Lost

Rating:
Summary: Don't Get Lost...
Review: At the very least, if you are a fan of Joy Fielding, simply check this book out from your local library and don't actually spend the money to purchase it. It only took me one day to read the entire book, so I don't feel I wasted too much time on it. But that's the point: ultimately, this novel feels like a waste of time.

The novel revolves around a divorced mother of two daughters: the oldest, Julia, is a twenty-one year old, aspiring actress, and a seemingly impossible and obstinate and instantly unlikable young woman. She begins the novel pitching a fit because she can't get into the bathroom in the morning to get ready for an audition later that day, and then disappears from her mother's life.

Cindy, her long-suffering mother, spends the novel worrying about her first-born daughter, ignoring the needs of her other daughter, Heather, arguing with her mother and sister, falling in love and into bed with a new man, and wrestling with her constant thoughts and memories of her ex-husband.

Mix in the plot twist of "what is happening with the couple next door?", which red herring will pop up next, and subplots coming and going, and you end up with this novel: one that ends so much with a thud you wish you'd never invested the time spent getting to that point.

As readable as most of the novel is, it concludes in such an irritating and infuriating way that it's not surprising that the book will be thrown into a near wall or dropped immediately to the floor in disgust.

I've liked many of Fielding's novels...this is clearly not one of them.

Rating:
Summary: Almost 5 stars, but oooooops! The ending. (NO SPOILERS)
Review: I love Joy Fielding's books. I've read them all and love them. Or I did, until I read her last book, "Whispers and Lies". I felt very manipulated and just plain angry at the ending. But I give all of my favorite authors a second chance, so I bought "Lost". Until the very last couple of chapters, this book had me, hands down. Absorbing, can't put it down, stay up all night, what have you. And not only is the plot "something different", being about a missing girl instead of the usual suspense storylines, which are normally about, I admit it, a woman being stalked, (and by the way, Joy even comments on that demeaning term "women in jeopardy" in this book -- way to go, girl!), but it is also a study in characters. They might not be characters you want to be best friends with, or live with, but they are "real" people --flaws and all. Sometimes very BIG flaws. Until near the very end of this 350+ page book, all I cared about was, where is the daughter that's missing? What the heck happened to her? Is she kidnapped? Dead? When was she taken? Who has her? Over and over, the book asked me and I asked it back, until I just wanted to know where she was!!!! I had to know! Flipping the pages in a panic to find out, I was astonished that over 300 pages had gone by with no answer! Then 350 pages and no answer! By then, I was sweating it out. And then, I finally read the answer . . . And the ending killed me. No spoilers here, you have to read for yourself, but . . . I wanted something more. I craved a better resolution. And that kept the book from getting 5 stars. Oh, for a different ending. I hope I never meet people like the ones written about in this book. Unfortunately, I think I already have. I have relatives just like these people. I know of divorce stories just like this couple have in the book. Joy Fielding was probably only writing about people she knew. Sad, but true.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointed!!!
Review: Joy Fielding was one of my favorite authors. Until I read this last book. I was not thrilled with Whispers and Lies, but looked forward to Lost. It appears that her talent has run out. Two books in a row that failed to capture my attention; I skimmed the last 100 pages of Lost. Character development is poor; these people are not even likeable. It will be a long time, if ever, before I'm picking up a Joy Fielding book again. It was good while it lasted.

Rating:
Summary: Maybe only 2.5 STARS
Review: Many of us have been reading Joy Fielding for years and years. I have some favorites and some that left me feeling flat. This one isn't something I'd read again even if I had the time (which I don't). It's ordinary. Cindy Carver was a bumblehead. She couldn't leave well enough alone after her daughter, Julia, is missing. Okay, maybe if my child were missing I'd go a little ballistic too. Okay, I would. But I think I would have more faith in the police to do the right thing and I would definitely not be running around town checking things out. I wish we'd gotten to know a bit more about Heather, Cindy's daughter who isn't missing. Also, the ending is just a little too abrupt for me. I can't go into it because it will ruin the ending (which, by the way, has already been ruined by another review with the word "suspenseful" in its title but if you read the review the book will no longer have any suspense to it whatsoever!).

I don't know if Joy Fielding has changed or if I have, but her last few books have left something to be desired as far as I'm concerned. I read it. I closed it and I began to wonder what I'd do with it next. Mail it to my sister? Donate it to the library? Or put it on my shelves just to fill up space (as if I need more books to take up space!).

Read it if you must, but if you don't, you won't miss that much.

Rating:
Summary: Frantic
Review: The book's name should have been frantic - I was frantic the whole time so I guess I'd have to admit it was a good ride. It is about a "lost" child - a 21 year old disappears - story lots of interesting twists but the book kept me on edge and the end - which I had an inkling of - - was very unsatisfying. All in all, it was just pretty disturbing - she caught how a person might feel though - frantic! Yuck.