The Lost Ticket
Ratings14
Average rating3.8
15
Ratings14
Average rating3.8
One of Amazon’s Best Books of September! Strangers on a London bus unite to help an elderly man find his missed love connection in the heartwarming new novel from the acclaimed author of The Last Chance Library. When Libby Nicholls arrives in London, brokenhearted and with her life in tatters, the first person she meets on the bus is elderly Frank. He tells her about the time in 1962 that he met a girl on the number 88 bus with beautiful red hair just like hers. They made plans for a date at the National Gallery art museum, but Frank lost the bus ticket with her number on it. For the past sixty years, he’s ridden the same bus trying to find her, but with no luck. Libby is inspired to action and, with the help of an unlikely companion, she papers the bus route with posters advertising their search. Libby begins to open her guarded heart to new friendships and a budding romance, as her tightly controlled world expands. But with Frank’s dementia progressing quickly, their chance of finding the girl on the 88 bus is slipping away. More than anything, Libby wants Frank to see his lost love one more time. But their quest also shows Libby just how important it is to embrace her own chances for happiness—before it’s too late—in a beautifully uplifting novel about how a shared common experience among strangers can transform lives in the most marvelous ways.
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This was just such a sweet little book. It starts off a little slow and unassuming with some lovable characters, but some ways in, the author gives you a nice little gut check and you won’t be able to put it down!!! I wasn’t sure where it would land for me, but it was so charming and heart warming that it ended up on my 5 star list !! If you love cozy, feel-good romances with wonderful characters and happy endings (with some “that’s how life is sometimes” sprinkled in), this will be a winner for you!
I just loved reading this book! It's heartwarming, sweet, and touching. It got me teary eyed more than once, and I just wanted to hug the book close at the end. I'd recommend it for readers who enjoy books about the connections between people, kind of similar to Remarkably Bright Creatures or Anxious People.
While the main premise of the book is Libby trying to help Frank, the focus is the characters and the coincidences of life that connect or separate people. There are the two main characters: 80-year-old Frank, who's looking for his missed connection, Libby who is trying to figure out her new life. Then there's Dylan, a punker who's so caring, Esme who's bold and hilarious and other characters on the 88 bus.
These characters are very well written and make for a beautiful found family. Reading this book is at times heartbreaking, at times bittersweet but all in all beautiful. I loved watching them slowly become a band of unlikely friends, and even a family.
I connected to these characters so much, that even though there isn't necessarily a page turner intrigue to it, I couldn't put the book down. I read it in one day. They're all so easy to root for, I wanted to make sure that they all get the happy ending they deserve.
There's also a romance in here that is really sweet as well. I loved that the love interest is not the kind you usually see in books. Despite his tough exterior, he's a cinnamon roll who was so thoughtful and loving towards Libby. I really enjoyed seeing him slowly shed his protective layers to show his true self to her.
I had a few nitpicks about the book, like how terrible the “villains” of the story were, and the fact that it had the third act breakup even though it didn't really need it. But these were small issues compared to how much I enjoyed reading this book.
Overall rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
The Lost Ticket is a sweet novel that has a lot of heart but doesn't go too overboard on sentimentality. The plot is well-crafted, though the characters could be more dynamic and there could've been more substance. Overall I enjoyed going along for the (bus) ride.
