The Lost by Sarah Beth Durst

The Lost by Sarah Beth Durst
"It was only meant to be a brief detour. But then Lauren finds herself trapped in a town called Lost on the edge of a desert, filled with things abandoned, broken and thrown away. And when she tries to escape, impassible dust storms and something unexplainable lead her back to Lost again and again. The residents she meets there tell her she's going to have to figure out just what she's missing—and what she's running from—before she can leave. So now Lauren's on a new search for a purpose and a destiny. And maybe, just maybe, she'll be found…. "- summary from Amazon

I love Durst's books as they're all such interesting concepts and she creates each world so well. The Lost is a thrilling book encased in a character study of Lauren and the other residents of Lost. Each person there is on a quest for a purpose and they need to look deep within before they can figure out what that is. Helping Lauren along on this journey are Claire, a cute, deadly six year old and Peter aka the Finder (who brings the people to Lost) after Lauren has been run out of town by the locals. Both characters are fun and mysterious and I enjoyed reading about their time together as they navigate Lost to stay away from the hostile locals. Lauren is a character many will relate to, as she feels lost after what happened recently to her mother and wonders just what exactly she is doing with her life. She's a strong character for sure, but also vulnerable and scared (both emotionally and physically- the townspeople are after her, after all).

Overall, Durst has written a fantastically compelling start to a trilogy and I cannot wait to read more. Book 2 is already out, with Book 3 out later this year.

FTC: Received e-galley from Netgalley. Link above is an Amazon Associate link; any profit goes toward funding contests.