2.5 stars I think....

The Distance Between Lost and Found by Kathryn Holmes fell a bit flat for me. I’m not entirely sure what it was about this story but there were a number of things that drove me crazy which resulted in the rating I gave it.

This is a story about a girl who is thrown into a situation where no one really has any control and she, along with two other teenagers, try to survive being lost in the Smoky Mountains. The underlying story is that six months prior, something happened between the main character, Hallelujah, and the preacher’s son Luke, that made everything very hard to bear for her and as a reader, we don’t really know what it was…only that Hallie is the one that has been getting the blowback from it, not Luke. As the story progresses, we find out more about what happened to Hallie and how it has impacted those around her.

I liked Hallie but I have to admit, she made me mad. I wanted her to stand up for herself and although I get why she didn’t, I was still hoping she would take a stand. I did appreciate the introduction of Rachel as the outsider which allowed a slow reveal of what happened. I’m not sure that I really liked her though (I can’t really pinpoint why – but its true). Now, I will probably not make any friends here because I get that Jonah is supposed to be the “swoony boy” in this story but he also made me angry. He was supposed to be Hallie’s friend and no matter what he saw, he should have had a conversation with her before just believing everything. Yes, it was partially Hallie’s fault too for not telling her side of the story, but if he really had any feelings for her – knowing what type of person Luke was – he would have dug into it a bit more before cutting her out of his life.

As the story progresses, these characters are definitely put through some trials. From facing a bear to sickness, to physical injury and I thought Holmes did a great job of showing just how dangerous it can be to be lost in the mountains if you are unprepared. In the end, this was the part of the story that had me continuing to turn the pages. Don’t get me wrong, I did want to know what really happened between Hallie and Luke but figuring out how these characters were going to survive and make it out of the mountains alive was what I found most interesting.

Thank you to Edelweiss and HarperTeen for the review copy!