Book Review: Lost in Static by Christina Philippou

Lost in Static by Christina Philippou
Release Date: 15th September 2016
Publisher: Urbane Publications
Buy: Paperback Kindle
Rating:

Sometimes growing up is seeing someone else’s side of the story.

Four stories. One truth. Whom do you believe?

Callum has a family secret. Yasmine wants to know it. Juliette thinks nobody knows hers. All Ruby wants is to reinvent herself.

They are brought together by circumstance, torn apart by misunderstanding. As new relationships are forged and confidences are broken, each person’s version of events is coloured by their background, beliefs and prejudices. And so the ingredients are in place for a year shaped by lust, betrayal, and violence…

Lost in Static is the gripping debut from author Christina Philippou. Whom will you trust?

You know sometimes you read a book and you become OBSESSED with it right from the very first page? That was exactly what happened for me with Lost in Static. As soon as the story kicked off with a girl lying unconscious at the bottom of the stairs and our first narrator Ruby looking on in disbelief. What was going on? What had happened? Did Ruby know more than she was letting on? Was it just me or was she acting shifty? OH MY GOODNESS, the questions, the questions, the questions.

I was hooked on Lost in Static pretty much from this point onward and I didn’t even consider putting it down until I had reached the conclusion of this exciting and unique tale about a group of students experiencing their first year in Uni.
I loved how character driven the story was and how it’s made up of narration by the four characters. Hearing the viewpoints of Yasmine, Ruby, Juliette and Callum really allowed you as a reader to bond with each of them and by seeing things from their perspective you can’t help but become fascinated by each of them and the way that they see things. If I had to choose a favourite character I would probably say Ruby. She really intrigued me and I think a lot of readers will be able to relate to the way she wanted to reinvent herself.

The tension is literally springing off the pages of this novel. As our lead characters become submerged in Uni life (y’know, the drinking, the partying etc) you can tell that something is going to happen and this feeling of suspense lasts throughout the whole story and will have you scrabbling at the pages in a bid to discover what’s going to happen.

The other thing that really appealed to me is how different this novel is to so many other books that are out there at the moment. It just seems to offer just that little something more and is truly unique. I’d struggle to compare it to anything else – it’s THAT good that it really stood out on its own for me.

I adored Christina’s writing; it was so easy to read and the way in which she brings here characters to life is fantastic. This is a really exciting debut and I cannot wait to read more from her, hopefully in the very near future…

A huge thank you to Urbane Publications and Christina Philippou for the opportunity to review Lost in Static.

Lost in Static is available from, amongst others, Amazon UK, Amazon US, and direct from the publisher, Urbane Publications.

Christina Philippou’s writing career has been a varied one, from populating the short-story notebook that lived under her desk at school to penning reports on corruption and terrorist finance. When not reading or writing, she can be found engaging in sport or undertaking some form of nature appreciation. Christina has three passports to go with her three children, but is not a spy. Lost in Static is her first novel.