Review: The Distance Between Lost and Found by Kathryn Holmes

Book Title: The Distance Between Lost and Found

Author: Kathryn Holmes

Published Date: February 17th, 2015

Publisher: HarperTeen

Genre: YA Contemporary

Standalone

Book Link: Goodreads

Pre-Order Links: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, The Book Depository

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Ever since the night of the incident with Luke Willis, the preacher’s son, sophomore Hallelujah Calhoun has been silent. When the rumors swirled around school, she was silent. When her parents grounded her, she was silent. When her friends abandoned her … silent.

Now, six months later, on a youth group retreat in the Smoky Mountains, Hallie still can’t find a voice to answer the taunting. Shame and embarrassment haunt her, while Luke keeps coming up with new ways to humiliate her. Not even meeting Rachel, an outgoing newcomer who isn’t aware of her past, can pull Hallie out of her shell. Being on the defensive for so long has left her raw, and she doesn’t know who to trust.

On a group hike, the incessant bullying pushes Hallie to her limit. When Hallie, Rachel, and Hallie’s former friend Jonah get separated from the rest of the group, the situation quickly turns dire. Stranded in the wilderness, the three have no choice but to band together.

With past betrayals and harrowing obstacles in their way, Hallie fears they’ll never reach safety. Could speaking up about the night that changed everything close the distance between being lost and found? Or has she traveled too far to come back?

Disclaimer: I received this e-ARC from HarperTeen via Edelweiss in exchange for my honest review.

Review:

I really should have listened to my inner voice before downloading this book. I mean really, this book had EVERYTHING that I despise in books and yet, for some crazy reason, I decided to read it. Not a smart decision at all. There was a lot of religion in this book which I normally try to stay away from.

Not only did religion play a huge part in this book, but there was an astonishing amount of victim blaming in this book. I spent the entire book furious at these teenagers who were bullying Hallie. Not only were they bullying her, but there were rumors spreading around the school, and of course there was a boy, the preacher's son who was the Golden Boy in the community.

He couldn't do anything wrong and everything that happened that night was all Hallie's fault. It didn't matter that she said no. It didn't matter that she resisted him. All that mattered was what people saw when the bedroom door opened that night. What did these kids see, you ask? They saw Hallie on top of him and he making a big show out of refusing her and pushing her away.

Of course she was the one that was punished. This was a load of sexiest bullshit. I was furious beyond belief. They even told her she couldn't attend youth group for awhile because she was a bad influence! But of course the boy got a pass, for one reason, and one reason only, he's a boy.

Hallie was the complete opposite of me. Instead of standing up for herself, she didn't defend herself at all. You better believe if this happened to me when I was a teenager, I would not shut up about it. I would defend myself loudly from the beginning. However Hallie didn't stand up to Luke until the end of this book, and that did not sit well with me at all.

I had really high hopes for this book, but I was livid throughout the majority of it and was so happy when the book was over. It was just not a book for me. There were bad messages throughout the whole thing and I didn't like any of the characters. I'm giving this book 2 stars and I would not recommend this book to anyone.