Eight days being at home means I supposedly do something productive at least once in a while. Sure, a list has been made even if I haven't done any of the activities listed like: declutter my room, finish more books, more blogging less procrastinating, start writing my own book or at least make a story layout, continue journaling, learn how to paint, and a bunch of other creative things as a contribution to a healthy and a more productive me time. It's a well-known fact that my lazy ass hasn't agreed to do all those things yet, but I managed to finish a book today which indicates a good start. Now, please say hello to another heartwarming middle-grade book titled The Lost Girl by Anne Ursu which I got from @OwlCrateJr’s February 2019 “Lost & Found” box (click here to see my full unboxing).
The Lost Girl follows the story of Iris and Lark, the twin sisters who always do everything together. Iris is far more realistic and organized, however. She does everything in order therefore it’s very unlikely for her to forget things. On the other hand, Lark is totally the opposite. She is quite a dreamy girl who forgets things easily, the important ones included. What differs them the most though, is the fact that Lark believes in magic, is a little quieter, and is very easily embarrassed.
The actual conflict starts at the beginning of fifth grade when the inseparable Iris and Lark find out that they’re not gonna be in the same class this year. Iris gets Ms. Shonubi as her homeroom while Lark gets the new teacher, Mr. Hunt. The hopeless Lark and the mad Iris try to negotiate this error with their parents but they get nothing other than the statement that the decision to split them up is already final as they think it’s good for Iris and Lark to do something they like on their own for once. They even go as far as to suggest that Lark should attend an art class after school while Iris follows her passion elsewhere. That's why Iris often finds herself ended up in the new antique store across the library by herself.
Well, the first few chapters of this character-driven book started out good and quite mysterious, although the pace was honestly a bit too slow that I wasn’t sure which was the actual conflict and which wasn’t. The Lost Girl was told from a very relatable perspective that made it hard not to care deeply about the twins and how they felt in the time of a sudden adjustment like this. I mean, it could be very hard for most of us to cope with changes. I remember I used to hate changes as much as I was afraid of them. Sometimes, I feel like I still am.
For a middle-grade book, I have to admit that the plot was quite unexpected. I had started putting two and two together ever since the beginning but it turned out that my guesses weren't even close. Furthermore, I felt like the biggest riddle in this book was not who the villain was. For me, it was who the so-called I that was there this whole time was.
I always like it when grown-ups get a proper portion to be a decent role model in a middle-grade book. It thankfully worked quite well in this book: I loved the important role the parents and the teachers played. Meanwhile, Abigail and all the girls from Camp Awesome were equally awesome (I honestly couldn’t tell them all apart except for Hannah but it's still a very nice camp idea). It was nice to see the other side of Iris during the camp, though I felt like sometimes her thought was a little too mature for a fifth-grader.
The Lost Girl was mostly told from Iris’ perspective, and while I loved the fact that it helped me relate to her more, I still thought that it might be interesting to hear it from Lark’s also. She was more of an idealist, and compared to Iris, more complicated too. Reading this story from her point of view might be an interesting different experience. Still, I adored the very strong bond of sisterhood in this book. The way Iris cared about Lark more than she cared about herself was very admirable. I wish there would be more books about sisters teaming up like this. After all, it’s important for children to always remember the importance of family in the cruel world we’re living in.
Overall, this book was good, especially when the pace became agreeably faster in the last few chapters. And the ending was super badass while warming my heart at the same time too. I can say for sure that I will certainly read another book by Anne Ursu in the future—the fact that I could relate so much with The Lost Girl makes me want to try Breadcrumbs soon. Let's hope that like this book, it contains a little touch of magic too.
