Review: The Lost and the Found by Cat Clarke

Title: The Lost and the Found.
Author: Cat Clarke.
Publication Date: July 2nd, 2015.
Publisher: Quercus.
Genres: Mystery, Contemporary, Young Adult.
Format: Paperback, 441 pages.
Source: Provided By Publisher.
My Rating:

Can you imagine?
A child - taken.
A whole family - torn apart.

Slowly, over the years, the family put themselves back together. A little broken, but still strong.

But then the child (now all grown up) comes home.

This is the story of what happens next.

 
 

Review

Whilst reading The Lost and the Found, I constantly had a heavy and foreboding feeling in my chest- kind of like the feeling you get when you know something bad is going to happen in a movie because you’ve seen it a million times before. I knew from the off that this book wasn’t going to be sunshine and butterflies, and there was going to be some big twist/and or reveal, because hey – this is Cat Clarke we’re talking about! Cat Clarke’s books aren’t for the faint hearted, they’re gritty and realistic with the ability to really make you question life. I’ve now read three books by Cat Clarke, and I must say she’s an absolutely brilliant author that I can’t wait to read even more from in the future – keep on writing, Cat, you’re incredible!

Faith is our main protagonist in The Lost and the Found and I loved her right from the start. I felt like I could really connect with her character in a way that made reading The Lost and the Found even more exciting! Faith is a really realistic character, with quirks and faults that make her even more loveable. She’s an incredibly strong person, and I don’t know how she’s dealt with being in the shadow of her missing sister all her life. She’s grown up with a mother who’s a shell of her former self, and who’s not been emotionally there for her at all, yet she still manages to be selfless and is always thinking of other people. She’s truly an inspirational character. Faith is torn between being delighted that her sister has come home, and feeling there’s something just not right – I personally think she handled the whole situation a whole lot better than I would have!

The secondary characters in The Lost and the Found were also brilliant and really well developed. They all had different and separate personalities and traits and although I didn’t love them all, they were still all brilliant to read about. Laurel is Faith’s missing sister, and at first, I was sure I was going to like her character, but as the book went on – I really started to despise her. She seemed too sweet and kind, almost to the point where it was sickly, and although she had been through a lot, she really irritated me with her behaviour. I have to say I wasn’t that keen on Faith’s mum either, I thought she was way too interested in the publicity of the whole situation. She seemed to love it and was revelling in it, and I often thought that it was strange, and definitely not right for her to be taking such a shine to the spotlight in the light of things. The last character I would like to mention is Michel, I won’t go into too much detail about him as I don’t want to spoil anything, but I have to say he was one of my favourite characters! I thought he was a brilliant little extra in the book, with his quirky personality and caring and loving nature. He’s definitely a character that I won’t be forgetting any time soon!

Overall, I thought The Lost and the Found was absolutely superb, and I loved every second of reading it. It wasn’t perfect by any means, but then again, very few books are, and I thought the ending seemed a little too rushed for my liking which was quite disappointing. However the characters were brilliant, and the plot, although a little predictable at times, was remarkable as well. I believe The Lost and the Found well and truly deserves the 4.5/5 star rating I’ve given it, and if any of you are fans of Mystery novels, then I’d really recommend you giving this book a go! I’d also recommend Cat Clarke’s writing to as many people that’ll listen as she’s a fantastic author who manages to put a twist into any average novel idea and make it shine beyond measure.

Quotes

I didn't even notice at first; Thomas is very good a skulking. But then I realized that I was seeing him all the time - in the corridors, in the library, in the courtyard. I mentioned it to Martha one day and she rolled her eyes at me. 'Finally. I was wondering when you were going to notice.' She was the one who encouraged me to talk to him, although 'Why the hell are you stalking me?' probably wasn't quite what she had in mind. - Page 98.

The sound of the balloon popping makes everyone in the common room jump and turn around to see where the noise came from. Laney Finch clutches her hand to her chest and leans on one of her friends to steady herself. One of the boys standing next to the coffee machine shouts the word 'DICK!' in our direction, probably embarrassed because he jumped so high his head almost hit the ceiling. - Page 315.

I thank her again, then rush out of the door, leaving a half-drunk cup of tea, a whole slice of carrot cake, and a slightly baffled Australian girl. - Page 382.