A review by sindri_inn_arsaeli
Where the Lost Ones Go by Akemi Dawn Bowman

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

This was good, but also could have been a lot better.
The plot does fit the blurb: young teen dealing with grief looks for ghosts to try to find her grandma or at least get a message to her. But it was sloooow going to actually meet the ghosts. I also found especially the early chapters weirdly dated in writing style, despite the fact that this is a current release.
I was invested in Elliot helping the ghosts move on, and I wanted to see her succeed. But it definitely felt as though some of the characters were left half finished so that the story could exclusively worry about the ghosts once they finally arrived on the scene. Elliot's parents, especially her mother, felt like a characature of a person rather than a real character. Her motives were blunt, poorly supported, and a stretch to explain at points. And I wish that the character of Mrs. Delveaux had been utilized a lot better: there was beautiful set up to see a blossoming friendship with another grandmother, one who felt forgotten by her own family, where she and Elliot could fill the roles they both lost, and then not a lot of attention was really given to that. (It also really bothered me that they treated her name as both her maiden name and her married name... Maybe there was a different name that I missed by listening rather than reading, but that kinda drove me nuts!)