This is a sequel to ,'The Girl in the Red Coat' which tells of how Carmel was kidnapped at age eight & taken to the US where she was touted round religious meetings by The Preacher. She was supposed to be a healer. At age 13, she was returned to Beth, her mother, who had never given up hope. The Lost Girls continues the story. Carmel is now 21, haunted by her abduction & by the thought of the girl who came before her. The story is told by Carmel & by Mercy, her predecessor.

I enjoyed 'The Girl in the Red Coat' & was looking forward to reading the sequel. I found the parts of the story told by Mercy were much more engaging & although I understand the trauma Carmel had been through I struggled to connect with her so all in all it was a bit of a disappointment. Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read & review this book.

I’m not sure how to rate this book because all the ‘action’ took place in the past and actually calling it action is a bit misleading. Two girls were taken from their families by a charlatan preacher in different timelines and different countries but the reader never really gets to feel the raw emotion and impact of those kidnappings. Not a lot happens in this book. I did finish it but felt it was a bit of a chore. I didn’t particularly like any of the characters - although Mercy did tug a little on my heartstrings as she had such a poor start in life but was such a pure spirit.

I loved the sound of The Lost Girls and I was interested in how the lives intertwined. For me though there was something missing- Mercy/Delia and Carmel’s link seemed unrealistic and the twist felt silly. I also felt like the mudlarking storyline was shoehorned in as a way to get another lost girl into the story.

It felt like this novel had a lot of threads but none of them were properly worked through. I think it would have been better with each girls story as a separate part of the book as opposed to jumping to and from.

I did finish this book but I can’t say I enjoyed it. Maybe would have been 3 stars if I was familiar with the prequel (the cover/description doesn’t make it clear this is a sequel)

I was given an ARC in exchange for an honest review (NetGalley).

I honestly wanted to love this novel as it has so many themes and elements that interest me... but I just couldn't. it had so much potential but fell a little short for me.

I really liked the premise of the book - a girl, taken by a cult, with questions to be answered seeks to find other lost girls like her. Unfortunately, I just didn't take to this book though at all. I had thought given 'the blurb' that this was more of a mystery - trying to find a number of other girls who had been kidnapped by the cult, but in reality, whilst there is reference to another girl kidnapped by the cult, it's not a mystery, and it felt like there was a lot of depressing introspection, which wasn't really what I was looking for. I appreciate that I potentially misunderstood what this book was about but I'm sorry but for me this was a 3*

This was a fascinating story but difficult to follow at times as it keep moving between different girls, sometimes very quickly. Thisspoilt it a bit for me but overall it was an absorbing story with a satisfying conclusion.

Found this quite a difficult read, seeing how the various characters coped with cult involvement, the effects of which continue long after they've been freed.

Think I would have found it to be an easier read had I read the first book but this was still worth reading.

Beautifully written but I found the pace too slow. I also found Carmel rather frustrating and wished she'd talk to her poor mother, who was forced to tread on eggshells around her. I didn't realise this was a sequel, but it worked fine as a standalone and I don't think I need to read the first one now, as I know what happened.

I really enjoyed this read, I loved how the story unfolded and as the full picture developed I found I needed to read more to find out what had happened in the past. Really well written and had me guessing! I felt quite intrigued to see how our main character would end up after everything that had happened to her and thought the ending was lovely.

This is the sequel to The Girl in the Red Coat. Carmel is now 21 and living with her mother in London, whilst still coming to terms with her abduction by The Preacher. She is fixated on finding out what happened to Mercy, a fellow abductee. Together they are The Lost Girls. The story is narrated by the girls and by Carmel's mother Beth. I did not find this as involving as the first novel, but it is still an intriguing psychological tale.

Wow another good read by Kate Hamer.
Kate is a new author for me but looking forward to reading more of her books. I couldn’t put this book down. This is the sequel to The girl in the red coat. I am so glad I was able to read both book one after the other and was able to find out all about Mercy Roberts, Carmel and others. I enjoyed the way the book went from one character to the other.

Thank you to Net Galley for giving me access to this very good book which is a sequel to the (even better) The Girl in the Red Coat. It can be enjoyed as a standalone because the reader is given enough bare detail of Carmel's past but it is a richer experience if you have read the earlier book.

The book is about how Carmel, as a young adult, copes with life and tries to come to terms with what happened to her as a child and we live with her as she tries to reconnect with her parents, with herself and with others whom she calls the lost girls - among whom are Mercy who knew Gramps before Carmel did.
The book is about connections with family, friends, strangers and also with the natural world and other things which are beyond our ken and which might be called miracles. There is an otherwordly almost mythic quality to some of these connections and I enjoyed that aspect of the book very much.

Carmel's past is generally described as having been abducted by a cult. She certainly was abducted but when I think of a cult I think of something like Jonestown or Waco and sexual abuse.. There is no suggestion of any sexual abuse in these books. Gramps is a sort of fundamental evangelical Christian in the American tradition of revivals, faith healing, snake handling etc.

Mercy's childhood is pictured vividly - what should be (and in some ways is) an idyllic life in a small settlement in the backwoods of America where everyone knows everyone and church is a big part of a lot of folks' lives.

The characters are drawn well, I felt I got a real insight into Mercy, Carmel, Beth and Gramps and it is a rich story. The writing is descriptive but not overly so, I found the dialogue to be very realistic and there are some lovely similes, too many to list here. I particularly liked one passage about how memories of past love remain in the mind like the reverberations in the ear after you hear a gong.

There is tremendous tension in the book when, near the end, Mercy's time in Norfolk (where Carmel's story begins) is related - such was the tension that I needed a packet of biscuits to get me through it!

I go for 4 stars when I find the characters in a book so vividly and expertly drawn that I find myself wondering what is happening to them now, outside of the book, just as if they were real people.

Having read The Girl in the Red Coat very recently and loved it, I could not wait to read this follow up. This novel really did not disappoint and I devoured it within a few days.

We meet characters Beth, the mum and daughter Carmel. They have been reunited after many years apart due to Carmel being kidnapped by a man. Carmel was missing for years but managed to get back home. Carmel is now in her early 20s and still adjusting to life. Beth and Carmel's relationship is strained and this is portrayed beautifully throughout this novel.

Carmel is trying to figure our if the man who took her took other girls as we know from book 1 that Carmel was a somewhat kind of replacement for another girl he kidnapped called Mercy.

Told through both Carmel and Beth's point of view, this novel really is an interesting read. I feel like it would have been good to have the follow up book literally carrying on from when Carmel comes home as I feel like that would have been possibly more intriguing. None the less, this is a good read and I loved it.

Thanks to NetGalley, Kate Hamer and the publishers for allowing me a copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

Having read The Girl in the Red Coat I was offered the opportunity to read this sequel which did not disappoint. Having been rescued after 5 years of being abducted, this book follows Carmel as an adult as she still struggles to come to terms with her broken childhood and the fractured nature of her relationship with her Mother, Beth. Juxtaposing Carmel and Beths' story is the story of another lost girl Mercy, the girl who was taken before Carmel. This was an interesting and evocative read, quite painful to read at times but it felt an authentic depiction of the struggle to recover from a childhood abduction. I was invested in Carmel's journey as she tried to find out what happened to the other lost girl. The book was well written with interesting characters and both an intriguing plot and a satisfying conclusion. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read.

I received this ARC in exchange for an honest review. I will preface this by saying that I was unaware that this was a sequel, and that I haven’t read the first book, so ultimately there was parts of the book that would have made more sense or been more impactful have I have read the first book. That being said, I did enjoy the writing style and the characters and found the book to be really engaging. If you have read the first book then I think you will enjoy this!

I received a copy of this ARC in exchange for an unbiased review from yours truly. I’ll admit that I was either a bit mislead or didn’t read the read blurb properly, so I was unaware that I was reading a sequel until I read other reviews after finishing the book. But even with this in mind, it works well enough as a stand alone novel, at least from my perspective.

A young woman who has been returned to her mother after being abducted by a cult is finding it hard to find her place within not only society but her own family. We get to read from 3 different PoVs, the abducted girl herself, Carmel plus her mother Beth and a young girl who was abducted before her named Mercy. The book mostly focuses on Carmel coming to terms with her abduction plus her “new” life with her mother, her mother trying to give her the space to heal and also Mercy’s sad story and Carmel trying to find out what became of her predecessor, as Mercy was essentially abducted too.

I had difficulty connecting with the characters, they always felt a little out of reach and distant to me with perhaps the exception of Mercy. But while I can’t say that I loved the book, it was still an easy read and the author wrote more than well enough to cause me to want to find out what happened to these Lost Girls, Mercy in particular. Some of the side plots points that seemed major didn’t seem to make much sense nor add to the story in any way, although I might be missing the significance of them since I haven’t read the first novel, The Girl in the Red Coat. Yet it was still an easy page turner for me, hence the 3 stars. I may go back and read the original novel once I’ve gotten through my huge to-be-read list! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the copy.

I enjoyed the first book and although I found it a little slow, I looked forward to seeing how Carmel recovered from her experiences. Instead I feel like this book didn’t progress much and was just more of the same.

The story kept me gripped enough to finish but ultimately fell a little flat and wasn’t a satisfying ending to Carmel’s story. I liked Mercy’s story and found myself rushing to get back to her chapters.

This was quite a harrowing journey,never knowing what would happen to the girls. I was slightly confused in the beginning as there seemed to be a weird timeline. Once that was cleared I understood and enjoyed getting to the end of the journey and the healing process to begin.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, it had a great storyline and was gripping throughout! I am a sucker for a dual timeline too! The author is a fabulous storyteller and the writing was spot on too!

I loved this book. It wasn't at all what I was expecting - I thought it was go more into investigation, but it was actually more spiritual than that. I really enjoyed it - it was very different, and didn't follow the line I was expecting. Once I started it, I couldn't put it down. (Known as the Girl in the Red Coat on Goodreads)