silea's review against another edition
2.0
The 'big twist' is pretty obvious less than halfway through the book, and from then on it's just teen drama with a lot of really implausible situations to prolong the 'mystery'. It's like a sitcom, where there's some simple misunderstanding, but no one ever says or does the obvious thing that would clear everything up.
laurelinwonder's review against another edition
3.0
This book was just okay. YA readers would probably love it, it's pretty straightforward, and decently written. It just didn't have anything to keep me interested, it pulled the expected punches, and didn't give me the resolution I was hoping for.
emjrasmussen's review against another edition
Amnesic characters abound in young adult fiction, clustering in a mass almost large enough to create an entire sub-genre: memory loss books. As much as this ploy captivates me, it is no secret that scattered memories are growing more and more common, and therefore authors must work harder and harder to make their tales unique. Some do not succeed in separating their stories from others, but with her newest novel, Adele Griffin excels in the art of individuality. Loud Awake and Lost is a precisely worded equation, developed to transform small doses of memory loss into an effective plot.
Griffin first minimizes her amnesia input by only stealing six weeks from her protagonist. This block of time initially seems small enough that Ember can slide back into her old life, but these six weeks were heavy with life-changing events. Ember quickly discovers that she changed as a person in the last days before her accident and spends the rest of the book uncovering who and what brought about the lost side of her personality, dividing her characterization into three contrasting sections. Readers see who the main character is now and hear hints about the two earlier versions of herself, which creates a split personality that gives Ember's voice an unreliable tone. Griffin could not have created this contradictory character development without such a short block of blank time.
The author also cuts back on the memory loss ploy by shaving away excess flashbacks. Stingy with details, she shares bits of Ember's past in sentence-long snippets rather than page-long breaks into the character's history, keeping readers waiting on their toes for the next reveal. Griffin only unveils information when the protagonist earns it, either by outright asking or engaging in a memory-triggering experience, which forces readers to cheer for Ember as she pieces together and accepts her past. Loud Awake and Lost does not take the easy way out when it comes to disclosing its protagonist's history, and as a result, the story flourishes with suspense and character development.
Each of these elements travels on its own through the literary function Griffin writes, but they combine to form the greatest output of all. When Ember's uncertainty about who she is blends with her struggle to find out, there is plenty left to the unknown and an equal number of opportunities for plot twists. Loud Awake and Lost pops with little surprises until the end, when one final discovery blows the rest of the story to bits. I somehow did not predict the conclusion, but after reading the book's final page, I felt compelled to reread each moment that I retrospectively recognized as a subtle clue, just to appreciate Griffin's smooth foreshadowing.
Loud Awake and Lost further proves a point that the author's previous books already made: Adele Griffin has mastered her grip on the mind and can manipulate a character's consciousness into an addictive psychological thriller. Her style is unlike any other mystery author's, and I am now a devoted fan of her rich, electrifying writing.
This review originally appeared at www.foreverliterary.blogspot.com.
Griffin first minimizes her amnesia input by only stealing six weeks from her protagonist. This block of time initially seems small enough that Ember can slide back into her old life, but these six weeks were heavy with life-changing events. Ember quickly discovers that she changed as a person in the last days before her accident and spends the rest of the book uncovering who and what brought about the lost side of her personality, dividing her characterization into three contrasting sections. Readers see who the main character is now and hear hints about the two earlier versions of herself, which creates a split personality that gives Ember's voice an unreliable tone. Griffin could not have created this contradictory character development without such a short block of blank time.
The author also cuts back on the memory loss ploy by shaving away excess flashbacks. Stingy with details, she shares bits of Ember's past in sentence-long snippets rather than page-long breaks into the character's history, keeping readers waiting on their toes for the next reveal. Griffin only unveils information when the protagonist earns it, either by outright asking or engaging in a memory-triggering experience, which forces readers to cheer for Ember as she pieces together and accepts her past. Loud Awake and Lost does not take the easy way out when it comes to disclosing its protagonist's history, and as a result, the story flourishes with suspense and character development.
Each of these elements travels on its own through the literary function Griffin writes, but they combine to form the greatest output of all. When Ember's uncertainty about who she is blends with her struggle to find out, there is plenty left to the unknown and an equal number of opportunities for plot twists. Loud Awake and Lost pops with little surprises until the end, when one final discovery blows the rest of the story to bits. I somehow did not predict the conclusion, but after reading the book's final page, I felt compelled to reread each moment that I retrospectively recognized as a subtle clue, just to appreciate Griffin's smooth foreshadowing.
Loud Awake and Lost further proves a point that the author's previous books already made: Adele Griffin has mastered her grip on the mind and can manipulate a character's consciousness into an addictive psychological thriller. Her style is unlike any other mystery author's, and I am now a devoted fan of her rich, electrifying writing.
This review originally appeared at www.foreverliterary.blogspot.com.
jessicaz's review against another edition
3.0
About halfway through this book I was pretty sure I was going to hate it, but the end really redeemed it for me. It was a love story, but was even more a "what sort of person am I?" story, which makes it a very relatable one..
thatjamiea's review against another edition
3.0
More of a 3.5, but I guess I'm not feeling generous.
Ember is seventeen and a senior at a hoity toity NYC high school. She has an awesome best friend and a a super great guy who is probably in love with her. But, in February of her junior year Ember drives her car off a bridge in a snow storm. She nearly dies and in the process her passenger, a mystery to Ember, dies.
Ember has buried her memories of this person and the person she was. After eight months of intensive rehab she returns home to piece together who she was, who she will be and who the mystery man was.
I liked the premise of this story, but even though the book wasn't very long, I felt like the story was drawn out in some ways, and I got frustrated waiting for Ember to figure it out.
Ember is seventeen and a senior at a hoity toity NYC high school. She has an awesome best friend and a a super great guy who is probably in love with her. But, in February of her junior year Ember drives her car off a bridge in a snow storm. She nearly dies and in the process her passenger, a mystery to Ember, dies.
Ember has buried her memories of this person and the person she was. After eight months of intensive rehab she returns home to piece together who she was, who she will be and who the mystery man was.
I liked the premise of this story, but even though the book wasn't very long, I felt like the story was drawn out in some ways, and I got frustrated waiting for Ember to figure it out.
pagesplotsandpints's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars
ARC provided by Random House
Loud Awake and Lost was good but just not as gripping and enthralling as I hoped it would be
For one, I wasn't a huge fan of Ember. I understood where her character was headed but eh. We just weren't connecting.
I also didn't really understand Kai. Their meeting and the continuing relationship didn't click for me and it really affected my feelings towards the book. It was negative but... Just very in the middle.
The more I think about it, the more I feel like my connection to the characters just held me back a bit. I actually had figured out the ending (well, suspected) about halfway through the book so the resolution to the mystery wasn't as surprising for me. It really does help everything come together and all makes sense but I felt like I didn't get enough hints or answers fast enough. I wanted some clues and some insights a bit quicker to help push the story along.
I enjoyed the book but it just wasn't a favorite.
Full review originally posted HERE on The Book Addict's Guide 12/16/13: There don't seem to be a lot of mystery-type YA novels (or weren't... I think they're starting appear more often now! Or maybe I'm noticing them more...) so I was really hoping LOUD AWAKE AND LOST would be a really good mystery and, well. It just wasn't as thrilling as I had hoped!
I actually have a lot of respect for the book, especially after finding out that Adele Griffin was inspired to write this book based on a situation that happened to her brother. (You can find out more info about that on the author profile over at Teen Lit Rocks!) I really enjoyed the psychological factor involved in LOUD AWAKE AND LOST. I really enjoy a good psychological twist and this book definitely had them! Ember wakes up after her accident and is missing a few very, very key details all from the last six weeks of her life before the accident. It was incredibly interesting to see how Ember had to figure out exactly what happened during those few weeks -- especially involving a very important piece she can't remember, a fight she barely believes happened, and memories of the accident that she really needs to recover before she can move on with her life.
I really enjoyed the concept and the process of the story and overall, it was exactly what I was looking for but somehow it just didn't come together as the story was progressing. I felt like that was kind of weird for me, but the resolution of the story sort of confirmed suspicions for me and brought everything together. I feel like a lot of times if I'm struggling a bit during the story, the ending usually ends up disappointing me as well, but I was invested in what I was hoping the ending would be so really the big picture was a big deal! There were a couple interesting twists in the book but I do have to say that I kind of guessed the "big deal" in there. It actually made the book better for me that was able to suspect that because otherwise it would have been a bit too confusing for me along the way.
There were actually a few times that I felt like the mystery was dragging. I wanted a few more clues to push the plot forward and keep my interesting piqued but there were times it was just a bit too slow. I think the fact that I do love a good mystery actually took away from it for me because I love the build-up of suspense and it did build up but then there were points where it would build up and then not move forward. I needed a bit more of a reveal than I was given at times!
I also had a bit of trouble connecting with the characters. I liked Ember but I didn't feel that emotional connection with her. I was also really confused with her relationship with Kai at first until things started to really unfold. Everything of course made sense towards the end, but it was another situation where it just didn't quite all fit together for me.
So I guess the review really sounds like I didn't enjoy the book but I did. Just really not as much as I had hoped. I think my big issue was that things really just didn't mesh for me while I was reading it. I had suspicions about what Ember was missing and I used those suspicions as fact (which did end up being true) so things made sense for me. Without those, I would have been a little too confused and I didn't like being so dependent on a hunch!
ARC provided by Random House
Loud Awake and Lost was good but just not as gripping and enthralling as I hoped it would be
For one, I wasn't a huge fan of Ember. I understood where her character was headed but eh. We just weren't connecting.
I also didn't really understand Kai. Their meeting and the continuing relationship didn't click for me and it really affected my feelings towards the book. It was negative but... Just very in the middle.
The more I think about it, the more I feel like my connection to the characters just held me back a bit. I actually had figured out the ending (well, suspected) about halfway through the book so the resolution to the mystery wasn't as surprising for me. It really does help everything come together and all makes sense but I felt like I didn't get enough hints or answers fast enough. I wanted some clues and some insights a bit quicker to help push the story along.
I enjoyed the book but it just wasn't a favorite.
Full review originally posted HERE on The Book Addict's Guide 12/16/13: There don't seem to be a lot of mystery-type YA novels (or weren't... I think they're starting appear more often now! Or maybe I'm noticing them more...) so I was really hoping LOUD AWAKE AND LOST would be a really good mystery and, well. It just wasn't as thrilling as I had hoped!
I actually have a lot of respect for the book, especially after finding out that Adele Griffin was inspired to write this book based on a situation that happened to her brother. (You can find out more info about that on the author profile over at Teen Lit Rocks!) I really enjoyed the psychological factor involved in LOUD AWAKE AND LOST. I really enjoy a good psychological twist and this book definitely had them! Ember wakes up after her accident and is missing a few very, very key details all from the last six weeks of her life before the accident. It was incredibly interesting to see how Ember had to figure out exactly what happened during those few weeks -- especially involving a very important piece she can't remember, a fight she barely believes happened, and memories of the accident that she really needs to recover before she can move on with her life.
I really enjoyed the concept and the process of the story and overall, it was exactly what I was looking for but somehow it just didn't come together as the story was progressing. I felt like that was kind of weird for me, but the resolution of the story sort of confirmed suspicions for me and brought everything together. I feel like a lot of times if I'm struggling a bit during the story, the ending usually ends up disappointing me as well, but I was invested in what I was hoping the ending would be so really the big picture was a big deal! There were a couple interesting twists in the book but I do have to say that I kind of guessed the "big deal" in there. It actually made the book better for me that was able to suspect that because otherwise it would have been a bit too confusing for me along the way.
There were actually a few times that I felt like the mystery was dragging. I wanted a few more clues to push the plot forward and keep my interesting piqued but there were times it was just a bit too slow. I think the fact that I do love a good mystery actually took away from it for me because I love the build-up of suspense and it did build up but then there were points where it would build up and then not move forward. I needed a bit more of a reveal than I was given at times!
I also had a bit of trouble connecting with the characters. I liked Ember but I didn't feel that emotional connection with her. I was also really confused with her relationship with Kai at first until things started to really unfold. Everything of course made sense towards the end, but it was another situation where it just didn't quite all fit together for me.
So I guess the review really sounds like I didn't enjoy the book but I did. Just really not as much as I had hoped. I think my big issue was that things really just didn't mesh for me while I was reading it. I had suspicions about what Ember was missing and I used those suspicions as fact (which did end up being true) so things made sense for me. Without those, I would have been a little too confused and I didn't like being so dependent on a hunch!
perednia's review against another edition
3.0
Ember is returning home after months of rehab, recovering from a car accident in which she was the driver and which claimed the life of the teenage boy who was riding with her.
She’s got a lot going on -- continuing her physical rehabilitation, including giving up the life of a dancer she once might have been; her loving parents trying not to suffocate her with concern; her former boyfriend, a perfect guy who isn’t over her; losing her touch as a foodie with panache in the kitchen; and not remembering anything about Anthony, who was in the car that night. No one else knew Anthony either.
Spending time on her own, lost in her own thoughts, Ember meets a street artist, Kai, who seems to know her better than she knows herself and who lights up her world. She keeps him a secret from everyone else.
Pages and pages later, we find out why.
This is far from a perfect book. The slow pacing will just about kill interest for teens craving action, although Ember’s yearning for the excitement of being with Kai may keep romance readers interested. It’s not hard to figure out the mystery in the story, and it does make sense. But the Ember who is drawn to Kai and the Ember in the real world don’t mesh. Adele Griffin writes lyrical prose but could have written a shorter novel here to attract more readers. For a high school fiction writing workshop, this would make an interesting book to deconstruct.
She’s got a lot going on -- continuing her physical rehabilitation, including giving up the life of a dancer she once might have been; her loving parents trying not to suffocate her with concern; her former boyfriend, a perfect guy who isn’t over her; losing her touch as a foodie with panache in the kitchen; and not remembering anything about Anthony, who was in the car that night. No one else knew Anthony either.
Spending time on her own, lost in her own thoughts, Ember meets a street artist, Kai, who seems to know her better than she knows herself and who lights up her world. She keeps him a secret from everyone else.
Pages and pages later, we find out why.
This is far from a perfect book. The slow pacing will just about kill interest for teens craving action, although Ember’s yearning for the excitement of being with Kai may keep romance readers interested. It’s not hard to figure out the mystery in the story, and it does make sense. But the Ember who is drawn to Kai and the Ember in the real world don’t mesh. Adele Griffin writes lyrical prose but could have written a shorter novel here to attract more readers. For a high school fiction writing workshop, this would make an interesting book to deconstruct.
trixie_reads's review against another edition
2.0
I might have felt differently if I were in the intended age range this book was written for, but I found the main character unappealing. She was an entitled, whiny, spoiled brat. The audiobook narrator was terrible, which added to my lack of enjoyment. She sounded as though she had to force out the last syllable of every word.
elvenavari's review against another edition
4.0
I never got really into Ember's character, though the last couple of chapters were heartbreaking. I definitely felt everything Ember was going through, that part was handled very well.