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Everything We Lost: A Novel by Valerie Geary
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Everything We Lost: A Novel (edition 2017)

by Valerie Geary (Author)

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
6818386,423 (3.33)5
From the critically acclaimed author of Crooked River comes this fascinating novel about a young woman searching for answers about events that transpired ten years before when her brother disappeared without a trace--an utterly mesmerizing psychological thriller. Lucy Durant was only fourteen-years-old when she lost her older brother. First to his paranoid delusions as he became increasingly obsessed with UFOs and government conspiracies. Then, permanently, when he walked into the desert outside Bishop, California, and never returned. Now on the tenth anniversary of Nolan's mysterious disappearance, Lucy is still struggling with guilt and confusion--her memories from that period are blurry and obscured by time, distance, and alcohol. Now an adult, she's stuck in a holding pattern, hiding out at her father's house, avoiding people, and doing whatever she can to keep herself from thinking about Nolan. But when a series of unsettling events leads Lucy back to Bishop, she is forced to reconcile with her estranged mother and come to terms with the tangled memories of her past to discover what really happened to her brother all those years ago. Told in Lucy and Nolan's alternating voices, Everything We Lost is a psychological mystery exploring family, beliefs, obsessions, the nature of memory, and fear of the unknown--a haunting, compelling story that will resonate with readers long after the last page is turned.… (more)
Member:JosieRivers
Title:Everything We Lost: A Novel
Authors:Valerie Geary (Author)
Info:William Morrow Paperbacks (2017), 480 pages
Collections:Your library
Rating:****
Tags:LT Giveaway

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Everything We Lost by Valerie Geary

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Showing 1-5 of 18 (next | show all)
(*I received this book in exchange for an honest review.)

Overall, it's a well-written and well-executed book. I enjoyed Geary's stylistic choice of alternating points of view in the book. She rotates between Lucy's point of view in present day as she attempts to figure out what happened to her older brother Nolan ten years ago. Throughout the book we're also taken back to the events of ten years ago from Nolan's perspective. We're able to see how his mind works and his perspective of events all those years ago.

Through these alternating perspectives, Geary slowly unravels what happened to Nolan, Lucy, and their friends. Each chapter adds to the previous and we as readers are slowly given clues as to what all happened that fateful year.

The only thing that could have been improved upon is the ending. I understand people's frustrations that it wasn't spelled out in black and white. However, it was definitely implied as to what happened to Nolan, you'll have to read between the lines in order to figure it out. Due to not having an omniscient narrator, there is no way for the author to spell it out point blank for people. The story telling comes from Lucy in the end and we can only know as much as she was there for and able to remember. I do think a last chapter from Nolan's perspective or even Celeste's might have been a nice touch, but I do also understand why the author ended the book the way she did.

If you're into psychological mysteries and talk of extraterrestrial existence, then you would enjoy this book. I was engaged throughout the entire book and even though it's over 400 pages, it didn't feel long in the slightest. ( )
  carissaburks | Apr 7, 2023 |
Everything We Lost by Valerie Geary is an intriguing mystery that explores UFOs, extraterrestrial and government conspiracies. This compelling novel centers around the still unresolved disappearance of then sixteen year old Nolan Durrant, whose increasingly erratic and paranoid behavior and intractable belief in all things UFO raises makes him an outcast among his classmates and an embarrassment to his younger sister, Lucy.

The ten year anniversary of her brother's disappearance is the catalyst for Lucy's return to the small town of Bishop, CA where she hopes to finally remember what happened the night Nolan vanished. The siblings were thick as thieves until Lucy catches the eye of Nolan's former friend, Patrick Tyndale, and she begins hanging out with him and his friends. This coincides with Nolan's new relationship with newcomer, Celeste, whose sudden appearance in town and mysterious past fuels his theory that space aliens walk among us. In the weeks leading up to his disappearance, Nolan's paranoid, volatile and delusional behavior begins to worsen after a few altercations with Patrick. Lucy's memories of the night Nolan vanished are lost in a drunken haze of disjointed impressions and overwhelming guilt. Will Lucy's return to Bishop finally lead her the truth about what happened to her brother?

Lucy and Nolan's childhood was anything but normal due to their parents' divorce and their mother's slow descent into alcoholism. Lucy was more than happy to tag along with Nolan on his fantasy fueled adventures about other planets, UFOs and space aliens. However, around the time Lucy becomes involved with Patrick, Nolan's interest in UFOs and extraterrestrials takes a dark turn and he grows increasingly unstable and convinced the government is after him. Patrick is charismatic and Lucy easily falls prey to his manipulations as she tries to keep his interest. With his lifelong fascination with outer space, Lucy's attempt to distance herself from her brother and their mother's neglect, Nolan's slow descent into mental illness is easily overlooked.

Written from both Lucy and Nolan's points of view and alternating between past and present, Everything We Lost is an engaging mystery. Valerie Geary does an excellent job keeping readers off balance as she delves into the possibilities of life on other planets and extraterrestrials in our midst. She also broaches the difficult topic of mental illness with a great deal of sensitivity. Although the novel's conclusion is somewhat open-ended, it is relatively easy to surmise Nolan's fate. All in all, a perplexing mystery that explores some interesting subject matter. ( )
  kbranfield | Feb 3, 2020 |
Well, this was unexpected! A story about belief and belonging, as well as reality and the strength of rationality vs. faith in the face of uncertainty, Geary's latest novel takes a look into the heart of what it means to be human in the context of an unknowable universe. And, of course, there are UFOs. Or are there? Anyway, that's not what it's really about. As Lucy explores life and memories before and after the unexplained disappearance of her brother, Nolan, the reader gets glimpses into the mind of a troubled protagonist as well as hints to the mystery pervading her life. And as the novel pans to Nolan's perspective, even more unexplained ideas are revealed.

I enjoyed this book for the writing and appreciated the ambiguity of the story. I appreciated the intriguing story that put both "religion" and reason into context and left the reader to ponder her own understanding. The feeling of non-resolution that pervaded my reading experience kept me interested until the end, but I must admit, I do wish there had been a slightly more conclusive ending, but I can certainly understand the stylistic choice here. Solving the mystery is simply not what this book is about! ( )
  saresmoore | Mar 20, 2018 |
This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.
I'm not a big fan of unsolved mysteries or UFOs but Lucy's story grabbed my attention from the first few pages. It was obvious that she carried a large amount of guilt relating to the disappearance of her brother Nolan. The more I learned about Nolan, the more I was convinced that he suffered from some kind of mental illness. I would have probably enjoyed the story more if there had been less talk of UFOs. I understand that the story was centered around Nolan's belief in beings from other planets but in some places the details were overkill. I also think the book as a whole would have been great if there had been some definitive conclusion about what happened to Nolan. The book was pretty long and the whole time I was reading I was anticipating the mystery would be solved at the end. Unfortunately, the mystery remained unsolved and I was left feeling dissatisfied and disappointed. ( )
  cwhisenant11 | Jan 19, 2018 |
The proverbial question: Are we alone? This novel attacks one of Man's greatest questions, in the form of a missing person mystery. What ever happened to Nolan? Was he abducted by "Them", beings from another planet? Was he murdered? Did he just decide to disappear?

I will not do spoilers. So, curious about the answers? Grab a copy, and find out some questions and some answers. I can tell you, not all of your questions will be answered.

This is an interesting read, whether you believe we are alone in this infinite universe or not! This tale is teeming with people who fall on both sides of the belief spectrum. ( )
  bearlyr | Sep 13, 2017 |
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From the critically acclaimed author of Crooked River comes this fascinating novel about a young woman searching for answers about events that transpired ten years before when her brother disappeared without a trace--an utterly mesmerizing psychological thriller. Lucy Durant was only fourteen-years-old when she lost her older brother. First to his paranoid delusions as he became increasingly obsessed with UFOs and government conspiracies. Then, permanently, when he walked into the desert outside Bishop, California, and never returned. Now on the tenth anniversary of Nolan's mysterious disappearance, Lucy is still struggling with guilt and confusion--her memories from that period are blurry and obscured by time, distance, and alcohol. Now an adult, she's stuck in a holding pattern, hiding out at her father's house, avoiding people, and doing whatever she can to keep herself from thinking about Nolan. But when a series of unsettling events leads Lucy back to Bishop, she is forced to reconcile with her estranged mother and come to terms with the tangled memories of her past to discover what really happened to her brother all those years ago. Told in Lucy and Nolan's alternating voices, Everything We Lost is a psychological mystery exploring family, beliefs, obsessions, the nature of memory, and fear of the unknown--a haunting, compelling story that will resonate with readers long after the last page is turned.

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