Full review: https://wanderinglectiophile.wordpress.com/2018/04/25/review-the-lost-days-emily...

I dearly loved this novel! Seriously. It was the exact change of pace I needed and turned out to be way better than I had anticipated.

The whole book is written in an epistolary style were Emily relays events and thoughts to you through journal entries. In among those entries you get the added bonus of sketches, doodles, photos, etcetera and it makes for the most wonderful reading experience. The story line was interesting and engaging. I was afraid that the plot line would be shallow and lost due to a focus being placed on the desired concept of the book (doodles, peculiar and strange characteristics, angst, etcetera) and not the story within, but it wasn’t. There is a legitimate and entertaining story to be experienced within the doodled and quirky journal entries.

Although Emily is in fact strange and peculiar, as well as an angst-y troublemaker, she’s still a very likable character. I marvel at the dept you get from her character in this book. Epistolary style writing tends to make it hard for me to connect with the characters, but that was never an issue in this book. Her character is clear and understandable throughout. The other peripheral characters are also felt out and interesting, which just makes the whole of it that much better.

I almost didn’t give this book a full five stars because it didn’t “fit” in with my other five star reads, but then I asked myself “Why the hell not?!” I really enjoyed this book and dinging it a star because it didn’t “fit” the mold seemed not only like an oxymoron but incredibly stupid of me. It’s now one of my favorites (as pretty much all my 5 star reads are) and has a permanent home on my bookshelf. ( )

I'm a big fan of quirky mysteries like When You Reach Me, Kiki Strike, and The Mysterious Benedict Society. I've tried reading a few Emily the Strange comics, but the ones I read lacked any interesting plot, so I was very surprised by how interesting and great this novel was. Amnesia, freaky science, ancient family mysteries... it's great. I'll definitely be reading the sequel, Emily the Strange Stranger and Stranger in April. ( )

My review of this book can be found on my YouTube Vlog at:

https://youtu.be/zA8M8XM4Zmc

Enjoy! ( )

The artwork is beautiful and the narrative is intriguing but the characters are really flat so I didn't actually care what happened. ( )

I found Emily at a time in high school when I really needed her. And even today at 26yo she still feels like a huge part of me. I was able to accept myself and all my weirdness because she showed me it was ok to be different. I love all of these books! I recommend them to anyone feeling left out ,weird, or like they don't belong. ( )