ARC Review || The Lost Coast by Amy Rose Capetta

Title: The Lost Coast

By: Amy Rose Capetta

Pages: 352

Published: May 14th, 2019

By: Candlewick

Genre: YA|Magic|Fantasy|LGBT+

You can buy it HERE: Book Depository

The spellbinding tale of six queer witches forging their own paths, shrouded in the mist, magic, and secrets of the ancient California redwoods.

Danny didn’t know what she was looking for when she and her mother spread out a map of the United States and Danny put her finger down on Tempest, California. What she finds are the Grays: a group of friends who throw around terms like queer and witch like they’re ordinary and everyday, though they feel like an earthquake to Danny. But Danny didn’t just find the Grays. They cast a spell that calls her halfway across the country, because she has something they need: she can bring back Imogen, the most powerful of the Grays, missing since the summer night she wandered into the woods alone. But before Danny can find Imogen, she finds a dead boy with a redwood branch through his heart. Something is very wrong amid the trees and fog of the Lost Coast, and whatever it is, it can kill. Lush, eerie, and imaginative, Amy Rose Capetta’s tale overflows with the perils and power of discovery — and what it means to find your home, yourself, and your way forward.

|| Goodreads ||

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I want to thank Candlewick and NetGalley for providing me with this book in exchange for an honest review

I really believe that this book is one of my biggest disappointments of this year, not because it’s bad but because I thought I would love it, and I didn’t, so I ended up a little sad after finishing it. Sometimes it happens, you know, you have a book that doesn’t feel like it’s made for you, and while everyone loves it you don’t know what’s going on, well, that’s me, lol. The book has some good points that I would like to highlight below and also tell you a little about the things that didn’t quite convince me

The book begins by following Danny, she has just moved with her mother to Tempest, California. There she meets a group of queer witches who call themselves The Grays, and soon Danny discovers that it wasn’t a coincidence and that on the contrary, they attracted her to the city with a spell because she has something that the girls need. Danny can find Imogen, the most powerful of the Grays, disappearing since a night that goes into the woods alone. 

I’m going to do this review a little differently than what I usually do, and I’ll separate it in two points, I’ll talk a little bit first about the things that I liked and then what just didn’t work for me.

Things I liked…

The Diversity: This book is really beautiful in terms of diversity, the book follows a group of queer witches so there’s a lot of sexual rep (lesbian, bisexual, ace, etc) but we also have racial diversity and body positivity, which’s great and I always appreciate when an author writes about a group of girls so different from each other, but so united at the same time. I think this will make many people feel identified and can see themselves in the characters which is wonderful, we all deserve good reps in books 

Atmospheric Setting: The places where the story takes place are so beautiful and atmospheric I really loved them, besides I feel they’re my kind of places since a lot happens in the woods and I adore the plots in woods and more when there’s witchery in the middle. If you concentrate a lot you can even feel that you’re there, so I think great work.

Things I didn’t like…

Plot Construction & POVs: I had a lot of problems to understand the plot in general, I started and the constantly POV change was already a problem for me, in general, this doesn’t bother me, the short POVs can be entertaining and also make you go fast through the story, but it’s very difficult when it’s not clear who’s narrating each part, and also you don’t even know where you are, or at what moment of time is happening, as they jump from the past to the present, and all this was a big impediment for me to enjoy the book. Because, being 100% honest, it was very difficult to understand something of what was happening.

I’ve heard several people say it’s a whimsical story and I agree, but maybe it was too whimsical for me. Maybe the idea of ​​the author was to give us an ingenious, mysterious and complicated plot, but OMG, I couldn’t connect and is really disappointing, especially because I would like to tell you a little more about what it really is about, but I don’t think I can because I’m not sure neither myself. There are chapters that are simply there and don’t contribute in any way with the plot. There are chapters that are about Crows and others about some of The Grays and others are about Danny, and although I tried very hard to understand, I couldn’t do it, and it’s a shame because it has everything I love in a book, from witches to an atmospheric place, but the plot construction is simply not for me, it’s very messy

Some important parts and “revelations” happen in a rush so I haven’t been able to enjoy them, there are some things that happen out of nowhere and it’s very hard for me to visualize them in my head, due to all my confusion about what was really happening

Sadly, I couldn’t connect with any of the characters, even though I know it’s not them, it’s me lol, really. Maybe because I was so lost in I couldn’t concentrate on them, although perhaps in another story I would have enjoyed them.
I think that if this wasn’t an ARC maybe I wouldn’t have finished it, and it hurts me in my soul to say it, but it’s real.

It’s the first time this year this happens to me, but I just feel that the book is, honestly, not for me, you know? and it’s really difficult to express what I feel with words, so I apologize because maybe the review isn’t so clear as I would like it to be. Not for this, I wouldn’t recommend it, I can tell you that it’s a book about queer witches, located in a beautifully atmospheric place where I would like to get lost in, and it has a very whimsical plot.
If you feel like reading it, go for it!!, IT’S NOT MY THING but I’ve seen that most people are loving it, so maybe this is an unpopular opinion and that’s fine.

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2.5/5 ⭐️⭐️💫

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