I know what you’re thinking – it’s yet another take on the Breakfast Club genre but it’s not so if you give it a try you’ll see judging a book by its back cover can be unfair.

You do have a motley crew thrown together that probably never would’ve breathed the same air before willingly but the rushed character development, sci fi like aspects and intriguing mystery will prove that this plot device was the perfect set up for the story.

Although at times it feels like the characters jumped from point A to point N in their development you still feel very much by the end that you know who they are, how they became the way they did both pre and post enhanced and that these were all basically good kids who just needed someone to tell them they worth it. I ended up liking all of them and really feeling for their struggles and being happy for their successes.

Yes there is an ethically horrendous, although not unprecedented in reality, plot device where government agents kidnap and without their consent use drug enhancements on these kids to move the story along. No that’s not okay and the author doesn’t try to convince you that it is but seeing as how this is done ad nauseam in the comic world without people having a major hissy fit I’m not going to give the author flack for using it here either.

Overall I think teens should like it. The authors have an extensive career working in the YA world both with Literary and Visual Media so they know what this fan base is into and they’ve managed to capture various points here. It’s easy to see this becoming another of their shows or multi-book serials.

Wow, I was pleasantly surprised with this one! At first thought I rated this 4 stars, but after further thought I'm going to have to bring it down to 3-3.5 stars because I've got some issues.

So The Lost causes follows five teenagers who are involuntarily drugged by the FBI to give them special kinetic abilities to help solve a murder in their town. These five teenagers are the kind of kids who have been given up on, whether by school, their parents, life, or all three. They're the kind of kids no one is gonna give a shit about if something goes wrong, and would never believe if they came forward and started telling everyone that they've been drugged by the FBI.

So the premise is what talked me into downloading this arc, and I don't regret it at all.
It was a quick read, there was nothing too full on for the most part; which is exactly what I needed. Plus it kept me wanting to turn the page. I mean, I'm not going to lie to you, I pretty much guessed all the twists and turns. Perhaps not from the beginning but I did catch on pretty quick, and yet I still enjoyed this book.

I really loved the characters. You've got Sabrina who's been using drugs to fade all her heartache away after losing her brother. You've got Z who is a punk rock girl trapped in a rich family, Justin who is the athlete with serious anger issues, Gabby the ex-champion ice-skater who's OCD has taken over her life and Andrew the hypochondriac who can't seem to stay out of the nurses office.
Okay, these are all pretty stereotypical but they're also layered, multifaceted characters. Once they are administered the serum their problems slowly start to lift and are replaced with abilities they could only dream of. As they work hard to control their newfound gifts, the reader gets to watch as a shift happens in each character and they become the best versions of themselves.

Now lets tackle the whole FBI drugging a bunch of kids because boy do I have a lot of issues with it!
So the FBI get all these kids in a room together for "group therapy" and slips the serum into their drinks without their permission, or the permission of their parents. Then, once the serum starts to take affect and they see all the positive things it can do for their lives, the FBI reveal how they violated a group of teenagers' bodily autonomy. I have a really big issue with this but I will give props to the authors because they do make it quiet clear that this is in no way okay.

Now my next issue isn't dealt with as well. So one of the teenagers ends up having a romantic relationship with an FBI agent. They try to fight their growing connection but in the end they submit to their feelings. My issue is that this relationship is between a 16-17 year old high schooler and a 22 year. I know this isn't that big of an age gap. But, and this is a big but, the 22 year old is an FBI agent. He very much holds all the power in this relationship, its a massive power imbalance, especially if you keep in mind that he technically drugged her without her knowledge, giving her abilities without her consent. I mean that's a red fucking flag if I ever saw one! I wanted to like them as a couple because they were adorable but I couldn't because the whole time "he drugged her" screamed in the back of my head. On top of that he beats up some guy who tries to drug Sabrina as if he has any higher moral ground just because his drug gave her powers while the other would have probably been used to make it easier to rape her. Both are a violation, both are awful, just because you can recognize how awful and not okay one is, doesn't mean it just cancels out the drugging you did. If it wasn't for all of that, and if it had been made clear that she was at least 18, I would have been able to get on board with the relationship a little more but unfortunately that wasn't the case here.

Overall I did enjoyed the story, but I just can't get past the few issues I had with it.

First thought: 5 misfits forced together --- okay, so Breakfast Club. But after the exposition that feels like an unfair comparison. While the characters are nicely developed, their changes happen quite rapidly, but I suppose that is because they all want to leave their problems behind. Although there are elements of the supernatural, the way the mystery is solved also showcases problem solving skills, which I appreciated. It makes the reader feel that the characters abilities were with them all along - they had it in them despite things that were forced upon them. Sometimes it just takes someone believing in you for you to reach your true potential. And that's why, for all the darkness in the story, it has a bright message. Having said that, I picked the cover because it was midnight blue, but now that I've read the book, I want a brighter visual to accompany the story. And I want to read the sequel (there has to be a sequel!).

About: The Lost Causes is a young adult thriller written by Alyssa Embree Schwartz and Jessica Koosed Etting. It will be published on 9/5/17 by KCP Loft, an imprint of Kids Can Press, also an imprint of Hatchette Book Group, 344 pages. The genres are young adult, fiction, and mystery/thriller. This book is intended for readers ages 14 to 18 and grades 9 to 12.

My Experience: I started reading The Lost Causes on 7/22/17 and finished it on 7/31/17. This book is a fantastic read! I love how the authors reveal little clues here and there to keep the story interesting. I love a good chase and a good puzzle and this book has it. It’s great to be able to follow the characters as they analyze and unravel the mystery among themselves. Despite being lost causes, I like that they are smart and can think for themselves when situations became suspicious. This book has enough suspense and mystery to keep me reading on and I like that I couldn’t see where the ending was headed.

In this book, readers will follow 5 high school students who are deemed the lost causes because their parents/teachers gave up on helping them to overcome their personal problems. Gabby with her OCD, Justin with his anger issues, Sabrina with her drug abuse, Z with her depression, and Andrew with his body pains and constant ambulance calls all are varies in background. One day, the 5 got summoned to a therapy session, they were under the impression of meeting the school’s psychologist, Dr. Pearl but in fact were met with the FBIs. After the initial meeting, they woke up with enhanced senses: Z can hear other people’s thoughts, Andrew becomes a genius, Justin can throw people off with his minds, Gabby can see people’s past by touch, and Sabrina can see dead people. When they confronted Patricia and Nash (FBIs), they were given the choice to go back to being themselves as they were before with their issues or join a secret mission to solve a recent murder with their enhanced abilities. The best thing about this enhanced abilities was that it suppressed their prior problems. When they realized that this secret mission will give them a purpose in life compare to their being outcast in the past, they all agreed to take part in the mission. The group find themselves not only solving the murder but also questioning whether they can trust the FBIs.

This book is written in the third person point of view. It has great characters and an interesting plot. It’s very well written and makes an addictive read! This thriller is light hearted so it’s ideal for readers who doesn’t like to read gruesome killings. I love how the characters were all are flawed and that they are trusted with an important mission to do something they normally couldn’t. I love the sense of humor and the shyness in romance, despite very little romance there is in this book. I love how through this mission, the lost causes become confident in themselves and find the meaning in friendships among each other that they previously lacked. The Lost Causes is an unexpected but satisfying read and I highly recommend everyone to read it!

Pro: friendship, crime investigation, secret mission, enhanced abilities, page turner, fast paced, flawed main characters, problem solving, strategy analyzing

Con: none

I rate it 5 stars!

***Many thanks to the authors Alyssa Embree Schwartz and Jessica Koosed Etting, publisher Kids Can Press, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review. Please be assured that my opinions are honest.

xoxo,
Jasmine at www.howusefulitis.wordpress.com for a detailed review

Amazing! I fell in love with the characters and was so engrossed with the story that I couldn't possible stop reading and in the super intense scene at the end I was reading so fast, convinced something terrible was going to happen to the characters I'd come to love.
Also huge round of applause to the authors for the cute and fluffy relationship in this between 2 characters in this which DID NOT INCLUDE INSTA-LOVE!!!!!!! J ust two teenagers who were adorable and started dating and hanging out because teenagers don’t start going out and then start saying ‘I love you’ a couple days later, not unless they’re twelve or something. Yes A+!
My only problems with this book was that 1- I wanted a bit more of their background and seeing into their family lives more, especially with Gabby (I loved her she was my favourite) and Sabrina and Andrew too.
2- Lost Causes was said far too much in the beginning to the point where it started becoming cheesy and comical.(But I loved it when they named their group that, kind of like The Avengers or whatever)
3- The pacing at the start, just for the first couple chapters, but everything seemed to happen really fast, mainly with them all becoming such fast friends.
I'm really hoping there's a sequel! PLease say there's a sequel!!!

I really enjoyed this story line. I found myself trying to figure out the culprit along with each of the characters. I would have really liked to read even more background on each of the students home lives. Relationships with family members, siblings, school. Those details seemed a little rushed. Overall, a great read with lots of trustees and turns that I was not expecting. Well done! Will be adding this to my bookshelf!

DNF at 24 percent. I went into this book with high hopes, but unfortunately, the treatment of the perception of mental illness immediately turned me off. What began as something I looked forward to (yay, MI representation!) quickly went sour after the kids start getting their powers. Treating OCD, Depression, Addiction, etc. as if they are something that can be miraculously fixed with a serum stretches the imagination a little too far and also stigmatizes mental illness as something that makes people broken or unlovable. The kids were "lost causes" before their illnesses went away but afterwards, theyre special and heroes. That view of MI is awful for someone with MI to witness, because it only increases the stigma and hopelessness surrounding it.
I get that this is intended to be a sci-fi, paranormal fiction book but the poor treatment of mental illness can have real life consequences that I would hate for a young person dealing with it to encounter.
Given the above and as someone with clinical depression, I do not feel comfortable finishing this book, but thank the publisher for the opportunity to read and review it.

Interesting, easy read. Good twists and turns, great pacing and the characters were easy to get attached to.

I really enjoyed the plot of The Lost Causes. To see such a different set of people come together and work as a group was really nice. I enjoyed the main characters and didn't think anyone got shorted when it comes to development. I did find some problems with some of the relationships, specifically and older male/underage female relationship but nothing too overt happens. Some of the plot elements are predictable but the conclusion was very satisfying and I would read about their further adventures should they have any.

I can't begin to tell you how much I loved this book! Jessica and Alyssa, please write a sequel. Also, if you could possibly start talks with some TV networks to commence work on The Lost Causes Season 1 that'd be awesome.

The Lost Causes shouldn't have worked so well ... but it did. It took on so many themes and genres that it should have read like a book that couldn't make up its mind what it wanted to be when it grew up ... but it worked. Now this isn't exhaustive by any means but we had murder, conspiracy theories, addiction, child abuse, abandonment issues, trust issues, mystery, humour ... yet it was cohesive. How is that even possible?! Did Jessica and Alyssa use the serum on themselves to work this magic, and where can I get some?

I was so conflicted reading this book. I wanted to read slowly because I didn't want to miss anything yet I wanted to rush through it to see how it wrapped up. I wanted to know who we could trust but the suspense was so much fun I wanted it to last. I wanted to find a character I hated or bored me but it wasn't to be.

I can't think of another book where I've made it to the end and still haven't decided who my favourite character was. This book was primarily written in segments focusing on each of the five Lost Causes - Z, Sabrina, Andrew, Justin, and Gabby. Now, this usually annoys me in books because I find it can disrupt the flow and make the book feel disjointed ... but it worked here. It started with Z and I immediately bonded with her, partly because of her attitude and partly because she was rocking my hairstyle. I was sure she'd be my favourite character. Then I discovered that my favourite character was constantly changing, depending on who I was reading about at the time. So at this point, I give up. They're all my favourites!

The banter between the five was realistic and I loved that their growing bond wasn't all sunshine and roses. They annoyed and didn't always understand each other, and why should they? They had such diverse personalities. They had no reason to become Insta-friends. Also, I cannot give enough praise for the fact that the teenagers actually spoke like teenagers!

I don't want to give away any spoilers but suffice it to say that the plot kept me guessing, I wanted to know what happened next with both the plot and the relationships between the characters and I had so much fun reading this book. I even half expected Mulder and Scully to walk in and join the investigation.

I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley (thank you to NetGalley and Kids Can Press) in exchange for an honest review but I'd have happily bought this book and will definitely be rereading it, along with any sequels. In case you missed it the first time, Jessica and Alyssa, please write a sequel!

A fantastic, brilliant. dark read that will captivate today's teens and young adults!

I very much enjoyed this book! The only thing holding me back from from giving it a 5 star was i predicted one part of it and I also felt like it could have went even deeper and more emotional with the characters. I think young people and adults alike will enjoy it and so many will be able to relate to the struggles the teens were dealing with. It was also fun imagining having the powers the teens developed and how they could empower themselves and others with those gifts. I felt the action kept moving and I wanted to know the people in the story better and follow their lives and decisions. It was a fun read and i am grateful I was able to read it.

Thoroughly enjoyed, honestly surprised at how much I enjoyed it! Would recommend to anyone that enjoys reading the young adult genre or suspense novels

Apologies I cannot read and review Download only files as I read on my tablet using the kindle app