Lost by Nadia Simonenko: A Review

From Good Reads:

Sometimes you need someone else to help you find your way.

Maria's life was torn apart when she was fifteen, and for seven years she's kept her terrible secret hidden from the world. Now, in her final semester of college, she still struggles against paralyzing fear just trying to speak up in class, and the terror and helplessness linger on in her nightmares.

Across campus, Owen sees his scars in the mirror every morning while he gets ready for class. They remind him of the broken home he left behind, the father he hates and fears, and the little sister he couldn't protect. Now, in his final semester of college, he's scared that he may have to return to the hell he called home after staying away for almost five years.

When Owen becomes a teaching assistant for one of Maria's classes, they find themselves irresistibly drawn to each other. As the two learn each other's secrets and grow closer, they realize that although they may be lost, they're not alone anymore.

This new adult contemporary romance is recommended for ages 17+ due to heavy subject matter

Fear is an ugly thing... especially when it holds on to your very soul. You cower in hopes the panic won't grip you again...and you find solice in a locked bedroom. But when you find someone that understands that is living in fear of something entirely different...yet the same..that's when you find true solice....

My first thought a few minutes ago when I finished this book as that I have no words. But that isn't true...because I'm a girl and there are so many words to describe but nothing seems right...

Let me start with this... I have said many times before that if you can't write emotion...if the reader doesn't feel it...than you haven't done your job... Whether it's a movie, a tv show, music, or a beautiful book. If we can't feel it... you need a new day job.

This book had me gasping for breath, glaring in fury, sobbing in desperation, and laughing hysterically from one page to the next.. I don't believe I've been this emotional since I was pregnant almost 11 years ago. 

The characters were broken, wounded, and yet so beautiful. The plot was like a swollen river..it took me places I didn't know a book could take me. 

This is not a light book...Not by any means...but I devoured it page after page... If their is one word to describe this book it is brokeness. Nadia took this brokeness and wove it until a story that changed me profoundly. I don't believe that five stars is really enough...but that is all Good Reads gives so it will have to be enough...but know this..this is love...what she wrote...true love...because you true love really does cast out all fear....