Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Ballantine Books for the advanced ecopy of this book. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. When books advertise that they were inspired by other novels I am a bit hesitant, but I truly enjoyed the sprinkling in of C.S. Lewis throughout this book. The characters were charming and I enjoyed the setting of West Virginia. While the writing wasn't the best I think the story made up for the often cheesy breaks in narration. I would definitely recommend this book to others.

Thanks so much for the review copy. This is definitely a fairy tale for adults. I enjoyed the elements of magical realism.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for the ARC!

I do not know Meg Shaffer. I have never read one of her books. But after reading this book, I know I have found a Kindred Spirit. I'm also now on the library waiting list for her previous book, The Wishing Game.

I devoured this book in less than 24 hours. I have two young children and a full-time job. It's been a hot minute since I've accomplished such a feat. I may have neglected some responsibilities in the process. Thankfully, there is always coffee, and all children should run feral once in a while - it's preparation should they ever end up in a fairy tale.
Speaking of fairy tales... When you were a kid, did you ever go wandering around looking for impossible places? Did you poke around old buildings, the woods, and places that generally looked old and/or abandoned? Did you feel that if you found just the right tree, turned just the right doorknob, or tapped on just the right brick in just the right wall, you could end up somewhere else? Did you read fairy tales and think: There's no way they could ALL be made up, right?

Maybe this isn't something that describes you. I recently discovered not every child does these things. If you didn't, you probably won't enjoy this book.
But if you did... I'd take a gamble and say that you'll probably like this one. A little piece of you that has been buried way down deep inside may suddenly feel seen and understood. Dare I say, Found?

I love that this story takes place in the dear old Appalachians. It's about time we started getting some representation in the fantasy world!
Speaking of representation, let's talk book preferences and trigger warnings:
- If it's something you particularly look for in a book, there is LGBTQIA representation.
- There are some sexual references and some closed-door scenes. (I wouldn't give it to my 10 year old, but my extra-spice-loving friend would find it too mild.)
- A couple of uses of foul language. (Nothing too strong and it all fits with the story and characters.)
- If you find kidnapping, abuse, or missing person situations triggering, you may want to pass or have a trusted friend read first.

Back to the crux of the matter: This is a great book and I look forward to reading more books by Meg Shaffer. Thank you to Meg and to all of those who help get stories to readers.

This book is magic.

Absolutely loved this one! It had a similar fun & funky writing style to The Wishing Game - in this book the narrator pops in every few pages with commentary or insights, and I just love how the whole book felt like a conversation - or really: an unraveling of an epic story. I LOVED all the references to the Wizard of Oz (can you figure out which characters are tin man, lion, scarecrow & Dorothy!?), and of course, Narnia. The magical world of Shanandoah was awesome and makes me not only want to go there for real, but was also super inspiring that a young girl imagined the entire place and made it come to life - don't we all do this sort of thing? And how fun that it came "true" for Skya. I guess it turns out that writing is pretty magical too.

MY favorite quote: "All books are magic. An object that can take you to another world without even leaving your room? A story written by a stranger and yet it seems they wrote it just for you or to you? Loving and hating people made out of ink and paper, not flesh and blood? Yes, books are magic. Maybe even the strongest magic there is."

THANK YOU to Meg, Random House & NetGalley for giving me the chance to read (& review!) this book early - it was absolutely a delight!

I really loved The Wishing Game by this author, so I was worried that this novel wouldn’t live up to the hype but it absolutely did. I can’t wait to see what else she has in store for us!

I think a lot of people are going to love this book. I am not one of those people. There is a lot to love here: Meg Shaffer does a great job writing a modern fairytale that transports you back to childhood, and I think if you are someone who doesn’t typically read the fantasy genre you can still really enjoy this. My main issue with this is her dialogue and characters. I had the same problem with The Wishing Game, but found it to be way worse in this book. Everything is for lack of a better word: cringey. Her main character felt very “trying hard to be quirky” and literally the entire time I kept thinking, no one acts like this or speaks like this. Half the time it wasn’t even normal conversations, it just felt like weird, performative banter. I wish someone else besides Meg Shaffer was writing her books because she has great stories with badly written characters and dialogue.

ARC provided by NetGalley.

OH MY GOODNESS! MEG SHAFFER DOES NOT DISAPPOINT!

This was everything I didn’t know I needed, a cozy magical fairytale like story with some romance and found family. I adored this story, yet another five star read. With The Wishing Game being a favorite read from 2023, I was so excited for this release and lucky enough to get an early copy from NetGalley and the publisher. I am so glad I did, because this definitely was everything I wanted in a story!

A charming, adult fairy tale that warmed my heart and gave new life to the unyielding belief in magic that we all seem to lose sight of once we are no longer children. Set in West Virginia, this story starts off in the real world and eventually transitions into a fantasy kingdom hidden deep within Red Crow Forest. It's somewhat of a slow and secretive start, but this did NOT deter my interest. The story picked up rather quickly and I found myself racing towards the end. I loved the characters and their interactions. They were like big kids trapped inside of grown-up bodies. I also really enjoyed the Storyteller's narrations. They were a great addition and humorous at times. Thank you, Meg Shaffer, for creating this magical world full of beauty, light, and love and for making me feel like a kid again! I highly recommend this book to all the "big" kids out there!

Thank you to the author, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, and NetGalley for granting me digital access in exchange for my honest review!

I adored The Wishing Game so I was a little bit nervous to read Meg Shaffer's new novel. Luckily this was charming and quirky and delightful. If you're a lover of fairy tales and other worlds, this is for you.

Kindly received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Well, Meg Shaffer became one of my top three favorite authors after I read The Wishing Game. This story is a bit different but has the fairy tale charm I love. A character who loves Stevie Nicks, has a pet rat and prefers female authors? Yes to all of those! I found myself writing quite a bit in my reading journal including the C. S. Lewis quote I love at the beginning: “Some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again.” But if you are like me, you never stopped. Keep them coming Meg!!!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for an ARC copy of The Lost Story.

I am a huge fan of "children who find doors" stories so I was excited to read this one. I loved the Narnia series as a child, and appreciated the nods to it in this story, as well as the absence of all the religious undertones in the original.
I did not care for the romance aspect, it didn't feel compelling or natural and took away from the child-like magic of the book. I loved "The Wishing Game" and although I liked "The Lost Story" I can't say that I loved it.

“Yes, books are magic. Maybe even the strongest magic there is.” Meg Shaffer does it again with The Lost Story. She has the ability to transport you back to your childhood while reading. I loved the “lost children” concept, and the relationships between the characters. While this novel is not as strong as The Wishing Game, it still brought me back to reading fantasy novels as a child and wanting to jump into the stories. I also love the omniscient narrator that pops up throughout the story. I recommend this book to anyone who loved reading the Narnia books. Rafe, Emilie, and Jeremy take you on an epic adventure you won’t soon forget! Thank you, Net Galley for giving me the opportunity to read this story before it hits the shelves!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!
What a cool novel! I loved Narnia as a kid and really enjoyed being out back into a similar world from a different angle. I’ll have to check out more of this author’s work

I absolutely loved The Wishing Game and was thrilled for the opportunity to read this ARC. Thank you Meg Shaffer and NetGalley. I absolutely loved this book. Definitely not one to miss.

The lost story. Meg Shaffer does it again. She takes us on another adventure. This time there are unicorns and red crows. There is a queen ,a princess, a prince and a knight, and don’t forget a rat that is a duke. There are evil bright boys and ghost town. This is a book for your dreams

Fairy Tales. A simple recipe really – a Queen, a prince, a knight, a fairy godmother, a lost princess, an epic adventure/quest, and a villain or 3. Oh and a LOT of Stevie Nicks.

And this is a fairy tale. Right?

In an Achillean Chronicles of Narnia retelling, Jeremy and Ralph are reunited after 15 years apart to help Emilie find her long missing sister.

Jeremy and Ralph know a thing or two about missing people – having disappeared for 6 months themselves as teenagers.

The integration of “the storyteller” chapters really helped move the plot along and gave the book a more magical feel.

In a tale fit for a Queen - we find Jeremy, Ralph, and Emilie on the quest to find what each of them is missing. Emilie - her sister, Ralph - the memory of what happened 15 years ago, and Jeremy - true love.

The world building in this book is absolutely magical. Meg Shaffer does an outstanding job creating characters and the world into which they fit.

I’m going to spend the next few months screaming for everyone to pre-order this one. I was hooked from the start.

Meg Shaffer wins the whimsy award for this book. She is great at capturing that almost fantasy, but not quite feel of a book. When the description gives inspired by Chronicles of Narnia, it's a lot to live up to but I think Meg takes hold of that and makes it her own.
Without giving too much away or making my review into a spoiler edition - I'm excited to see where this story goes.
It felt like a buildable world in which each character could have a story here. Hands down, my favorite parts were the intermissions where the "story teller" cuts in!

**I received this ARC from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review**

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Ballantine Books for the copy of The Lost Story by Meg Shaffer. The Wishing Game was one of my favorite books of 2023, so I jumped at the chance to read a new book by Shaffer, and what a wonderful book it was! Jeremy and Rafe were wonderful characters. They were lost in the forest as teens and returned mysteriously six months later. Rafe didn't have any memory about where they had been and Jeremy refused to talk about it. Jeremy, who has a knack for finding lost girls and women, is approached by Emilie. She asks him to help find her stepsister who had disappeared in the same forest as the boys. What follows is an intriguing, emotional fairy tale of what happens when Jeremy, Rafe and Emilie go to the forest to search for Emilie’s sister. A little fantasy, a little romance, and a lot of imagination make this book soar. You will not want to put it down until you find out if the fairy tale ends happily ever after.

2⭐️

One of my top books for 2024 but sadly this one didn't work for me. I loved the premise of the book (fairytales, Narnia vibes) but the plot, backstory and dialogue was a mess. The story had no consistency or flow which hurt the romance between the two MMC. I do not recommend this one.

Unfortunately this one didn't work for me. I loved the premise of the book (fairytales, Narnia vibes) but it was a jumbled mess. The story did not flow at all and that ultimately hurt the romance between the two MMC. Sadly, I do not recommend this one.