A part of me never really knew why I neglected reading this book for so long. I was lucky to get an e-ARC from a publisher that literally doesn’t acknowledge my existence on Netgalley, lol. Now, I am entirely convinced it was destiny letting me know I was saving myself from disaster.

Before I begin, I would like to please tell y’all to take my opinion with a grain of salt, because I am in the minority here. Almost all my friends on Goodreads have really enjoyed this, same with a great majority of the people I follow. This is one of those “it’s not you, it’s me” situations, though I did come across several issues in this book that I have never seen discussed before and I’d like to talk about.

I wouldn’t call this a horrible novel. The Library of Lost Things and I simply did not click in any way. Literally from the first page, I knew in my heart I wasn’t going to love this, but I continued reading because this is a debut and y’all know I adore supporting Latinx authors.

At first, I was gonna give this a way higher rating, but this book’s only saving grace was the character of Marisol, and yet, she was simply there to further the white main character’s storyline and be the dutiful sidekick. This especially bothered me because the only POC are her and her family, and Laura Taylor Namey is white-passing.

Y’all, I’m so, so tired of this trope. If you’re not gonna write a character of color well, then just don’t write them?? I’d honestly much rather read a book all about white people, as painful and boring as that would be for me. But anyway. Marisol (and also Jase, but more on him later) was the only good part of this book, because to me, the rest was a total shitshow.

This is a very character-driven novel, and that’s fine. I actually prefer characters to plot most of the time, but here I just could not for the life of me connect to anybody except Marisol and Jase. I was just so bored. 😭

I get why so many people like Darcy, but also not? I just could not stand her, she was such a boring and bland character to me whose only personality was reading books, which basically makes me a bit of a hypocrite but also, girl, get some other interests and hobbies, wow. I wouldn’t have a problem if she actually had some taste but no, I had to read about this “not like other girls” classic literature stan who barely reads books by POC. Seriously, if she mentioned one in the book, I consider it a lot.

Not only that, but she had so much internalized misogyny, I literally cannot deal, folks. There was this line that really bothered me and at first I was like, okay, maybe this didn’t make it to the finished copy. But upon verifying with two friends who have the finished version, it DID MAKE IT!

“Girls lounged and posed on the oversized velvet furniture like big cat zoo animals in halter tops and bodycon dresses, ankle boots dangling over arm rests.”

AMERICA EXPLAIN! What was the purpose of this? Of describing girls as big cat ZOO ANIMALS? Who said girls aren’t allowed to pose for pretty pictures? Who said liking fashion and having a sense of style is somehow lesser than? Bold of Darcy to say this when she’s just like a toddler who relies on her best friend to pick outfits for her, I have: to laugh.

Another thing I did not care about was the romance. I can tell the author tried her hardest to make Asher this brooding, sad, but soft bad boy and it simply did not work. She gave him layers but those layers weren’t actually developed. It was like putting layering cakes with sloppy, runny buttercream; there was zero depth or development. Everything about his character was surface-level and I couldn’t bring myself to sympathize. Plus, I am tired of emotional cheating in YA, it’s so 2000s. His girlfriend wasn’t exactly the best, she could be a little intense, but come ON dude, get some fucking decency.

Like, okay, it’s completely valid for him to not feel the same way anymore as he did before. Their relationship was always on-and-off. But the fact that he was doing all these sweet things for Darcy while London (the girlfriend) was RIGHT THERE is not it, my guy. And I’m not gonna come for Darcy because it’s quite common for people to get crushes on taken folks, but I’m not sure how comfortable I feel with this message. As the saying goes, there are plenty of fish in the sea, like Jase!

Oh how I wish I could talk more about this guy, but we barely saw him and I’m so sad. He was this super cute theater boy and he made me feel more in five pages than Asher did in the entire book. Passionate and talented black-haired boys with pretty eyes just hit a certain kind of different, y’all.

Also, I just did not mesh with the writing in the slightest. To me, it almost felt like the author was trying too hard to make it read like a classic, with all these big words that made no sense to me? I don’t know, it’s weird. It’s totally a me-thing, and I believe she is a good writer, I just don’t think her style is for me. There was obviously a lot of inspiration taken from “great works of literature” and I don’t care, I don’t CARE. It didn’t feel like I was reading from Darcy’s teenage perspective, but maybe that’s just me, who knows.

I can’t speak on the mental health rep, but I also felt uncomfortable by how the book handled Darcy’s mom’s hoarding; it didn’t sit well with me and I feel like it could’ve been explored way better.

Do I recommend The Library of Lost Things? Absolutely not. It was boring and its concept wasn’t executed as best as it could’ve been, with the potential to flesh out Marisol’s Cuban heritage, her passion for fashion, and the school’s production of Much Ado About Nothing all being thrown down the drain, in favor of a bland white couple with zero chemistry and a hell of a ton of outdated white books.

If it’s in your TBR and you’re still interested, I genuinely encourage you to pick it up! We all have different tastes in reading. But I, for one, would like to social distance myself from this book for as long as I can and avoid it just as much as I am avoiding going outside and breathing fresh air.

Rating: 1.5 stars ⭐

Thank you to Inkyard Press for providing me an ARC of this book in exchange of an honest review!

I wanted to love this book because the premise deals with a lot of stuff I love in YA. She tackles mental illness, relationships with parents, book lovers, and romance. Unfortunately, I just could't get into the story. I kept putting the book down and forgetting to come back to it. There was something in the writing that kept tripping me up, and I couldn't get past that.

I received a complimentary copy of this title from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed are my own.

Oh boy.

I was immediately on board when they set me up with A Girl Who Reads. But The Girl Who Reads quickly became Not Like Other Girls.

This was another one that was difficult to deal with as an adult. I loved Gilmore Girls in high school, but every time I've watched it since, I kind of intensely hate all of them and this book felt a lot like that. Yes, there are real issues here, but everything is just a bit too dramatic and you don't meet a lot of kids that age who talk like that. Not to mention, I kind of hate Pride and Prejudice and would have avoided this title if I had known it relied so heavily on it.

The Library of Lost Things is a moving story about love, overcoming obstacles, and finding yourself. I adored Darcy with her bookish ways and pure love for everything literary. I cheered for her as she tried to find her way in the world by defining herself and figuring out who she truly was. A fast and excellent read.

This was such a charming and sweet book! I love books about books and book lovers. One of these soft, yet deep contemporaries with this slow-burning love story, kickass incredible best friend, complex mother daughter relationship and all the books.

You guys, this book was FANTASTIC! I loved so much about it, including:
- Hoarding representation, which is something I've never seen in a book, YA or otherwise
- Darcy's passion for books, which rung so true to another fellow book-lover (*cough*, me, *cough*)
- The beautifully written friendship between Darcy and Marisol, which is also something not-too-often seen in YA
- Darcy's relationship with her mother, which is built upon so many layers and complexities
- Asher, who makes my top 10 most SWOONWORTHY love interests
- How it kind of was a super-subtle retelling of Peter Pan (what with Asher's dreams of becoming a pilot and Darcy's resemblance to Wendy, who finds solace in escaping to a fictional world)
- The cover, which, after seeing it on Vicky Who Read's blog nearly a year ago, made me just want to cry (IT"S SO PRETTY!)
- The side/supporting characters, whom were also written with intricacy and love

As you (probably) can see, I really enjoyed this book, even more than I originally anticipated, and I will definitely be recommending this one for years to come! Congrats to Laura on a phenomenal debut, and I look forward to reading her next book, A Cuban Girl's Guide to Tea and Tomorrow!

The Library of Lost Things tells the story of Darcy, a girl who loves books and turns herself invisible around her peers, because they can never know why they aren't allowed over.
I loved this book. I liked Darcy and Asher and Marisol. I really enjoyed reading this and seeing Darcy's struggle to let people in to her world. This book was cute and I liked that it dealt with hoarding, which I don't see written about often. It was interesting and I loved the characters as well as the plot.

A teen literary prodigy, Darcy spends most of her spare time lost in a favorite book or working in the local independent bookstore. With best friend Marisol by her side, Darcy has found a careful balance in life, amidst her mother’s serious hoarding addiction. Darcy’s safe space has long been the one place her mother cannot set foot, Darcy’s bedroom where she is surrounded by myriad books. When a new property manager begins making cosmetic improvements around the apartment complex, Darcy worries how long she’ll be able to keep the secret of her mother’s “collections.” While her mother is able to work, she can’t control her compulsive shopping. Darcy is supplemented by her grandmother but also has learned to be self reliant. Falling for Asher Fleet isn’t part of Darcy’s plan, but something about him makes her want a real life fairy tale. Darcy is used to the comfort of her books, and real life isn’t so predictable or easy.

THOUGHTS: Avid readers will appreciate all of the literary references, and teens will enjoy the slow burning romance, friendship, and mother-daughter dynamics. Recommended for high school libraries where compelling romances are popular.

The Library of Lost Things by Laura Taylor Namey is a young adult contemporary book following our main character Darcy. Darcy is a bookworm. She works at a bookstore and could easily spend hours wandering inside the world of a book than thinking about her mother and the state of her house.

I did enjoy this book, but it didn't blow me away. The friendship between the best friends was done so well, and I enjoyed their whole friendship. I also enjoyed the commentary between the main character, and the main male character. It took me about half of the book to get into this book, it just went slow for me. However, I connected with the main character from the first pages, and enjoyed her story arc.

Thanks Net Galley for the preview!

I loved this book! Darcy was a superb main character with a unique story. Of course the swoony parts with Darcy and Asher were sweet but the story really revolved around the mother/daughter relationship. I loved how Darcy had so many positive female role models in Marisol, her mother, and Tess. Additionally, I loved her back and forth with the school custodian! There were so many small details I enjoyed in this book. The hoarding aspect certainly drew me in and I learned a lot about it through Darcy's eyes. I cannot wait to read this one again and uncover even more details!

Overall, I enjoyed this book. It had really nice development for the main character and the romance was very cute. Most of my issues were with the writing that fell into cliches which was even more obvious listening to the audio. I was very interested in this book because the main character’s mother was a hoarder and I’m still not sure how I feel about the way this was handled. At times it this conflict fell by the wayside and felt so condemning for the mother who needed more care with her mental health. I also felt like this was yet another book about books that only cared about great literary works which makes me roll my eyes. I gave this read 3 stars! I liked it, but definitely not a perfect read.

3 generations of family drama and an engaging mystery with literary references. What more could a girl ask for? While not expertly written, The Library of Lost Things is a charming book about books.

This book has it all: teen romance, family drama, flawed characters, and a beautiful bookstore. Darcy Wells’ mother is a hoarder who compulsively buys and catalogs her things ever since her fiancé and Darcy’s father abandoned her prior to Darcy’s bireth. She fools the world because she can put herself together and work as a cosmetics consultant, but in private it’s a different story. Their apartment is full, and the only way Darcy can survive is with help from her grandmother since the father she’s never known doesn’t pay child support. She is parenting her mother and won’t abandon her to go live with her grandmother, but if she chooses to remain with her mother, all financial support from her grandmother will end on her 18th birthday a little over a month away. Books have been her escape from her sad reality for years, and the only boyfriends she’s ever had are from their pages. That is, until Asher Fleet starts hanging out at the shop while on breaks from his construction job across the street. He was a year ahead of her at school, but after a tragic car accident, his injuries forced him to abandon his dreams of becoming a pilot, so he is dealing with his own demons. Despite their separate burdens, the story isn’t all doom and gloom. Darcy’s best friend, Marisol is a devoted friend, the sparring between her boss Mr.Winston and his long-divorced ex-wife Tess who runs the adjacent wig shop serves as a comedic element, and the healing that comes through the books themselves all combine to make this teen romance a treat for the senses. Highly recommended for teen collections.

I received a complimentary ARC of this book from Inkyard Press through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

There are so many things to love about this book! Darcy is my soul sister with her love for books and working in a used bookstore. Her love for her family is endearing and I love the characters that populate her life. This is a wonderful novel about love and trust.

I received this book from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Darcy spends her life in books, which help her escape from her difficult reality. Her mother is a hoarder and Darcy works hard to keep the severity of this problem a secret. While her mother saw a therapist once, Darcy uses the information she gained from that one session to direct all of her actions, like not upsetting the hoarder and in turn causing more hoarding. Darcy is desperate for her mother to get better, but she doesn't actually believe she will. Instead, Darcy keeps their apartment management out of their unit and makes sure that her grandmother, who frequently threatens to remove her from the home, doesn't find out. However, new management is taking over their apartment building and they are becoming more and more insistent about getting into the unit. Darcy's job at the local bookstore allows her to save a bit for college and pay household expenses. While working, she meets cute and broody Asher, who was recently in an accident and lost his ability to fly airplanes. It is through their budding relationship that the two find ways to heal.

This book did try to bring in difficult issues and work through them. However, I didn't really like how the issues manifested through Darcy, probably because I never truly liked Darcy. I was taken in by some of the supporting characters, like the bookseller and his ex-wife, as well as Asher. I think that this toes the line on how it presents hoarders, though, I am not a member of this community, so perhaps it is spot on. I will read more books by this author.

This was a total cover click and for some reason it fell flat. I think my reading taste has changed over the past year. This is not the book for me.

This was a fun YA romance!! I loved that it takes place largely in a bookstore/book related setting. Isn't that everyone's dream?

The hoarding is something you don't often get in books, especially YA where everyone is "imperfectly perfect" so this was refreshing to see, especially since hoarding can be such a large problem, especially after losing a loved one.

If you love literature and classics, complex parent-child relationships, and a cute romance that makes you swoon, this book is perfect.

The Library of Lost Things, while not an overly complex read, was enjoyable and relatable for me. I liked Darcy as the POV character, and I think anyone who loves books will also be able to relate to her. Darcy is so smart and loves nothing more than reading. I also really envied her ability to memorize basically anything she read!

However, Darcy's mother is a hoarder, preventing Darcy from living a "normal" life. I sympathized a lot with Darcy, and I liked seeing her character development as she learned how to handle her situation with her mother as well as juggling a job, school, college applications, information about her absent father, and a prospective love interest.

The relationship between Darcy and Asher was more of a slow-burn, which I thought was realistic considering Darcy hadn't ever had a boyfriend before, Asher himself was just as complex as Darcy, with his failed flying ambitions due to injuries resulting from a car accident.

Most of all, I loved Darcy's friendship with her best friend, Marisol. Despite Darcy's tendency to shut down and pull away from people, Marisol respected her boundaries while also making sure to include her and make her feel like a part of Marisol's family. I loved Marisol as a character, from her gum addiction to her extroversion.

However, I did feel like the plot dragged at times, which made it a little difficult to get through, but all of the characters made up for that, making for a fun, lighthearted read!

This was a disappointment.

I know that this is listed as a Young Adult novel, but the writing style is for middle graders. It tries to be smarter than it is by quoting different classics, but it doesn't work here. Darcy is almost 18 but talks like she's still 12. It's problematic, especially when we're watching her deal with the issues of her mom, and fall in love with an older boy. I'm glad they mentioned so often about her age, because I kept forgetting she was a senior.

Darcy has never done anything to make herself stand out, in fact she's actively made herself invisible, because her mother is a hoarder and she doesn't want anyone to find out. At least her mother hoards high end items, sure it's expensive and they don't have any money for food or groceries, but at least Darcy only has to worry about boxes and dust, and not active mold/pests. Darcy's best friend Marisol, is the only one that knows about her mother's issues and has actively helped Darcy hide from everyone, while also complaining about the fact that she hides from everyone. The apartment building comes under new management, and now Darcy has to figure out how to avoid the building manager in order to not get kicked out/taken away from her mom before she turns 18 in a few months.

Darcy isn't like other girls™ because she spends all her time reading and escaping in books. She's also super pretentious about books, to the point when she said this I almost had to close the book and not finish it.
<blockquote>I wound my way around the counter. "I've never considered any book, especially a novel or work of literature, something you should 'plow through.' The whole point of reading is savoring the story, immersing yourself in a whole new place. Maybe one that doesn't even exist." Escaping, hiding, trading your life for another, "How can you rush that?" He followed, leaning his forearms on the wood top, "Assumption-you hate e-readers, too." One step back, horrified hand over my heart. He laughed, "I won't say the K-word, then." I had to snicker, "Holding a real book is like holding something alive. There's a grit of the pages between your fingers as you turn them. The edges get soft and worn. With a real book, you feel the weight of the story more." ... "Speed-reading just squashes the whole experience. You miss detail and pacing, and everything the author intended you to feel in the first place." </blockquote>
First, I'm reading this on a "K-word" because that's the only way that NetGalley provides copies, so right there I was like... eff off. But then to think that she's better than someone that reads on a device, to speed-read, to read something that isn't "novels" or "literature" is just such a bullshit attitude that we all need to drop. It's 2019, let people read what they want, how they want, when they want. We're already getting policed with basically everything else we do, we don't need this attitude. Also, there's a reading list at the end of the novel of Darcy's favorites, and while there are most recent titles listed, NONE OF THEM ARE MENTIONED in the book. The only one is John Green's "Looking for Alaska", but the rest of the time she's talking about classics: Dickens, Austen, Shakespeare, Montgomery, or Barrie. I know that teens can like classics, I was one of them, but to only have her mention the classics in her hoards of books made her act superior to others. Especially when you get to the end and suddenly there's all these recent novels we should have heard about!

Darcy also has a knack for words and memorization, her and Marisol play a game where Darcy gives Marisol a word and Marisol has to figure out the definition. Darcy also acts superior in this because the one time Marisol actually surmises the meaning Darcy's jaw literally drops and she gets all wide-eyed, like "how can you possibly know this, you haven't known a single word in 10 years..." Darcy also gets upset because when she's at a party, her other "friend" decides to challenge her to a vocab contest and invites everyone else to try and stump her. She ends up "losing" because she doesn't want to say the definition for a word that means hermit, because she is one, and this girl is obviously mocking her, even though Darcy uses this on a daily basis to prove how much smarter she is than her friend. (Also at the party, Marisol goes on a rant about how nachos aren't Hispanic food, they're American, even though no one is trying to make it seem like it's Hispanic, it's just a buffet for the party, but Marisol is Honduran so she has to be superior to knock-off American food.) Darcy's skill of memorization also allows her to interact with a little six year old girl and tell her a story, and the love interest, Asher, is just MIND-BLOWN, because who can memorize stories? That's just insane! NO ONE DOES THAT! Darcy's all just "oh, you know, I'm just special..." Asher, let me introduce you to literally hundreds of people that are capable of memorizing stories: teachers, parents, librarians, child care workers, nannies, anyone that interacts with kids on a daily basis. Seriously, I can tell you probably five or six stories right now because not only do I work with kids, but I have them, and kids like to have the same story told over and over. Which is also how Darcy memorized all of them, by reading over and over. THIS IS NOT SPECIAL. ... Because of her "special" skill she gets pulled into the school play because it's Shakespeare, and she has it all memorized anyways. The teacher goes <blockquote>"No one else at Jefferson can do what you do. Actually, I've never met anyone who can do what you do."</blockquote> Really? You've never met anyone who memorizes books? YOU TEACH THEATER! That's the WHOLE POINT! They all go, it doesn't matter that you can't act, because it's Shakespeare, and as we all know Shakespeare has no nuance at all, so just speak your memorized lines like a parrot and it will be amazing. AND OF COURSE IT IS! ... ... ... I just, don't understand the thinking everyone has in here.

The love story here is just ridiculous too, because Asher is dating his on again off again girlfriend, but is hovering around Darcy all the time, and even braves a massive migraine from his car accident a year ago to come and see her in the play. It's okay though, because he knows she's not like other girls™ and he sees her for who she really is, because he understands "you fall in love with the words. And that's how they stay with you." See guys, that's why she's so special, she loves the words, that's why she can memorize everything! It's not repetition! ... ... ...

Finally, we discover the reason that her mom has been hoarding isn't <spoiler>because Darcy's dad left when she was a baby. It was because her mom got overwhelmed having an infant and her partner leaving her, so she took off for four months and left Darcy with her grandparents. When she got back she realized how "extraordinary" Darcy was and couldn't believe that she had done (what many new single parents have done and at least made sure Darcy was safe before she left) because how could she have left such a wonderful person...</spoiler> and the fact that she's held onto this guilt and stopped seeing a therapist is just ... I can't believe this was the reason.

The only reason this is getting two stars is because Asher at least breaks up with London before pursuing Darcy. I was very excited to read a book about a teenager that seemed to have a very similar love of books like I do, but this just proved to be pretentious again and again.