I Have Lost my Way is the one-day story of three young adults who having seemingly lost their way in this world and are struggling to find where they are and how they belong in both their personal world and the world around them.
The characters in this book are straight forward. Only three main characters and the story focuses solely on them. While there are some ancillary characters, don’t expect them to be well-developed or to have a lot of depth. They really exist only to prop up Harun, Freya and Nathaniel.
This book is a quick read. It is told from a third person perspective and takes place all in the span of less than 24 hours. The chapters are a little choppy in their division, but the book essentially reads like it has no chapters, so you may not even notice. Expect a lot of jumping back and forth in timeline as the main characters recall or reminisce about their past and what shaped their perception of the current event.
The final few pages button up the story line tightly, although at times it did seem a little rushed. Throughout the book there are subtle hints and nuances that would lead you to believe an event has occurred and the event is explained in the final few pages. Not necessarily a happy ending per se, but an ending that brings closure to the characters and resolution to their lost status.
Review of an Advance Reading Copy from the Publisher
Content Analysis:
Profanity/Language: 1 religious exclamation, 7 mild obscenities, 1 religious profanity, 7 derogatory names, 11 scatological words, 6 anatomical terms, 22 f-word derivatives.
Violence/Gore: Multiple references to family member dying from illnesses; girl falls off bridge and lands on boy resulting in concussion and bloody head wound; 2-page description of how boy was injured and lost eye with graphic detail of eye injury; girl cuts foot on glass resulting in bloody gash; boy finds father on floor deceased as result of suspected suicide; boy contemplates suicide.
Sex/Nudity: Boy remembers kiss between himself and another male; boy fantasizes about self and another male; girl held/led by elbow; two instances where young males are recalled having sex without detail; reference to minors having sex; crude comment regarding spreading of leg; reference to erections twice; kiss; caress of face.
Mature Subject Matter:
Racial, gender and religious conflict, death, suicide both contemplated and completed, divorce, separation, abandonment, mental illness, gender/sex identify issues, homosexuality, robbery.
Alcohol / Drug Use:
Adult drinks wine at dinner.
