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I Let Aria Cry
Lost to Alice is a raw and haunting coming-of-age novel set in the Rocky Mountains, where a grieving teen is pulled into a world of secrets, trauma, and tangled love after the death of her parents. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
Well, the actual premise of this book came from a dream I had while living in a town in Colorado, very similar to Serenity Springs. There was a man with a gun just walking through town, and we couldn’t get out, we were trapped. It was all just fueled by this desperate need to survive and that “someone’s right behind you” feeling. But once I started writing, so many things took on a life of their own: Alice, Jonah, etc, so I decided to explore the idea that maybe the enemy can be someone close or not a person at all. I wanted to explore just raw fear, heartbreak and pain, and watch them persevere anyway.
Aria Delgado is an intriguing and well-developed character. What were some driving ideals behind your character’s development?
Aria. for me, was a way to see myself in a character. We suffered a loss of a young family member, and it shattered us as a family. I was angry and volatile. But as I wrote the story, Aria opened up and showed me this deep well of sadness that drove her behavior. In writing her, I realized how much sadness I hid behind a wall of anger. So I let Aria cry when I wouldn’t have let my younger self shed a tear. I wanted her to feel the sadness and not just give in to the anger. She left a lifeline into the world with Chase, and I think that’s why their relationship is so important, they’re each other’s life rafts. But Aria’s pain and sadness are very much inspired by my past and I am so proud of how far I’ve come… I’m proud of how far Aria has come, too.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
It was important for me to convey the themes of suspense and fear, of course, but there were other themes that kind of evolved from the characters and their interactions. The importance of family became a central theme of the book, even if that family looks a little different, it can still be filled with love and comfort. And unfortunately, trauma is a central theme to Lost to Alice; how it affects us, and how we deal with it.
What is the next book that you are working on, and when will it be available?
My next book is taking us back to the fantasy genre in a story about a land-locked siren. I have the outline done and am working on fleshing out the characters – I call this my “marinating” phase. I hope to have my first draft done within the year and a release within 18 months after that. Alice took me about 3 years to finish, and my other novel, Tied to You, took 2 years, so it needs a little time. But I am really excited about it and can’t wait for everyone to meet Sienna.
In another part of the state a drug named Alice comes to life. First formulated to be a cure to depression and anxiety but soon turned to a fun party drug… in small doses. After ripping through a Denver nightclub leaving nothing but blood in her wake Alice collides with Aria’s tiny family, taking no prisoners and hungry for death. As the mountains rage around them, Alice takes over the minds of the only police officers left on the force, ushering in a night of terror as Aria, the twins and Chase are hunted. But is the real enemy within?
Can they make it until sunrise or will everything be lost to Alice?
Alycytraline Extended Release 5 mg
Take one tablet by mouth every 12 hours.
Take with food or a full glass of water
Side effects may include:
Dry mouth
Fatigue
Giddiness
Dizziness
Contact your doctor immediately if you experience any of the following:
Homicidal tendencies
Loss of all inhibitions
Oily sweat
Physical changes like excessive sweating or the ability to run at high speeds
Loss of memory
Taste for human flesh
Alycytraline… Feel more you
Lost to Alice
Lost to Alice is a gripping coming-of-age novel set in the Rocky Mountains, following Aria as she’s thrown into a new life with her cousins after her parents’ tragic death. The story explores grief, love, identity, mental health, and the unforgiving pressure of growing up in a small town brimming with secrets. Through her new friendships and romantic entanglement with Chase, Aria finds herself entangled in drug deals, suicide, abuse, and deep-rooted trauma, all while navigating the treacherous terrain of high school. The plot crescendos with brutal emotional weight as one loss triggers others, and the fragile connections between the characters threaten to unravel.
From the first chapter, I was hooked. The writing has a raw, unpolished quality that works. It mirrors the chaos and roughness of the lives it’s portraying. Aria’s voice is incredibly real. Her inner monologues felt like the thoughts I might have scribbled in my journal as a teen, full of rage, heartache, and sarcasm. I appreciated how the story didn’t sanitize grief or teenage pain. The characters aren’t clean-cut heroes. They’re messy, flawed, sometimes deeply unlikeable, but that’s what makes them compelling. The pacing occasionally jumped, and a few transitions felt abrupt, but I never wanted to stop reading.
Emotionally, this book gutted me. I felt every loss like a punch to the chest. Miguel’s suicide hit me the hardest because of how complicated it was. Nobody is innocent, and the book doesn’t try to pretend otherwise. It forces the reader to sit with the weight of words and the consequences of silence. I loved Chase and Aria’s chemistry, their softness blooming in the middle of such dark, violent lives. But I also wanted to scream at them sometimes, which is what made them feel real. And Jonah? God, Jonah just felt like a walking wound. The ending wasn’t tied up in a neat bow, and I’m glad for that. It honored the pain the characters went through without pretending everything would be okay tomorrow.
Lost to Alice is a story for anyone who remembers how hard it is to be young, or who is living through that hell right now. It’s for people who have lost someone and were never the same afterward. It’s for kids who are angry, tired, and trying not to drown. I’d recommend it to readers of Thirteen Reasons Why, Looking for Alaska, or Girl in Pieces.
Pages: 288 | ISBN: 1948807793
LITERARY TITAN 