Disclosure: I received this book to review. The opinions shared here are 100% mine.
It’s hard to believe that it’s time to review the final book of the Verona trilogy! In The Loved and the Lost, we get to experience some of those past adventures in the other two books. There are some new twists to this book, though, so don’t think that it’s all just a rerun. If you didn’t read the first two books in this trilogy, I highly recommend that you start with book 1. Some series books can be read out of sequence; however, this one has so many references to the other story lines that it’s necessary to be familiar with the others in order to fully understand what’s going on.
In The Loved and the Lost readers get to explore a deeper view of the side characters. In one way, this is a good thing. I felt that Kaufman let this book get too heavy-handed on the romance with The Loved and the Lost; it wasn’t necessarily a good thing. The original trio is together once again. This time they experience a lot of hardships, even more than in the past stories, and I was curious to see how they would work their way out of trouble. The whole concept of the history camps and AI is really cool. It’s a conversation just waiting to happen with the teens in your life!
This conclusion to the Verona Trilogy was quite a success in my view. It hit home on an topic to which many readers will relate — that is, regret. If given the chance, would you do something in your life any differently? How would it affect the rest of your life’s path? The Verona trilogy explores this idea; The Loved and the Lost shows us just how much a change could impact us.
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Author Lory Kaufman lives and works in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. He writes for readers of all ages!
Regret is something we all can relate to. I like that this continues the story line and features things from passed books.
Dede;
Thanks for such a well-written and insightful review. Actually, I learned something about my books from your review. I love when reviewers and readers point out themes in books I had no idea I was exploring. Specifically, the regret thing. I believe it was something I was working out subconsciously. Interesting. Very interesting.
But like all heavy things in “good” fiction, all this stuff is between the lines of an entertaining and fantastical story.
Happy reading to you and your readers,
Cheers
Lory Kaufman
Maybe it was something I was working out subconsciously. I guess it worked because, since I finished writing The Verona Trilogy, I’ve noticed a difference in attitude in myself. In fact, I have discussed this change with my friends, but I didn’t know the books had anything to do with it. I just thought it was me getting older. (I’m over 60 now) Well, let’s just hope that the only thing readers will regret when they read these books is that they didn’t read them sooner.