The Lost Girl of Astor Street
Author: Stephanie Morrill
Genre: Christian Historic
Year: 2018
My Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
Official Synopsis
Lydia has vanished.
Lydia, who’s never broken any rules, except falling in love with the wrong boy. Lydia, who’s been Piper’s best friend since they were children. Lydia, who never even said good-bye.
Convinced the police are looking in all the wrong places, eighteen-year-old Piper Sail begins her own investigation in an attempt to solve the mystery of Lydia’s disappearance. With the reluctant help of a handsome young detective, Piper goes searching for answers in the dark underbelly of 1924 Chicago, determined to find Lydia at any cost.
When Piper discovers those answers might stem from the corruption strangling the city—and quite possibly lead back to the doors of her affluent neighborhood—she must decide how deep she’s willing to dig, how much she should reveal, and if she’s willing to risk her life of privilege for the sake of the truth.
Lydia, who’s never broken any rules, except falling in love with the wrong boy. Lydia, who’s been Piper’s best friend since they were children. Lydia, who never even said good-bye.
Convinced the police are looking in all the wrong places, eighteen-year-old Piper Sail begins her own investigation in an attempt to solve the mystery of Lydia’s disappearance. With the reluctant help of a handsome young detective, Piper goes searching for answers in the dark underbelly of 1924 Chicago, determined to find Lydia at any cost.
When Piper discovers those answers might stem from the corruption strangling the city—and quite possibly lead back to the doors of her affluent neighborhood—she must decide how deep she’s willing to dig, how much she should reveal, and if she’s willing to risk her life of privilege for the sake of the truth.
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I thoroughly enjoyed this book! I'm a bit of an odd duck because I love culturally diverse romantic relationships so I love that our heroine falls in love with an Italian police officer. It just made my heart happy and I really felt their attraction for one another.
Having the setting be the middle of the roaring Twenties and in Chicago no less was brilliant. It just has this intense mysterious vibe while still maintaining a bit of that historical feel that I love and appreciate from my favorite authors. Piper is a strong female character, and she does make some fairly stupid mistakes, but I actually liked her, and I usually dislike the absurdly foolish, headstrong heroines so prevalent in Christian fiction nowadays. She might have been foolish, but she was also observant and made some pretty snappy choices at crucial moments.
This book also SURPRISED me, which almost never happens. There are two things that surprised me. First, that Piper fell for the Italian cop because that never happens. In most Christian fiction she would have fallen for the boy she grew up with, but nope, so that was refreshing. And second, well, I can't say for fear of serious spoilers.
On the whole, this is a pretty terrific book that I'm so glad I read. I know I'll be buying and I'm absurdly excited about her next novel, Within These Lines, which tells the story of an Italian/American girl falling in love with the son of Japanese immigrants to America during WWII. I hope I haven't set my expectations too high for this one, but I expect to LOVE it, hands' down, no holds' barred.
Having the setting be the middle of the roaring Twenties and in Chicago no less was brilliant. It just has this intense mysterious vibe while still maintaining a bit of that historical feel that I love and appreciate from my favorite authors. Piper is a strong female character, and she does make some fairly stupid mistakes, but I actually liked her, and I usually dislike the absurdly foolish, headstrong heroines so prevalent in Christian fiction nowadays. She might have been foolish, but she was also observant and made some pretty snappy choices at crucial moments.
This book also SURPRISED me, which almost never happens. There are two things that surprised me. First, that Piper fell for the Italian cop because that never happens. In most Christian fiction she would have fallen for the boy she grew up with, but nope, so that was refreshing. And second, well, I can't say for fear of serious spoilers.
On the whole, this is a pretty terrific book that I'm so glad I read. I know I'll be buying and I'm absurdly excited about her next novel, Within These Lines, which tells the story of an Italian/American girl falling in love with the son of Japanese immigrants to America during WWII. I hope I haven't set my expectations too high for this one, but I expect to LOVE it, hands' down, no holds' barred.
Good review!
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteI'll have to check this one out, thanks for the review, Carissa!!
ReplyDeleteI hope you enjoy it!
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