We’ve all felt loss. We’ve all been lost. And that, plus the gorgeous writing, is the appeal of I Have Lost My Way, Gayle Forman’s most recent young adult novel. The three main characters couldn’t be more different. One is a young black singer, one is a dutiful son in a Muslim family, and one is a white visitor to New York City on a tragic mission. But they all share one thing: a devastating sense of loss. Yet in that loss, they find each other.
Premise
Freya is a rising young singer with a studio contract and tons of followers on Instagram. But just when she should be recording her music, her voice stops working. Her manager sends her to doctors and specialists, but nothing brings her singing voice back. If she can’t sing, she will lose her career, and she’s already lost her father and her sister.
Harun lives in a family of devout Muslims who do not know that he is gay. He cannot bring himself to tell his parents the truth about himself, and because of that, he has lost the one person who understood and accepted him – James.
Nathaniel grew up in a “fellowship of two” – just him and his dad in a house in the woods. Unfortunately, Nathaniel’s father suffered from untreated mental illness, and Nathaniel spent his life caring for and protecting his father. He has recently discovered the cracks in the world where he and his father lived, and he can see only one future — and it’s not a happy one.
Freya, Harun, and Nathaniel collide in a freak accident in Central Park and spend the rest of the day discovering each other and finding what they’ve been so desperately missing.
What I Liked
Foreman effectively uses multiple points of view to lay out an interesting story. All three characters have distinct compelling voices, and it’s easy to follow who is thinking and doing what. The switching POVs add tension and interest to a quiet story that emphasizes character development.
Although they come from very different lives, the three characters connect in realistic ways because of one common experience: loss. It’s a theme much needed these days, when differences seem to overshadow the similarities between people.
There is a lot of emotion in I Have Lost My Way, but Foreman’s writing never feels melodramatic. She uses effective description and metaphors to make readers care for her characters. Here’s a good example:
“And secrets crave fissures, until the fissures become trenches, and the trenches become channels, and the channels become crevasses, and suddenly you are alone, on a block of ice, separated from everyone you care about.”
Or this:
“To be the holder of other people’s loss is to be the keeper of their love. To share your loss with people is another way of giving your love.”
Overall, Foreman’s writing is clear, and her imagery beautiful. I enjoyed her older novel, If I Stay, but I think the writing in I Have Lost My Way is better. It’s smoother and feels more authentic.
I Have Lost My Way has a happy ending, although everything isn’t neatly tied up. The characters do not necessarily get what they want, but they do get what they need, and they see the value in that.
Recommendation
I Have Lost My Way is a great read for people who like contemporary realistic fiction, especially if they are looking for diversity.
Notes on content
I Have Lost My Way includes scenes with intimacy that is described tastefully. There’s some swearing. And one of the characters is gay and wrestles with coming out to his family.
Are you a fan of Gayle Foreman? Have you read If I Stay or any of her other books? Can you recommend similar books with diverse characters wrestling with real life challenges?
Thanks for getting nerdy with me!
Thank you for posting this! I have been meaning to, but haven’t read any Gayle Foreman books yet. Coincidentally, this book is on my night stand at this very moment (along with five other books). I want to read more YA; your review is a nudge in the right direction. Thanks!
It’s a good one, and a quick read. Glad it’s on your night stand. Next step, your hands! Enjoy it!