ARC Review--One Was Lost by Natalie D. Richards

Damaged. Deceptive. Dangerous. Darling. Are they labels or a warning? The answer could cost Sera everything.

Murder, justice, and revenge were so not a part of the plan when Sera set out on her senior camping trip. After all, hiking through the woods is supposed to be safe and uneventful.

Then one morning the group wakes up groggy, confused, and with words scrawled on their wrists: Damaged. Deceptive. Dangerous. Darling. Their supplies? Destroyed. Half their group? Gone. Their chaperone? Unconscious. Worst of all, they find four dolls acting out a murder—dolls dressed just like them.

Suddenly it's clear; they're being hunted. And with the only positive word on her wrist, Sera falls under suspicion…

I received this eARC from the publisher, via Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review. I was in no way compensated for this review.


When I saw the cover for Natalie D. Richards' One Was Lost, I was immediately intrigued! It looked like one heck of a thriller and my initial impressions were correct! This was one intriguing, thrilling YA read! Try as I might, I really never got the answer right to the mystery that's happening to these teens! It was so scary at times, because seriously, you're in the woods, in the middle of nowhere, camping, and there's some creepy stalker stalking you and leaving scary clues that lead to a countdown. So basically, we have a creepy read on our hands here!

It all begins with a simple camping trip. I was never clear on the whys of the camping trip itself, but that seems to be inconsequential in the long run. Sera is our heroine and we learn right away about how unhappy she is about this trip. And that's mainly because Lucas is also there. We don't really know what the deal between them is, but you can take some guesses and be mostly correct. So there's that added tension between them. Then we have Emily who is sort of Sera's buddy on the trip, then there's Jude who is the brooding boy who can get on your nerves real quick. But once the introductions are done with the group, which also includes a set of twin teen girls that we don't see much of for reasons, there's also two teachers, one who stays with the twins and of course, Sera's teacher who remains unconscious for most of the horrors.

There's seriously like 3 or 4 chapters of normalcy before the weird stuff starts going down and I was all for that quickness. This is a thriller after all. It's scary. The teenagers wake up sick, for they were all drugged and all their supplies have been destroyed. They are without food, water, decent clothing but for what's on their backs, no phones, and their teacher is unconscious. They start to find creepy little clues like a number made out of sticks, starting with the number three. And so begins the terror!

Granted, this is not a horror story, but a thriller. So don't think there'll be monsters chasing them or Jason running through the woods either. That's not happening here. Instead, the teenagers are struggling to find their way out of the woods and to civilizations, but they quickly learn they are being hunted by whoever is toying with them.

This was quite the eerie read! I love a good mystery, especially thriller related ones. I always try to figure out the whodunnit, but sadly this time I was way off base! Though, ironically, that didn't bother me at all. Sometimes I find myself so absorbed into the mystery that I don't play detective about it. I just enjoy the creepiness and the weirdness of it all!

The characters were also pretty awesome! They all had their own secrets they kept close. They weren't friends at the start of this trip. We know that Sera and Lucas have some sort of past with one another because of the way they act towards each other, and eventually Sera does do enough flashbacks to give us that story. I have to say, while I can understand Sera's part in the situation, I wasn't thrilled with her. I don't want to get into the details for spoiler reasons, but let's just say I am a firm believer in being your own person and don't let others or yourself, believe you'll be a certain way instead.

Then we have Jude and Emily who are complete opposites of one another. Emily was the shy, quite sort and Jude was a bit of a loud mouth, bad mouth. But as I said, despite all their differences, they come together to try to fight this thing and survive.

I also felt a little letdown about the reveal of our mysterious stalker and their motives. I mean, I guess I expected something ultimately sinister and creepy! It resulted in something a little more maniacal, but not as completely twisted as I had hoped. I guess that says something about myself. LOL!

All in all, One Was Lost was still a creeptastic mystery read! If you enjoy thriller/mysteries, than I would definitely recommend checking this one out. Despite a few minor issues I had with it, it was still a very twisted and engaging read! 


Overall Rating 4/5 stars


One Was Lost releases October 4, 2016