The Library of Lost Things by Laura Taylor Namey

Dec 12

Dec 12 The Library of Lost Things by Laura Taylor Namey

Darcy isn’t like most teens. Sure she has her secrets like most teens, but her secret is a mother who hoards. And for most of her life, she has managed not to let anyone know. Making herself invisible and hiding in the words and stories of her beloved books. But reality comes barging in when a new apartment manager wants to start making changes to the apartment complex, and he has his sights set on Darcy’s and her mother’s apartment. And with only thirty days before her eighteenth birthday, Darcy has to figure out how to keep the apartment manager at bay until then.

However, things become complicated when the wig emporium next door hires a new handyman, Asher Fleet, and Darcy is distracted by something other than her books. At first, she presumes him to be like Mr. Darcy but as more of his reality seeps into her fantasies, she realizes it’s the PCS, Post-Concussive Syndrome, that makes him this way. And Darcy knows something about illness and how it can affect your behavior and those around you.

I felt for Darcy. She was trapped in a world she didn’t create. Not only that, she picked up habits to survive living with a hoarder that made it difficult to live in the real world. And I felt for Asher as well. To have his dreams ripped from him all due to a car accident, is horrible. However, when put together, these two were wonderful. Asher brought Darcy out of her isolation and out of the fantasies she created, and though she created fantasies surrounding Asher, he made her see they could be a possibility. And Darcy helped Asher realize that just because he lost one dream, he could have another. Possibly even regain things he once lost, just in a different way.

The Library of Lost Things is unlike any book I’ve ever read. It tackled hard issues but did so in as realistically as I could imagine. But it also made me see myself and realize that we’re all a little messed up and trying our best to hide it. Creating fantasies so no one sees the ugly things we hide but we need to live in reality and hope that the people who love us will accept us, mess and all. The Library of Lost Things will help you find things about yourself you never knew were hidden. A must have for your own library.