This was a really fun, (mostly) lighthearted read. If you like portal fantasies or found family, you will like this one. If you were one of those kids that used to get into trouble for living in your own fantasy world instead of doing chores or homework, you will like this one. I got similar vibes from The Lost Story as I did from The House in the Cerulean Sea (I'm talking the warm and fuzzy feels... they are definitely different stories).

2.5/5 stars. Sweet and intriguing premise to start, but falls short.

The beginning of the story with the missing boys and the insinuation of this "other place" they were lost in during their absence hooked me immediately and I was brimming with excitement for this mysterious world they might return to, but then...the pacing started to go awry, the world-building was a flop, and the dialogue became far too forced.

3 stars because I genuinely loved the reimagining of The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe (one of my favorite books as a kid), and the relationship between 2 of the 3 main characters was adorable, but the book had such lofty goals and it misses them completely.

! Potential spoilers below !

There's not enough description or whimsy to make sense of why they were randomly made a knight and a king? There's not enough background on the world they enter - from its history, its species, its landscapes - to make the reader want to live there? I felt like I was being told where they were, instead of shown. It's the magnificent world building that makes someone want to go to Narnia or Hogwarts. The books falls really flat here and is the main reason I hovered between 2-3 stars.

Overall - I can see what the author wanted to achieve and there were a few lines that tugged at the heart strings, but it didn't quite work for me.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to Ballentine for the ARC via NetGalley.

This felt like a Narnia and Neverland mindmeld with a true crime beginning and and overly sweet ending. I wanted to love the way that Shaffer meshed reality with fantasy, but this was a miss for me once the fantasy plot of got rolling. The fantasy elements felt very juvenile (and I say this as a fantasy-lover) and yet the relationship content was decidedly adult. I'm sure there is a some metaphor about childhood dreams and wonder that I am missing here.

4.5 stars

This was such an enjoyable read. I love stories that weave magic into real life and make you feel like if you just found the right tree, you could be transported into a fantastical place. This called back to my childhood of Narnia and pretending to be a princess or a mermaid and I couldn't get enough.

There are a lot of elements in this that I liked, but especially the found family and searching for lost things. Rafe and Jeremy are childhood friends reunited after years apart, brought together by a girl searching for her missing sister. The trio had such a beautiful bond and I never want them separated.

The Lost Story is my first Shaffer book, but it definitely won't be my last!

I voluntarily read and reviewed this book. All opinions are my own. Thank you to Ballantine Books and NetGalley for the copy.

Thank you @NetGalley and @ Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the ARC. I loved the Wishing Game and was very excited to read The Lost Story. I was not disappointed, this book was wonderful. I love how Meg Shaffer mixes worlds and magic together. Her story telling is so poetic, like I am reading a favorite classic from my childhood..

Meg Shaffer can do no wrong. The Lost Story took me a bit (60 or so pages) to fully get into, but I am so glad I preserved. Loved the plot, the characters and getting lost in this story!

This book was a DNF for me. I got to 30% and decided it was not for me. Hopefully it will be a good fit for someone else!

When I choose a book, I often do not read it right away. I started reading The Lost Story and thought "why did I choose this book?" The book begins with a tale about two boys who disappeared in the woods for six months. I thought this might not be for me and I am so glad that I kept reading! The twists and turns of Meg Shaffer's follow up to The Wishing Game does not suffer the Sophomore Slump! I am hesitant to tell much more, so I will simply say "Read This Book!" with an open mind and prepare for an adventure with a sweet love story (or two).

The Wishing Game was one of my favorite books I read last year, so my expectations for this one were high. I gotta say, it definitely lived up to my expectations! The Lost Story is a book that pays homage to C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia, which is so beloved. Everything about this book is just so magical

Cute lil magical book for those who love narnia or coming of age stories. This one was sweet and touching

thanks to netgalley to providing me an e-arc of this book in exchange for my honest review!

this one had its ups and downs for me. the first third was a bit slow, but as soon as they enter the magical world through the forest this got really good. this was a feel good story, and it was easy to root for all of the characters. the romance was unexpected and was the sweetest and heart-wrenching part of this book to me. if you liked narnia and are looking for something a little more grown up with more serious themes, this would be perfect!

I really enjoyed reading this. At first I couldn't tell where exactly it might be going. I hadn't yet been exposed fully to the magical elements and so the prologue invoking a fairytale didn't quite seem to fit. Even still I was intrigued to see where the story might lead and didn't find myself disappointed at all by the journey. Like her other novel, this was a story that was full of lessons. It also dealt with challenging topics in a way that made them more accessible to the reader.

The Lost Story by Meg Shaffer is a beautiful novel following two best friends and their journey back into the world that shaped their lives. Pulling inspiration from The Chronicles of Narnia, Shaffer’s The Lost Story is a second-chance romance for childhood best friends Jeremy and Rafe, who went missing in the woods for six months as teens and lost touch until well into their adulthood. Jeremy, who remembers every detail of their time in the woods, enlists Rafe’s help to find the missing sister of a young girl, Emilie. Upon reentering the magical world they lived in as teens, Rafe begins to recall the lives he and Jeremy shared, including tales of bravery and sacrifice, love and loss. In their search for the truth, Jeremy and Rafe must battle demons from long ago, confront secrets they thought long buried, and put aside the last decade to rekindle the friendship and love that made them who they were.

This was a beautiful tale of love and friendship that I never expected. Fans of classic magical stories like Narnia and Hogwarts will adore this aged-up tale, and adventure readers will love the trials Jeremy and Rafe face once back in the woods. An amazing, emotional, and moving read for fans of Addie LaRue, Ashley Poston, and TJ Klune.

I have always enjoyed a good magic portal fantasy, Whether it was battling in the fields of Narnia, skipping down a yellow brick road in Oz, or hiding from Hook in Wonderland, they take us to places that find their way into our dreams and an escape from reality.

The Lost Story is no different. A story of friendship and lost family, in a magical world that was dreamed up by one young girl long ago.
As boys, Rafe and Jeremy were lost. So lost that most assumed that they were dead. Where they really were was the lost land of Shanondoah. Yet upon return, Rafe was stripped of all his memories, and Jeremy was not allowed to share his.

Year later, Emilie is looking for her long lost sister. She finds Jeremy to help her, and unfolds a journey back into their past, where memories are reborn, those lost are found, and wounds are healed. It’s a tale that balances heartwarming moments with serious and relevant themes.

Be aware of the trigger warnings: Mention of prenatal substance abuse, domestic and family violence, mentions of depression, suicide, and mental illness, mention of the death of a parent/s, as well as an implied homophobic character. Spiders too.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballentine for this early release in return for my honest review.

Pub Date: 16 July 2024

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

My Selling Pitch:
Bridge to Terabithia X Peter Pan, but make it gay. Middle grade for adults.

Pre-reading:
I have been so slow to read this book from Tiffany (Meg) even though she’s one of my favorite authors ever. I just don’t think it’s really my vibe. It seems like it’s gonna be another cozy, but then I thought that about The Wishing Game too, and I still enjoyed that even if it wasn't my fave. I think the cover is hideous.

Thick of it:
Meg-Andrew Cox, really? That’s your husband.

I’m counting this as a rom-com mentioning serial killers sin.

I know this is probably wrong, but Maggie and her crow and boys and West Virginia just makes me think of Maggie Stiefvater’s Raven Boys.

Dude, the premise for this is juicy! A little true crime, a little Reappearance of Rachel Price. (On this episode of Samantha doesn’t read blurbs. That is not this book.)

I’m counting that as a god in bed joke because it’s my favorite joke, and Tiffany makes it all the time.

I’m guessing the storyteller is the sister. (Yup.)

Every book is bears.

Is that I would’ve known you in the dark line from Song of Achilles?

I feel like he’s turning back time on these objects. (I feel like you're wrong.)

Emilie Wendell like Emily Wilde?

Oh, he’s got funky scars on his back? How much you wanna bet his dad beat him for being gay? (Don't her other books have this too?)

Old habits die screaming 🎶

She can keep referencing Stevie Nicks, but I still won’t know anything about that.

I wanna like this more than I do, but this is fucking slow.

I think it’s interesting how much she repeats her stories. Like oh, your gay boys fell in love over piano? I wonder where I've heard that before. Oh, he has blue eyes like a husky? I wonder where I’ve heard that before. (It’s the Original Sinners series, baby. I would die for those books, problematic as they are.)

Harry Potter sin

She’s such a romantic writer. Like she really is so in love with people. (It’s a very different font, but like similar warm and fuzzies to Fredrik Backman where you can just tell they like humanity as a whole.)

It reminds me of that horrible King Arthur book. (Silver in the Bone)

It better not be his fucking homophobic dad. (Sighhhh.)

He made gay horse art lol.

There’s totally gonna be a fake boyfriend, and they’re gonna have to make out to save each other. This is so dumb and tropey, but I like it. (Fuckin’ nailed it.)

Oh my god, his stupid unfinished business is that his son has to forgive him. This is idiotic.

I do feel like this is just her husband‘s #TragicBackstory turned into a fairytale and coupled with her mommy issues. (Not to speculate on real people's lives, but-)

I like how her smut bleeds into her mommy book club books. I can always pick up on it. I’m like wait a minute. There’s an alternative version of this scene somewhere.

It’s very Peter Pan for supposedly being Narnia.

There’s a lot of Wesley in here.

No, because I thought the book was over. The way I just sat up. (I was audiobooking this shit. I had no idea there was more to go.)

That’s kinda bullshit to force their hand like that. Feels a little lazy, Meg.

Nope, nope. Every time, Meg! Don’t say brothers and then lovers. No incest. God, why? What editors keep letting these authors get away with this nonsense?

It’s the way both of these books have just been like a silly wholesome time and then they both kind of make me cry, and I’m like why are we even crying? We knew this was headed this way. We knew exactly what was gonna happen, and it’s still upsetting!

Don't they still have that Nokia phone? (Nailed. It.)

Very sweet, very wholesome, but not my genre. Read like middle grade for adults.

Post-reading:
Look, it’s solid. It’s an easy read. It’s whimsical. It’s cozy. It’s heartfelt, and feel good, and nostalgic. It reads like middle grade for adults.

And I’m not that reader.

The romance is romantic, but I don’t know if I would’ve been so invested in it if I wasn’t searching for echoes of her other books in it. And oh honey, we are not subtle with the echos.

It’s a little kitten postery in its messaging. A little rah-rah, being gay is okay! And I’m not really one for an after-school special.

It also feels a little directionless. This is definitely more of a story about the boys, but for some reason, the sisters are in there. I feel like we could’ve just done two separate books. The beginning is almost true crime and had me sat for that. I thought we were gonna go a little Holly Jackson with it, but that’s not this book. We kind of just spin our wheels while we learn everyone’s backstory, and then we jump straight to fantasy land. Somehow it’s both too fast to get emotionally invested, but too slow to hold your interest.

But you still kind of wanna like it on the whole because Meg‘s writing is so charming. Pitching this solely as a Narnia retelling is bonkers. Narnia is a whisper. You could sell this as any child travels to a fantasy land book retelling. I’d argue that it’s more Bridge to Terabithia. I wouldn’t go out of my way to recommend it, but if you’re a fan of cozies, it’s not the worst thing you could pick up.

Who should read this:
Cozy fantasy fans
Nostalgic millennials
Still trying to heal their gay trauma with self-insert books rather than actual therapy besties

Do I want to reread this:
No, but I will read anything Queen Tiff writes.

Similar books:
* Silver in the Bone by Alexandra Bracken-YA romantasy, enemies to lovers, King Arthur retelling
* The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater-YA magical realism, found family, romantic subplot
* Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett-cozy fantasy romance, light academia
* A Fragile Enchantment-YA cozy fantasy romance, queer, family drama
* Masters of Death by Olivie Blake-cozy urban fantasy, queen, family drama
* Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller-myth retelling, queer romance
* The City of Stardust by Georgia Summers-YA magical realism romance, fairytale retelling
* Your Blood, My Bones by Kelly Andrew-YA New England gothic horror, Peter Pan retelling
* The Reappearance of Rachel Price by Holly Jackson-YA crime thriller, family drama

I was thrilled to read this author’s latest novel after thoroughly enjoying their previous work, *The Wishing Game.* Just five minutes into the audiobook, I was completely captivated and knew I would love this story as well.

Jeremy and Ralph (Rafe) were best friends growing up in West Virginia, but they went missing in the woods as teenagers. After six months of searching, they were presumed dead, only to reappear in perfect health. However, Jeremy refuses to speak about their time away, and Rafe seems to have no memory of it, aside from mysterious scars on his back. As a result, Jeremy distances himself from Rafe, and they lose contact for the next fifteen years.

Now a missing persons investigator, Jeremy receives a call from Emilie, whose sister Shannon vanished in the same forest where the boys had gone missing. During their conversation, Jeremy reveals that he and Rafe had encountered Emilie in the woods. He agrees to assist her but insists on Rafe’s involvement.

As they search for Shannon, the trio discovers a remarkable enchanted realm that Emilie could never have envisioned and that Rafe has been keeping alive in his dreams and artwork. Amidst this magical backdrop, secrets begin to unfold, and new bonds form. Yet, even in this wondrous land, dangers lurk, forcing them to make tough choices and take risks along the way.

This adult fairy tale starts when two boys, Rafe and Jeremy, go missing and reappear 6 months later. They appear to be in perfect shape but have no explanation of what happened or where they’ve been. Flash forward 15 years later, Jeremy finds missing people for a living and Rafe is an artist who still is working through the trauma of being lost with no memory of what happened.
Present day, Emilie convinces Jeremy to help find her missing sister who went missing in the same woods that Jeremy and rafe went missing in. And that is where the adventure and unraveling of the mystery begins.
I thoroughly enjoyed the first half of this book. However, I wasn’t a fan of the storyteller narrations in between the chapters. It was definitely a very fairy tale inspired book but fell a bit short for me as I felt it didn’t live up to being an “adult” fairy tale. Although the characters were adults, they felt very childish to me. Overall, a fun and quick read.

This is the second story I read of Shaffer's after "The Wishing Game". This is definitely different as it has a YA vibe. It is fantasy-realism and she does a great job at merging the two. I liked the characters as they went on their journey, and I liked the tie-ins with other fantasy novels, although it is not full of "Easter Eggs" -- it is more like a nod to a few of the themes or famous lines from those books. As an adult it didn't resonate as much with me, but it would be good for YA. Has LGBTQ themes.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC #sponsored

Always a 5 star read with the amazing story telling Meg Shaffer weaves. I loved getting pulled into the fantasy ( or was it not 😍) world of Shanandoah. I was so happy most characters got some closure. A bit of a possible (I have my fingers crossed) to be continued? One can only hope!

Adult fairy tale for today, this is my first book by this author, this is just the beginning of what her writing is capable of to the next generation what it means to love and forgive. We will be talking about her books for years to come and how she moved us to see through or blinders on each other.

Jeremy and Rafe are best friends who do everything together but then suddenly they go missing in the vest woods of West Virgina. Then reappear six months later with no explanation of what happened or how they survived. Fifteen years later Jermery becomes a famous missing persons investigator and Rafe is reclusive artist with no memory of what happened during time they were missing. But then a girl named Emilie comes to Jeremy to ask that he help her find her sister that disappeared in the same woods the boys were missing. Jeremy knows in order to find her sister he will need Rafe help. But their homecoming is not a happy one, and Jermery pushes him to help because all will be revealed what happen to them that six months. Suddenly the are in a magical world which is both dangerous and beautiful, they most save the sister of this world and also find who they really were in magical world.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for copy of this story for my honest review.