Review: Lost Girls by Ann Kelley

Synopsis:
No parents. No rules. No way home.
Fourteen-year-old Bonnie MacDonald couldn't be more excited for a camping trip on an island off the coast of Thailand with her fellow Amelia Earhart Cadets-the daughters of the men and women stationed there during the Vietnam War. But when a strong current deposits the girls on what their boatman calls the "forbidden island," things take a turn for the worse: A powerful storm comes to destroy their campsite, the smallest of the junior cadets is found dead, and their boatman never returns. What once seemed like a vacation in paradise has become a battle against the elements. 

My Thoughts:

When I first started reading Lost Girls, I hated the book. I think at the beginning it was just really slow and the character seemed so much like an immature eighteen year old to me rather than a fourteen year old. It started getting real good when the Amelia Earhart Cadets landed on the forbidden island.

Survival books are some of my favorite kinds of books and Lost Girls did not disappoint in that category. The writing in this novel made it seem like I was on the island with the girls getting bitten and dealing with losses and hunger. This isn’t the typical story where there’s a big happy ending where everyone survives. People died in this book and I think that’s one of the events that made the cadets’ journey seem so real.

One thing I didn’t like about this book was the “Glossies”. They seemed too evil and vain to be real fourteen year olds stuck on an island where they might die. In a way it was good though because they made emotions rise out of me which can be hard to do. I liked the book, but I won’t spend $17.99 when it comes out in hardback. 

*I received this book from Hipscouts which in no way effects my opinions or thoughts on this novel.