Five strangers. Countless adventures.One epic way to get lost.

Four teens across the country have only one thing in common: a girl named LEILA. She crashes into their lives in her absurdly red car at the moment they need someone the most.

There’s HUDSON, a small-town mechanic who is willing to throw away his dreams for true love. And BREE, a runaway who seizes every Tuesday—and a few stolen goods along the way. ELLIOT believes in happy endings…until his own life goes off-script. And SONIA worries that when she lost her boyfriend, she also lost the ability to love.

Hudson, Bree, Elliot and Sonia find a friend in Leila. And when Leila leaves them, their lives are forever changed. But it is during Leila’s own 4,268-mile journey that she discovers the most important truth— sometimes, what you need most is right where you started. And maybe the only way to find what you’re looking for is to get lost along the way. (Cover and synopsis from Goodreads.)

Humor, Complexity, and Cuteness…

Right off the bat, I found Let’s Get Lost to be really cute.  I loved the banter between Hudson and Leila, I loved the writing and the humor, and I enjoyed all of the different characters.

However, for a little while I was worried that Leila would fall into the Manic Pixie Dream Girl (MPDG) trap, with all her quirkiness.  Luckily, Let’s Get Lost turned into more of a Paper Towns-type story, where a MPDG character is established, and then it turns out that character is not a MPDG at all.  Leila is quirky, for sure, but so are all the other characters.  And Leila is not an aloof character who tells the others things like, “I’ll hurt you in the end,” or “You deserve better than me.”  She truly likes getting to know all these other characters she meets, even the side characters.  She constantly wants to know more about them, get their story, and see how they tick.  And of course, in the end, you find out what makes Leila tick, and she is definitely not a MPDG who is there just to help the other characters reach their goals.

Let’s Get Lost is a great road trip story; it makes you want to get out there and find all the hidden treasures in your own town and around the world, and yet it also makes you want to get to know your friends and family on an even deeper level.  It kind of takes that whole Carpe Diem theme and runs with it.

I had a few issues with the book, but they were pretty minor.  Like how the character of Dee (who I loved) was described as a “pre-teen” when we first met her, yet she was missing three teeth and acted like she was 7.  Also, according to the Tim Hortons website, they do not have a location anywhere in Washington state. (I was curious because I live in Washington state.)  And there were some instances of unnecessary details.  But like I said, those were minor issues and I still really enjoyed Let’s Get Lost.

Bonus Points…

Adi Alsaid gets some of my Bonus Points for the following reasons:

• Several references to ’80s movies = 25,000 points
• Doctor Who references = 50,000 points
• A Lord of the Rings reference = 25,000 points 

My rating for Let’s Get Lost by Adi Alsaid:

4 big stars.  I really enjoyed the story, the characters, and I even got a little choked up at the end!  I’ll definitely be interested in reading more books by Adi Alsaid in the future!

Disclaimer:  I received this ARC from the publisher, via Book Expo America, in exchange for my honest review.  I was not compensated in any other way for this review.