"We Are Lost and Found"

"We Are Lost and Found"
Written by Helene Dunbar
Reviewed by Diana Iozzia

"We Are Lost and Found" is a poignant and honest story that takes place over the span of one year: 1983, during the AIDS crisis. We meet our main character, Michael, who teaches us about what it was like to be a young, gay teen during this time. Michael has not yet come out of the closet, as when his older brother Connor came out, his parents kicked him out. Michael grapples with his friends, James and Becky, as they begin to grow apart from him as they grow older. In addition, Michael spends his time at a club, where he meets a very handsome and charming boy named Gabriel. Now, Michael must decide what risks he'd like to take for love.

When I began this story, I instantly loved Michael and James. They are two sweet and wonderful characters. James is an ultimately wonderful character, and how I wished to receive more story involving him. He is absolutely a secondary character, when I wished he would have been Michael's true love. I am a sucker for relationships that begin as pure friendship. I personally did not care much for Gabriel's character. He often left Michael high and dry, spending most of his time partying and disappearing, while Michael longed for his attention.

I can see the comparisons made to "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" and "Dead Poet's Society". I find that friendships combined with coming of age stories are very important and books that I really enjoy to read. I felt this was a very simple and easy story to read.

Frankly, I did expect more sadness and heartbreaking moments than we received. I would have thought for sure that we would have lost one of our main characters to AIDS. Personally, I do not mind a happy ending, but I would have appreciated a little more hard-hitting and emotional plot. I find that it can be strange to have a story about the AIDS crisis being very cheery and silver-lined.

In conclusion, I found this to be a very sweet story to read, but I was certainly hoping for more from most of the characters and the plot. I'd be interested to read other stories by this author in the future.

I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for reading and reviewing purposes.