Road of the Lost

Definitely more of a 4.5.

It's been a while since I read the author Nafiza's debut The Candle and the Flame but I remember adoring it at the time. While I never did manage to read her The Wild Ones, I was totally enamored by the cover of this book and couldn't resist asking for an arc. I'm also so excited that I get to participate in this blog tour.

I truly didn't know what I was expecting when I went into this. It's so totally different from the author's debut that I pretty much went in without any expectations, just wanting to experience it. And wow what a ride this turned out to be. I don't tend to read a lot of Fae books - I've read my share of SJM's series and The Cruel Prince trilogy too - but I don't have a fascination with the fae like many other readers tend to have. But I feel like this book may have finally succeeded in making me like them. As this is mostly a journey book - mainly through forests - it is heavy on descriptions. If you know me at all, you'll realize that I tend to hate long descriptions but I couldn't stop reading every single line here. The author creates a mesmerizing world with her words and I felt myself lost in the woods, trying to experience the charm of everything our protagonist was experiencing herself for the first time. I'm definitely lost for words here too because I'm unable to articulate how beautiful this reading journey was for me. The pacing of the book is definitely slow, as it feels more like a slice of life story, but the author keeps our interest with each small revelation that comes at the right time. The author is also very good at making us feel every single emotion that the main character does - her innocence, mischievousness, ignorance, wonder, awe, pain and rage - every feeling of hers felt palpable on the page.

This is truly a coming of age story of Croi. This is probably the first time I'm reading a book where the main character grows both physically and metaphorically as the pages go by and this transformation is the story. Croi starts off as an innocent brownie who is happy being invisible, stealing little things from the human market and just spending time with her stone friend in the garden. She may not know her origins or why she doesn't have parents, but she is relatively happy because she doesn't know any other reality. But then her life is upended and she has to go on an inevitable journey, hoping to find some truths about herself at the end of it.

While the uncertainty and pain of her physical transformation is a hurdle in her journey, she never gives up and is determined on her path. She doesn't know what having a friend means but she does meet other kin during her journey, thinks she has found friends, experiences betrayal and maybe even the beginnings of first love. But through it all, even when she is scared of what her true form might be, she keeps her heart. She is compassionate and always tries to help those who are in need, never expecting much in return. But she is also not one to accept things as told to her - she is smart and very observant and as her powers grow, she questions what she is told and tries to figure out what is right and what is wrong.

What I did like most about her though (and I'm glad the author portrayed her this way) is that she is angry about her circumstances - how she was never given a choice in her entire life, how she now has to endure extensive pain to reach her true form, how everyone keeps using her for their own ends - and she does not shy away from expressing her rage. She is not cruel and won't harm those who don't deserve it, but she does not give forgiveness to those who harmed her, not until she feels they have earned it.

In the end, I don't think I've been able to express how much I adored this book, and especially our MC Croi. This is a beautifully written story of a young fae and her journey of finding herself and more truths about her world. With evocative descriptions, a very easy to love main character, a Fae world unlike anything I've encountered before, and a story that charmed me completely - Road of the Lost is definitely one of the best YA books I've read this year. This is an adventure tale unlike any other and I hope you all will get to experience it too.