One Was Lost

Natalie Richard's first book, Six months Later, was her best. One Was Lost is merely okay. We're told, not shown, many things: we never see her mom so the impact of their relationship means nothing; we don't know who Sophie or Liz are--she never says; we don't know why she confused Hayley and Madison, and why that even matters. Her past with Lucas is a constant distraction instead of an edifying trait to the plot because we don't know why she's uncomfortable around him until well into the story, which creates a chasm between the reader and the story's progression. In the beginning, there's ONE mention of ghost stories, but they seem unimportant until later--the missing gap diffuses the impact of its significance. Many times, Sera thinks she's being 'selfish' and 'like her mother', but there's no evidence of this. Nothing she has done points to this at all, so it really confuses the reader. There's also something with a cooler and Richard's fails to explain how the contents got there or how someone was able to move somebody. There is a villain, however, and in the last third of the novel, the plot finally lights up. Unfortunately, the motive seems unreal.