Lost & Found by Brooke Davis was on a list of must reads that I had saved on my phone. It got rave reviews, especially since it is the author’s debut novel. So I gave it a read.

I was pretty disappointed.

While the premise was interesting, it left me feeling sad. And wanting more.

Told from the three main characters’ point of view, this quirky novel didn’t quite deliver.

Seven-year old Millie Bird is left by her mom in a department store, beneath the underwear rack and holds out hope for her return. Along the way, she wonders about death, friendships and love.

Karl the Touch Typist becomes one of Millie’s accomplice, of sorts. This man’s life is one of true love, sadness and death. Millie is the best thing to happen to him in a long time.

Then they meet Agatha Pantha, who is one angry old bird.

The (very) unlikely duo team up and set out to find Millie’s mother.

The adventure, while cute, is somewhat unbelievable. I didn’t find it funny, and mostly found it sad. I wasn’t a huge fan of any of the characters, but if forced to pick a favourite, I would say that Agatha was perhaps the most real caricature of the bunch. And yet, she is still a caricature of a mean old lady.

This book touches on the sadness of life, but not in a deep way, more on the surface. The characters are lonely, even when they are together.

I often wondered if my girls ever thought about grief and death in the way the seven year-old in this book does? Not that I don’t think they are capable, but I would hope that I would be more in tune than the adults are in her life.

It’s an odd book. It promises on the cover that it’s “a novel that will make you laugh, cry and feel a little wiser”. It missed the mark.