The Other Side Of Lost.

☆☆☆☆☆

the other side of lost.
jessi kirby.

Publisher  HarperTeen.

Publication Date:August 17,2018

Genre: YA Contemporary.

Format|Pages: Hardcover|320.

 Source:  Goodreads|Library.

CONTAINS SPOILERS

Mari Turner’s life is perfect. That is, at least to her thousands of followers who have helped her become an internet starlet. But when she breaks down and posts a video confessing she’s been living a lie—that she isn’t the happy, in-love, inspirational online personality she’s been trying so hard to portray—it goes viral and she receives major backlash. To get away from it all, she makes an impulsive decision: to hike the entire John Muir trail. Mari and her late cousin, Bri, were supposed to do it together, to celebrate their shared eighteenth birthday. But that was before Mari got so wrapped up in her online world that she shut anyone out who questioned its worth—like Bri.



With Bri’s boots and trail diary, a heart full of regret, and a group of strangers that she meets along the way, Mari tries to navigate the difficult terrain of the hike. But the true challenge lies within, as she searches for the way back to the girl she fears may be too lost to find: herself. 

 ☂

Extraordinary. Thrilling. Heartfelt.



This is the story that you won’t forget, and the one that you will find yourself shedding tears over. I knew about this book for a while, and now that I have read it, I wished that I had picked it up sooner. I have been JESSI KIRBY fan ever since I read her debut novel back in 2012. Over the years, I became a bigger fan and every book that I read, I fall more in love with her writing, her stories. I have read most of her books and loved them all, besides THINGS WE KNOW BY HEART , this one is my favorite one. I couldn’t seem to get enough of this story, and I was so fascinated by Mari’s journey and I was rooting for her to make it all the way to the end. I love hiking, maybe not the way Bri did, but I do enjoy the nature a lot, and enjoy hiking when I do go. When Mari received Bri’s hiking gear as a birthday present from her aunt, I wondered if she go through it, and most of all I wondered if she would go through it all or just the parts of it. I thought that it was brave of Mari to go through it all, despite fact that she did not even train for this trip, and fact that her and Bri drifted apart before Bri’s death. I do wonder if there is part that made Mari feel guilty and if that is another reason that she went. Despite the reason, she made it, she went.



I do believe that maybe this hike, is what Mari needed, to grieve and to escape. Especially after that social media video that went viral. Sometimes escape is just what you need. I know that the reason that she went right away, was because if she didn’t, Mari find a reason to talk herself out of it. I loved everything about THE OTHER SIDE OF LOST and the emotions in this book, I felt as I was going through them while I was reading it. I feel as if that hike, had her grieving for her cousin, Bri, missing her. I loved the little notes that her cousin made in her notebook and how she seemed to depend on it. I loved reading them though, in the way they were inspiring. I know for fact that Bri is a type of person that I would loved being friends with, and she seemed as she was positive. I feel as if Bri was smiling down on Mari when she went on that hike. I am glad that she met Beau, Colin, Jack, Vanessa and Josh when she did, because it made the hike a lot more fun when you share it with friends. I do believe that going on such long hike, it more fun and safer when you go as a group. I feel as if she did it by herself, she might not made it as far as she did, or would lost the inspiration. In a way, they helped her reach her goal. I feel as they are going to be friends for years to come.



That ending, it had me smiling and made me so proud of all of them. It did still make me wonder what happened after. For instance how would Mari’s mother and aunt react, considering how she decided to leave for the hike. What would happen with Mari and Josh, and would they ever see each other again? It still had me thinking, even once I reached the ending. THE OTHER SIDE OF LOST was a beautifully written book, a story that you will find yourself thinking about, long after you reach the last page. I cannot wait to see what adventures JESSI KIRBY will come up with next.