by Stephanie Morrill
Genre: YA historical mystery
My Rating: ★★★
Description:
Piper Sail's best friend, Lydia, is missing. Though the police have promised to do all that they can, Piper is convinced that they're looking in the wrong places and starts her own investigation. With the help of the young police detective Mariano, Piper begins uncovering clues to Lydia's disappearance.
But soon, she has to decide just how far she's willing to go to learn the truth... especially when the trail of clues begins to lead back to her own affluent neighborhood.
Overall Thoughts
If you're looking for a complex, twisty historical mystery novel -- this isn't the one. While The Lost Girl of Astor Street was a well written, enjoyable story, the mystery was definitely not my favorite and didn't include all of the twists and turns that I have grown to expect from mysteries (or maybe I've just seen too many episodes of Murdoch Mysteries to be surprised anymore? I hope not!)
Speaking of Murdoch Mysteries, though, this book did remind me quite a bit of the show. Not in a bad way, but it had a very similar feel -- perhaps it's the historical mystery that's making me draw lines between them.
The Characters
The characters were definitely the best part about this book. Piper was a decent main character, and I liked reading her POV. Her reactions to the situations she was faced with felt realistic, and I appreciated that. I wasn't as huge a fan of her love interest, Mariano. I didn't hate him by any means, but I would have liked the two of them better as friends. Emma Crane was also a great character, and just an all around nice person? I really related to her character. I also liked her brother, Jeremiah (who would have been a better love interest, in my humble opinion.)
I will say that the villain didn't really have the greatest motive, and I wish that this aspect of the story had been done better. (But then, I had a problem with a lot of the mystery aspects.)
Plot/Pacing
Now, for the plot. While the mystery wasn't extremely twisty, it was a decently plotted out storyline. I wish that Piper had found more clues earlier -- for the first little while, it seemed as though she was just aimlessly ambling around looking for clues and not finding any. But once she did start finding clues, the story became really engaging and fast-paced.
In terms of subplots, there were several dropped threads that I wish the author had tied up, as there was quite a bit of page time spent on some of them. For example, her father's engagement to Jane. Piper doesn't like Jane, and voices it on numerous occasions, and really, by the end of the book, it seemed like nothing had changed between them? Which I found to be sad, and also slightly annoying, considering how much time Piper spent complaining about her.
Setting
As for the setting -- I loved it. I've always had a soft spot for historical fiction (ever since my seventh grade days of binge reading Dear Canada and The Royal Diaries... ah the good old days.) But anyway, since I love historical fiction, I loved reading all the historical details the author wove into this book. The setting felt genuine and vibrant. It also explored a period of history I haven't read very much about -- the 1920s -- which I liked. It seems like so many historical novels are based during WW2 nowadays that this was a refreshing change. (Not hating on WW2 novels, though: it was an important and tragic period of history, and one that we shouldn't forget any time soon.)
Conclusion: if you like historical fiction, you might want to keep The Lost Girl of Astor Street on your radar. But if you're a die-hard mystery fan, it might be worth your while to look elsewhere.
Content
Recommended for ages 15 and up.
Speaking of Murdoch Mysteries, though, this book did remind me quite a bit of the show. Not in a bad way, but it had a very similar feel -- perhaps it's the historical mystery that's making me draw lines between them.
The Characters
The characters were definitely the best part about this book. Piper was a decent main character, and I liked reading her POV. Her reactions to the situations she was faced with felt realistic, and I appreciated that. I wasn't as huge a fan of her love interest, Mariano. I didn't hate him by any means, but I would have liked the two of them better as friends. Emma Crane was also a great character, and just an all around nice person? I really related to her character. I also liked her brother, Jeremiah (who would have been a better love interest, in my humble opinion.)
I will say that the villain didn't really have the greatest motive, and I wish that this aspect of the story had been done better. (But then, I had a problem with a lot of the mystery aspects.)
Plot/Pacing
Now, for the plot. While the mystery wasn't extremely twisty, it was a decently plotted out storyline. I wish that Piper had found more clues earlier -- for the first little while, it seemed as though she was just aimlessly ambling around looking for clues and not finding any. But once she did start finding clues, the story became really engaging and fast-paced.
In terms of subplots, there were several dropped threads that I wish the author had tied up, as there was quite a bit of page time spent on some of them. For example, her father's engagement to Jane. Piper doesn't like Jane, and voices it on numerous occasions, and really, by the end of the book, it seemed like nothing had changed between them? Which I found to be sad, and also slightly annoying, considering how much time Piper spent complaining about her.
Setting
As for the setting -- I loved it. I've always had a soft spot for historical fiction (ever since my seventh grade days of binge reading Dear Canada and The Royal Diaries... ah the good old days.) But anyway, since I love historical fiction, I loved reading all the historical details the author wove into this book. The setting felt genuine and vibrant. It also explored a period of history I haven't read very much about -- the 1920s -- which I liked. It seems like so many historical novels are based during WW2 nowadays that this was a refreshing change. (Not hating on WW2 novels, though: it was an important and tragic period of history, and one that we shouldn't forget any time soon.)
Conclusion: if you like historical fiction, you might want to keep The Lost Girl of Astor Street on your radar. But if you're a die-hard mystery fan, it might be worth your while to look elsewhere.
Content
Recommended for ages 15 and up.
TRIGGER WARNINGS: Kidnapping, mentions of human trafficking.
No swearing that I can recall (this book is published by Blink, which usually means there is little to no profanity).
Sexual content is limited to kissing; there are also mentions of brothels and prostitution, as well as some talk and anxiety of what might have befallen Lydia (in terms of human trafficking). A minor character is married and having an affair with an unmarried character. One character reveals that she was sent away by her family to get an abortion. She didn't go through with it.
Violence includes being held at gunpoint, a child is found to have been beaten, talk about a dead body and how the person died, a character experiences rough treatment including being dragged across gravel.
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