Tolog Review: Once Was Lost

Once Was Lost
by Sara Zarr
reviewed by Mercedes De La Torre

      Sara Zarr’s Once Was Lost is a story that questions the idea of God and his existence. Samara Taylor is a fifteen-year-old girl, her father is a preacher and her mother is a drug addict. From everyone else’s point of view she lives a “perfect” life but in reality, her life is quite far from it. Zarr uses a non-judgmental approach and further explores the complexity of why bad things happen in today’s world. Samara seems to have trouble believing in God because of certain experiences and things going on around her. Her life has pretty much become a nightmare and her parents are both too busy to pay her much attention, which does not help. Just when she feels as though she cannot question her God enough he throws at her yet another obstacle to overcome. A girl from the church her father preaches at is abducted which causes the town to experience turmoil. Sam being who she is does everything in her power to help. She bakes for the bake sales the young girls brother is involved in and even joins a search group. As much as she tries to give her heart is shattered and Zarr makes Sam’s emotions come to life and feel ever so relatable. Sam begins pondering about why God would let this happen to an innocent girl. She then begins debating whether she should discuss this with her father or not but she soon concludes that he is too busy and just would not get it anyways.

      I do not feel as though this book dragged at all. I very much enjoyed each and every page and i can truly say that every page kept me wanting more. This is by far one of the best books I have read so far specifically because it was extremely relatable. I have found myself in moments quite similar to those of Sam and that is what makes this book so unique. It is one thing when an author can make you feel as though you are inside the story but it is another thing entirely when you have walked in the same shoes as one of the characters. It is books like these that are and will continue to stay relevant throughout all of time because these are feeling that each and every person can experience. I also enjoyed how she did not disrespect God in any way, which shows that she is aware of her audience. She did not want to offend anyone who does not question the idea of God but more so just gave a different point of view on God, which is quite difficult to do, but Zarr seems to have a knack at doing so. Another thing that makes this book quite impressive is how relatable and interesting the main character, Sam is. Keeping in mind the fact that she is only 15 years old and is having these thoughts and questions is quite astounding and shows her level of maturity and understanding of life. Most fifteen year olds are worried about what outfit they will be wearing the next day or who got the nicer car, whereas Sam sees the depth of life and how much more there is to it than most kids her age see things. Zarr also touches on the point that your experiences very much affect your level of comprehension. Most kids do not have to juggle their mothers being in rehab and their fathers being too busy to have a simple conversation with them. There are children who do, but they are the ones who will later in life see past the hardships that may be thrown at you and understand the lesson to learn. Overall the moral and message of this story is quite inspiring and it is now one of my all time favorite books that I recommend to each and every one of my classmates.