Fragments of the Lost

by Megan Miranda Narrated by Erin Spencer

Overview

From the*New York Times*bestselling author of*All the Missing Girls*and*The Perfect Stranger*comes a suspenseful psychological mystery about one girl's search to uncover the truth behind her ex-boyfriend's death. Perfect for fans of*We Were Liars*and*13 Reasons Why.

Jessa Whitworth knew she didn't belong in her ex-boyfriend Caleb's room. But she couldn't deny that she was everywhere--in his photos, his neatly folded T-shirts, even the butterfly necklace in his jeans pocket . . . the one she gave him for safe keeping on that day.

His mother asked her to pack up his things--even though she blames Jessa for his accident. How could she say no? And maybe, just maybe, it will help her work through the guilt she feels about their final moments together.

But as Jessa begins to box up the pieces of Caleb's life, they trigger memories that make Jessa realize their past relationship may not be exactly as she remembered. And she starts to question whether she really knew Caleb at all.*

Each fragment of his life reveals a new clue that propels Jessa to search for the truth about Caleb's accident. What really happened on the storm-swept bridge?

Praise for Megan Miranda's*All the Missing Girls:
"This thriller's all of your fav page-turners (think:*Luckiest Girl Alive,*The Girl on the Train,*Gone Girl) rolled into one." --TheSkimm

"Fast-paced and frightening." --Refinery29

"[The] perfect read for thriller fans." --Bustle

Editorial Reviews

FEBRUARY 2018 - AudioFile

Narrator Erin Spencer adeptly conveys main character Jessa’s mental state as she reminisces about her late ex-boyfriend, who died in an accident. As she packs the items in Caleb’s bedroom at the request of his mother, each item reveals an aspect of Caleb that portrays him as drastically different from the boy Jessa thought she knew. Author Miranda’s lyrical language translates seamlessly into the audio format, thanks to Spencer’s compelling performance. As the story unfolds, Jessa gradually uncovers a mystery surrounding Caleb’s accident. As Jessa becomes more desperate to know the truth of what happened, Spencer subtly quickens her pace and ratchets up the tension, leading to a satisfying conclusion. S.P. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine

Publishers Weekly

09/25/2017
After months of mourning the death of her ex-boyfriend, Caleb, 16-year-old Jessa Whitworth is asked to pack up his room so that his mother and younger sister can move on. Witnesses say that the last time Caleb was seen—before driving off a bridge into a raging river—was at Jessa’s track meet. The two had an awkward moment there, and Caleb left angry. Jessa feels responsible for the accident, and her guilt mounts as she slowly packs away his belongings, each item bringing up a memory of their yearlong relationship. In addition to the memories dredged up by Caleb’s things, Jessa begins to piece together evidence that leads her to believe that Caleb was hiding a big secret. Miranda (The Safest Lies) exhaustively rehashes the ups and downs of Caleb and Jessa’s relationship as the novel unfolds, sapping the story’s forward momentum. Those who persist through the slow buildup will be rewarded with a slight twist at the end, though even this development isn’t entirely unexpected. Ages 14–up. Agent: Sarah Davies, Greenhouse Literary. (Nov.)

From the Publisher

PRAISE FOR MEGAN MIRANDA

Fragments of the Lost:
"For thriller fans who can't get enough of the genre." —Kirkus

"Intoxicating, well crafted, and suspenseful." —Booklist

"Readers who came for the sad love story will be swept up into the mystery." —The Bulletin

"An excellent addition to any library where suspense is popular." —SLJ

"A good fit for readers who enjoyed E. Lockhart’s We Were Liars." —VOYA


The Safest Lies:
“[A] fast-paced, suspenseful treat.” —PW, Starred review of The Safest Lies

“Positively movie-ready.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Will blow readers’ minds.” —SLJ
 
“Reluctant and voracious readers alike will enjoy the twisty turns present in this mystery.” —VOYA 

“A strong fit for readers who want fast-paced stories about girls learning to fight back.” —The Bulletin
 
“Readers who love a little bit of romance with their thrills and chills will love this new young adult novel.” —Bookish.com

“Recommended for any collection.” —Booklist


Additional Works by Megan Miranda:
"Extremely interesting . . . a novel that will probably be called Hitchcockian." –New York Times

"Are you paying attention? You'll need to be; this thriller will test your brain . . . and it's a page-turner to boot." —Elle.com

"The archetypal murder mystery, the kind it seems like everyone has been hungry for since Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl and Paula Hawkins's Girl on the Train." —Cosmopolitan.com

Library Journal

09/15/2017
When Jessa falls in love with Caleb, everything about him seems wonderful. He is thoughtful, sweet, helpful, and considerate, but there are niggling things that spark suspicion: Caleb's tense relationship with his stepfather, the lack of family history, and the unanswered phone calls and texts that Caleb brushes off. Now he's gone, drowned in a storm after his car was swept over the bridge, and Jessa is devastated. When Caleb's mom asks her to clean out his room, Jessa realizes she really did not know Caleb at all. And why is his mother acting so creepy toward her, showing up everywhere Jessa is and seeming to know where she is at all times? VERDICT Even though Miranda's latest (All the Missing Girls; The Perfect Stranger) is labeled young adult (YA), adult thriller fans will enjoy it as well. As with Paula Hawkins's Gone Girl, the reader and Jessa do not know what is true and what isn't, who is lying and why.—Marianne Fitzgerald, Severna Park H.S., MD

School Library Journal

12/01/2017
Gr 9 Up—Jessa Whitworth has blocked out everything and everyone around her since the day her ex-boyfriend Caleb died. She saw him briefly earlier that day, months ago. Later, a flood swept his car off the bridge, his body never recovered. Now, his mother has asked for Jessa's help to pack up his old room, since his mother and younger sister are moving away. The room is filled with pictures and memories, and the further she gets into Caleb's things, the more she finds pieces that don't add up. Why was his email password changed two days after he died? Why is his mother making her pack up the room, even though she seems to dislike Jessa and maybe even blame her for Caleb's death? Jessa tries to reason out her questions with Max, who was friends with both her and Caleb, but the clues they uncover might put both of them in danger. The growing unease that Jessa feels in Caleb's house and his mother's presence permeates the entire novel. The narrative moves back and forth in time, from the present to Jessa's memories, sparked by the things she is packing, then races towards a thrilling conclusion. VERDICT An excellent addition to any library where suspense is popular.—Kelly Jo Lasher, Middle Township High School, Cape May Court House, NJ

FEBRUARY 2018 - AudioFile

Narrator Erin Spencer adeptly conveys main character Jessa’s mental state as she reminisces about her late ex-boyfriend, who died in an accident. As she packs the items in Caleb’s bedroom at the request of his mother, each item reveals an aspect of Caleb that portrays him as drastically different from the boy Jessa thought she knew. Author Miranda’s lyrical language translates seamlessly into the audio format, thanks to Spencer’s compelling performance. As the story unfolds, Jessa gradually uncovers a mystery surrounding Caleb’s accident. As Jessa becomes more desperate to know the truth of what happened, Spencer subtly quickens her pace and ratchets up the tension, leading to a satisfying conclusion. S.P. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine

Kirkus Reviews

2017-09-18
Sorting through memories becomes sifting through secrets. Technically, white teens Jessa and Caleb had broken up before the flash flood that claimed Caleb's life (presumably, since only his car was recovered afterward). But when Caleb's mother insists that Jessa pack up his bedroom to spare her the additional grief, the teen feels obligated, especially when everyone seems to blame her for Caleb's seemingly preventable accident. What should be a straightforward if emotionally painful charge raises questions about Caleb's death—and trust fund—instead. Spanning only a few days, the methodical mystery unfolds in short chapters that center on an item belonging to Caleb. For Jessa, each item triggers memories from their relationship, with fondness often turning to discrepancies, gaps in Caleb's whereabouts, and revelations about Caleb's less-than-ideal home. Jessa tries to piece together clues from these remaining belongings, but her task takes on urgency when she realizes someone else may be doing the exact same thing. Although another Gone Girl read-alike (albeit with a predictable outcome), the story remains solid and evenly paced throughout.Primarily for thriller fans who can't get enough of the genre. (Thriller. 14-18)

Product Details

BN ID:	2940169180374
Publisher:	Penguin Random House
Publication date:	11/14/2017
Edition description:	Unabridged

Read an Excerpt

There’s no light in the narrow stairway to the third floor. There’s no handrail, either. Just wooden steps and plaster walls that were probably added in an attic renovation long ago. The door above remains shut, but there’s a sliver of light that escapes through the bottom, coming from inside. He must’ve left the window uncovered.
The door looks darker than the walls of the stairway, but it’s hard to tell from this angle, without light, that it’s blue. We painted it during the summer from a half-empty can he’d found in the garage, a color called Rustic Sea.
“A complicated color for a complicated door,” he joked. But it turned out to look more like denim than anything else.
He stepped back after applying the first stroke, wrinkled his nose, wiped the back of his hand against his forehead. “My feelings on this color are also very complicated.”
There was a smudge of Rustic Sea over his left eye. “I love it,” I said.
I reach for the door now, and I can almost smell the fresh paint, feel the summer breeze coming in from the open window to help air it out. We painted it all the way around—front and back and sides—and sometimes, the door still sticks when you pull it open. Like the paint dried too thick, too slowly.
There’s a speck of paint on the silver doorknob that I’ve never noticed before, and it makes me pause. I run my thumb over the roughness of the spot, wondering how I missed this.
I take a slow breath, trying to remember the room before I see it, to prepare.
It’s got four walls, a closet, slanting ceilings before they meet at a flat strip overtop. There’s a fan hanging from the middle of that strip, the kind that rattles when it’s set to the highest speed. Shelves built into the walls on both sides, giving way to a sliding closet door on my left. A single window, on the far wall.
There’s a bed, with a green comforter.
A desk to my right, with a computer monitor on the surface, the tower hidden below.
The walls are gray and the carpet is . . . the carpet is brown. I think. I’m no longer sure. The color blurs and shifts in my mind.
It’s just a room. Any room. Four walls and a ceiling and a fan.
This is what I tell myself before I step inside. This is the whisper I hear in my head as I stand with my hand on the knob, waiting on the top step.
For a moment, I think I hear his footsteps on the other side of the door, but I know this isn’t possible. I picture us sitting across from each other on the floor. My legs, angled between his. 
He leans closer. He’s smiling.
Then I remember: the carpet is beige. The door will squeak as I push it open. The air will be hotter or colder than the rest of the house, depending on the time of year.
All these things I know by heart.
None of this prepares me. 
 

(Continues…)

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Excerpted from "Fragments of the Lost"
by .
Copyright © 2019 Megan Miranda.
Excerpted by permission of Random House Children's Books.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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