Review: Loud Awake and Lost by Adele Griffin - Memory Loss & Mysteries

Title: Loud Awake and Lost
Author: Adele Griffin
Publisher: Random House Canada
Publication date: November 12, 2013

Genre(s): Young Adult (Mystery/Memory Loss)

Source: Publisher

Format: Finished Copy

Pages: 304

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LOUD. There was an accident. Ember knows at least that much. She was driving. The car was totaled. She suffered back injuries and brain trauma. But she is alive. That's the only thing left she can cling to.

AWAKE. Eight months later, Ember feels broken. The pieces of her former self no longer fit together. She can't even remember the six weeks of her life leading up to the accident. Where was she going? Who was she with? And what happened during those six weeks that her friends and family won't talk about?

LOST. One by one, Ember discovers the answers to these questions, like a twisted game of dominos. And little by little, the person she used to be slips further and further away.

Loud Awake and Lost delivers what it promises.. a spooky thrilling contemporary read that has you questioning everything. Ember, the main protagonist has just been released from a rehabilitation center, 8 months after a car accident that led to multiple breaks, fractures, and near death surgeries, as well as a black whole in the six weeks prior to her accident. When Ember gets back home and back to school, what people are saying as well as what her room looks like don't add up. She seems to be into new music, hanging out with a different crowd her school friends don't know about, as well as a mysterious guy that she can't even remember. This book follows Ember dealing with her PTSD, her memory loss, and everyone's expectation of her going back to the Ember before her change.  

I personally loved this book. There is a big twist in the end that I sort of knew was coming (when I had a hunch I stupidly checked the last couple of pages and confirmed my theory) however that didn't deter me from reading and enjoying Loud Awake and Lost. I really sympathized with Ember and what she was going through, especially after finding out more forgotten memories that caused her even more pain. I loved how Griffin so easily made me connect with Ember. I love characters that I could share their pain and hurt, their happiness and hopes; that was Ember for me. 

If you are expecting a murder mystery or a villain, then I suggest you rearrange your expectations because this one is free of that. I couldn't put the book down and wanted to read more, not just more of Ember but also of her best friend's life, her ex-boyfriend who just came back into her life, as well as her parents. At only 300 pages, this one was a quick read with a thrilling plot line, likable main protagonist, and great secondary characters. I recommend it to any YA contemporary readers, especially ones that love a little mystery in their stories.