Review- The Lost Girl by Sangu Mandanna

Summary-

Eva's life is not her own. She is a creation, an abomination—an echo. She was made by the Weavers as a copy of someone else, expected to replace a girl named Amarra, her "other," if she ever died. Eva spends every day studying that girl from far away, learning what Amarra does, what she eats, what it's like to kiss her boyfriend, Ray. So when Amarra is killed in a car crash, Eva should be ready.

But sixteen years of studying never prepared her for this.

Now she must abandon everything and everyone she's ever known—the guardians who raised her, the boy she's forbidden to love—to move to India and convince the world that Amarra is still alive.

What Eva finds is a grief-stricken family; parents unsure how to handle this echo they thought they wanted; and Ray, who knew every detail, every contour of Amarra. And when Eva is unexpectedly dealt a fatal blow that will change her existence forever, she is forced to choose: Stay and live out her years as a copy or leave and risk it all for the freedom to be an original. To be Eva.

From debut novelist Sangu Mandanna comes the dazzling story of a girl who was always told what she had to be—until she found the strength to decide for herself.

Review-

I went into The Lost Girl without expecting much. I thought it would be an okay read. I was completely wrong. The Lost Girl blew me away with its uniqueness and its beautiful portrayal of grief. I hate reading sad books cause they always depress me but I loved The Lost Girl and that's saying something.

Eva is an echo. That means she has been created to learn and replicate her "other", Amarra's life. If Amarra ever dies, Eva has to replace her. She has spent sixteen years of her life studying Amarra and Eva does not have her own existence. I loved Eva. I don't even know how to describe her strength and determination. I admired her.

I loved that Eva was always fighting for her own self, for her own identity. She wanted to be Eva and not Amarra though if Amarra didn't exist in the first place, neither would she. Then there's Sean. He knows and likes Eva for who she is. Sean and Eva have an unbreakable bond and though the focus of the book is Eva I loved the parts in which they were together.

When Eva comes to India to lead her life as an echo she meets all the people who were present in Amarra's life. I loved how the author has shown Bangalore. I have been to Bangalore once or twice and I think they description of the city fit perfectly. I loved the authenticity.

I loved a few characters and a few made me horribly angry. The Lost Girl brings out every single emotion in you, which is hard to do. The book reels you in from the first chapter itself and I couldn't put it down till I saw what happened with Eva. I like my endings neatly tied up and that was not the case with The Lost Girl. But I think it just added to the book's charm. I thoroughly enjoyed The Lost Girl. Sangu Mandanna has made me a fan.