I'm really glad I started on Sara Zarr's novels. Once Was Lost is not only an emotional read, it feels extremely real too. Even though Sam is the daughter of a pastor, she's having her crisis of faith. While the novel does touch on God a little, I didn't feel like it was a religious book at all. Sam is pretty much a very normal teenager with the exception of having a very non-communicative father. I truly felt bad for her and honestly, if her dad were a little more verbose, maybe things wouldn't have been so bad between them. 
 Once Was Lost is a novel about flaws. Every character is flawed here. Sam's father, obviousl. Sam herself is flawed. Her mother is flawed too; even the town's people, who feel that it's their prerogative in telling how Sam's family can live their lives financially just because they are the ones who give offerings to the church. But amongst all that, there is hope in this novel. When a little girl is stolen from their small town, I think readers will feel really absorbed into the story and want to know what happened. 
 Something different about Once Was Lost is that there isn't a romance in it, nothing that really stuck out anyway, which is great because this novel is just really about the characters themselves. If you're a fan of Sarah Dessen, this is definitely a novel that you can enjoy. I'm very excited for Sara Zarr's new novel, How to Save a Life. :)