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Hidden #1

Lost Girl

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This is an alternate cover edition for ASIN: B00H0NX3KE

Molly Brooks is a telepathic vigilante with a few secrets and a mysterious past. Determined to make something of her bizarre powers, she devotes herself to saving those who need her most. One night, she's followed by a powerful being in a pickup truck, and her world will never be the same. Finding herself thrust into a world full of supernatural beings she could have only imagined, Molly learns how powerful she really is, and how much she stands to lose.

230 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 30, 2013

170 people are currently reading
1255 people want to read

About the author

Colleen Vanderlinden

37 books240 followers
Colleen Vanderlinden is the author of the Hidden and Hidden: Soulhunter urban fantasy series, as well as the Copper Falls paranormal romance series.

The her novels Home, Nether, and Godkiller have all been finalists for RT Book Reviews’ Reviewers Choice Awards for best self-published urban fantasy novel. Her books have consistently received positive reviews, and RT Book Reviews has called her storytelling “electrifying.”

She also writes small-town contemporary romance as Ella Linden. Her book, Lost with You, won the RT Book Review Reviewers' Choice Award for best Indie or Small Press Romance in 2017.

She lives in northern Michigan with her husband, kids, demonic Basset hound, and four lazy cats. You can find out more about Colleen’s books at colleenvanderlinden.com, or follow her on Twitter.

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5 stars
564 (29%)
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676 (34%)
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488 (25%)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 133 reviews
December 28, 2015
Actual rating: 3.5

Maybe.

I think.

Not sure.

Dunno.

Could be much lower.

Could be much higher.

Could have been a DNF. But wasn't.

Could have been an OMG-this-is-amazing-I'm-in-love read. But wasn't.

►► Confused? Me? Naaaahhh.

So. How do you rate a potentially awesome book that went from, well, potential awesomeness, to uh-oh-I-don't-like-where-this-is-going, then to oh-damn-I-can't-believe-you-did-this-Colleen-Vanderlinden-you-are-so-dead, and finally to okay-now-I-get-that-you-did-this-so-you-could-do-this-but-had-you-NOT-done-this-this-would-have-been-a-truly-awesome-book? ← this is such a long question I seem to have trouble remembering what it was about. Please bear with me for a minute while I confer with myself. Thank you.

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Oh, right. It's much clearer now. I have no idea how to rate this book. That's what the question was about. And after two long weeks pondering over it, I have no freaking clue. If I wasn't so polite, well-behaved and civilized, I'd say I have no fucking clue, but I am, so I won't. Ha. Anyway, I have no freaking clue how to rate this book and I have no freaking clue how to freaking explain why I have no freaking clue how to rate this book. Follow me so far? Very good, it seems the eggnog damage to your grey cells wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Lucky me you.

Okay, since I can't freaking explain this, I'll try and freaking break it down for you, alphabet-style:

A. The first part of the book = 4-star material.
B. The next bit = 3.5 going on 3-star material.
C. The next bit = 2-star going on I'm going to DNF this shit material.
D. The next bit = I can smell something fishy, dare I hope redemption is on the way, 2.5-star material.
E. The next bit = bloody hell I knew you were up to something 3-star material.
F. The last part of the book = to get to E (and therefore F) you needed shitty C so I think I almost forgive you 3.5-star material.
G. What the hell do I do now?

This doesn't explain a thing, does it? Sigh. Okay, let's try something else, shall we?



Hey you, no need to get so violent, okay?! Damn. The people on this site are unbelievable. So much for the Holiday Spirit in these parts ← yes, that might be my little self talking to my little self. Then again maybe not. Who knows? I sure don't.

Why I shouldn't have liked this book. And didn't. But still did.
✘ Molly, the heroine, is a little too perfect. She is so desperately perfect even her flaws are impeccable. She is the perfect badass lone avenger/vigilante with perfect super powers, perfectly looking to perfectly atone for some obscure, shameful, perfect sins. Just your average girl-next-door, basically. Yay.
✘ The romance is predictable and clichéd as hell *shudders*
✘ The love interest is blue-eyed and a mountain of a man. Obviously. And totally super hot and super powerful with super mind powers. Yay again.
INSTA-FUCKING-LOVE. I'm all for being polite, well-behaved and civilized, but some fucking instances call for some fucking curse words (I learned from the best).
INSTA-FUCKING-. Yep. You read this right. Now this usually calls for instant doom and complete, total destruction as far as I'm concerned. I mean, INSTA-FUCKING- , people!!! It's a wonder I read this, survived unscathed, and am still alive to talk about it. And it's a miracle I didn't even threaten the author with bodily harm. And killed the book with fire. And shot at it for good measure.

So now you're thinking that all this crap up there ↑↑ definitely should have triggered this reaction in me:



Well it did. But it didn't. Confused much? Must be the eggnog. Ha.

Why I should have loved this book. And did.
✔ A pretty awesome ass-kicking heroine with Super Awesome Mind Powers and a great voice. I might want to be her when I grow up.
✔ A pretty awesome super hero squad of magic-wielding freaks. And I don't usually like super heroes. That should tell you something.
✔ A super cool army of super cool imps. I'm in love. And now I want my very own super cool army of super cool imps, too.
And Super Awesome Mind Powers. I said that already? Oops, sorry. Won't happen again.
YUMMY DEMON!!!!! That's all I need to be happy. Who ever said I was hard to please?
✔ A pretty awesome author who isn't afraid to kill off her characters. So refreshing. So tragic. So cool.
And Super Awesome Mind Powers. I said that already? Oops, sorry. Won't happen again.
✔ Pretty awesome, intriguing world building I want to read more about.
✔ Fast-paced plot with lots of action, and unexpected developments.
And Super Awesome Mind Powers. I said that already? Oops, sorry. Won't happen again.

So, where does that take us? We have the terrifying, ghastly cons-from-hell and the thrilling, delectable pros-from-heaven. Let me debate with my inner jury for a second. I'll be right back.



►► A 3.5 rating it is. Despite the predictable romance and INSTA-FUCKING-STUFF. I think now would be a good time for you to faint. And you know what? I can't wait to read book 2. That's right. Because E and F justified C, and G=bloody hell I need to know what happens next. Because, you know, army of imps. And Super Awesome Mind Powers. And stuff.

Profile Image for Jessica ❁ ➳ Silverbow ➳ ❁ .
1,293 reviews9,002 followers
September 10, 2017
Reviewed by: Rabid Reads

You know how some MCs are seriously badass, but others are trying so hard to be badass that they come across like one of those girls from high school who smoked in the bathroom?

Molly Brooks is one of those . . .

Our story opens with Molly stomping across a college campus to check for reports of missing girls while looking down her nose at the people surrounding her and their fake problems.

Molly can hear their thoughts, you see, and apparently all the standard co-ed has on her mind is what color to paint her toenails.

Not like Molly. Molly knows about REAL problems. She's a vigilante dubbed "the Angel" by the media, who uses her powers (telepathy, mind control, monochromatic wardrobe . . .) to rescue lost girls--girls kidnapped on their way home from softball practice and destined for prostitution, women abducted by jealous ex-lovers, etc.

Molly does this to atone for some unnamed sin, and she does it in her uniform of black pants, black tee, and black chucks that match her long black hair, while driving around in her 1970 Barracuda:
description

Molly doesn't need to be circumspect, b/c mind control.

It's on her way to drop off the rescued softball-playing girls that she notices she's picked up a tail, and after the girls are all safely home, she pulls over on the side of the road to see what the jackhole wants.

Imagine my surprise when Jackhole turns out to be a "mountain" of a man--6'6'' at least, with piercing blue eyes . . . blah, friggin', blah.

And Jackhole has a proposition. He can feel the power rolling off Molly, but she needs to be trained, and he's just the demon to do it. Oh, and he'd like her to join his merry band of misfits.

Molly says, "I'm not a team player."

So Jackhole messes around in her head a bit, b/c he can read minds too.

Molly: Get out of my head!

Jackhole: Learn to keep me out of your head!

Molly: I hate you!

Jackhole: You need training.

Molly: I'm not a team player!

Molly: I hate you!

And who is Jackhole that he could train her, anyway?

Well, Jackhole is a demon who calls himself Nain after the French mythical Nain Rouge, which also happens to be a Detroit urban legend. Given that the book takes place in Detroit, that's actually pretty cool.

Anyway, demons are BAD news, and Nain was no exception. He spent the first half of his life murdering, raping (YES, raping), and torturing, but while listening to a mother plead for the life of the baby he was about to kill, he realized that what he was doing was wrong. <------NOT one of my sarcastic summaries. That's pretty much what he said. Verbatim.

And ever since then, he's fed his demon the fear and chaos it craves by murdering and torturing lowlife scum instead of innocents.

Awww shucks.

BUT Molly's not interested, so they part ways.

Later that night, Molly wakes when she hears a window break in her house. She creeps downstairs to confront the intruder, and who does she find sitting at her kitchen table?

The Anti-Molly. Tall, Blonde, and Evil with the Sugary Sweet Smile and the foul aura. Anti-Molly calls herself the Puppeteer, and also has a proposition for Molly--join her and her evil band of misfits, and Molly will have lots and lots of POWER.

Molly declines (b/c not a team player), Puppeteer insists, but Molly gets the drop on her by punching her in the nose, and Puppeteer runs away to the tune of, "You're gonna regret this."

And believe it, or not, all of that happened in the first four chapters.

It did get better. I nearly DNF-ed half a dozen times, but I stuck with it, and once Vanderlinden hit her groove, the book flowed much more believably.

Overall, a seriously rocky start to a series that shows promise, and I did one-click book 2. I'd recommend this to fans of darker UF like SABINA KANE or DOWNSIDE GHOSTS.

*****Since this review was written, I have read and LOVED books 2 - 4 in this series.*****

That groove that Vanderlinden hit? She hasn't lost it since, and this series has turned into one of my favorites for 2014, and as an indie that's quite an accomplishment.

I seriously thought about rewriting the review to reflect this development, but felt it was more important to be honest. For me, Lost Girl had some serious flaws, and the fact that Vanderlinden's growth as a writer was practically tangible (beginning in the latter part of this book, and continuing with each installment) doesn't negate those flaws. BUT. I wholeheartedly recommend this series to Urban Fantasy fans, and I hope you don't let a less than stellar first book keep you from the rest of them--good UF is hard to find.

Jessica Signature
Profile Image for Dianne.
6,815 reviews632 followers
November 16, 2018
What a read! What a ride! What a heroine! Molly is a telepathic vigilante, doing her part to make Detroit’s streets safe. But, surprise, she discovers she is much more, or should I say she discovers WHY she is so much more! This dark loner will find that she is not alone with her unusual talents and just maybe she should learn to be a team player, especially when a hot demon proves she can be bested in more ways than one.

LOST GIRL by Colleen Vanderlinden has attitude, great dialogue, and characters that are larger than life in this slightly dark urban fantasy. The rapid-fire pace had me flying through each page and Molly? She is my hero! Hang on tight for this one, the action, the budding romance and the surprises just keep on coming as things that go bump in the night come to life. A great foundation for the HIDDEN series.

Series: Hidden - Book 1
Publisher: Peitho Press (December 3, 2013)
Publication Date: December 3, 2013
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Print Length: 230 pages
Available from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
For Reviews, Giveaways, Fabulous Book News, follow: http://tometender.blogspot.com
Profile Image for Wyrdness.
499 reviews38 followers
January 3, 2015
2.5 stars.

This is an odd one for me to rate. There was a lot I liked in it, but at the same time there was a lot that frustrated me and I honestly can't tell if I ultimately enjoyed reading it.

I liked the beginning where Molly was rescuing lost girls and dealing with the fact she wasn't entirely normal but was trying to live a mostly ordinary life. We learnt a little about why she felt driven to do what she did and she came across as an interesting if slightly damaged individual.

Then she meets Nain and things get really weird.

After their first meeting I understood that time was progressing, possibly even weeks at a time, but it was never really mentioned and everything that could have shown things changing was glossed over in favour of mentioning how her training with the team had picked up. In a sentence it's explained that she still goes looking for lost girls at night, but we never get to see her do it again and eventually even that seems to be swept under the rug. It was disappointing because at the beginning it was heavily indicated that Molly was almost obsessively driven to go out and save these women and after she meets Nain the book simply focuses on her crazy explosion of over-powered abilities. Suddenly it's not good enough for her to be a powerful mind-controller, now she's a fabled supernatural boogieman. That's when I stopped really caring about her because once you become godlike what else is left? Who can possibly stand against you?

This lack of time progression also made it a bit weird when Nain and Molly start having a relationship because it felt like they barely knew each other . Also there wasn't really a lot of relationship to it, they were basically having sex. Nain was obviously keeping major secrets from Molly and any time Molly stood up to his brow-beating he'd get pissed off and stomp away in a hissy fit. There was a clear lack of trust on both sides, mostly because Nain wouldn't open up and Molly couldn't trust someone who would pull the "I love you" card to get out of doing anything he didn't want to do. .

Overall I think there were some interesting ideas and I'd like to learn more about the world and the supernatural creatures, how supernatural society works and all of that, but at the same time I'm disappointed in how Molly fails to really grow as a character and instead becomes a one-woman power army and how all the other characters are pretty shallow and sidelined.
Profile Image for Ambrosia.
512 reviews14 followers
February 19, 2015
The premise is interesting, but there isn't enough character or world development. It's almost all action. For example, . Even when characters face challenges, we're told how they feel rather than shown. It feels very beginner. I can't quite describe the issue, but I'm reminded of the children's books that went "This is Jane. This is Dick. This is Spot. See Spot run. See Dick and Jane run." I was even able to put the book down and read two other books before coming back to it. That's never a good sign for me. It did get a little better later in the book, but I wasn't going to read further in the series. But i noticed that another reviewer who had the same problems I did said that books 2-4 are much better. So I might give book 2 a try. I'm undecided; I'll probably wait to see if something else gets my attention.
Profile Image for Angie ☯.
456 reviews50 followers
March 9, 2020
This book was all over the place. The story was interesting, but the execution was a little rough in my opinion. Molly has so much potential; she just needs to feel comfortable with her powers and not blame all things that go wrong on herself. I would like to have learned a little be more about the characters. I will continue with the series and am hoping we get more backstories in the next book.
Profile Image for Kristal &amp; Charmaine.
178 reviews87 followers
October 1, 2014
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This book was a fast paced, action packed, thoroughly entertaining ride of a story... From the very start I was intrigued and it didn't let up... Not for one minute. It's a fine line to walk to write a story that is all of these things without seeming rushed, but the author achieved a story that was to the point without giving me whiplash. Being the first book in a series it did have the job of setting up the world and storyline to do. While the storyline definitely got off to a roaring start and I did get a good sense of this alternate universe, I do hope that in the subsequent books we get a little more detail about this world and the beings in it.

Molly was a bit of a darker heroine than the usual. Totally bad ass and unpredictable... Actually she probably was bordering on unhinged for a lot of the book! She was definitely conflicted, she didn't for the most part understand her powers or where her place in the world was. She was a loner and pretty prickly towards anyone and everyone. What absolutely didn't help her state of mind was the certain big, gruff Nain... He swept in, shook up her world and her life was never the same. Nain, just like Molly, was dark and light rolled into one, but in his case way way darker. He's not some kind of ex-bad-demon... he's the real deal ex-evil-demon. But he's spent a long time fighting for redemption before rounding up Molly to join his group of assorted supernatural good-guys. I loved the chemistry between these two... The power, the violence, the needing to do good. Their relationship (and sometimes lack of relationship) is what in my opinion really propelled the book along.

I really enjoyed this book but I have to say I am so so SO happy that there is a follow up book to this story because I literally felt like I had the wind knocked out of me by this ending. So let this serve as a warning, if you're after an instant HEA you are going to be left wanting... However, I think this is going to make for a very interesting second book. I'm really looking forward to what Molly does next, whether she keeps her darkness in check or lets it overtake her, so I know the ending to this book was necessary and very smart., because there is no room for a tidy neat anything when you're talking Urban Fiction and that is especially true here.
Profile Image for Hobbes.
424 reviews
November 23, 2015

Another freebie indie read...

This quick paced, plot driven, paranormal is so fast it sacrificed character development. And, for me, character is king.

Molly's multiple powers seemed to develop too quickly, and too powerfully for my liking. Just one of her powers would have been enough, but she's almost too super-super-demon-like trying hard to be the super-superheroine while she hides behind her impervious walls as socially awkward would be a understatement to describe Molly's personality. Her demonic rages burned up the pages and her outbursts can be deadly.

So, lots of kick-ass action but the eponymous lost girl lost the plot a little for me... I liked the saving mortal lost girls storyline at the beginning and Molly's motivations for doing so, but that petered out pretty quick and her focus changed as she became involved with events dealing with evil supers. Things amped up even more towards the end and I'm interested enough to find out Molly's future actions after a particular unexpected outcome.

The romance element was okay... not fully believable how it developed, but I was more interested in the motley supernatural team rather than that anyway.

I've been assured that for all the flaws obvious during this first read of the series, the writing gets tighter in subsequent books so I'll probably give them a shot at a later date. I hope there will be deeper, more fully-rounded secondary characters in the next book because I need to care about the whole cast and, well, in this outing, I didn't. There is a high death toll but only one death affected me!

Overall... it was an okay action ride and the series has potential.

Profile Image for ᑭIᑭEᖇ⒤ᗩᗰ.
59 reviews19 followers
June 12, 2016
I absolutely loved this book, I'm hoping the next book is as good as this one. So many series drop the ball in the second book. It's also becoming so hard to find an ongoing UF series where the heroine doesn't have a STUPID love triangle and I'm hoping hard this doesn't turn out to have one. Why can't authors take a page from Kate Daniels, Mercy Thompson or Charlie Davidson and realize serial couples can still be exciting, sexy and entertaining without the filler of a love triangle! If your a good author, it can be done successfully! Anyway I'm hoping this series doesn't. Molly is a bad mamma jamma in this book, she's part demon and part something unknown. She's able to take other people's powers from their minds and turn them into vegi's, hence "mindslayer", she's also an advocate for missing girls and is known as the "Angel" for always finding them. She meets another demon named Nain and realizes an instant connection between their demons and eventually their human halves become in sync as well. Nain convinces her to join his gang of supernaturals to fight the bad guys. Her powers get stonger throughout the book, and she pretty much becomes incvincible. The book ends on a very sad note and I'm hoping it will be resolved somehow in the next book or I probably won't continue with the series
Profile Image for Becky.
528 reviews22 followers
December 26, 2013
*I received an ARC from the author in exchange for an honest review*

Molly finds lost girls. She has telepathic powers which she uses to take out her aggression on the evil men who kidnap girls in the Detroit area. One night she is followed by a mysterious truck and meets Nain where life as she knows it changes. She is no longer alone in the world, there are all sorts of different types of people out there.

She is lured in with the promise of being able to control her powers and never bargains for the friendship and everything else that develops alongside this. She is stronger than she realises, but will it be enough when the time comes to it?

I found myself hooked from the start of this book, it was soo easy to read and get into the story. Molly is a kick ass character who is soo sweet in her own way to boot. Watching her develop her powers and take everything in her stride is truly a pleasure.

The rest of the supernatural gang make for great characters as well, I especially loved Nain and Brennan and the band guys were very inventive.

I laughed, i cried, i kicked demon butt alongside Molly and I an desperate to read the next book straight away.
Profile Image for JENNIFER.
91 reviews31 followers
March 16, 2025
This is a very good story. It's full of action. I really enjoyed reading this book. This is the first time I have ever read about a mindslayer so that was cool. I love the slight love triangle and all the monsters and imps and fairies and demons and puppetmasters and then the reason for the book, the lost girls. This book is packed with things happening so you will never be bored. The story moves great. Check it out. I can't wait to find out what happens next.
Profile Image for Megan.
3,608 reviews45 followers
November 20, 2018
As someone in the reviews said before this could have been AMAZING. It just fell short.

I'm going to literally reiterate what they said in their review because I felt exactly the same. This book starts so damn strong, its so interesting her powers, her saving people. Of course the author has to develop her we have to have a character journey. Her journey just didn't get to the point I wanted for her.

This girl could have been such a strong female lead in what is a YA book, you don't get enough of these characters they're always being saved by the males not even other girls its always a strong boy they are instantly attracted to and fight it and then they get together and something dramatic happens yadada. That is why its a 3 star. Its better than a 2, just. Its just not a four and we won't even look at 5 (although it could have been).

Starts off
The start is her saving women/girls from people that have taken them (all men from what I recall, not sure if its relevant but take that what you will...) she was doing fine, amazing even and then the guy who is her love interest shows up. A guy who to be honest is quite boring really if you pick him apart. He is selfish that is shown later when they do some Demon marriage bond - but I'm getting ahead of myself. This guy called Nain, hopefully I spelt that right is a demon. He to me could have been more of a demon, the author makes him too squeeky good and not enough bad for me to believe hes a demon he is more the Edward Cullan of the demon variety. I didn't expect too much from him after all hes a good demon, like OK fine I can see why there COULD be a good demon but could we not have made his story of becoming good epic? Instead its a "I was killing people realised I was a massive evil jerk and stopped) like OK? Does it add up? No....

Anyway back to the girl called Molly. She was pretty kick ass and I liked her at the beginning she just became such a wet blanket after she met him. Getting into trouble the only thing slightly redeeming is she was quite gung ho although of course she needed bailing out of that. The imps were also a nice touch, its basically a pet which I liked!

Characters:
Molly - Has a few powers including mind control, telepath and what they call mindflaying.
Nain - Demon who is now good (yeah ok) and is very strong not as powerful as Molly
Veronica - Side character who is in a relationship with George
George - Goes invisible is scared and a wimp
Brennon - Shapeshifter. Potential triangle for Molly. He likes her a lot.
Ada - Scared of Molly but potentially a friend. Maybe.

Wrapping it up
At the end of all this and I won't go into the rest of the book I've probably spoilt it enough. IF all you are looking for in a book is some paranormal stuff, like demons some witches a shapeshifter or someone that goes invisible this book is good for that. Don't expect wonders, its not the next best selling book ever but you will enjoy the read and she isn't a heroine that you want to snuff out yourself although you may get frustrated with how many times she needs saving. HOWEVER if you are looking for a female heroine that stands up for herself and actually is a strong female figure this isn't for you sadly. Its such a shame because she and the story had such potential but it just didn't touch base for me.
Profile Image for Marsha.
3,053 reviews58 followers
January 11, 2014
"Lost Girl" is the first book I've read by author Colleen Vanderlinden and I must say she is an author of few words (218 pages), concise; yet, strangely manages to tell an interesting story without leaving anything out. No, there us not a lot of world building or extensive characterizations but you don't feel cheated in the least. What you are left with is a fast paced rollercoaster ride.

Molly works a non-non-descript 9 to 5 job during the day, owns an old black Baracuda and a house in a depressed economy neighborhood. However, her real passion is rescuing missing girls and punishing those who take them. She has garnered quite the reputation and is known as the angel. After rescuing and returning three girls to their families, Molly realizes she is being followed. When she confronts her stalker, she attempts to get him to go away by controlling his mind. Unfortunately, it does not work on him. His name is Nain and he us a demon. He wants to help Molly learn to control her ever growing power and enlist her help.in elementary his team controlling evil in the city.

Molly does not play well with others and refuses his offer. However, she us attacked by the puppeteer, a evil woman who mindlessly controls unwillingly victims to do her bidding. Molly goes to Nain for help where she begins to learn more about the supernatural world. He and his crew teach her how to hone her fighting skills and she slowly begins to discover what she us and what she us capable of. As her skills grew she becomes more and more of target for every supernatural creative in the city. Now she must discover why. If that is not enough, she wages a war against herself to keep from becoming the very thing she despises, a monster.

"Girl Gone" is fast-paced with chapter after chapter filled with hope, fear, compassion, humor and action. The ending left me heartbroken and I am not sure what is in store for Molly. However, I know whatever it is it's going to be a doozie! I cannot wait to pick up the next book in this trilogy and see what Molly will be up to.
Profile Image for Ami.
1,709 reviews46 followers
March 29, 2016
There's really only one thing I hate more than a love triangle and that's "insta-love," when two characters decide they're in love with each other before they even know each other's names, or addresses, or political leanings, or known allergies, or food preferences, or basically any information beyond physical appearance. This book has taught me one thing, however. You know what's worse than insta-love? Demonic insta-love.
Ugh.
We are teaching a generation of readers that not only is it normal for people to instantly fall in head-over-heels, til-death-do-us-part love (after only three chapters mind you), but that everlasting and eternal love is often angry and violent. Apparently, not only does love mean never having to say you're sorry, it also means never having to be unselfish or calm or take a deep breath before reacting or any of those mundane and civilized things. Nope. Just scream and claw at each other, then have some sex (with some additional screaming and clawing), then pantingly declare you're soulmates: this is what love has been reduced to in the average YA novel.
Even if you look beyond the book's crime of perpetrating this awful myth, Lost Girl is not a good read. The entire novel lacks finesse. The writing is stilted and stale, the characters are flat, the action is non-stop but the plot goes NOWHERE, and fast. Frankly, it's the literary equivalent of shampooing your hair but not putting on any conditioner: rough, brittle, and dull.
Do yourself a favor, skip this one.
29 reviews3 followers
October 6, 2015
1.5 stars - I think this book can best be summed up with 'A bunch of idiots with powers'. Our main character would definitely be leading that description. She was incredibly whiny, and almost bipolar. She seemed pretty badass in the beginning, then it just derailed like crazy with her whining about every little thing. Pertaining to my summation of this book, every character could've used their powers much more efficiently but instead they just kinda seemed to charge on without any caution. Lastly, the romance was extremely forced. They hated each other then suddenly they're madly in love . None of these characters seemed very real to me because all their decisions, reactions, actions, etc just seemed so unreasonable for people who've apparently been doing this for years. Even the villains seemed like they're from B movies.

I know this is basically a rant, but it was a chore just to finish this book. I ended up pushing through only because of the top rated review that said books 2 and 3 were better. As much as I disliked this book, the story has potential, so hopefully I won't be disappointed.
Profile Image for Kadi.
52 reviews6 followers
February 1, 2016
Meh.
Couldn't really connect to characters and didn't care to. Too boring. Might have been the narrator, not too bad a job, but she sounded lifeless, and SLOW. Only place I laughed was when she affected a posh British accent for the vampire, and I think the vampire wasn't even English.

Anyway, MC was abused in her teens and has a complex about it. She now goes around saving "lost girls", be they girls or women, who have been reported missing. Her weird superpowers help her. Some times she seems really badass, possibly because the bad guys are just wannabe bad guys, and sometimes really, really weak and dumb. Anyway, so she meets this guy, who convinces her to work with him and his crew. During this boring and unconvincing adventure, she learns to control her powers, learns new ones, falls in love (ha! That was really out of the blue, btw, and REALLY romantic, I mean, romance authors should take lessons!). There's this business with Puppeteer, and I can't help but laugh at her, since there's a huge stag-like cave boss named Puppeteer in my favorite MMORPG...

Anyway, to me, not really compelling read.
Profile Image for Dr susan.
3,060 reviews51 followers
March 24, 2015
Colleen Vanderlinden had a giveaway on her Facebook page and gave me an ebook of Lost Girl. I love that authors are real people and so generous. I will give an unbiased review when I read Lost Girl.

I am waiting to read Lost Girl until my budget allows me to buy all the books in the series...because I know I will have to...

Lost Girl has been labelled an urban fantasy, but I think there should be a category for urban fantasy that reads like a comic book. Lost Girl is set in an alternate current Detroit. Molly, the hero, is a telepath with some extra oomph who rescues lost girls, girls and women stolen from their lives. She is damaged, alone, and angry. Her lost girl rescues have brought her to the attention of people, both good and bad, who are like her. Molly is going to discover that her world is very different than she believed, and her place in the world is even more fantastic than she imagined.

This book contains sexual content.
Profile Image for Anna Jotkowska.
64 reviews
July 9, 2015
I have to say I'm heavily disappointed. The story was promising and I had fun reading it untill the protaginist and the demon got together. Then it just spoiled everythimg. Don't get me wrong, I like good romance in fantasy/urban fantasy or whatever, but this just wasn't it. Maybe it was supposed to be sad, touching, beautiful and romantic, but it was just annoying. Perhaps because I always hated "Romeo and Juliet" I can't see anything good in it. That death was not tragic, it was idiotic! As to how they they got together, it was just hilarious (and not in a good way). It basically looked like: "I hate you" "I hate you too" "Oh my, we had sex, I love you now." "I love you too. Let's get married! We'll exchange a lot of blood so that you suffered A LOT when I die. (which is soon, but I'm not telling you that, because I'm an ass)", . This is nothing but stupid for me. And I am really sorry, because I hoped the story would actually make sense. It seemed so at the beginning.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Jill.
176 reviews2 followers
November 10, 2014
Well, for starters, it was a fast read that I finished in nearly one sitting. It was like watching True Blood for a few hours (for the record I don't like that show but find it hilarious). In short this book was not good, but it was an entertaining read until the end. I thought that it had a lot of potential with a kick ass heroine who saved girls who had been forgotten. Then she was a demon fighter, which I was totally on board with. But lord the romance was terrible and almost insulting. I cannot stand this terrible possessive crap that Nain was all about it definitely made me want to put this book down. If you like True Blood or other paranormal romances, you might not hate this, but you still might.
Profile Image for Alexandra G..
928 reviews1 follower
August 3, 2018
4 stars

Oh my God! It was freaking amazing!

I had my reservations about this book because I've read a few reviews and it didn't seem like much, but holy hell !
I've heard people complain about the insta-love in this book. But it didn't seem that way to me.
For me, insta-love is that moment when the characters meet, feel a strong "connection", can't stop thinking and bitching about one another and they declare their eternal love for each other in a week.
There was no such a thing in this book. When they first met the main characters couldn't stand each other. I liked their romance, even if at some point it was kind of rushed.

The plot was original and very interesting. Seriously, their powers were awesome!
And that ending! It was brilliant!
Want more!
Profile Image for Helena Karlsson.
Author 1 book
December 5, 2013
Day-time Molly Brooks goes to her boring office job but night-time she turns into a superhero vigilante, who finds missing girls and women. Detroit, a city in decay, is not only populated by evil humans who cause each other harm but also a whole underworld of vampires, witches and demons, and Molly’s special powers turn out to be much more than normal superhero stuff.

This is a compelling read – fast paced and witty - with a main character who is so right in today’s climate where women are as far removed from a damsel in distress as a vampire is from tofu. Molly is a character I liked immediately – quirky but lovable - and I am looking forward to the sequel.
54 reviews
March 11, 2014
Excellent. At first I thought it was a slow start and was not sure I liked where it was going and if it was going to be predictable. I ended up really liking the characters and finishing it in one sitting. I like the writing style and the level of detail however I am hoping in the next book to understand more of this "hidden" world. I think more of the main characters pasts could have been exposed to add more depth but perhaps that is coming in the next book.
Profile Image for Retta.
110 reviews7 followers
June 6, 2016
OMG!!!! So good this was so unexpected!! I was in deep need for a reading fix as I was going thru desperate withdrawal, so when I started this book I thought it would just take my edge off and it did so much more now I am invested in this series so excited.... On to book 2 hopefully it is out and I can cont to fix my reading cravings on this series and it is on Kindle Unlimited
Profile Image for Rachel Scott.
106 reviews4 followers
February 22, 2014
Wow!!! This is an amazing book and I'm purchasing the second one right now. It was a little slow to start, then I became addicted. This book has some interesting characters, not to mention a mindflayer. How awesome is that? Five solid stars and high hopes for book two!
Profile Image for Dena.
4,455 reviews12 followers
June 29, 2016
I want to say this was predictable but it wasn't. I was totally caught off guard. I felt the anguish, pain and betrayal. Bael was totally mean about the way he did things and leaving her out of the loop. I wanted so bad for them to get together. This is definitely a series I am loving.
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