Book Review: Lost and Found by Tarah DeWitt
I really, really wanted to love Lost and Found.
After loving the first two books in the Spunes, Oregon series, I was so excited to finally get Silas's story. So it honestly makes me a little sad to say that this one just didn't work for me the way I hoped it would.
And that's not because I didn't like Silas or Bea. I actually really liked both of them.
I thought Silas and Bea's love story was sweet, and I absolutely believed that they were meant to be together. If anything, I spent a good portion of the book thinking, These two should have figured this out about ten years ago!
Their history and connection worked for me, and I really enjoyed seeing them finally get the chance to explore what had been there all along.
Where I struggled was with the overall storyline surrounding Bea, Merritt, and the IVF journey. I just couldn't connect with it.
I tried. I really did. But I found myself struggling to get invested in that part of the story, and I think that made the book a much harder read for me than I expected.
I also had some complicated feelings about Bea and Merritt's friendship.
I understand having a best friend you would do absolutely anything for. I completely understand that kind of friendship and how deeply you can love another person.
But as I read Bea's story, I couldn't help feeling like she had spent so much of her life catering to Merritt that she never really got the chance to be completely herself.
That was hard for me to watch unfold as I read.
I wanted Bea to have a chance to make her own choices, to love who she wanted to love, and to allow herself to be loved in return.
And especially when it came to Silas, I kept thinking, You two! Just figure this out already!
Because I really did love them together. I thought they were made for each other.
There were still plenty of things I enjoyed about this book. The Byrd family continues to be one of my favorite parts of this series, and I loved how supportive they were. Those relationships brought some of the warmth and heart that I loved in the first two books.
And then there was the epilogue.
The epilogue was beautiful.
Honestly, it may have been my favorite part of the book. It gave me the emotional payoff I had been hoping for and reminded me why I loved this series in the first place.
I also want to say that I thought the writing was good. This wasn't a case of bad writing or characters I didn't like. I think this was simply a case of this particular story not connecting with me.
Maybe I wasn't in the right headspace for it. Maybe I just wasn't able to connect with the storyline the way I needed to. I don't know.
I spent more than two weeks trying to finish a book that I really wanted to love, and that was honestly the most disappointing part.
I still love the Spunes, Oregon series. I still love the Byrd family. And I still think Bea and Silas were meant for each other.
I just wish Silas's story had been the one I hoped it would be.
3 stars ⭐⭐⭐
You can see my review for Goodreads here:
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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