City of the Lost

City of the Lost, by Kelly Armstrong

Summary:
Casey Duncan once killed a man and got away with it. But that’s not why she’s on the run. Her best friend Diana’s ex has found her again, despite all Casey has done to protect her. And Diana has decided the only way she’ll ever be safe is if she finds a mythical town that will hide people like her. Turns out the town exists, and it will take Diana, but only if Casey, a talented young police detective, comes along.

Imagine a secret town, isolated in the Yukon wilderness, deliberately cut off from the world, where everyone is pretending to be someone they’re not. Even good people can get up to some very bad stuff.[from https://www.kelleyarmstrong.com/book/city-of-the-lost/]

Group Review:
8 thumbs up
6 thumbs down

Once again, our group was close to an even split for thumbs up/thumbs down.

Those who enjoyed it mentioned that it was an easy read with a mystery that wasn’t too dark. The premise was intriguing and kept the reader going. Whereas some felt the book too long, the “thumbs up” people felt that the long back story was necessary for the plot and motivation to make sense. Although conceding that the premise was not very plausible it was entertaining enough to keep going to the end.

Others said they really enjoyed the rural, off the grid setting. One person commented that the author did a good job setting up the universe of the story. Then again, another person said they got no sense of place in the beginning–it could have been anywhere.

The group was split about the romantic components of the story; some liked the tension and others felt it was juvenile and poorly executed. One person said it made the overall story feel disjointed–was it a mystery or a romance novel?

Some people felt the characters development was weak; one person said that yes, this was true, but it was fine for what it was–an easy read. Some said the protagonist was well defined, yet others couldn’t get a sense of who she was or even what she looked like.

Quite a few readers mentioned the twist part of the story being really well done. Many also felt that the early part of the mystery was well written but the ending was rushed.

Finally, there were comments about the violence which were equally split between it being gratuitous or necessary as a plot device and to show character motivation.

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