Book Review: Emily the Strange: The Lost Days by Rob Reger


I’d seen Emily merchandise on clothes, pencil cases and bags long before I ever knew she was a character from a book. I thought she was just this cute, kind of goth looking cartoon character. I’m still not really sure which came first, but expect this book came later.
The book is in diary format, and when it starts we discover that writer of the diary has lost their memory. What we learn about her she is also learning for the first time. She likes to write lists, 13 items long and tries to have that quick-wit snark, but, to me, it just falls flat.

Emily didn’t feel like a genuine character, she felt contrived, like a middle-aged man writing as hard as he could what he thought young teenage girls would like from an edgy, outcast character.
The plot was bizarre, but not in a good way that gave you an other-worldly feeling or left you kind of unsettled. This was more just random weird things being slapped together. I don’t know enough about the background of the Emily franchise to say it definitively, but I expect some of this was to shoehorn in other characters or events or places from her history into the story.

The idea of the character of Emily, in theory, is perfect for a YA audience, but I don’t think it was done well enough to actually be widely successful. I think YA readers expect a more cohesive and engaging plot and I don’t think the writing of Emily’s personality would ring true for them. YA readers can sniff out anything that’s not genuine and they won’t buy into it, they’re quite a discerning bunch really. It’s a genre I should have more respect for, and I think this author didn’t have it either.

Overall, the book felt like an attempt to cash in on an existing merchandise line and came across as just another marketing attempt. I didn’t like it because it wasn’t real.

2 out of 5 stars.
Emily the Strange: The Lost Days meets criteria sixteen for the ​2018 Read Harder Challenge​.
Have you read Emily the Strange: The Lost Days? Did you enjoy it? Let me know in the comments below!

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