Review: The Lost Coast
Looking for a lush and alluring supernatural tale? Colleen Seisser has a great listen for you!
The Lost Coast is a beautifully lyrical novel that centers on Danny, who is called to Tempest, CA. She has not been doing well in her Michigan hometown, and in a last ditch effort to get Danny on the straight and narrow, she and her mom pick up and move to Tempest. Tempest is adjacent to the Lost Coast, miles of undeveloped land in northern California with mountains and Redwoods. It is among the Redwood trees that Danny comes across the Grays, known in her school as a group of queer witches. Quite quickly we learn that they have “called” Danny to Tempest. They need a new member to help them find the spirit of their unsaid leader, Imogen. Imogen is present physically, but is no longer herself. She walks around as if she is an empty shell.
The witches find out that Danny has answered their call because she has the ability to find things. Danny has always been a wanderer. It was her wandering that got her in trouble in Michigan. However, with the help of the Grays, Danny discovers that she wanders because she is a douser. Like those who historically have been able to find water in times of need, Danny is able to find things or people or spirits. As Danny and the Grays try to find Imogen, they uncover evil forces at play. Soon they are all in danger and yet they persist to finding their enigmatic yet alluring friend. As the action ramps up, they discover Imogen may be lost in the very place they have been warned about since they were children: The Lost Coast.
This novel is as big and beautiful as the Redwood trees it is set among. Capetta writes in first person from Danny’s perspective and intersperses third-person perspectives from characters like “the Trees”, “the Students of Tempest High School”, “the Grays”, and “Imogen and Haven.” These interludes give this novel an alluring set of characters that move in and out of context very easily. Employed in this production are narrators Sophie Amoss, who narrates Danny, and Brittany Pressley, who narrates all the third-person sections. It is incredibly effective to have these two narrators, as both are quite different, yet are a good balance for this story. Danny has a rough and weathered voicing which Amoss captures well, and Pressley dives more into the lyrical aspects of Capetta’s text with the different perspectives she embodies. Both narrators keep characters in line with how they are described in the text, and the voicing affectations are consistent, which help create a continuous whole. Pick this audiobook if you are into supernatural stories, lyrical prose, and melodic narration.
The Lost Coast, by Amy Rose Capetta, narrated by Sophie Amoss and Brittany Pressley. 8 hrs, 46 minutes. Listening Library, 2019.
Ears on the Odyssey 
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