Thoughts on: Lost It (YA fiction)

Title: Lost It
Author: Kristen Tracy
Summary (provided by amazon.com): Idaho teen Tess Whistle is having one weird junior year–she, her family, and her friends are all losing it. Her parents, born again following a serious grease fire in the kitchen, take off unexpectedly to a survival camp in the Utah desert, leaving Tess with her grandmother. Tess's best friend, Zena, reacts to her parents' marital troubles by making elaborate plans to blow up a poodle. And Tess herself, who used to be 100 percent certain that she'd wait until she was married before she had sex and is deathly afraid of the wilderness, loses her virginity out of doors with her boyfriennd.

Caution: Will contain spoilers

I felt so iffy about this book. On one hand, it’s pretty funny and you have to appreciate (most) of the characters. On the other hand, the writing was mediocre, and a number of things made the story feel unrealistic. It had an unnatural flow that tainted this otherwise comical book.


The main plot is Tess’s relationship with her boyfriend, Benjamin. Their entire relationship was a disappointment. Firstly, they act way too close the very first day they meet. This pattern doesn’t stop, and throughout the entire novel it felt like their physical relationship progressed too fast to be…real. Especially for Tess, who’s originally described as being chaste and moral. During her most intimate scenes with Benjamin, she rarely describes ever feeling hesitant, self-conscious, or regretful. I felt like it directly contradicted her character development.


Another thing is that Benjamin was a bland, unlikable character. Even after reading the book, I feel like the only things I know about him are: 1. He liked an old game show called Password, and 2. He once had cancer.


Big spoiler alert. The main thing that bothered me was the climax. In the end, after losing her virginity to him, Benjamin cuts off his relationship with Tess. Why? Because Tess lied to him about something. It just felt like a lame lesson… They were supposed to be in love, but in the end they couldn’t communicate enough to move past Tess’s mistakes. It was a downer, although perhaps that was the author’s intention.


Altogether, it wasn’t a terrible book. But it felt like the author was trying to give her readers some serious advice regarding virginity, sex, and relationships, and I just don’t feel like she succeeded with getting her message across. However, I wouldn’t say I’m not recommending the book. In fact, I’d be interested in hearing about how other people feel! (Although…I don’t think anyone reads this blog anyway. Haha.) ^-^

Word for this book: Trite