Customer Reviews

Emily the Strange: The Lost Days

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Emily has a case of Amnesia. She doesn't know who she is and why she is in the strange town of Blackrock. She renames herself Earwig and keeps on getting tickets for odd things. She finds four homeless and wandering cats, that start following her. Emily starts under covering secret after secret about herself and Blackrock. She finds a mission that she must do and why she really has amnesia. This book was really different and odd. I really liked the artwork in the book and Emily's snarky and funny attitude. The plot was mysterious. I don't know much about Emily the Strange. So, I didn't understand a lot of her quirks. Overall, it was a fun and quick book to read.

1. Emily arrives in an incredibly boring town with amnesia, not knowing her name is Emily and going by the name "Earwig".

2. There is clearly a mystery.

3. Emily is too cool for the rest of humanity, and smarter than most.

4. The town's founder looks a lot like her.

5. Her look alike is definately not an act alike.

6. The travelling shows in town don't travel enough.

7. The town's economy is based on a junk mail factory and police corruption.

8. There are people there who are supposed to help her, but they're not very consistent.

9. Her notebook and her slingshot are probably more important than they seem (and they seem pretty important), and the cats are excellent.

10. Writing a list like this without spoilers is a bugger.

11. The coolest building in town is in cognito.

12. The El Dungeon cafe is near the center of the mystery.

13. She really likes lists of thirteen things.

Any thirteen year old girl who solders is pretty cool, and her adventures more so. Great, eccentric fun.

E. M. Van Court

Emily wakes up with "a wicked case of amnesia." She does not know her name, where she is, and why she is there. Through diary entries she follows the clues to her identity and her secret mission.

The Lost Days is quite imaginative, filled with daring feats and odd characters. The story is a spy adventure with element of fantasy. Emily is self-confident in her own identity, even when she does not know who she is. She uses math, science, and deductive reasoning to solve her mystery and succeed at her mission. Written in short chapters (diary entries) with black-and-red artwork, this book can be enjoyed by even the most reluctant reader.

I had only heard of Emily The Strange in passing, and didn't really know much about the books, comics, or product line. However, I'm already in love with the character and the way the stories are told. It reminds me of a very intelligent version of Greg Heffley from the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, except that instead of it being almost entirely graphic novel, it's part novel, part graphics, and part a whole bunch of other interesting stuff. In a way, it's similar to the process through which the Objectivist poets like William Carlos Williams in Patterson and Louis Zukofsky in A would compose a book-length poem that was comprised of a motley mixture of various elements, like some of their own work with newspaper clippings, letters, posters, ads, and all sorts of other treasures.

Aside from the composition of the novel, the story itself is also engaging. Unlike the normal progression of most stories, which starts at the beginning and moves through to the end, you get the sense that you've picked up somewhere in the middle. This is especially evidenced by the fact that you start on diary page 13. Thus, you are on the amnesiac ride along with Emily the entire time. What makes this particularly clever and interesting as a twist to the story is that, in reality, the whole point of the story is shifted. You think it's about Emily's quest to get her memory back, when it's actually about something else entirely, which you can only discover as she uncovers it.

This has quickly become one of my new favorite books, and I've recommended it to several people already. It's a great read for anyone with an afternoon free, but its target age will be 9-13 year olds.

-Lindsey Miller, [...]

Emily the Strange has been all over t-shirts, comics, stickers, and more...but now she's ready to star in this, her very own novel!

One problem, though. She has amnesia and has no idea who she is and why she's in some strange town called Blackrock.

While exploring the town, she comes across the El Dungeon and its barista, Raven; four wandering black cats; and an old alley out back of the shop. Emily adopts all these places as her new home and family, while at the same time trying to figure out what is going on!

It isn't until she's mistaken as Molly Merriweather that Emily finally figures out a legitimate plan on how to end this whole fiasco, and suddenly she's on her way to finding out the mystery behind herself and this strange town that is even weirder than she first thought.

THE LOST DAYS is one crazy book, that's for sure, but it's also a lot of fun. Readers need to lose their belief in reality and just go along for the ride with Emily and her cast of companions. Most things in this book aren't believable, but that's simply part of its quirky charm.

As the novel is Emily's notebook, you'll find drawings and "photos" throughout it, which add to the fun of reading this book. I for one can't wait for more Emily adventures!

Reviewed by: Lauren Ashley

Thank you so much. This is just
the book my daughter was looking
for. She will enjoy reading this
book.

I really enjoyed this book and I look forward to reading the rest of them. Even though the book seems to be for younger readers I still liked it.

13 Elements you will find in the first Emily the Strange novel:
1. Mystery
2. A beautiful golem
3. Souped-up slingshots
4. Four black cats
5. Amnesia
6. Calamity Poker
7. Angry ponies
8. A shady truant officer
9. Top-13 lists
10. A sandstorm generator
11. Doppelgängers
12. A secret mission
13. Earwigs
Emily the Strange: 13 years old. Able to leap tall buildings, probably, if she felt like it. More likely to be napping with her four black cats; or cobbling together a particle accelerator out of lint, lentils, and safety pins; or rocking out on drums/ guitar/saxophone/zither; or painting a swirling feral sewer mural; or forcing someone to say "swirling feral sewer mural" 13 times fast . . . and pointing and laughing.

4 words: I. LOVED. THIS. BOOK.

Emily the Strange: The Lost Days is told completely through diary entries by Emily-- or Earwig as she calls herself in the book. The overall voice and tone of the book is entertaining and generally hilarious. The cover is kind of misleading, because looking at it makes one think it the book is a gloom and doom goth book. But DON'T BE FOOLED! This book is so funny and enjoyable, and seriously, not at all as dark as it seems.

I was very surprised by this book. I didn't take it as seriously as an actual novel, but it actually had great characters and plot that really threw me for a loop. I love Emily (Earwig) as a character. She was just so spunky. I really had a great time being inside her head. She makes up the funniest curse words and slang. (NOTE: There is no actually cursing. Just funny words.)

One of my favorite parts of this whole novel were the drawings on almost every page. They added a different perspective to the reading experience, and really brought the novel to life.

This was a much lighter read than I'm used to, but still totally enjoyable. 5 stars!

To be honest, I knew nothing about this book when I picked it up. I had seen the cover a few times and found I instantly liked it. It was a little Wednesday Addams, a little dark and a little cute. It ended up being a lot of fun. Emily likes to make lists, usually of 13 items. On the dust jacket it states:

"13 Elements you will find in the first Emily the Strange novel:
1. Mystery
2. A beautiful golem
3. Souped-up slingshots
4. Four black cats
5. Amnesia
6. Calamity Poker
7. Angry ponies
8. A shady truant office
9. Top-13 lists
10. A sandstory generator
11. Dopplegangers
12. A secret mission
13. Earwigs

And that is just the beginning of the fun. Usually I write my review of a book within a few days of finishing it. This book was so unique, so weird, so wonderful, that it sat on my desk for a few weeks waiting to be reviewed. This book is amazing but it is hard to put that into words. It is sort of a scrapbook told from Emily's perspective, with pictures, drawings and more. It is an adventure, but also the story of discovery and self understanding. Emily is brilliant and creative and amusing and funny, and so is this book. This book leaves me nearly speechless, so go buy it and read it; see for yourself.

This was another sold-by-the-cover purchase for me. And I am glad I picked it up. I will look to pick up the second one some time next week.

The story here is that a young girl wakes up one morning with amnesia. She's in a town that is strange - in more then one way - and she's trying to find out who she is. There is a strange cast of characters here which keep things moving. The "13 Elements you will find in the first Emily the Strange novel" on the jacket summarizes nicely the wonderful things in this novel... to name a few, mystery, golem, top-13 lists and doppelgangers. I will add a few too: ghosts, traveling show, psychic, and ghosts (or sort of one ghost anyway). Emily goes on this journey of self discovery and there are moments of pure joy. It's funny, unique, and in a lot of ways totally off the wall (the ridiculous teachers and moving each building one inch to the east!).

One of the things that intrigued me at the store when I picked up the book ended up being the biggest challenge to me while reading. The book is presented as Emily's notebook. So, the paragraphing sometimes is challenging. There were moments when I felt like the author's enter key must have been broken. The dialogue, which is often funny, is recapped and the characters who are speaking are referred to after the first line as the first initial in their names. And the top-13 lists were cute, but after a while lost their charm.

The pictures and the snapshots added to the book. The little extras or the letters, maps, polaroids, and the drawings of the cats (which I loved!) were all fun to look at. The plot and the resolution were totally different. There were a few cool surprises and only one really predictable element. It was funa dn a nice quick read.

I hadn't hear of Emily before - apparently she's been around for a long time and there are some graphic novels on her. I am not sure I liked her enough to try those (graphic novels aren't really my thing) but I am going for the second novel.