Review: Let's Get Lost by Adi Alsaid

Five strangers. Countless adventures. One epic way to get lost.

Four teens across the country have only one thing in common: a girl named LEILA. She crashes into their lives in her absurdly red car at the moment they need someone the most.

There's HUDSON, a small-town mechanic who is willing to throw away his dreams for true love. And BREE, a runaway who seizes every Tuesday—and a few stolen goods along the way. ELLIOT believes in happy endings…until his own life goes off-script. And SONIA worries that when she lost her boyfriend, she also lost the ability to love.

Hudson, Bree, Elliot and Sonia find a friend in Leila. And when Leila leaves them, their lives are forever changed. But it is during Leila's own 4,268-mile journey that she discovers the most important truth— sometimes, what you need most is right where you started. And maybe the only way to find what you're looking for is to get lost along the way

Hardcover, 352 pages

Expected publication: July 29th 2014 by Harlequin Teen

Terri's Thoughts
 

I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher Harlequin Teen via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.  The expected publication date is July 29 2014.     
 

This was an interesting read for me.  Although clearly aimed for the Teen audience I found that I still enjoyed it even though those days are behind me.  I liked how it was written as five short stories with only one common thread and that was Leila.  The way she breezed in to each persons life and impacted it was something special.
 

Without disclosing too much of the plot I found each story had an individual theme that make it unique.  Love, grief, comedy (although perhaps should have also been love), adventure (again should be love) and homecoming.  While the common theme is love each is told in a different way.
 

Here are my thoughts on each story

Hudson - boy/meets girl love story.  Very cute and clean
 

Bree - My least favorite.  I felt the rebellion was taking it a little bit too far.
 

Elliot - such a funny story.  While it references a bunch of different 80's movie it also reads exactly like one
 

Sonia - A little bit of adventure with comedy mixed in.  Entertaining.
 

Leila - While the only character present throughout her story brings the theme of all the others together.
 

Overall this was an enjoyable read and a little bit different than the stories currently dominating the genre.  For that I am thankful.

About the Author

Adi Alsaid was born and raised in Mexico City, then studied at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. While in class, he mostly read fiction and continuously failed to fill out crossword puzzles, so it's no surprise that after graduating, he did not go into business world but rather packed up his apartment into his car and escaped to the California coastline to become a writer. He's now back in his hometown, where he writes, coaches high school and elementary basketball, and has perfected the art of making every dish he eats or cooks as spicy as possible. In addition to Mexico, he's lived in Tel Aviv, Las Vegas, and Monterey, California. A tingly feeling in his feet tells him more places will eventually be added to the list. Let's Get Lost is his YA debut


Website:  http://www.somewhereoverthesun.com
Twitter:  AdiAlsaid