When We Were Lost by L.D Crichton
Publisher: Little, Brown & Company
Release date: June 4, 2019
Special thanks to Manda Group and Hachette Books for sending an ARC for review.
Summary:
When a plane bound for Costa Rica crashes in deep jungle, the tail section breaks free and nineteen teenagers miraculously survive. Joel Aspinall, son of a local politician and student rep on the school’s council, is quick to take on the mantle of leadership, to organize everyone until a rescue party arrives. But the plane was crashed on purpose, no one knows where they are and no rescuers are coming. To make things worse, Joel’s decisions lead to more people dying, and he’s determined to wait it out.
Tom Calloway didn’t want to be on this trip. Tom doesn’t want to bond with his classmates – he isn’t the bonding type. He’d rather they just left him alone, and he’s always been unfriendly enough that they’ve been happy to oblige. But that was before the crash. Now he finds himself building the friendships he’s always tried to avoid. And despite his determined efforts to be left alone, he begins to see that he might be the one to challenge Joel and pull off another miracle, by getting all the survivors to safety (Goodreads).
Thoughts:
When We Were Lost was an engaging read that drew me in with the ‘lost-on-an-island’ theme. The cover gave me a vibe that reminded me of the Lost series. The enigmatic cover was what caused me to pick up this book. It seemed to be packed with mystery, adventure, and thrill.
The theme overall, that of survival and struggle, is very attractive to many readers.
I expected it to be extremely slow paced, but it was actually quite a quick read. I was flipping through chapters in a matter of minutes; however, there were moments where I was waiting for something exciting to happen, and yet they were still in the jungle with no real conflict. Of course, the problem was escaping the thick forest, but there was not a clear structure in the story arc. Basically, the conflict was unclear and the stimulation was missing.
Wignall expressed his knowledge of survival in various ways throughout the book. For example, I learned how to make fire with tree bark, a reflective glass, a dry surface, and the sun. And, he narrated (through his characters) a way of constructing a lifeboat with only rope and raincoats. Amazing!
This was an extremely philosophical novel. With the prologue and the epilogue containing beautiful, poetic phrases about the Butterfly Effect or the Mcgurk Effect. It talked about fate and how “a butterfly flaps its delicate wings and there is an effect at the other end of the world” (Wignall).
Furthermore, the character development is quite realistic. What I mean by this is that the characters like Joel Aspinall didn’t morph into a different nicer person overnight. In fact, he was a flat antagonist that didn’t change his stubborn and arrogant persona throughout the novel. He kept opposing Tom’s arguments about leaving the crash site, in which he knew he was wrong, instead of thinking the best for everyone. On the other hand, characters like Tom Calloway experienced their true potential through a life-changing event like being stranded on an island. Tom’s character development was smooth, as in such serious situations, he saw himself as a person that he really was.
Another aspect of the novel that was confusing that I would like to highlight: the phrase, “Who becomes the killer?” in the front cover was misleading as nobody in their group actually became a murderer.
All in all, When We Were Lost is a fabulous novel about testing the trust and bond between groups of friends. Although, some aspects of the novels were quite ambiguous. Thank you for reading my thoughts and I hope you enjoy this novel!
Reviewed by Diya G.