What can I say except INCREDIBLE.
This isn't the first book I've read by Fraillon and it most certainly won't be the last. As always, her writing is wonderful and the character relatable. There's nothing I can fault.

4.5★
“‘Do you know who I am?’ she asks in her pretend human voice. You can tell straight off it isn’t a real voice because there’s no deepness to it. Not one of us looks at her. Not one of us even breathes, just in case she can suck our souls straight from our mouths and into her own.”

Chapter one begins by saying “The End”. Twig is in a dark so dark he isn’t sure he exists, and then a big, buzzing neon sign flashes “WELCOME TO THE AFTERLIFE!”. While he watches, it flickers with bulbs going out until it reads
“WE COME TO LIFE!”

That’s not helpful to Twig nor to us, and his head hurts and he keeps remembering bits of things until a red arrow lights up, pointing to a path with still more signs to a “WELCOME CENTER”, so off he goes.

A motley bunch of bones falls from the sky and assembles itself into Krruk, a raven who could be called the comic relief. Once he pulls himself together, literally, he explains that he has always been Twig’s guardian.

“‘You won’t remember all those times durin’ your alive years that you saw a raven guidin’ you through the trials and tribulations of livin’ because of the Forgettin’ that happens once you’re . . . well . . . dead, like. But, if I do say, I was quite magnificent.’”

Krruk waffles on until Twig asks a question.

“Twig looked at the skeleton bobbing up and down. ‘So it was your job to keep me . . . alive?’

‘Exactly!’

‘But, I’m . . . dead, right?’

‘That you are. Oh. Right. Well. I see what you’re gettin’ at.’”

Twig wants only to find his Da, his father, who has been involved in some shady dealings to keep them alive and they got separated. Twig doesn’t really know what’s happened, but he is desperate to go back and not forget.

The story moves between life and afterlife with Twig telling the life story and the narrator describing in the third person what becomes his quest to fight the "forgetting". Maps, clues, riddles, magic. It’s all very spooky! There are rules to keep it honest, so to speak. He can’t just “magic” his way anywhere. And he certainly does face some scary moments on both sides of the divide.

Krruk may be a loyal sidekick in the afterlife adventure, but in the real part, Twig becomes a street kid with a group of little kids who form a family. They scrounge, they beg, they steal. They are the urchins of Dickens on the lookout for cops at all times. Dirty, hungry, cold, loyal to each other and to anyone who is kind to them.

Flea becomes a favourite friend and a wonderful character.

“‘Why do they call you Twiggy anyway?’

I shrug. Why is anyone called anything?

‘Is it because you’re skinny as a twig? Or because you were born under a tree? Or is it because you like to eat those twiggy stick things they sell down the markets? Is Twiggy even a proper name?’

This kid talks a million miles an hour. It makes me tired listening. ‘I’ve just always been called Twig.’

‘Oh. That’s boring. I’m Flea.’

I don’t point out that Flea isn’t much of a proper name either.

I look at Flea’s face and clothes and hair and bracelets. ‘So, are you a boy?’

Flea shrugs. ‘Sometimes. And sometimes I’m a girl. And sometimes I’m both at the same time or neither. Mostly I’m just somewhere in between.’”

Twiggy and the others never question this. Flea is just Flea. Flea uses a Magic 8-ball to help make decisions along with a special ‘seeing stone’ with a hole in it. I enjoyed seeing the Magic 8-ball answers again! ‘It is certain’.

Nothing is certain except the determination of these children against crooks and evil-doers and a world that ignores them.

“‘Welcome to the Boneyard!’ Flea smiles, arms spread wide, and I stop and stare. I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s like a town all of its own. There are shacks built up between every grave, huddled in clumps and leaning into each other.”

I have such a soft spot for stories told by kids trying to find their feet. They say that most successful children’s stories begin with the main character as an orphan, which may be what captures the imagination of kids.

It must be the scariest thing we worry about when we’re little but also the thing we want most – absolute freedom from grown-ups. But then we want safety, too, so reading about Twig and the others is satisfyingly scary.

For grown-up readers, it’s a fable about the world today. In the (Australian) author’s note, she writes:

“It is estimated that there are approximately 150 million children currently living on the streets. That means there are more children who are homeless, than the entire populations of Australia, the UK, The Republic of Ireland, New Zealand, Canada and Greece combined.
. . .
A single voice really can change the world. No matter how small a person, no matter how small an act, what we do, where we look, what we remember, it all matters. Fight the forgetting.”

Thanks to NetGalley and Hachette Australia for the preview copy I enjoyed.

“Impossible is just what they say when they don’t want you to try.”

The Lost Soul Atlas is the third novel by Australian author, Zana Fraillon. When Twig unexpectedly finds himself in the After Life, he has only scraps of memory of what went before. Now Krruk, his skeletal raven Guardian, is chivvying him along to get to the Golden Gates, where the Gods are eager to consume his memories (everyone’s really), and Twig can relax in “a dressin’ gown and lush fluffy-bunny slippers” to enjoy the train and yoga (Tuesdays) and the gardens and playing bridge.

But before Krruk can stop him, Twig steps off the Path and into the Woods, drawn by the sound of his beloved Da’s tin whistle. He follows the tiny stick figures he learns are Meeples to a mound and, much to Krruk’s consternation, meets the Gatherer and agrees to go on a quest: “Open the Crossings. Release the memories. Only you can do it now. There will be no time to wait for another. And you have already started on your journey.”

“In here are the Bones of Lost Wonders. They carry the whispers and memories and stories and knowings that will soon be lost to the mortal world for ever. You must carry a single bone through each Crossing and leave it in the mortal world so it can be found by those whose eyes look for whispers, and whose ears are wonderwide . . . they will carry the knowings forward.”

Twig knows “With a map anything is possible . . .” He is given an atlas: “The Lost Soul Atlas of the Afterlife A guide to the Outer Wilderlands and s’rounds Withe Crossings new’ly discov’r’d and set forthe Fore Keep’rs of the Knowings” and he is promised that success will take him to his waiting Da.

He will need to open six Crossings, and at each, a Sentry will challenge him with a riddle: solve it and he crosses; fail, and he will be eaten. With the help of Krruk and the Meeples, he is surprisingly successful, and with each Crossing he opens, Twig remembers more: the last time he saw his Da, the eviction from the Tower, meeting up with Flea and living with the Beasts of the City Wildes.

He recalls encounters with the soul-eating Hoblin and the crooked cops, playing the accordion, a joy ride in a flying car, and what brought it all to a horrible end. Can he open the Crossings and save the knowings? A tale of bravery and loyalty and friendship that proves just how talented and imaginative an author Zana Fraillon is.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Hachette Australia.

Thank you to Hachette for providing me with a copy for review.

The Bone Sparrow has been one of my favourite reads of this year so I was very excited to see that the author had a new release in 2020. The Lost Soul Atlas is a completely different genre and takes the reader on a very different journey to the other book. I was unaware that it was middle grade fiction, as it was targeted as YA, so that may have been one reason I struggled to engage with the story.

The idea of the contrasting narratives was a wonderful addition and something unusual for younger readers. The author makes it clear from the outset that the protagonist has passed away but the main idea of the plot is to discover how he got there and why it occurred. The book is part mystery as the reader needs to piece together various clues to gain an understanding of the protagonist’s life and how it unfolded the way it did. While it sounds extremely intriguing, the execution fell short for me. I found myself becoming confused throughout the narrative, trying to work out what was happening and thus becoming disengaged. By the half way point, I felt like the pace was still too slow. I wanted something to happen, to spur on my interest and to keep me reading to discover what happens. This did not eventuate.

The novel appeared to be more plot driven rather than character focused. Despite this, some of the characters were very interesting but I did want to know more about them and their backgrounds. I am unsure whether this would’ve been addressed if I had continued to read on, it is quite possible. Raven was the highlight of the book and I enjoyed reading the short chapters he was included within.

It is very clear that Fraillon is a very talented wordsmith, as she writes beautifully and the reader is able to visualise her writing clearly. She has pursued writing about some challenging issues with other authors may shy away from including the impact of homelessness and abandonment. This is something I wish was present in more books and I applaud Fraillon for dealing with some of these challenging issues in a sensitive way for younger readers.

Overall, unfortunately this book was not for me as I could only manage to read half of the novel but I am certain many others will be in awe of this complex, yet enticing tale!

Beautifully written and incredibly inventive. I found this book hard to follow and become absorbed in. The switches between the quirky afterlife and the harsh reality were too stark for me and I found myself struggling to follow the story. The challenge felt deliberate though, and I'm sure it would still appeal to many people, but it wasn't my cup of tea.

Ok so this book might have been a bit younger than YA I can’t say it captivated me. It took me 3 weeks to read which is a lot longer than usual for me. But I think it would be a great book to read with say an 8-13 year old boy. It was a well written book even though the way the Kruuk spoke drive me crazy but it was his character so that’s just the way it is. This just wasn’t my thing and by the end I was a bit confused as to what had actually happened.

DNF @ 20%
Thank you to Hachette for sending me this eARC via NetGalley in exchange for a review.

Unfortunately, I couldn't get into this. I wasn't aware it was a middle grade and went into it blind (the cover looks incredibly YA). The plot was pretty interesting ~ when you could finally understand where it was going. It took at least 20% of the book for me to understand the journey ahead for the protagonist and by the time I got there, I couldn't inspire myself to continue even though the idea and plot was interesting and original for middle grade. The flashbacks or memory scenes were very jarring and I couldn't place them so I got incredibly confused at the beginning. The dialogue flow and unusual character names just made the book even harder to get into.
I'm sure many will enjoy this if they're into middle grade but it wasn't for me.

Zana Fraillon writes very interesting middle-grade fiction books that blur the line between fantasy and hard-hitting, real world topics. In her previous books she has covered children living in detention centres and child smuggling, and in The Lost Soul Atlas she explores children living on the streets and the exploitation and hardships that come with that.

Told in both the past and present, we begin with Twiggy, who wakes up in the Afterlife with no memories and a raven for a guide and a mysterious Atlas to guide him along his path. In the past, we learn about the events leading up to his waking in the Afterlife, about his missing father, his life on the street and the found family he discovers. It's a story about loyalty, betrayal and the importance of memories and how they shape who we are.

Admittedly, I found it difficult to get into The Lost Soul Atlas initially, and that may have more to do with reading in ebook format - I think if I could easily jump back and forth between the initially few pages to reread it would have been useful. Because Fraillon throws us straight into the Afterlife sequence with a character who doesn't remember who he is or how he came to be there, we're left feeling a little confused, just like Twiggy, which is always an interesting position to be in as a reader, because you have to trust that the author will get you to a level of understanding quickly enough to continue reading - and Fraillon does this really well.

It's not an easy book to read - I think it's always a challenge when reading books about children who experience trauma or hardship. It's confronting to deal with the reality that there are kids who experience this, but Twiggy is a very determined, very capable young person within the story.

I liked the way we jumped backwards and forwards into Twiggy's past as he recovers his memories while journeying through the Afterlife. I did really enjoy the Afterlife sequences - I think Fraillon came up with a unique perspective and world there that I just wanted to spend more time inside. We get enough information to whet our appetite, but I was left wanting to know more about this 'afterlife world.'

I'm very glad that I had the opportunity to read The Lost Soul Atlas. Fraillon is definitely one of the most interesting Australian middle-grade authors I've read in the last few years, as well as one of the most consistent in terms of quality of writing. I look forward to reading her future releases.

The Lost Soul Atlas, by Zana Fraillon, is being released on the 14th of July. It follows Twiggy, a boy who wakes in the afterlife with a smattering of memories and a skeletal Raven to guide him as he sets of on a journey to figure out his last moments.
I have mixed feelings about this book. It is very well written and is an emotional and poignant reminder of the hardships of those living on the streets, a testament to why we should do better. The characters were likeable, although a lot of the secondary characters lacked depth. It jumps in time a bit, between the afterlife and memories, which worked for the story but I struggled with at times. I liked the message, but struggled to follow the story at times and got very lost towards the end. Overall a nice story, but I'm not sure I'd read it again. 3 stars.