Customer Reviews

Lost

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(31)

 

 

I was intrigued by the synopsis of this book but after reading it all I felt was disappointment.

The story follows a divorced mother who has recently "lost" her oldest daughter. The plot weaves around her anguish, which was really the only selling point in this novel, and the unraveling mystery. Unfortunately it isn't much of a mystery, certainly not one worth solving. The father's cavalier attitude throughout the book helped me to figure out the ending about mid way through.

Don't waste money on this one.

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.

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.

I always enjoy the suspense and tension of a Joy Fielding novel and eagerly picked this one up. I was disappointed by the premise, which promised much and delivered little. Story lines were hinted at, but never materialized. Cindy was the most annoying and obnoxious character I've read about all year. I hope the next Joy Fielding book is better.

I too read this book in less than a day. This is the story of a missing 21 year old and her mother's quest to find her daugther no matter the consequences. Her daughter is a willful, spoiled and selfish would be actress who disappears after an audition. Her mother becomes a frantic neurotic in her search for her missing daughter. In the process, she ignores her other daugther, at one point even forgetting that she has one. Of course, it was easy to hate her missing daughter by page 10. But, by the end I found myself thinking I don't like the mother much either. I have never wished that a character was in my living room so that I could shake her as much as I did in this book. The bottom line is that this book is extremely forgettable. If you are a true fan of Joy Fielding pick it up from the library if you must. But, this book would never make it onto anyone's must have list.

This book was horrible for all the reasons stated by other reviewers and then some. The main character is totally unlikeable and just when you think she is going to be called out for being selfish and totally obsessed with her equally selfish older daughter another character will apolegize to her and tell her how much they love her. This is the first and last book by this author that I will read. Do not waste anything (money or time) on this crap.

After being disappointed with Joy Fielding's "Whispers and Lies," I hoped that her latest novel "Lost" would improve my impression of her abilities. Unfortunately, that was not the case. The story concerns the disappearance of Cindy Carver's daughter Julia, who goes for a film audition and is not seen again. Feeling the police are not doing enough to look for Julia, Cindy performs her own investigations in a very desperate and confrontational manner, casting a suspicious eye on Julia's ex-boyfriend, Cindy's other daughter's boyfriend, the director Julia auditioned for, and the next door neighbors. During the chaos of the disappearance, Cindy meets and falls in love with a man who is very unrealistically portrayed. Cindy's family rallies to her side to lend support, and coincidentally they also contribute to the better scenes in the novel. These scenes include family squabbles, misunderstandings, and reconciliations that add some warmth and comic relief to an otherwise cool and disorganized novel.

To Fielding's credit, she does paint a convincing portrait of the anguish a mother feels after the disappearance of a child, as well as the perception of the world as a cruel and violent place. But the details of Cindy's involvement with her neighbors, her ex-husband, her friends, and others she deals with are pointless and lead nowhere. None of the characters are likable. The ending is far-fetched and such a letdown that it ruins the suspenseful build-up that preceded it. I hope to see better from Fielding in the future.

Eileen Rieback

This whole book is nothing but a set up. Don't waste your money or your time and heed the warnings of other readers.

Here it is in a nutshell:

Stupid, odious characters
Stupid, almost laughable plot
A complete waste of time.

Once again, CAVEAT EMPTOR! BUYER BEWARE! DON'T be tricked into buying or worse, reading this drivel.

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.

This was a great disappointment. I have read many of Joy Fielding's other novels and found them to be great, but don't waste your money buying this one. I read it in one night. The story starts off okay and half way through your not sure where it's going, but the ending blind sighted me, and I was so angry with the daughter, the father and the stupid mother. Maybe that's what makes a good book when you really get involved with the characters - not being a writer I don't know. How can people be so insensitive and selfish. The father who is supposed to be an adult and to show my example that he would encourage this behaviour, is beyond belief. Read it for yourself and write your comments.