Reviewed by Jack Magnus for Readers' Favorite

Forgotten: The Lost Children Trilogy, Book 1 is a paranormal fantasy novel for young adults and new adults written by Krista Street. Lena had been hitchhiking for four months now, and something about Little Raven, Colorado finally seemed to resonate with her. She had no memories from before the day four months ago when she woke up on a city street in Rapid City, South Dakota. Waking up to the sour smell of a nearby dumpster, stiff and sore from a chilly night spent sleeping on the pavement, was something that still loomed large in her memory. Since then, she had been continually traveling and deciding where to go based on her instincts alone.

Lena had one thing going for her on her sometimes frightening travels; she could see people’s auras, or at least she thought that’s what they were. They appeared as clouds enveloping each person as she scanned them. Some clouds were white, and those were the people she knew she could trust, and most were gray. The black clouds were, fortunately, rarely seen, and those people she knew instinctively to avoid. The older cowboy in the pickup truck, who stopped for her in eastern Colorado, seemed like someone she could trust. His aura was pure white, signalling a safe ride at the very least. When he offered her a meal at his ranch, she was sorely tempted. It had been several days since she had eaten; she was cold, dirty, and getting more and more skeletal in appearance by the day. He even said she could stay with him and his wife for a while, but something tugged at her as they were leaving Little Raven. She felt compelled to forgo the comforts of food and a night not spent sleeping in a ditch by the roadside in favor of finding someone who could tell her who she was. Little Raven called loudly to her with just that promise, and she had to follow that call.

Krista Street’s young adult and new adult paranormal fantasy novel, Forgotten: The Lost Children Trilogy, Book 1, is a fascinating tale about Lena and the other young men and women she meets up with, who have somehow coalesced into a strong and enduring group as they struggle to piece together their lost pasts. I particularly enjoyed the psychological aspects of this story as each of them tries to understand how their loss of memory still allows them to have preferences for music or knowledge about the stars. Pete and Val’s working tourist ranch, Hideaway Hills, is a fabulous venue for the story, and watching as Lena and her new companions interact with and become part of the ranch’s staff is great fun, especially when they’re riding the trails on the ranch’s horses. Street’s plot is well-constructed and tightly knit, incorporating elements of romance and mystery into the underlying paranormal fantasy. Her characters are engaging and believable. I’m looking forward to the next book in this intriguing series. Forgotten: The Lost Children Trilogy, Book 1 is most highly recommended.