The Lost Boys

The Lost Boys
Rating: 5/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: ARC Courtesy of NetGalley

17 year old Joey Gray has just moved to a new a town, when she's asked my her new neighbor to help carry some flowers to her husbands grave at the cemetery. As she goes to leave the cemetery she gets a little lost, and that's when she see's him. Tristan, a very cute, very mysterious boy she only ever meets at the graveyard. Looking back, she realises that should have clued her in, but when new years eve rolls around and an accident happens, Joey finds out that not only is he a ghost, but she's just managed to bring him back to life. The catch? He only has a year until a strange cloaked guy Joey calls Vigil, will come to "fix" him aka kill him.

As Joey enrolls at the local boarding school, her mother and herself pretend Tristan is her half brother in order for him to attend too. Due to her boyish name, Joey ends up rooming in the boys block with Tristan, and Seth. Seth fast becomes Joey's friend in the week before Tristan arrives and she knows no-one, and she fast becomes friends with his fellow band mates Sam, Josh and Harry. When Tristan arrives, the two are invited in to the band, The Lost Boys, to avoid music class, and soon an unbreakable friendship forms between the band members. For the first time, Joey has true friends, and she's not the only one.

When Joey first meets Tiffany, she's the classic mean girl, and Joey begins to believe she's already made a nemesis at school when she won't bow down to Tiffany. But Tiffany has always led a life where people only want to be friends with her for her money and who her parents are, and Joey is the lucky person to pass her test, and become her BFF. Joey has friends, she loves her school, she's in an awesome band, and she kinda sorta thinks she might have very strong feelings for Tristan....love type feelings.

But as the true extent of Tristan's situation becomes apparent, Tristan does everything he can to push her away. When it doesn't work, they can no longer fight their feelings for each other, and they have to clue in their friends. As bonds are forged, relationships cemented, and with a deadline looming....can they all work together to keep Tristan alive? Or will heartbreak ensue.

Okay, so, when I read the blurb I kind of figured the whole story would be just these two and she'd eventually find out he's a ghost and then it's all forbidden love, I had no idea what it was really about but I was intrigued. My worry is that the blurb I've seen here on Amazon and Goodreads might put people off reading, because they think it's one thing and they won't find out how awesome it is. SO I've expanded on the original blurb for my review as best as I can to give you more of an idea of what you're in for, because seriously, you will not regret anything more than passing over this book!

I absolutely frikkin loved this book! It wasn't what I was expecting and I was so incredibly surprised and delighted, I think I've found another favourite that I'll re-read again and again.

The whole book was so incredibly unique. I loved that instead of Tristan being a ghost the whole time like I was expecting, he became alive again, and there was more going on in the story than the love angle. I also loved how the mean girl turned out to be the BFF.

The world building was vivid, I could picture everything clearly and lose myself in the words and the images that where being painted for me with them. Never thought I'd say this, but I kinda wanna go to the school, if there's that many hot guys strolling about! The prose was fantastic, The Lost Boys was very beautifully written and each page spilled magic and beauty everywhere. I was hooked from the first page, and engaged the whole way through, nothing could distract me. The flow and the pace where fantastic, there where never any slow or dull moments, and there was just the right amount of drama sprinkled in.

As I've said, the plot is very unique, girl meets ghost, ghost isn't so ghosty, angst, romance, and a story you just can't predict. There was a certain character who's identity I never twigged, and when it was revealed I was incredibly shocked. I was in two minds with the ending, thinking it was going to be heartbreaking and we'd see something happen with her and another character, but then the happy ending came. I loved the mythology of Vigil and his, shall we say, species, not to mention Sky's mythology. Pretty awesome. I can honestly say I have never read anything like this book before. The plot had lots of twists and turns, and covered a lot of ground, and was literally packed with everything you could want, action, angst, romance, and humour.

I loved every single one of the characters. I loved Joey, I felt connected to her, I felt what she felt. All of the characters where so unique, I loved Tiff, just pure loved her. I really thought she was going to be the books resident mean girl, and was loving the fact she turned out to be Joey's best friend, and her reasoning for why she did what she did to Joey just made me feel for her more. I loved Tristan, as Joey said, he's like her very own Back to the Future boy, although he bungled a bit with the trying to do what's best thing. The Lost Boys. Seth, Josh, Sam and Harry. Man I loved them all. I wished I had them as my friends, watching my back. Each was unique and had their own personality, and you come to love all of them.

The characters where all so well written, had so much depth they could each stand on their own whether a main character or a secondary character. There was so much detail to them, and they all came to life and jumped off the page. The relationships where so real, so human, and they kind you can only hope to encounter. They all trusted each other, and when the truth was revealed, they rolled with it.

After reading The Lost Boys, I'm still kind of in a little bubble and slightly still stuck in their world. The Lost Boys is one of the most enjoyable reads of my year so far, and I was incredibly sad when it was over. I didn't want to leave the world, and I didn't want to leave the characters. It's one of those times when you see you're reaching the end of the book and wish for more pages to suddenly appear.

I can honestly tell you, that if you pick up The Lost Boys, you will not regret it. Yeah it's about this huge, epic love, but it's about so much more that the blurb doesn't do justice to. The Lost Boys, to me, is also about friendship, you see so many different friendships in this book, each having something to show you, and teach you. The Lost Boys shows you that true friends are hard to find, but when you do, they'll be your rock, they'll be there for you no matter what, and help you through anything, forgive you anything, and it was truly heartwarming to read.

The Lost Boys is an un-putdownable, fast paced, incredibly unique book that you will never want to end. There's friendship, music, romance, action, and even some mystery along with the magic. Not only is the book enchanting but it will make you laugh as well as make you kind of want to cry.

Do yourself a favour, take a chance, even if it's not in your regular genre, just read the book. It will be hours of fun and entertainment, and you really won't regret it!