What a whimsical read! This is my first fantasy book and I really enjoyed my time in Shanandoah. It took me a minute to follow the narration as it's different than what I'm used to, but once I got a grip of it, it was really nice. This was very well written and truly gave me a different world to explore. Fifteen years after they disappeared in the Red Crow Forest, Jeremy and Rafe, were brought together by Emilie. Rafe was secluded in a cabin while Jeremy is a missing persons investigator. Unlike Jeremy, Rafe has no recollection of what happened to them in the forest and he felt lonely and abandoned by Jeremy. After they went back to Shanandoah, Rafe started to remember some of his memories and their time in Shanandoah.

It was so different, but so refreshing to read. It brought back nostalgia when my favorite books started with "Once Upon A Time.." The ending of this book did leave me wanting more, but there's a hint that their story may continue. I really wish there would be a second part of this book! I would like to find out if Jeremy and Rafe were able to go back to Shanandoah!

This is my first Meg Shaffer book, and I now want to read her other books! This was very well writting and touching.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House - Ballantine for the eARC of The Lost Story in exchange for an honest review.

If you loved The Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis and were looking for the same vibes in an adult book - this is it. The Lost Story by Meg Shaffer starts with Jeremy Cox and Rafe Howell going missing as boys in Red Crow National Forest in West Virginia. For six long months they were lost and presumed dead, but mysteriously reappear at the site of their vanishing in better health than when they disappeared. Fifteen years later, Jeremy is a famous search and rescuer of lost children, and Rafe is recluse in his hometown - and worst of all, the two no longer speak because Rafe can't remember what happened during their lost time and Jeremy refuses to tell him.

When Emilie Wendell discovers Jeremy Cox is conducting a TV interview a town over from her in Ohio, she packs up her things and introduces herself and the case of her missing sister, Shannon Yates. Jeremy listens, agrees to take the case, and is ready to go until Emilie tells him Shannon went missing in Red Crow. After a few hours believing Jeremy won't help her find her sister, he shows up and tells her not all was as it seemed with his disappearance in Red Crow, and neither was Shannon's - they will need Rafe, to suspend their belief in the ordinary, embrace the fantastical, and maybe take up some archery lessons to go on a quest for Emilie's missing sister.

This book was so good. It was so hard to put down. It had a great mental health representation - understanding anxiety, depression, and grappling with decisions between where you want to be and where you feel like you should be. It had a beautiful love story between two childhood friends who had some wonderful support, some absolute hardships, long-term separation, and a beautiful reconciliation story. It had LGBTQIA representation - not an in depth conversation but a mention of coming to terms with sexuality, (TW) dealing with parental abuse because of suspected sexuality, and a kind of messy resolution (real life) to situations.

My biggest gripe about this book is that I had to constantly remind myself which character was Jeremy and which character was Rafe. At times they read so similar I got them confused. That is honestly, probably, a me problem though, but it made the reading slow going at times because I would have to go back and be like "wait, which one was this one again?" But considering they are basically brothers/besties/etc it makes sense to get them mixed up - that they would take on some of each other's personality.

Overall - 5 star. Loved it. Go read it.

I really tried to finish this book but every time I picked it up I wasn’t interested. I felt the concept was cool but it took way too long to get to this land and then the world building was confusing and I didn’t feel a real pull towards any of the characters. Definitely a miss for me.

Gah! I love this story so much that talking about it is challenging! I am one of many children that grew up on the Narnia books and became an adult that constantly searches for that feeling again. Medieval inspired castles, unicorns, magic forests, Witches and Mermaids. GIVE ME THEM ALL! This novel both pays homage to that love of the childhood classics while giving us an adult story to enjoy. I think I was half in love with both Rafe and Jeremy by the end of the book and the fight they fought for each other and to bring the lost princess home. Every moment of this story brought me enjoyment and if there is someday a sequel I will be clamoring to read it immediately.

I am disgusted with how misleading the description is for this book. I really enjoyed the author’s last book so I was excited for this one but it’s nothing like the description. This is a gay romance. Why leave that out? It just ensures you anger viewers who never would have read this and it doesn’t attract the readers who would want this. I don’t know how this is written by the same author as Wishing Game because this reads like really bad YA. It is pathetic to even have this book mentioned anywhere near C.S. Lewis. Obviously could not finish.

The Lost Story by Meg Shaffer is an ambitious story inspired by C.C. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia. In this novel, Jeremy and Rafe go missing as young teenagers in a vast West Virginia state forest only to mysteriously reappear six months later. Rafe remembers nothing of the time they were missing and Jeremy distances himself from his childhood best friend for the next fifteen years..until they must return the place they vanished from.

I so badly wanted to get lost in the pages of this book. The concept was strong but the execution was not. The author stuffs a 7 book series worth into 300 pages; it had far too many components that were never explained and thus left the reader to "read between the lines".

The things I struggled with:

The Dialogue Rafe and Jeremy are meant to be in their 30s while Emilie is meant to be 23. However, every single character in this book speaks to one another as if they are 16 years old. I was exhausted with the attempt to blend the maturity of the characters age with setting of a magical forest but lines like "Magical horses are whores for berries"is so beyond misplaced. Concurrently, Jeremy calling a 23 year old young woman he just met "princess" gives me the ick (even if she is in this parallel hidden realm, she doesn't know it yet and you should probably save that for another time!)

The relationships While I can appreciate the LGBTQIA representation in this book, I don't feel the author sets up Rafe and Jeremy's relationship well enough for me to be in love with it as a reader. This is supposed to be a "fairy tale for Adults" but there is little to no adult connotations that make me fall in love with the characters connection to one another. Simultaneously, because this book is so fast-paced, Emilie and her sister Shannon's relationship falls flat in so many ways. I have an older sister myself and I did not once feel the sisterly bond between these two. Constantly calling your 23 year old younger sister a "brat" misses the mark. When you don't find the characters lovable, relatable, or enjoyable at any point, it's hard to love the book itself.

The lack of world-building Do I have to say it? This is supposed to be an inspiration from Narnia. An adult fairy tale that makes you feel like a you're reading your favorite fantasy novel as a kid again. So why is there no world-building to immerse you back into that environment? The first half of this book we spend with just Emilie and Jeremy devising a plan to go back to Shannondoah. Only in the latter half are finally introduced to this enchanted world & even then the pages are filled with messy banter from the characters.

To put it simply, The Lost Story reads more as a YA book that I would have perhaps enjoyed more in my Middle School days. The "story-telling" injections were a confusing addition that I didn't care for. Was I supposed to understand that there was a narrator/re-telling component? Lastly, Meg Shaffer tries to cram too much in too little. I understand the intention and see them so clearly at times but overall it feels too ambitious with little to no editing or refining of the timeline.

📖 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐛𝐲 𝐌𝐞𝐠 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫

I had no idea what to expect going into this book but I was HOOKED by the mystery of the first sentence.

“𝘖𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘶𝘱𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘞𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘝𝘪𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘢, 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘣𝘰𝘺𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨.”

This story kept me guessing in the best possible way. It’s told through different individual’s perspectives which added to the mystery. We also have a narrator that pops in throughout the story.

I loved all of the characters but especially Jeremy. He was such a fun character that knows more than everyone. His friendship with Rafe was the freaking sweetest. There were so many times throughout the story that my heart broke for the things that Rafe had to go through, but he always had Jeremy. Even when he didn’t think he did.

This is a closed door romance with only kissing on page. It’s seriously the freaking sweetest childhood friends to lovers.

“𝘉𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴. 𝘓𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴. 𝘉𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴. 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘦. 𝘊𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴. 𝘚𝘰𝘶𝘭 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘣𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳𝘴.“

If you loved watching The Never Ending Story, or reading fantasy books growing up, you will LOVE this magical read! Add 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐛𝐲 𝐌𝐞𝐠 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫, to your TBR today!

I was so excited to find out that BOTM had this one as a pick for July. I can’t wait to add a physical copy of this amazing story to my little library!

𝘛𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘴:
✨ 𝘔𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘮
🦄 𝘍𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘺
💗 𝘍𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘍𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺
🦋 𝘔𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘺
🫶🏼 𝘔/𝘔 𝘙𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦
🚪 𝘊𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘋𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘙𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦
🕸️ 𝘔𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘗𝘖𝘝

This book was everything I wanted and more.

Once again, Meg Shaffer has delivered a book that hit me right in the heart. "The Lost Story" is a book I didn't want to put down, but I also never wanted it to end. And yet, like most good things, it had to.

The world she created, the characters who populate it, and the humor that ran through the book were all done with such tender care that this felt like a gift, well-wrapped, just for me.

I feel like I could say so much more, but I don't want to overdo it. So, I'll keep this review short and sweet.

I'd like to thank Netgalley for this ARC. This review is honest and entirely my own.

15 years ago Jeremy & Rafe went missing in Red Crow State Park. When the returned 6 months later, Rafe couldn't remember anything about where they went or what happened to them. Now, Jeremy is a world renowned search and rescuer and he's tracked down by Emilie to help find her sister who disappeared in Red Crow 5 years before he and Rafe did.
Jeremy, Rafe, and Emilie make their way back to Red Crow to uncover the truth of their time away - they were in the magical world of Shanandoah, ruled by Queen Skya - Emilie's missing sister. Similar to Seanen McGuire's Wayward Children series this book examines what those who are spirited off to other worlds do when they return, and the toll it took on those they left behind.
There's a lot I liked about this book. I think examining the ramifications of portal fantasy on those who travel and those who are left behind is super interesting and this book does that really successfully. Jeremy and Rafe have each found their own ways of coping, and it's interesting to see how not remembering has affected both Rafe and their relationship.
I found Shanandoah very charming and whimsical, it really was exactly what i would have written as a teenager wanting to go to far away worlds.
The things that brought my rating down were the pacing - i felt like we allowed so much time for the build up of getting to Shanandoah and rediscovering that world and then once we got there we raced through it and didn't really get the emotional climax because it felt like we'd rushed to get there. I also found the interludes from the 'narrator' distracting rather than charming, it was a little too 'wink wink' tongue in cheek for me and took me out of the story. Tonally it felt separate from the rest of the book.
I do want to note that I also didn't love the idea of taking the Shenandoah River name, something named for the displaced Native peoples and coopting it to 'make it more mine' into Shanandoah. Again, it does feel like something a teenager would do, but the coopting left me disenchanted with the name.

This is a story inspired by Narnia, which I haven’t read or seen, but I don’t think you need to in order to appreciate this. Two boys get lost in the woods. When they’re found months later, one has no memory of what happened and the other won’t say but knows the truth. The story picks up fifteen years later as they attempt to go back to help a young woman find her sister.

This book was great! A truly cozy, charming fairy tale. The story grabbed me right away, and the storyteller interludes are so entertaining. It’s a feel-good book with characters you’ll root for. I’d like to know more about this magical world. It comes out July 16. Thank you to Ballantine and Netgalley for the eARC.

I was extremely intrigued by this book because I loved Meg Shaffers book, "The Wishing Game."

Jeremy Cox and Rafe Howell go missing in a West Virginia Forest. After 6 months of being missing they are referred to as "The Lost Boys". This story started at the mysterious reappearance of the lost boys taller and stronger than when they went missing.

The story then skips 15 years, Rafe is living in a forest. Jeremy is a missing person investigator. Emily approaches Jeremy to help her find her missing sister. This brings them back to the mysterious forest that Jeremy and Rafe went missing in to find Emily's sister.

I loved the book and Meg Shaffer's writing. I adored the characters, humor, connections and vulnerability.

The Lost Story by Meg Shaffer is a fairy tale for adults set in West Virginia. Two teenage boys go missing in the forest for six months. When they return, one has no memory of what happened and mysterious scars on his back, and the other boy doesn't say what happened. Years later, they must return to where they had been for six months—a fantasy land ruled by a queen. What ensues is a beautiful adventure story that looks at what it is like to have returned to the "real" world after living in a place that felt more like home and what home truly means. I quickly fell in love with the characters and their magical land. The Lost Story is a book for everyone who has searched in wardrobes for Narnia. Please note that there are content warnings for abusive parents.

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Ballantine Books, and Meg Shaffer for allowing me to review this unique book. I have never read anything like this book before. It is such an original story inspired by the Chronicles of Narnia. I loved the magical and mysterious elements that kept me reading. However, I think if it had been for a YA audience I would have enjoyed it more as the writing style and word choices seemed a bit YA. The writing style was very unique and absolutely reminded me of the Chronicles of Narnia. The overall feel of the book was also very similar. It’s very hard to rate such a unique book. I enjoyed many aspects of this book but also struggled to connect due to the YA writing style. I am a big fan of the unique stories Meg Shaffer brings to the world and I cannot wait to read what she comes up with next. Thank you again for allowing me to review this book.

For those of you who wished you would one day find a fairy tale world in your back garden, or through your closet door, this book is for you. 15 years ago schoolboys Jeremy and Rafe disappeared in Red Rock Forest in West Virginia and were found six months later. Jeremy went on to have a career finding missing persons, Rafe became an artistic recluse. Then, like in any good hero story, they need to confront what happened to them.

This is a story about family, friendship, and loyalty and has a lot of heart and humor. Like her first book, The Wishing Game, the book mixes heavy topics (in this case broken families) with lighter fantastical elements. The juxtaposition can seem jarring at times but for anyone who experiences difficulties in their lives, don’t we all wish for a magical land to escape to? Meg Shaefer gives us that moment of letting go of adult problems and returning us to the carefree dreams of our childhood.

This book is charming and fun, but I did struggle with the pacing. I wanted more time in Shanandoah (the books magical land) and more time getting to the know the characters there. I think this is a good escape read when you need a break from heavier material. It had shades of The Magician without the depth or darkness, and definitely gives a hat tip to The Chronicles of Narnia, and The Wizard of Oz stories.

Rafe and Jeremy were teenagers when they went missing for months deep in the forests of West Virginia. Fifteen years have passed, and the boys, now men, have drifted apart. Rafe lives isolated in a cabin, painting, and hunting, and can’t recall much of his time lost. Meanwhile, Jeremy has become known for finding lost girls, having almost a superpower to find them.

Emilie has just discovered she had a half-sister she never knew. She went missing years before Jeremy and Rafe, but in the exact location. Emilie enlists Jeremy to find her sister. When Jeremy hears Emilie’s sister’s name is Shannon, he insists they need Rafe to come along.

All those years ago, the boys had found a magic portal into the hidden Kingdom of Shenandoah, where herds of unicorns roamed, and Queen Shannon had Valkyries as guards. But like any good fairytale, darkness is present. Lost souls reside in Ghost Town, and the evil little bright boys feast on your fear; they are a constant danger.


This is magical, playful, and even humorous, with literary and pop cultural references sprinkled in. It offers suspense and action, with sword fights and archery skills. Yet it does touch on some emotional themes, such as abuse and grief. The concept of a magical portal is not new, nor is an enchanted kingdom, but it is easy to get drawn into this world. There is a touch of romance, but what I enjoyed the most was the sweet and caring friendships forged in this magical world.

Thank you @penguinrandomhouse for this gifted digital arc via NetGalley.
Thank you @PRHaudio for the gifted audiobook.

"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."

For all grown-up lovers of fairy tales, this book is perfect.

In the Red Crow State Forest in West Virginia, people tend to get lost. First, it was Shannon. Then, five years later, it was Ralph and Jeremy. Ralph and Jeremy came back after six months of being lost, and the community rejoiced. But they also questioned. Ralph remembers nothing. Jeremy says that they lived off of the land until they were able to make it back to a trail they recognized. These are reasonable assertions, except for the fact that the boys came back taller and broader and well-fed, and honestly, there's not enough of Red Crow State Forest for them to be lost for six months and not be found.

Fifteen years later, Rafe lives a life as a recluse. He still remembers nothing, and feels that Jeremy abandoned him after they got back from the woods. Jeremy finds people who are lost, with an uncanny ability to rescue injured hikers, kidnapped children and missing family members.

Emilie has a missing person she needs to find - her half sister Shannon. Emilie was adopted when she was a baby. She respected her mother's wishes and didn't do a DNA database like 23 and Me while she was alive. But after her mother's death, her curiosity and desire to make connections with her biological family lead to her submitting her DNA. The match she finds is to a missing girl named Shannon, who disappeared at Red Crow State Forest 20 years ago. She reaches out to Jeremy, who drops a bombshell on her - when they were lost, they saw Shannon. More than that, they lived with Shannon in another world. And he wants to take her to her sister, but they need Ralph's help to do so.

Then the fairy tale begins, and like all fairy tales, there are good guys and bad guys and magic and the power of stories to shape a world. I fell in love with Jeremy and Rafe (Ralph) immediately. Their love for each other and for their family (biological and chosen) is the balm my heart needed this week. Likewise Skya (Shannon) and Emilie's love for each other, even though they barely knew each other before they were separated, makes me want to call my brother and really reconnect with him.

This book has many echoes of The Chronicles of Narnia and other well-loved fantasies, but it has created a wonderful world of its own. I'm adding Shanandoah to my list of fantasy worlds I'd like to visit (along with Narnia, Hogwarts, Neverland, Oz, Middle Earth and Wonderland).

This is the second book I've read of Shaffer's, and both have been absolutely wonderful. I can't wait to see what she writes next (and hope that there's a sequel to this book, because there are still things I need to know and "see").

Thanks to Netgalley for the advance copy of this book.

OBSESSED. Meg Shaffer is one hell of a story teller. Her characters are jumping off the page and they are so so lovable. The magical realism elements are SO WELL DONE that it kept me fully enthralled in the story. The premise of the story is so incredibly unique in the best way possible. Lastly, the queer love story was unexpected but beautiful. No surprise that I loved The Lost Story because I was equally as obsessed with The Wishing Game.

I wanted to like this but I had a really hard time getting invested in the story, I DNF’d it after 34%.

Loved this one!!! Felt like an adult fairy tale and was completely drawn in with the first chapter. It was the perfect amount of character and world building. I need to see this made into a movie!

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily posting a review. All opinions are my own.
While I had some issues with Meg Shaffer’s previous book, I generally enjoyed her homage to the magic and whimsy of childhood classics, but in an adult book, and was interested in trying something else from her. The Lost Story delivers a poignant homage to several “lost children” narratives, including most particularly the Chronicles of Narnia, focusing on the lingering psychological impact their disappearance and return had on them, as well as how it affected their relationships with people in the real world, in a way CS Lewis only briefly gave nods to.
I love the whimsical way the story developed, with the separation between the mundane, real-world and the fantastical. And there’s also interstitial bits from a mostly off-page storyteller (whose identity is revealed as being relevant to the plot by the end), and while some of these bits felt a little info-dumpy, I liked how they sometimes conveyed backstory or otherwise conveyed intrigue about the magical world. I do have mixed feelings about the blatant appropriation of the Native term “Shenandoah” (as in the river), taken from the Native term for “daughter of the stars,” which Shannon/Skyla blatantly says she “changed…to make it mine” to “Shanandoah.” She does acknowledge this was a product of her youth, having been thirteen when she named the fantasy place this, but it’s still weird to me that a white kid took a name from indigenous culture and perverted it for her fantasy kingdom where she rules with other white kids.
And with its central characters and the bonds between them, the relationships unfolded in a way I did not expect. Having been jaded by the turn taken in Shaffer’s prior book, I fully expected something to happen between Emilie and Jeremy and/or Rafe romantically, and it to occur in some canned, rushed way. But instead the focus was instead on how Jeremy and Rafe needed to re-excavate their past within Shanandoah and with each other, which was really sweet as their initial departure led to their estrangement, although it was also tinged with some trauma focused on Rafe’s dysfunctional past relationship with his father. As for Emilie, I feel like she did play second-fiddle once they got to Shanandoah. However, her journey was mostly done once she found her long-lost sister.
The narrative feels simultaneously fantastical and grounded within its reality. Things took a strange turn by the end, with a turn for the ambiguous, which I’m not sure what to make of, but given how things end up for the characters, I like how it also leaves things open for more adventures, whether they materialize in book form or not.
This was a beautiful book, and I’d recommend it to readers looking for a book that captures the nostalgia of childhood fairy tales and fantasy classics for the adult reader.