A beautiful and funny autobiographical-like story telling the life of our unreliable protagonist Vero. The writing style was really fun and easy to read and very reminiscent of living throughout that age. Overall this reminded me a lot of Sally Rooney's books and I highly enjoyed and recommend.

Lost on Me is a funny and heartfelt story about Vero, who grows up in Rome with her quirky family. Her mom is always worried, her dad loves cleanliness and buildings, and her brother is a talented genius who gets a lot of attention. As Vero gets older, she wants to be independent and gets into some strange situations. She tries to run away to Paris at 15 but it doesn't work out. Then she moves in with an older boyfriend after only knowing him for a week. She even sets up a successful but sneaky clothing stand to raise money for a trip to Mexico. But the most important part is that she falls in love multiple times, sometimes with people who are unexpected and not right for her. The book made me laugh at times and it reminds that life can be unpredictable and that sometimes the things we show to the world aren't the truest reflection of who we are.

This was not what I was expecting, but that's on me! I can totally see the appeal of this stream of consciousness narrative within a toxic and dysfunctional family, but wasn't for me.

Absolutely hilarious I can see so many of the quirks and eccentricities of my own family. Speed read through this it really was so good

I can't quite decide what to make of this book. I liked Ms Raimo's writing style, it felt like a breezy telling of a life story through the eyes of a very unreliable narrator. There were also some very funny asides and comments on teenage life, but in the end, I felt quite untouched by it, and I don't think, maybe ironically as there is a lot about memory in it, that I will remember it for very long after finishing.
Thank you to netgalley and Little Brown for an advance copy of this book.

A little bit different to my usual read, and glad I picked it up.its what I'd describe as quirky, as I can't think of a better word.
For me it'was mostly amusing, and at times I felt as if I was gossiping with a new friend, catching up on what life had thrown at them so far.

The family raised a smile or two from me too. Possibly they weren't always meant to.
Glad I found this one.

Lost on Me by Veronica Raimo is a novel that reads sometimes more like a memoir with a writer recalling her dysfunctional family dynamics whilst growing up. The narrator has a voice that I found compelling and I enjoyed reading about the mother-daughter relationship but I did lose interest with the lack of plot at times.

“ In my family, each of us has our own way of sabotaging memory out of self interest “ writes Veronika in her autobiographical tale of growing up . This is the story of Veron and her reflections on life ; in particular her relationship with her every controlling mother, her work- obsessed father and the close friends and her intermittent lovers. A story of how self history is often reimagined to fit into a better personal narrative .
Contemporary italian novels are often replete with a nostalgia influenced by the family and under lying that the church. Verona’s stories of growing up in the apartment her father dissected into pieces with a multitude of fake walls ( even dividing windows) is at times very funny - when her mother states she will take her life by jumping from a window Veron reflects how this will be possible as none of the family could fit through the gaps to jump . The continual “struggle “ to escape the wrath and over loving of her mother is the common thread in the story but within the story is a character who struggles to maintain relationships or chooses to move between relationships - is this a fight against the conventionality of her parents’ marriage.
Lost on Me tells the stories of the various adventures in Veron’s life- the stealing of a student’s artwork that she fakes as her own is memorable as well the creation of a street clothes stall to raise funds to travel to Mexico. Each event in many ways is trying to escape the “ control and clutches” of her mother’s continual desire to control. Even her attempt to runaway to Paris is thwarted by her parents. This is also a story of self awareness- within adolescence and sexual discovery.
Told with humour, a hint of quirkiness, moments of tragedy but also with warmth, this is a big hearted book that will make us all consider on how as time passes our reflections on events in our lives will change ,
Some may even be reconstructed. As Veronika states it’s not death that scares me but accepting the truth of my life .
Veronica Raimo and the translation of Leah Janeczko brings us a delightfully moving and eccentric read