The Lost Coast offers readers something unique in the realm of magical realism and young adult fantasy by combining it with the contemporary genre. Following a group of girls who call themselves The Grays who cast a spell to bring someone of power to their home in order to find their missing friend Imogen. This spell attracts Danny, a lost girl who has spent her life searching for something that will allow her to stay put, a home, a connection to something deep within her. Danny had a troubled past and together, with her mom, they move to Tempest, California.

There is a strong message here about finding a home, about finding a connection that most humans strive to obtain. Through Danny, Capetta captures this need with refined precision. It is naked; it is raw; it is emotional in its impact on the reader because it is entirely relatable, making it easy to connect to Danny and her narrative. Moreover, the context and connection to the queer community make this even more powerful.

This also ties into the much-needed representation of the LGBT community. Each girl represents a different spectrum of this, and their diverse backgrounds give depth and humanity to how they identify and their internal struggles. Moreover, these characters do not shy away from who they are. These girls are frank; they are honest about who they are and shy away from the socially acceptable conventions in order to seek out their happiness. That is power. Labels have power; names have power, there is power all around these girls, and the way they channel it pulls the reader to them like a moth to a flame.

The story, overall, follows a steady pace. It goes back and forth between the past and the present, following different characters to build a historical narrative for the novel that allows the mystery to flow. It gives the reader a piece by piece breakdown of Imogen and her connection to the characters around her in order to build the intrigue to her disappearance. There is a segment late in the novel that is not overall clear regarding Imogen and her vanishing act, and this jumps at the reader without precision. It ruins the overall smooth fluidity of the novel, even if it later regains the momentum.

There were several things I really liked about this book. I loved the diversity of the characters and the setting.
However, I had a hard time getting invested in the characters and the story. I feel like less changes in the point of view would have allowed me to connect better with what was happening.

I really wanted to love this, I gave it a fair try, but couldn't. The premise was very interesting, it intrigued me and I was thrilled to read about these queer witches so I started right away.
The book itself is weirdly structured and very confusing to read. It jumps back and forth in time and from one perspective to another without fully showing you anything.
As for the characters, they were, in my opinion, extremely superficial. I was hoping to dive into the story to find a good representation of LGBTQIA characters, but this topic was touched on in a very superficial way, it felt almost as if it were banalizing it, and so I was really disappointed.
Maybe I had too high expectations, but they were certainly not met.

I wanted to love this book. I did. The premise sounded amazing. And part of the book was amazing. It just took too long to get there.

I thought The Lost Coast was very... wordy? Like just so many words that it was hard to follow. It took me a while to really get into it.

The last 40% was great. I couldn’t put it down. But getting through the first 60% was hard for me. And I so wish it wouldn’t have been.

Now. What I loved most was the LGBTQIA+ rep. There were so many different sexualities represented. Also so many nationalities and body types! I think everyone can find a little of themselves in The Greys.

Whimsical and lyrical book with a strong sense of self. The protagonist was so wonderful (playing with the "predatory" tropes often associated with sapphic who kiss a lot of girls) and i loved her so much just as the other characters, in their strange and wonderful quest. If you loved The Raven Boys, but want it sapphic and ownvoices, this is the book for you!

I don't know if my hopes were just too high for this book, or if I was being too picky, or what. I went into this book convinced I would love it at least as much as I enjoyed The Brilliant Death, but I ended up staring at my ceiling, waiting for the audiobook to end so I could start something else. I started the book excited, but I ended underwhelmed and more than a little bored.

As usual, Capetta is a master at crafting characters that grab my attention and don't let go. I wanted to know more about the Grays and who they were, as well as how Danny was connected to them. I love the idea of witches, especially in a "contemporary" setting, but one or two of the witches themselves could have used some developing. It was hard to keep them apart, and it was even harder because Capetta purposefully crafted them to be so similar. I had to keep reminding myself that one character was like this, while the other was like this, and not that, etc, and it got tiresome after a while. It was both genius and infuriating. The characters that were defined well (Danny, Rush, Imogen) were all amazing characters, but it felt like the other Grays were just ... filler.

Unfortunately, besides the characters, I wasn't that invested in the story. I wasn't that interested in Imogen herself because every aspect of the story was about how amazing she was, so her disappearing wasn't that ... interesting to me. I wasn't invested in the mystery, so the big reveal was just another fact that I took in while staring at my ceiling. And even though I really enjoyed the characters, the romance itself felt weird and off. That might just be me, as I'm not the biggest romance fan, so take that part with a grain of salt.

Final Rating: 3
Overall?
I'm really conflicted on this one. I really love Amy Rose Capetta, but this one just fell a little flat. I liked the characters, but some of them were hard to keep track of while others were interesting but boring. While the ending was unexpected and intense, I was just bored with it. 

Would I Recommend?
I would definitely recommend this one for people who enjoy urban fantasy! I'm much more of a high fantasy reader, and I feel like I just wasn't used to the genre change. I also really enjoyed the diversity of the characters and how queer the story was, so that was also a plus!

I was fully entranced by this book and it's fierce love for queer girls who are searching for things they can only hope, between wishful breaths, to find. The writing is so whimsical and stunningly ethereal. It really sweeps you up into the aesthetic of Tempest where the trees are magical things that drink fog and where girls can be lost -- or found -- in. It's a book with one foot in reality, one in magic, but it's whole soul is for witches, queerness, and for those who have hollow hearts that need to be filled with friends and belonging.

The plot basically follows Danny as she leaves behind a trail of mishaps at her old hometown and moves to Tempest with her mum for a "fresh start". Danny's on strict instructions to behave. No wandering, no being thoughtless, no scaring her mother to death. But it's in Danny's bones to find trouble -- and it feels like this move maybe wasn't just random happenstance. When she meets The Greys, a group of four teen witches who are looking for their missing friend, Danny realises she's here for a purpose. Imogen is gone. Not in body, but in soul, and there's no way her four best friends (and her lover, Rush) will let her vanish from their lives and live as an emptied husk. But they needed someone with powers of finding: and that's Danny's untapped power, being a dowser.

The friendship group was interesting and their dynamics complex. I did struggle to keep up with the characters because they all had the same voices and kind of the same personalities. I wish there'd been less of them so they could've been stronger? It's a love letter to intersectional rep (there's black, queer, bi, nonbinary, Philippine, fat, and ace). And I feel like Danny might've been undiagnosed adhd but the book doesn't say explicitly. I wasn't altogether happy with Danny/Rush basically cheating on Imogen and the ending resolution left me confused.

In all honesty, the ending was the letdown for me. With a character dying (who seemed very young and absolutely capable of being saved and redeemed...but they chose not to?) who didn't deserve it and the book just leaving off like it had forgotten its last chapter. Open endings I love. Endings where I have no idea how the plot got resolved....not so much.

Overall it's magical book, sad and hopeful at once, and there's dark magic, ghosts, redwood trees and murder.

I really enjoyed the atmosphere of this book as I felt like I was on the journey with each of the characters. During the course of this novel we meet several characters who have special abilities. I loved watching each of them grow as people but also as a group of friends. This book is great for people trying out fantasy because it is very easy to follow and it’s not overpowering! This book definitely made it into the top books of the year!

This book contained three of my all-time favorite things: witches, girls who like to kiss girls, and supernaturally deep friendships BETWEEN girls. It's got thick, careful prose that begs to be read slowly, and magic that feels real. I know people with Imogen's magic, who make the world feel more vibrant and make you feel more like yourself. I know people with Danny's magic, who have an uncanny ability to find whatever the hell they're looking for. Honestly, the only thing I disliked was the plot, and the plot is such a small part of the book that it's still probably worth five stars.

When I first heard about this book I was really excited and thought the premise sounded interesting. I don't think we were given a lot of witch books in the last years and am glad they might be coming back a bit. Unfortunately for me this one did not meet my expectations. This book felt a lot like magical realism to me which is a genre that I struggle with at times. The writing was very flowery and took me out of the story. I didn't really get what was happenting and just couldn't follow the story. I wasn't able to get pass the 20% mark even though I really wanted to love this one.

My favourite thing about The Lost Coast was the incredible diversity.
Also, I was intrigued by the premise and couldn’t wait to jump into the story.

The world building and lyrical writing allowed me to become so immersed and entrenched in the story that it was hard for me to stop reading. The author knew just how to craft a sentence so that you’re fully surrounded by the atmosphere.

One thing I found difficult was keeping up with the many different POV’s, especially in the beginning, made worse by the fact the sections weren’t very long. Because of this I often had to go back and reread chapters to remember what was going on.

My favourite character was Danny. I felt as if I went on this journey with her throughout the book, watching her change and finding her place in the world.

Overall, I loved the writing and world building. I would have preferred longer chapters or less jumping around. I believe lots of people will love this book - it was just a bit too confusing for me.

I am very divided on how I feel about this book in one aspect it is very positive but then on the flip side I wasn’t really drawn into the story. The positive things about this book was the portrayal of female friendship and love for one another I don’t think we see enough of that in YA books. I also think that the exploration of different sexualities and relationships was a good. These two things are brilliant to see in YA books. However, despite these positive things the story just wasn’t that good I couldn’t really get into the whole magical concept it wasn’t really doing it for me. There was also too many characters and I was confused who Danny was referring to half the time. It was a cool concept just wasn’t for me.

It was just wierd and boring for me? i don't know what i expected, but it wasn't this... and i found it really hard to try to care about any of the characters. I sadly ended up skimming most of the book in hope that it would pick up it did not.

I was super excited about this book because I’m always down for a good witchy novel, and since the ones I’ve read before weren’t as I pictured or had in mind, I’m still on the hunt for the perfect witchy book for me.

I have to say that one of the first things I noticed about this story was the writing. It was very flushed and descriptive, and so lyrical that fit really well with the tone set in the novel. At first it threw me a bit of because there was a lot of information and I was a bit confused about what was going on and how everything was written, but as I kept reading I started to love it more and more.

I feel like there was a lot happening but nothing really happened that made the plot keep going until half way through. It had a lot of POVs and jumps from present to past that I think sometimes didn’t add anything to the plot but only so the reader could know more about the different relationships between some of the characters. I enjoyed some perspectives more than others, but at times I just got confused because there were all these scenes and jumps that I couldn’t really distinguish what was going on.

Regarding the characters I feel they needed a bit more work. Though I loved the representation of all these girls and I think their friendship was so precious and incredibly tight, it’s true that I found that some characters were more complex and distinguishable than others. There were some of the girls that I kept mistaking from one another, and the ones that I feel we got a lot more information to create a picture of them in our heads were Danny, Rush and Imogen. However, I really enjoyed the interactions between Rush and Danny, and overall the dynamics of their relationship and the romance.

The atmosphere pf the book was amazing and one of my favorite things. Throughout the entire novel I had this sense of anticipation and mysteriousness that kept me wanting to know what happened with Imogen and how everything tied up. The descriptions were very lyrical and whimsical, and the tone fit so well with how eerie everything appeared.

However, even though I had some issues with the pacing of the story and how slow and uneventful it felt during the first half of the novel, the second half was absolutely amazing. There were some little twists and turns that kept me seat the edge of my seat and wanting to know what was going to happen next, and not only that but I feel we got some answers to questions that affected the plot, and that the book became much fast paced and entertaining. I feel the climax of the story was really well done, and the ending too.

Overall, it was a solid book and though it took a bit for the story to start being interesting, I ended up really enjoying the ending and the second part of the book more than the first one, and even though there are some things that could have been more descriptive and the characters could have been more complex, it was s whimsical story.

Raven Boys but with queer girls is exactly the kind of book I always wanted but never knew I wanted.

First off I want to say this writing style is GORGEOUS. It really fits with the floaty, mystical feeling of the setting.

Secondly, the characters are all so diverse and well-crafted. I liked the POV changes getting into the heads of other girls/relationships within the group, and I loved the importance of the group to its individual members. Female friendships are so important, and found families are one of my favourite things in fiction, and ugh. It’s all just so beautiful.

One of the things I didn’t enjoy too much at first but eventually got into was the sudden POV shifts. There were so many characters being introduced in the beginning it was a little dizzying, but once you start getting used to everyone it feels more natural.

I also would have liked more page time for Hawthorn and June because hi, hello, they were so good and didn’t get enough? Like at all? And the ending is kind of… I like the ending, and I understand why Capetta ended it the way she did, but I think it could have used a bit more. I just want more of those queer witches, y’know?

Right, so I really wasn’t sure how this book would handle itself when I first read the blurb. It was clearly going for something BIG and very diverse with mystery and magic on top of that.

And in a way, it managed it. In a way… eeeeeh.

So, first things first.

The writing really is beautiful. I don’t know this author but the moment I read the first chapter I knew I was in for brilliant word-craft. The writing is rich and enchanting and just, for the most part, lovely.

Capetta really captured the magic and sensual nature of the forests and that was just a pleasure to read.



(Though, here’s a random thought that I’ve had since right from the beginning of the book, and I can talk about it because it doesn’t spoil anything. Can you climb redwood trees at dawn in a party dress? Like, they’re huge. And there aren’t any branches at the bottom… how does this work? Just something that jarred me when I read it. Anyway!)



It’s also diverse. The author wanted to make it diverse and it is DIVERSE. There is so much diversity in there and I love that. All the characters are very clearly shaped to fit into a particular bracket of diversity.

Which kind of leads me to my problem with all the diversity. Being in that, it felt as if the characters were a little… lacking. When I say this, I mean it felt like being diverse was all that REALLY mattered and, as a result, some characterisation and growth and arcs were lost along the way to making them as diverse as possible.

Diversity is the IT Thing in YA atm, which is brilliant, but it doesn’t excuse flat or only partially-rounded characters. I get it, this is clearly the big passion for Capetta. Of course, why wouldn’t it be? It’s a subject incredibly close to her heart and she’s writing with first-hand knowledge.

And getting that diversity in there is great, but it’s the same problem I have with any other book. If the characters aren’t there, I’m not invested.

Like I said, this book was going for something BIG, and it had the makings of an amazing group with vibrant characters, unique personalities and iconic individuals. I really expected this book to be The Book of The Year for diversity and it just lost out at the character personality stage.

The plot was fine. Honestly, witches, in general, aren’t something that appeals to me in books – I was really reading this book for the diversity. The ending was where things really picked up but to get to the end it was just… fine.

Cover: Oh my goodness though, is that not such a stunning cover? How can you NOT give it a second look? SO pretty!


Overall: Meh, it was fine. I expected more and felt it drowned a little in its own diversity. I think a lot of people are going to ADORE this book, and I think it’s a really good book for those who want to see their own dash of diversity as a MC rather than crammed in the corner as an extra. But it didn’t work for me.

This is a stunningly written book, but somehow I just couldn't get invested.
I really don't think this is the author's fault. Capetta has created an absolutely beautiful story. Her writing is vivid and visceral in a way that isn't often seen in the YA genre. It's almost literary fiction, really. I fully expect that a lot of people will adore this book for its style, sophistication, characters, and representation, but I must not have been in the right state of mind for it.
I will definitely be revisiting it at a time when I feel more "in the mood" for the atmosphere this book has captured.
One complaint that I do have is with the epub formatting itself. The chapter headings and art are extremely distorted, so much so that it's difficult to make them out. Many times I couldn't read the names in the headings and was left to guess who the narrator was, which led to a lot of re-reading. Especially with such a beautiful, atmospheric book, the formatting really interrupted the flow of the story and drew me out of what was happening on the page.

The Lost Coast by Amy Rose Capetta
5⭐️

Thank you to netgalley and Candlewick press for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.
LGBTQ+ and witches? What could be better 😍 I loved this book so much! The world building and the relationship between characters were written so well. We meet Danny, she doesn’t know who she fully is but she’s looking to find that out. When she and her mother move to California from Michigan she just might find out who she’s suppose to become. The grays, a group of friends looking for one of their own that went missing needs Danny’s help to bring her back home to them. Dannys not sure if she’ll be able to help them but she’s willing to try.

I was so looking forward to “ The Lost Coast” by Amy Rose Capetta. Here’s the blurb:

"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."

There were some things I liked about this book. I loved the diversity. There was lgbtq rep as well as various ethnicities. Let’s also not forget the gorgeous cover! I think that was one of the things that pulled me into it as well. The story was definitely one of friendship and accepting one another. I enjoyed the setting of the book as well.
I do feel as though the pace of this story was very slow. I love a good book that builds like a slow burn but this one was just too slow especially when there was not a ton that actually happened. The characters themselves, though diverse which is always a plus, were a little too underdeveloped. I didn’t feel as though I knew them when everything was all said and done. Overall, it was definitely an ok read that I am sure will be very enjoyable to many.

* I received a digital copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.*

I love this cover.
I love the representation.
I am intrigued by the premise.

The format did not work for me.
I was as lost as Imogen most of the time.
I cannot even begin to tell you how many times I had to start a chapter over because my mind was wandering and I had no idea what was going on.

There were so many perspective jumps and time jumps. I normally do not mind that at all but this just was all over the place.

The writing is pretty but is it possible to be too pretty?

In my opinion, the substance of the plot got buried under all the whimsy. I am sure there will be many readers who will absolutely adore this story. I just unfortunately was not one of them.

If it weren't for the great rep and lush atmosphere, I most likely would have given this two stars. It hurts my heart to write this as I have been greatly anticipating this release. Alas, there is a reader for every book and I am just not the reader for this one.

Thank you so much to the publisher, Candlewick Press, for providing me with a copy of this to read and review. I always appreciate the opportunity to provide my opinion on new releases.