So the entire reason I grabbed this book was because of the title; my pitiful ass thought that "lost" insinuated a loss -- that this family's daughter had passed away. (Spoiler alert: that wasn't the case, at all).
Our story revolves around the Sorenson family. 38-year-old mother, Elise, has been training for the Olympics for the better part of her life. Meanwhile, father, Matt, is the primary caregiver to their 8-year-old daughter, Gracie. The family plan on taking a vacation to their summer cabin -- partly so they can sell it in order to continue financing Elise's equestrian dream.
However, while visiting, their daughter is abruptly abducted, forcing Elise and Matt to see if their marriage can endure this trial...
Like, take Elise, the mother -- a mother who would rather forfeit her relationship with her family in favor of her dream. For goodness sake -- the story opens with Elise having an accident because she got on a horse while nearing the third trimester of her pregnancy. The accident causes Gracie to develop cerebral palsy, a lifelong disability. Present day opens with Elise missing Gracie's first school play because her horse refuses to board the plane! She has already missed years of her daughter's life to training, and what's more, Gracie's kidnapping is ultimately HER fault!
(Images created using an AI art generator on NightCafe)
Aside from that, Elise's attitude towards her own parents is disgusting. Her father cheated on her mother -- a woman who believed what he told her, left her life for him, was nothing but a devoted wife and mother -- and because teenage Elise was embarrassed by her, her mother felt she no longer had a purpose. Elise's mother kills herself. As a result, Elise stops talking to her father for over two decades, but when he wants to reunite, Elise suddenly starts villainizing her mother to justify reconnecting with him!
Here are actual lines from the book:
I just felt this was a revolting note to end on. For one, to treat Elise's mother, who had done nothing but love and revolve her world around her family, in such a manner, but then for Elise to refuse to hold herself accountable for her own mistakes as a mother. Just zero sense of awareness -- from ANY of the characters! 🤦♀️
Matt, the husband, is no better. He spends the entire novel chasing after his ex-girlfriend next door than he does his wife. Matt even ends up sleeping (yes, just sleeping) with this ex (plus a few kisses) while Gracie is missing, AND at the same time that his ex is dating someone! Someone who is helping Matt sell their family cabin!! Despite Elise eventually finding out about it, on her own, she decides to give her husband a "pass" for the sake of their family's fresh start:
The book is MEANT to finish off on a happy note -- Gracie is found unharmed and Elise even gives up her Olympic dream in favor of her family -- but it feels like anything BUT 😩 Because, it also ends with Elise refusing to forgive the abductor -- despite the fact he never harmed Gracie and was screwed over by her grandfather-in-law -- proving that Elise ultimately learned nothing...:
Yet, in Elise's next breath, she states:
So, in the end, Elise expects everyone else to compensate for her, yet she cannot seem to do a damn thing for anyone else! Not even her own mother, who did nothing except be an upstanding mother, is exempt from Elise's hypocrisy! Anyway, as stated, an absolutely grotesque novel that was purely written in the hopes it would hit the big screen 🤮
