointed.

Then randomly her dad has cancer, and I'm just so confused on what was happening. It came at such a random time and just didn't think that it went with the story at that certain point. Then they just go straight into the romance between Shelby and Jack, and it didn't give me the fuzzy feeling I wasn't hoping for.

This book is just so random and jumps in every direction. I ended up skipping from chapter 15 to the end to see what would happen.

I was excited because the main character was a Jewish woman open about her mental illness. I loved what i thought would be the positive representation of this, and it was much needed. But that was about all I liked. I really couldn't get into the book. The character her and decisions and it being passed off as mental illness on why she was a horrible person just didn't sit well with me.

The chapters were short which kept the book moving but I never connected with the book at all. Unfortunately this is one that I can't recommend.

Growing up rich and spoiled Shelby Day is determined to become a successful crime
Reporter and to make a name for herself. After a double murder in her new small town in Oregon Shelby will stop at nothing to try and solve this horrendous crime. Against the recommendation of her mother, her camera man and the local detective Shelby continues her search and once she digs deeper she begins to get notes left at her house threatening her to stop her investigation. Stubborn Shelby does not listen and soon finds herself in many life threatening situations.

This book was a very quick read. Although the story lacked the twists and turns expected in a thriller it was still a 3.5 ⭐️ for me.

I finished reading lost girl earlier this week and found it to be very enjoyable. I didn’t love the main character. She seemed a bit whiny and self-sabatoging but the story itself was really good! The supporting characters were all interesting and it was paced very well. It didn’t seem to drag on or skip over important elements, which is vital in a crime novel. I didn’t predict the ending, which is always a major bonus. And though I didn’t predict it, it made sense.

A great page turning thriller!! Investigative reporter Shelby Day only ever wanted to make it big on her own without her parents money or hand me outs. She moved on her own to do small town reporting and never thought she'd get the big story like a double homicide of two young woman in a small community. The deeper her investigation gets the more she fears she might be the next target. This who done it thriller is a perfect New Year read!

trigger warning
<spoiler>sexual assault, potential lethal illness, stalking</spoiler>

Shelby Day is trying to carve out a carier in television news reporting when a double homicide happens in the small town she's living in. She is determined to solve this case and get a leg up in the food chain in order to maybe go back to L.A. and her parents.

Shelby Day is torn. On one hand, she wants to prove her worth and show the world that she is more than a spoiled brat, that she is able to take care of herself and to work herself up to the top, without relying on her parents, their money or their connections. She doesn't want to commit anything besides her job, so she can focus. On the other hand, there is this really cute guy at work. On a potential third hand, she just wants to hook up, no strings attached. But coming back to hand two, the guy is <i>really</i> cute.

In the moments where everything just happens and there is only time to react, that's undestandable, but when a few weeks pass between chapters, it gets kind of annoying that she doesn't take a sec to sit down and get her priorities straight. I would be one thing if we had a teenager for a protagonist, but if she is so intelligent as we're told, why doesn't she show it? Or at least that she's a grown-up?

The crime aspect felt... boring. Shelby goes to people and talk, the great revelation is one moment of clarity and bam, case solved. The crime felt like a subplot to her getting the guy. And that's not what I came here for.

The side characters felt underdeveloped. All in all, this book was more meh, and I only finished it because it was a quick read. Won't be finishing the series or looking into other works by the same author.

I recieved a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Personally, I didn't find it as a gripping thriller, but it wasn’t hard to read and kept things pretty interesting. I did get annoyed with the main character and some of her choices while reading. But I do think this is a good book for a younger audience as it has very simplistic and straightforward writing making it a quick read. I think I would have quite enjoyed this book more when I was first started reading thrillers, but compared to the ones I read now, this was simply okay.

~ I received an ARC from Netgalley for an honest review of the Lost Girl ~

I ended up having to dnf this book which I'm somewhat gutted about. I wanted to enjoy it but I found it so hard to like the main character and i honestly didn't care about who the murderer was. The story felt choppy and I became quite bored quite quickly.

Shelby is trying to make a name for herself as an investigative reporter in a small town so she can move back home with a good reporting job. But when she starts investigating the murder of two young female roommates, she unknowingly puts herself in the murderer's sights. Meanwhile, her cameraman Jack is interested in her, and she's not having any of it. A relationship will get in the way of her goals, and when it comes to her dreams, she's singularly focused. But that doesn't mean she doesn't consider him her best friend, even if she spends more time pushing him away and investigating on her own that it continually puts her in danger.

So the thing I didn't love about this was that Shelby claimed PTSD is in their DNA. That's not a thing, and while she suffers from anxiety, that doesn't mean it's PTSD. In fact, I can't quite figure out why she would make such a claim, and it's offensive to us sufferers for someone to make such a claim without a reason (her mother is overbearing, sure, but PTSD overbearing? I'm not buying it). I also don't understand why she continually puts herself in harm's way for the sake of a story. I get she's trying to avoid Jake, but why not take someone else along? She repeatedly makes poor decisions, which makes her a huge liability as a potential hire down the road.

I don't think the Children's/YA category quite fits this book though and that's something that can easily be fixed. Clearly, I did rate this 4-stars despite not loving Shelby or her PTSD claim because aside from that, the book is really good. I liked the storyline, the writing is great and easy to read, and it was a book you didn't want to put down once you started it.

This one was very choppy in the writing and well I am sad to say that I broke my rule and I DNFed it. I was about 60% in and I just kind of gave up with it. The character just irritated me to no end and the story was very predictable.

My 13 year old daughter read this book, as I wanted her to read a new genre of book, as she tends toward historical fiction. She read the book in a day, and rated it a 3. She liked the concept of the mystery, but told me that she felt there were too many things going on in the book... too many things she was trying to solve. She felt the book was very interesting, but at times the main character was a little annoying.

Shelby Day is at it again. She's trying to prove her worth as an investigative reporter. She wants to be k own as someone other than the rich girl. She wants to prove her worth. When two roommates are murdered she sees her chance. With her cameraman, Jack by her side she sets out to gather as much evidence as possible to help solve the murders. Little does she know the pitfalls waiting g for her. The betrayals and the danger she is headed towards mark her path forward as she risks everything to solve this unspeakable crime.
Great storyline, strong characters.

The Quick Cut: An investigate television reporter seeks the truth about the murder of two teen girls.

A Real Review:
Thank you to Holly Kammier for providing the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

What would you do to find the truth? For this investigative reporter early in her career, the answer is just about anything in a small sleepy town in Oregon.

Shelby Day is an investigative reporter for an NBC station in Ashland, Oregon. Hungry to prove herself in her field, she'll take any opportunity to show her worth and earn her way up to a bigger station at a more important town. So when two teen girls end up murdered, she sees an opportunity to get a national spotlight. Will her hunger to earn a place in a more spotlight role or instead get her lined up as the next victim?

Oh, there is just no good way to spin this one. I'm an eternal optimist and constantly try to find something positive to say, but I just couldn't find it in this book. Shelby plays out too much like a caricature and not a person. She comes from a wealthy family, desperate to prove she can work hard. She somehow is so successful as a reporter that she gets every important interview exclusively. Even the romance they play out comes off very faked and inclement.

I also struggle to see how this is categorized as young adult. It may have teens and younger 20s characters, but it doesn't include any of the typical themes that would resonate with this audience.

A story that struggles to tell a relatable story from start to finish.

My rating: 1 out of 5

When two women are murdered in their sleep, Shelby Day, an ambitious investigative journalist, is determined to break the case. It’s not long after she starts covering the murders, that she starts to receive threatening notes at her house, warning her to back off. While taking all the risk, she’s also dealing with her feelings about her cameraman and best friend, Jack. Will Shelby be able to help the police catch the killer, or is she going to become their next victim?

I’m giving this a three star rating because to me, this was an okay book. It wasn’t a gripping thriller, but it wasn’t hard to read and kept things interesting. I did get annoyed with the main character and some of her choices. I think this is a good book for a younger audience. I think I would have enjoyed this more when I was first starting out with thrillers, but compared to the level I’m at now, this was just okay.

Thank you so much to the publisher for giving me the arc of this book to read for an honest review!

This book had me thinking so many things. I absolutely loved it!!

The characters

The characters were well done, you had Shelby the main character who seemed very up her own ass in the beginning but eventually turned out to have more to her. She was very interesting to read about and I loved reading her thought process throughout the events. Her character development was amazing in my opinion.

There were other main characters like Jack and the police officer and of course the people that were interviewed. I thought the contrast and relationship between Shelby and these characters were very well thought through and were just written the right way.

The plot

It was absolutely amazing how the plot made it's way throughout the book. I normally am not one for crime or detective novels but this one had me hooked from the prologue. The prologue was not even a quarter of a page long but I was already hooked. I got so excited to read everything from there. The plot started off with a bang, two murders, oh no! And managed to develop in such a way that it was impossible to see who the murderer was. I had my suspisions but they all ended up being wrong. Absolutely amazing.

Overal thoughts

In the end I would definitely rate this book 5 out of 5 stars for everything I read. I loved every single bit of it and I would recommend this to everyone. This one is definitely going on one of my favourites lists.

Thank you so much for letting me read this early and I can't wait for the release date of this book and I'll make sure to buy it to support both the publisher and the author.

Happy reading!

I liked most of this but it never really impressed me. I did like Shelby but her behavior was all over the place at times and i felt this focused more on her love life at times rather than her actually solving the crime. It had too much happening and needed a subplot being taken out to make it more streamline and less busy.

This was a super frustrating read. The MC was so unlikeable and annoying that I honestly should have DNF'ed but I stuck it out to see who the killer would be and just as I suspected....it was extremely underwhelming.

The writing was choppy, the characters were awful, the romance was atrocious, it was honestly just a mess.