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chelseatm's review against another edition
2.0
I was really disappointed with this book. I'll admit that I had high expectations after reading Pyper's The Killing Circle but this was clearly a demonstrated example of a first novel. It was very (to use Pyper's exhausted water metaphor) muddled, overly-wordy, and left a couple loose ends dangling. One of the largest loose ends was the ghost woman's two daughters. I feel as though there were implicated hints as to whom they were but Pyper never actually identifies what happened to the two girls, he just has the character wondering of their fate the whole book. Very frustrating. There was a good twist at the end of the book that caught me off guard, though, I'll give it that. But overall, this book couldn't decide what it wanted to be - lawyer fiction, supernatural, character transformation. Instead it just became a blurry attempt at a story. I do plan to read other Pyper books but I would not recommend Lost Girls to anyone.
billymac1962's review against another edition
4.0
This is the third novel from Andrew Pyper I have read, which was his first.
[b:The Guardians|9306085|The Guardians|Andrew Pyper|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1330658384s/9306085.jpg|14189055] still remains my favourite of his, and one of my best reads of last year.
Lost Girls is quite good for the most part, and it brought to my mind some of the lingering feelings I had had while in the grips of the excellent Twin Peaks TV series.
The setting is a northern Ontario town, and the plot surrounds the trial of a schoolteacher accused of murdering two girls. Besides impending winter, the town is also overcast with the dread of legend: the Lady of the Lake, a ghost who just may have been responsible for dragging the girls down. Who knows? Our protagonist, a coke-addicted loner, doesn't care. He is strictly on assignment for his first murder trial, and his client's guilt is none of his concern. He just wants to win his case.
It was a pretty good read, but I can see why some readers weren't as keen. Pyper does seem to meander throughout, and the story flow does suffer for it. If this had been the first novel I had read by him, I wouldn't be inclined to read more of him. But I read The Guardians, so I know what he is capable of, and obviously his storytelling skill has evolved to something very enjoyable.
Next up will be the Demonologist.
[b:The Guardians|9306085|The Guardians|Andrew Pyper|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1330658384s/9306085.jpg|14189055] still remains my favourite of his, and one of my best reads of last year.
Lost Girls is quite good for the most part, and it brought to my mind some of the lingering feelings I had had while in the grips of the excellent Twin Peaks TV series.
The setting is a northern Ontario town, and the plot surrounds the trial of a schoolteacher accused of murdering two girls. Besides impending winter, the town is also overcast with the dread of legend: the Lady of the Lake, a ghost who just may have been responsible for dragging the girls down. Who knows? Our protagonist, a coke-addicted loner, doesn't care. He is strictly on assignment for his first murder trial, and his client's guilt is none of his concern. He just wants to win his case.
It was a pretty good read, but I can see why some readers weren't as keen. Pyper does seem to meander throughout, and the story flow does suffer for it. If this had been the first novel I had read by him, I wouldn't be inclined to read more of him. But I read The Guardians, so I know what he is capable of, and obviously his storytelling skill has evolved to something very enjoyable.
Next up will be the Demonologist.
sophieadair's review against another edition
4.0
I was given this book by a family member years ago and never thought twice about it. It wasn't until I randomly selected one of my TBRs last week this came up and I begrudgingly opened it- to my surprise I loved it, the ghost story elements were wonderful. I don't generally like crime books but this one had me hooked from the start.
It was written 20 years ago so of course there are some issues with descriptions of fat characters, gay characters and women amongst other things but overall it's a good read!
It was written 20 years ago so of course there are some issues with descriptions of fat characters, gay characters and women amongst other things but overall it's a good read!
beholdthemonkey's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
kingfan30's review against another edition
3.0
Not the gripping book I thought it would be, but a good read none the less. It did state on the cover that it is a scary book, which is why I decided to read it on a beach, but did not find it at all scary.
rachelini's review against another edition
3.0
I thought the ending of this book was great and pulled things together nicely, but was not as invested in the rest (partly because lawyering is boring to read, I find). I would definitely read something else by this author, though, since I'm pretty sure it was the topic that didn't do it for me.
tangledinwordsandyarn's review against another edition
2.0
Honestly, I didn't like any of the characters, and the story left a sort of bad taste in my mouth, but I just had to know how it ended.
bookaddicted's review
3.0
It was a great concept for a story and it did have some really great parts. I just felt like it would start to "go somewhere" and then all of a sudden pull back and "go nowhere".
There wasn't enough delving into the characters (especially the leads) and it was hard to know what the author wanted us to think/believe about the "Lady in the Lake". Was she there or was she not? Did she have a part in the murders or did she not? It really wasn't clear.
I have read other Pyper books that I enjoyed much more than this one so this won't stop me from trying his books in the future.
There wasn't enough delving into the characters (especially the leads) and it was hard to know what the author wanted us to think/believe about the "Lady in the Lake". Was she there or was she not? Did she have a part in the murders or did she not? It really wasn't clear.
I have read other Pyper books that I enjoyed much more than this one so this won't stop me from trying his books in the future.
oliviagwynne's review
2.0
Ugh. So painful to read. So slow. Also, for a Canadian character, living in a Canadian City, written by an author who also lives in a Canadian City, there were a lot of American references when Canadian ones should be used