Lost in Static by Christina Philippou

Lost in Static

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?

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

My Thoughts:

I am delighted that I finally found the time to read Christina Philippou's debut novel, Lost in Static. She was a guest on my #MondayMusing feature earlier this year where she discussed her route to publication.

Lost in Static is the story of a group of teenagers embarking on their first year of University. It is full of new challenges, freedom and opportunities. It is somewhat of a coming of age story, but there is a sinister note to the story. From the outset of the story there is a crumpled body at the bottom of a stairwell and not everything is as straightforward as it appears. 

This author has a unique writing style, managing to give all of her characters their own voice and writing style. This was an important aspect of why this book worked for me. I particularly liked the email sections that Callum was sending, I think this more to do with the fact that I was desperate to know who they were to!

It was easy to become drawn into this story as it slowly unravelled as it was being told from each person and their own experience and perspective. I found it difficult to find any of the characters particularly likeable and found some of them a bit annoying and immature. Although this didn't detract me from reading the story.

I love the way that this author has portrayed University, whilst being a fun time and a journey of discovery there are also challenging and confusing times. Important themes tackled in this book are sexuality, friendship, betrayal, drink and drugs. Whilst this book wasn't as light hearted as I expected I really enjoyed the way the themes were tackled sensitively. 

This was an assured debut and I look forward to reading more by this author in the future. 

About the Author:

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.

Christina is also the founder of the contemporary fiction author initiative, Britfic.

You can connect with Christina on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Google+.