The Other Side of Lost by Jessi Kirby

    The Other Side of Lost is a novel that was written by Jessi Kirby. It follows the story of an 18-year-old girl named Mari Turner. To her thousands of followers on social media, her life is perfect. She carefully constructs and analyzes everything she puts on the internet, to the point where everything about her online presence is fake. But deep down Mari is miserable and immensely struggling with the death of her close cousin Bri. Bri is described as a free-spirited adventurer who devoted her life to backpacking and immersing herself in nature. The cousins were extremely close until gradually breaking off as Mari became more involved with social media, which caused her a large amount of guilt after Bri’s death. Finally, on what would have been Bri’s 18th birthday, Mari breaks down and releases a video that discloses her goodbye to social media. As if it was fate, a box of Bri’s hiking gear arrives on Mari’s porch the next day with a letter from her aunt. The letter explains how Bri had been preparing for a three-week backpacking trip for months before she died, and her aunt thought Mari should have it. Despite having zero experience, Mari makes a quick decision and gets in her car, with plans to complete the trip as a way to pay tribute to Bri. This book takes the reader along as Mari navigates her way on the trail, as well as through her thoughts and feelings as she tries to find herself.

    The Other Side of Lost deals with the heavy topic of death, and I think the author did a nice job of accurately depicting the process of grieving through Mari. We see her have big emotions and mental breakdowns as well as finding small bits of happiness from time to time, all part of the process. I love that this book conveys how grieving is not one singular bump in the road, but something that comes in waves that may continue for your entire life.
 

   This book also did a good job of speaking to its audience, which I’m assuming would be young people, because they addressed cyberbullying and how bitter comments on social media can affect a person’s mental health. I also found it easy to understand how Mari was feeling at various times in the story because the author made a point to include a significant amount of detail on this.

    At the beginning of the novel, the author failed to cover key details that were important to the plot, such as how Bri died. Throughout the book, bits of information were put in that made it possible to eventually connect the dots so things made more sense. I’m glad they wrote it this way because it kept me interested and made me want to keep reading.
 

   Overall, I really enjoyed reading this book, and I have very few complaints. I thought it had a great plot that also touched on heavy topics that many people could relate to. I would recommend it if you like realistic fiction and enjoy reading about nature.

- Lena