The Lost Story is described as “a fairy tale for grown-ups,” and that’s why I requested this book. But, for me, it fell short of the description. Some of the plot lines felt undeveloped, as well as the backstory of the two main characters. The magical realism, which I’m a fan of, didn’t quite draw me into the story. The romantic relationship felt forced.
This novel is a short read; I read it while on a cross-country flight. To me, it read more like a YA novel. The depth of an adult fairy tale just wasn’t there for me.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group!
Meg Shaffer has now become a “Not To Be Missed Author” for me now, after only two books. The Lost Story is beautiful and poignant, sometimes sad and a little scary.
Starting with a bang, as two lost boys are found, and not letting you go as a woman searches for her missing sister, this story is all about families-both the ones we’re born into, and the ones we make. This is one of my favorite reads of the year, and I can’t recommend it enough!

I absolutely loved Meg Shaffer's first book, The Wishing Game, so I couldn't wait to get my hands on her sophomore book.

This story centers on three characters: two teenage boys, Jeremy and Rafe, who share a deep friendship, possibly more. Their lives take a dramatic turn when they go missing in Red Crow State Park for six months. Everyone fears the worst, but they reappear looking stronger and healthier. How did they survive? Were they kidnapped? And why can't they remember anything? Rafe, in particular, struggles with memory loss and sleepwalking. To make matters worse, Jeremy moves to England, leaving Rafe just when he needs him most.

Fifteen years later, Jeremy is a famous investigator specializing in missing persons, while Rafe is a reclusive artist living in the mountains. They haven’t spoken since their return and haven't discussed what happened in the forest. Rafe genuinely can’t remember, and Jeremy is bound by a secret. The past resurfaces when Emilie Wendel seeks Jeremy's help to find her sister, who vanished in the same woods. Together, they return to Red Crow Forest, diving into a world of enchanting magic and breathtaking landscapes to uncover lost memories and missing people.

I was nervous that this book wouldn't live up to my expectations, but I was so impressed. The world-building was incredible, making it easy to imagine the magical land. The characters were complex and captivating. The author's exploration of friendships and romance was exquisite, with cozy fairytale vibes including queens, knights, unicorns, and mermaids. The book also tackled important issues like suicide, adoption, and family drama, adding depth and emotional resonance. The LGBTQ representation was wonderful, and the writing style hooked me from the start. Although I felt the story could have ended around the 78-80% mark, I highly recommend this to anyone who loves whimsical fairy tales with a mystery.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Lost Story is a beautiful telling of a magical land, Shanandoah. Two boys, Rafe and Jeremy, go missing for months. While they are thought to be lost by the world, they are actually in a magical realm. When they return to the normal world, only one of them remembers their time there.

When Emilia asks for Jeremy’s help in locating her lost sister, both boys return back to this magical world after 15 years.

While I truly enjoyed the story, it felt like a sequel to me and I was missing the first book. The story is told in chapter form, with a storyteller popping in and narrating throughout. This storyteller was a point of view that I really loved, but that also made it easy for the writer to skip over some parts of the story that could have had more detail. As a reader, I would have appreciated a book that told of the boys’ first journey to Shanandoah.

While I am not typically someone who likes to read fantasy, this book hooked me from the beginning because the story started in a normal world. It was a lot easier for me to get into that way, but I also think the novel could have used a little bit more world building.

All around, I did enjoy the book and will be picking up whatever Meg Shaffer writes! Thank you to NetGalley for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Another winning novel for Meg Shaffer!! This was a story about growing up - and not growing up. There was magic, mystery, and adventure all wrapped in tales of family and friendship. This book was about love, loss, happiness, sorrow, and forgiveness. The style of writing was almost that of a young adult novel yet, the main characters were all adults. The setting descriptions were detailed and pulled the reader into the story with the characters. It was a beautiful reading experience.

@MegShaffer - You must own a magic pencil. Thank you for sharing your story!

Thank you to #NetGally for an eARC of #TheLostStory by #MegShaffer in exchange for honest feedback. -5 stars

4.5 Stars

Do you want more magic in your life? How about some sword fights, romance, and gut-wrenching stories? The Lost Story is a wonderfully imaginative book! Emilie has hired Jeremy to find her long-lost sister. How can he tell Emilie that he already knows her sister . . . from when he lived in a hidden kingdom? One that he, alone, knows about.

You will walk away from The Lost Story, feeling satisfied by the love, loyalty, and friendship it contains.

For the most part, I adored this book!! All except the romance, which felt a wee bit clunky to me. But still, I couldn't put The Lost Story down!!

BIG thanks to both #BallantineBooks and #NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review an early copy of #TheLostStory. It has an expected publication date of July 16, 2024.

#MegShaffer #Magic #Fantasy

This one is absolutely awesome!! It might be my new favorite book and one I will highly recommend. There is magic in well written books. Let the magic in this one sweep you up, like I did. Where do lost children go when we can't find them? Maybe, just maybe, they go here ... to a land of unicorns, silver tigers, and palaces where they are free to adventure, to dream, and to love and be loved.

It's obvious that Meg has a magic pencil in her hand ... and yes, of course, I made the pie.

3.5/5

Synopsis: This story has Narnia/Peter Pan vibes. Our lead character is seeking answers for her lost sister who disappeared years ago at a young age. She seeks out the help from a man who was once a lost boy himself. He quickly finds that he once knew the lost girl when they lived in an alternative realm together and they band together to find her.
Pros/cons: I LOVED the first half of this book. It had so much excitement and magical build up. However, when the characters crossed over to the other realm I felt the story fell apart a bit. The plot changed a lot and I found myself bored. I enjoyed the ending but do feel a bit let down by a book that showed a lot of promise upfront. But, if you loved Narnia growing up, give this a read when it’s released July 16. Thank you Netgalley for the advanced copy!

I'm not sure what I was expecting. The cover really caught my eye, along with the title. The book started out really well but quickly turned into something totally different. I was loving Jeremy's character. Actually, I liked all the characters. But seems like Jeremy was so different once the story got started. It's hard to review without giving anything away. The concept of it all is so outstanding. Just think, if this were true of anyone lost. We could all be happy for them instead of pining away. And on a different note, it's also like losing someone to death but seeing their side where they've gone on to heaven.

I loved the concept and the Narnia similarities. It's like a fairy tale for grownups but the writing was more geared towards grade school age. Take the romance scenes out and it would be perfect for young children. It would also be great for children and adults if a lot of the talking parts were taken out so it didn't ramble so much. By the beginning of the second half, I sort of lost interest. However, there the concept and life lessons I got from it will stay with me forever.

This was a charming and magical story for fans of Narnia and Oz. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced reader’s copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
3.5 stars

This book was (literally) magical! The nods to C. S. Lewis were amazing, and I really enjoyed the whole story arc. This book felt whimsical, heartbreaking, and beautiful all at the same time.

Thank you to Random House for the ARC!

I will ALWAYS sign up for stories that are fundamentally Narnia fanfiction, double points if I'm fed with my favorite tropes (in this case amnesia romance). Meg Shaffer's version intersects the lives of three people - an adopted young woman named Emilie seeking her missing birth sister, and two men who disappeared for months in a West Virginia forest and haven't spoken since their return 15 years ago. (Obvious) spoilers ahead --- but of course this forest contains a Secret Mythical Kingdom which the trio must navigate/return to in order to solve the mystery of Emilie's sister and Rafe's missing memories.

I liked this surface concept, but the execution was severely underbaked. I vaguely knew I wasn't a fan of Shaffer's writing style since picking up and quickly putting down the Wishing Game, but was kneecapped a second time by the cringey millennial humor, blunt themes, and lack of atmospheric descriptions of characters or places. The narrative was kind of a mess - POV chapters interspersed with summaries by a nameless storyteller which may have been intended as charming but came off as tiring and kind of lazy writing given the amount of times the storyteller interjected to summarize/skip large portions of the plot the author clearly just didn't want to write. Give me travel scenes or give me death!!! Especially in a fantasy novel!!! Also, I genuinely think the novel could have done without Emile's character entirely, giving the world more room to breathe and focusing on the dynamics between Rafe & Jeremy and Rafe, Jeremy, & Skya.

It's been a while since I read a book that so fundamentally felt like mid=2000s fanfiction meets fantasy story I wrote in 5th grade and showed only to my mom and my teacher. Still, if you are looking for a simple fantasy beach-read, this will probably fit the bill.

It didn’t take long for my heart to ache with how much I loved these characters. I was desperate to know what happened in the past and what was going to happen next.

The Storyteller’s asides made me giggle.

Jeremy and Rafe’s relationship made me kick my feet.

While I thought the overall tone of the book was joyful, do be prepared for some homophobia, child abuse, and mentions of suicide. There were definitely some tears mixed in with the laughter.

Meg Schaffer is 2 for 2 so far. I’m definitely excited to see what she does next.

Thanks to Ballentine for providing an advanced digital copy for me to review!

I love the premise of this book and was so excited to be an ARC reader for it. Some parts had everything I was hoping for - fun, fantasy, and mystery. Other parts seemed to fall short. There is a story teller/narrarator within the book that I found to be distracting to the story. Additionally some details I felt lost on and I think the author thought she had world built and character built enough to make it understandable but I didn't follow. Not a page turner, but nothing bad.

It's a sweet story. Moved a little slow for me at times but definitely had the nostalgic feel of magical worlds like Narnia and Oz.

THE LOST STORY was a magical experience. It is the story of two boys lost in a forest in West Virginia on an end-of-the-year field trip who come walking out six months after they disappeared. Rafe becomes an artist who doesn't remember what happened while he was lost in the woods. Jeremy becomes a man filled with secrets who has a talent for finding girls who are lost in the woods.

Fifteen years after their reappearance, Emilie Wendell comes to find Jeremy to ask him to look for the sister she didn't know she had until after her mother's death and who disappeared in the same forest where Rafe and Jeremy disappeared. Jeremy hasn't seen Rafe since they walked out of the forest, but now he needs him if the search for Emilie's sister is to be successful.

This story tells what happened when they all return to the Red Crow forest. It is filled with magic and romance and all the elements of a good fairy tale: heroes and villains, a lost princess, a magician and a storyteller to provide insights.

I thought this story was amazing. It will certainly go on my keeper shelf when it was released. The characters were well-drawn and interesting people. The language was both down to earth and lyrical.

Fast paced, page turner thriller. Starts off with a sprint that keeps you going till the end. Mysterious situations lead you wondering through the entire book. Liked this book as much as Wishing Game, her first book.

I was so excited to get to read Meg Shaffer’s new book The Lost Story. I devoured The Wishing Game and knew her next novel would be incredible, and I have to say she did not let us down! The Lost Story is inspired by The Chronicles of Narnia (I also felt some House By The Cerulean Sea vibes- such as the LGBT aspect, the hopefulness and joy you feel reading it). It tells of Emilie, who is searching for her long missing half sister, and Jeremy and Rafe, two best friends who went missing 15 years ago in a forest for six months, and went there separate ways once returning.
I absolutely loved this book. The way the story is told, the light and joyful feeling I had while reading it (even during the hard parts), and I am so hopeful we get a sequel!

What a beautiful story! I don’t think I was prepared for how much I’d love this one!

We first enter the story hearing of the two lost boys, Rafe and Jeremy. They have been missing 6 months now, and they miraculously appear one day in the forest. Rafe forgets everything that happened, and Jeremy is tight lipped. There is something that brings them back 15 years later…

Cue the fantasy realm and this whimsical story between. I don’t want to give too much away. This story had me laughing, crying, and wishing to be in Shanandoah! I really loved this story. There is an LGBTQ element. I loved it especially reading it during pride. Love is love. This was a great representation of that. I was so thrilled for their story as well. This story also had deep rooted family trauma as well.

Meg Shaffer wrote a beautiful compelling cozy fantasy and I am looking forward to what’s ahead for Jeremy, Rafe, Emily, Skya, Aurora, and of course Fritz! I loved this whimsical world I was whisked to for a few days. I need book 2! Pick this one up in July!

“But you don’t need a magic pencil to write a magic book. All books are magic. An object that can take you to another world without even leaving your room.”

“They searched for a princess. At last, she was found. The loneliest princess, lost and then crowned. So that’s the whole truth and most of the lore of the nobody queen, nobody no more.”

“Brothers. Lovers. Best friends. Partners in crime. Cellmates. Soul mates. There’s was no bond that bound hearts that did not bind theirs.” “You” Rafe whispered in his ear, “are my kingdom”.

What can I say besides the fact that I’m obsessed with Meg’s books - I loved this wishing game and I love this one just as much. What a fabulous read that mixes light fantasy with reality in the best possible way, all making the reader fall further in love with books and stories. 5/5, no notes. <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/199927030-the-lost-story" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img border="0" alt="The Lost Story" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1699644888l/199927030._SX98_.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/199927030-the-lost-story">The Lost Story</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/22371885.Meg_Shaffer">Meg Shaffer</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6586934713">5 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
What can I say besides the fact that I’m obsessed with Meg’s books - I loved this wishing game and I love this one just as much. What a fabulous read that mixes light fantasy with reality in the best possible way, all making the reader fall further in love with books and stories. 5/5, no notes.
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/15987250-trisha-wolfe">View all my reviews</a>