Hi friends! My hiatus is still in high gear, but I’m happy to pop in and be part of this blog tour for The Geography of Lost Things by Jessica Brody! I love Jessica Brody – she wrote a book I just adored that I reviewed last year called The Chaos of Standing Still (seriously, go read that one, it’s a fave of mine), so I was super excited for the chance to be part of another review tour of one of her books! Let’s dive in!
In The Geography of Lost Things, Ali and her mom are about to lose their house to the bank, and it’s all Ali’s dad’s fault. Except she can’t really blame him, because he recently died. She thought he was going to be out of their lives for good… but then he leaves her his most prized possession: a 1968 Firebird convertible. She thinks, THIS is just what they need. She can sell it and pay the bank what is owed on the house. Except she can’t drive a stick shift, and she has to get the car five hours north of where she lives. But do you know who can drive a stick?
Nico, Ali’s ex-boyfriend. Ugh.
So Nico and Ali embark on the most awkward road trip of all time, and Nico tries to convince Ali to not sell the Firebird, but trade up for the money they need to keep the house. And that type of adventure may be exactly what Ali needs.
3 Things I Loved
- The writing. If there’s one thing that is consistent about Jessica Brody, it’s the quality of her writing. I feel everything when I’m reading her books. And the characters and situations are super complex and interesting, and she often writes so an entire book takes place over a since day or night. It’s so awesome to read. So yeah, highly recommend anything by Jessica Brody, and this book is no exception.
- Ali. Speaking of complex characters… Ali is so interesting. She has these not-great memories of her dad and not-great memories of her relationship with Nico that are layered over the current storyline in a brilliant way. She’s our hero, but she’s kind of dark, and she’s totally self-deprecating, and she just wants to help her mom in the only way she knows how. I loved her. She was real to me.
- Nico. Because of the structure of this book, the only consistent other character was Nico, and he was equally complex and fascinating. Reading as their relationship starts and unfolds and ends is so wonderful, especially since it’s told out of order and through memories. And the present-day Nico doesn’t always seem to match the memories that Ali has of their relationship, which makes both of them seem all the more real to me. They’re great characters, and they work well together in the frame of the story.
Dislikes/Problematic Content
Honestly, I was in love with the voice from the very first page, so I didn’t notice anything problematic in the book. I wish there were some more characters in this one, although Jackson and some of the others are very much alive in Ali’s memories. And pretty much everyone is straight, and race is never discussed one way or the other. But overall, I didn’t see any problems with this book.
Rating
A reminder of the rating scale:
- Red = DNF, I hated everything
- Orange = Ugh, no thank you
- Yellow = I mean, I’ve read worse, but there were problems
- Green = This was good!
- Blue = Oh my gosh, I loved this book!
- Purple = This is the unicorn of books and I will be rereading it until the binding falls apart and EVERYONE should be reading it!
The Geography of Lost Things was so good and fun and I will definitely be recommending it. I’m giving this book a BLUE rating. Go read it!
Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher, and Fantastic Flying Book Club tours for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my opinion in any way.
Don’t forget to enter the giveaway here: a Rafflecopter giveaway
Happy reading!
Snark & Squee 