Book Review: The Lost Girls by Jennifer Baggett, Holly C. Corbett and Amanda Pressner

The Lost Girls by Jennifer Baggett, Holly C. Corbett, and Amanda Pressner

Publisher: Harper Perennial (Reprint edition)

Publish Date: April 26, 2011

Paperback, 560 pages 
Non-fiction
ISBN: 978-0061689079

My Review:
Why I read this: The premise sounded fascinating and I seem to really be enjoying travel memoirs lately.



My thoughts:  A fun book to read, while these women do face some serious issues in their lives, I admire them for following their dreams and sharing them in this book.


I really enjoyed reading this book.  It is told in alternating chapters by each of the women on the journey as they travel from country to country on their around-the-world in one year trip they planned.  The stories told from each country are fascinating and heart-felt.  I truly believe each of the women learned something about themselves from each journey taken and sometimes in just the little things on the trip.  I like the fact that they don't sugarcoat things.  For the most part the friends get along, but there are issues and hurt feelings along the way and they don't gloss over the situations and make you feel like this is three wonderful friends who face no problems when spending a year together in some third-world countries.

Another thing I like is what I just mentioned.  These aren't bored women touring the known places, they set out to achieve goals they wanted and most of them are in what are considered to be third world countries.  I admire the women for setting the goals, leaving their lives and going after them.  It is just amazing what they did and the careers they gave up to find themselves and learn about different groups of people as well.

The Lost Girls is a fascinating book.  I think it is a great read for just about any woman (men too).  I can live vicariously through their adventures and examine my life for changes I want to make (though I don't plan on traveling anytime soon since I have two school-age children).  But there are lessons to be learned through this book and enjoyed them and the travel stories and think they went hand-in-hand very well.


My Rating: 4.5/5.0


About the Book:
With their thirtieth birthdays looming, Jen, Holly, and Amanda are feeling the pressure to hit certain milestones—score the big promotion, find a soul mate, have 2.2 kids. Instead, they make a pact to quit their jobs, leave behind everything familiar, and embark on a yearlong round-the-world search for inspiration and direction.
Traveling 60,000 miles across four continents, Jen, Holly, and Amanda push themselves far outside their comfort zones to embrace every adventure. Ultimately, theirs is a story of true friendship—a bond forged by sharing beds and backpacks, enduring exotic illnesses, trekking across mountains, and standing by one another through heartaches, whirlwind romances, and everything in the world in between.

About the Authors: 
Jennifer Baggett is currently pursuing a freelance writing career and conspiring with her fellow Lost Girls on their next great travel and business adventures. Most recently she served as a Marketing Manager in the Branded Entertainment and Sponsorships Department at the Sundance Channel. She held the position of Integrated Marketing Manager for Vh1, Vh1.com and Vh1 Classic, and she worked in the Marketing/Ad Sales department at NBC Universal. She hails from Bowie, MD, and lives in New York City.

Amanda Pressner is a travel and lifestyle journalist and has served as Senior Nutrition Editor at Shape magazine and assistant editor at Self. She has contributed to national publications, including USA Today, Travel + Leisure, Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan, Fitness, Prevention, Woman’s Day, First for Women, Seventeen, and Brides. She is a native of Tampa, FL, and lives in New York City.

Holly C. Corbett is a freelance writer who worked as an editor in the “Happiness” department of Self and served as the service and travel editor at Woman’s Day magazine. Her work has appeared in other publications such as Women’s Health, Prevention, Shape, Fitness, Seventeen, and Newsday. She lives in Syracuse, NY.

Find out more about Jennifer, Amanda, and Holly at The Lost Girls website, on Facebook, and on Twitter.

FTC Information: I received this book from the publisher through TLC Book Tours for an honest review.  I have Amazon links on my review pages but I do not make any money from these because of NC laws.  I put them solely for people to check out the books on a retail site.