4.5. This feels a bit like a fairy tale fever dream since I read it all in one sitting on the plane but I loved this! It was a queer Narnia for adults set in West Virginia. Ate it up with a spoon, smiling the whole time. Recommend for fans of Apprentice to the Villain, the tone is similar but the writing in this is much higher quality.

Huge thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for allowing me to read this early! I absolutely loved Meg Shaffer’s debut and loved this story even more. A magical world, with queer rep and diving deep into trauma? Count me in! This was incredibly well done and hit every mark. The inclusion of a quick witted and sarcastic story teller was the icing on the cake! I can’t wait to pick up a physical copy on release day, and make the recipe that is included in the book!

This had so much potential for me, the strong characters, and unique story; but it feel apart for me due to the sheer amount of dialog. So much of it was just talking, I enjoy a bit more detail and world building.

"Some day you will be old enough to start reading fairytales again." - C.S Lewis ✨🧚‍♀️🦄

Synopsis:
As children, best friends Jeremy and Rafe went missing in a West Virginia forest, mysteriously reappearing 6 months later. How did they survive? Where did they go? And why did these boys seemingly go entirely different life directions after returning home, no longer speaking? While Rafe becomes a reclusive artist and homebody, Jeremy becomes a famous missing persons investigator, seemingly able to locate every missing girl. Due to his abilities, our FMC Emilie has realized that Jeremy is the only person that will be able to help her find her sister, who went missing years prior from the same forest he and Rafe had gone missing from. Knowing the truth about the magical world these missing children had gone to, Jeremy must enlist the help of Rafe to help Emilie find her sister, and find so much more along the way!

My thoughts:
Oh MY GOD, I feel like I was just teleported back to my childhood for this one, in the absolute best way!!! This felt like taking a step into my favorite fairytales as a kid (although still somehow was like nothing I've ever read before). I can't even express to you the childlike wonder, magic, and pure joy that is written in the pages of this novel. Everything was so vivid, I felt like I myself had entered a magical land filled with unicorns, badass heroes and heroines, etc.

This felt weirdly like it was written specifically for me. The start of chapter one even takes place at Bernheim Forest in Kentucky, which is a forest I grew up going to multiple times a week with my grandfather and holds so many fond memories for me. There are Stevie Nicks/Fleetwood Mack references. There are animal companions (need I say more?). There was a funny narrator who popped in and broke the fourth wall multiple times, which was always a joy to read and something I am always a sucker for. The depth to every one of the characters' backstories made me grow extremely attached to all of them. I felt like I really KNEW them by the end and could relate to many of them in so many different ways, both for better and worse. The found family in this was so comforting and fun, and the sisterhood themes are fantastic and so heartwarming as well. And the full-circle moments. There is nothing better than when an author is able to take a random, seemingly meaningless thing, and make that hold all the weight in the world by the end of the story. It makes me cry every time.

Also... THE LOVE STORY. I did not know there was any romance in here going into this, and man was I pleasantly surprised, not only because I'm a sucker for a good romance story, but it was done so well. The LGBTQ+ representation here was a complete and total surprise (especially during pride month 🌈), in the best possible way. The chemistry was palpable. It was so fun to watch these characters find themselves again while falling in love.

Overall, this was just so heart-warming, cozy, and so so magical. Please do yourself a favor and give it a try! I laughed, I cried, I giggled and kicked my feet, and most importantly, I felt like a kid again reading her favorite bedtime fairytale, and that is not something I have felt in a very long time.

TW: abuse, death of a family member, suicide, grief

Thank you so much to Random House/Ballantine and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Yes! Yes! Yes! I loved this modern, adult fairy tale so much. And for so many reasons. It has deep, diverse, and fully actualized characters. It has a plot that grabbed me hard and held me for the entirety of the adventure. It has witty banter, a tender love story, hard topics, a light tone, and lessons about finding ourselves and finding courage. And, most importantly, this book is a tribute to all the storytellers of the world—without them, how else would we know that magic still exists?

I smiled. I cried. I loved. Between this book and The Wishing Game, Meg Shaffer has a well-earned spot on my favorite author list.

I unfortunately wasn’t able to finish the book in time, but i absolutely loved the chapters I got to read! This book was categorized as a graphic novel somehow, and it’s not. So it unfortunately took longer to read than a graphic novel would. I will be buying the physical copy and editing my review when I finish the book.

Stay tuned for my upcoming #AuthorElevatorSeries Q&A with Meg, where we go behind the book, THE LOST STORY, and this talented author. (July 16th, pub day).

Master storyteller Meg Shaffer, renowned for her debut, The Wishing Game, now captivates us with her latest creation, THE LOST STORY. This enchanting narrative not only serves as a spiritual epilogue to C. S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia but also pays homage to the transformative power of books and storytelling.

In this enchanting tale, the author cleverly transports you to another world—an escape from all the worldly cares and stresses.

"Some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again."
— C.S. Lewis

About...

Once upon a time, best friends Jeremy Cox and Rafe Howell mysteriously vanished in the Red Crow State Forest of West Virginia to a faraway enchanted land called Shenandoah.

They reappeared six months later, their return shrouded in a veil of inexplicability. They seemed to be healthy and nourished, but their silence about their whereabouts only deepened the mystery.

Then, fifteen years after their return, Jeremy is a famous investigator for missing persons. Rafe is a reclusive artist who lives in a cabin in the woods. He does not share his work. He had no visible scars or memory of what occurred while they were missing. Jeremy knows the truth behind their time in the woods, in a magical realm filled with beauty and danger. However, he has kept Rafe in the dark since their return.

However, when vet tech Emilie Wendel hires Jeremy to find her long-lost half-sister, Shannon (who disappeared from the safe forest), Jeremy knows she was also in the hidden kingdom during their time in the forest.

Emilie found out she had a sister who grew up in a West Virginia trailer park. She wishes her sister had grown up like her and had it as easy. Was she living in the woods, off the grid?

Jeremy, Rafe, and Emilie must return to the forest, the magical land, to confront their shared past as the three stories connect in this enchanting fairy tale. As they dive into their memories, secrets begin to unravel, as they each piece together their past and embrace their future.

My Thoughts...

THE LOST STORY is inspired by C.S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia; this wild and wondrous novel is a fairy tale for grown-ups who still knock on the backs of wardrobes.

Mysterious, magical, and memorable. From the lush, vivid descriptions, memories, enchanting lyrical prose, humor, lovely metaphors, illustrations, literary references, music, art, and the magical and clever quotes between the chapters—the author draws you into this wildly imaginative world. Be prepared to be transported. Also included the yummy Golden Apple Christmas Cake Recipe (modified for this world).

Readers will be caught up in the adventures of the three delightful, well-developed main characters and the cast of complex supporting ones. Wildly imaginative, atmospheric, charming, mystical, and endearing! This may be your favorite adult fairytale.

Meg's writing is breathtaking, showcasing her imaginative storytelling talents. Magical, nostalgic, whimsical, and an enchanting tribute to the power of books and storytelling—a captivating love letter to fairytales and shared secrets. A wise lesson: Dreams can come true anytime in our lives if we open our hearts to embrace them.

Fully immersive, a riveting, heart-wrenching story of family. What it is to be lost, forbidden love, and the joy of being yourself and loved for being who you are.

"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."

Recs...

If you loved THE LOST STORY, I highly recommend reading Meg's first book, The Wishing Game, for more magical storytelling. It is also recommended for fans of C.S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia, Patti Callahan Henry's The Secret Book of Flora Lea, and authors Sarah Addison Allen and Catherine Ryan Hyde.

THE LOST STORY is a creative mix of magical realism, literary, LGBTQ, romance, fantasy, mystery, whimsical, family drama, and an adult fairy tale with important emotionally charged topics such as suicide, adoption, death, and abuse.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group— Ballantine and NetGalley for providing an advanced reading copy in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

blog review posted @
JudithDCollins.com
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
Pub Date: July 16, 2024
My Rating: 5 Stars
July 2024 Must-Read Books

I am writing this review SOBBING after finishing this book. Like happy crying, not sad. It was so lovely, I was excited from the first page. The author managed to create a beautiful world without going into that overly wordy exhausting world-building territory. I loved the storyteller chapters, it really made it read like a fairy tale.

I was so happy to get the chance to read an arc copy of The Lost Story! Thanks to NetGalley and Random House.

As a huge fan of The Chronicles of Narnia, the description of this book captured my attention. And it did not disappoint! I truly enjoyed this book. I also really liked the way it was written. I liked the narratives too! The characters and their background stories were credible and the imagination was transporting. Look for this in bookstores July 16, 2024.
Thank you #NetGalley & #Ballantine books for allowing me to read an ARC. What a delightful story!

I finished this book three days ago but can just now come out of my book hangover fog to write a review. I really really liked Shaffer's first book, The Wishing Game, and had guarded hopes that her second book would deliver that same magical childhood tingle, but ya know, second books are hard. SHE FREAKING NAILED IT. I loved this book so much. And just like The Wishing Game it has this magical aspect that remind you of your childhood and the magic found in books as a child. Shaffer, never stop writing, we will always need to be reminded of the magic and the power of stories!

Jeremy and Rafe disappeared in the Red Crow Forest as teenagers. When they reappeared 6 months later, Rafe remembered nothing about his time lost and Jeremy refused to say anything. Now 15 years later, Emilie is looking for her sister that disappeared in the same forest before Jeremy and Rafe. She has enlisted Jeremy's help in finding out what happened to her. Jeremy knows the only way to help is to reconnect with Rafe and bring him into the secret world they left behind 15 years earlier.

I loved The Wishing Game so I had high expectations for this book and it did not disappoint. The magic of the fantasy world was so beautifully written. I loved the character development. The ending left me wanting so much more. If you have enjoyed magical realism in the past, this takes it a little beyond that but not into the full blown world of fantasy. I loved the balance it struck between real world and magical world.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballentine for the ARC of The Lost Story.

Ah this is a hard one for me to review. The book was well written, tender at times, beautiful at others. It was full of real problems and people finding hope through difficulties.

I have to admit I’m not much of a fantasy reader & had a difficult time with the more fantastical elements of this book. We spend more than half of this book in the real world and I found my self following the story and enjoying it while still a bit weary of what was to come. At about 60% we enter the fantasy world and I wish I could have enjoyed it more but it was at that point I realized my own interpretation of the title and the whole thing became a “lost story” for me. I feel as though there were plot points that were forgotten as the story switched and it felt like two different ideas without enough follow through.

It was beautifully written and a lovely romance. If you enjoy fantasy, LGBTQ+ representation, and C.S. Lewis you’ll probably enjoy this book. I can understand the appreciation, it just wasn’t totally for me.

The Lost Story has wonderfully charming characters and the plot stars out very enticing. However, the main conflict seem to be solved right wpaway and the ensuing conflict did not interest me. I was prepared for science fiction, as I loved Shaffer’s first novel, which had science fiction elements. This book, however, started out realistic and took a sharp turn deep into the sci-fi realm with no looking back. About halfway through, I begin to lose interest. It strongly reminded me of a TJ Klune novel or Fairy Tale by Stephen King. So, while I applaud Shaffer’s character development (Rafe and Jeremy really are so precious) and her way with words, the plot development was lacking. Thank you to Ballantine Books and NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

Jeremy is well known for the ability to find missing people. He has an uncanny ability of knowing exactly how to solve even the most difficult of cases. At a speaking engagement he meets Emilie, who needs help finding her sister. Her sister has been missing for years in the exact place Jeremy and his former best friend went missing for 6 months. When she shows Jeremy a picture of her sister he knows he needs to help her.
When he was younger, he and his best friend Rafe (Ralph) went missing in Red Crow Forest, only to be found one day wandering the woods in perfect health. Rafe could never remember what happened and Jeremy refused to speak of it, keeping his distance until the two were no longer friends. Now they must reconnect to help Emilie find her missing sister. Rafe has no idea what Jeremy has kept from him all these years, that the 6 months they were missing were filled with the most magical and fantastical time of their lives.

I fell in love with Meg Shaffer's last book The Wishing Game and was so excited to receive an ARC of her newest book. The Lost Story did not disappoint! This book was the perfect mix of mystery, romance, and fantasy. I can't wait to read more from Shaffer.

This is one of my favorites of the year.

Teenagers Jeremy and Rafe go missing in the Red Crow forest near their homes in West Virginia. Six months later they are found by hikers, with no plausible explanation for how they survived. Rafe is missing his memories and Jeremy and his family flee the country. Fifteen years later, Rafe is a recluse living in a cabin deep in the forest, and Jeremy is internationally known as one of the best search and rescue workers for missing girls and women.

Emilie hires Jeremy to help her find her missing half sister, who disappeared five years before Jeremy and Rafe did in the same forest. Jeremy initially declines, but approaches Emilie later that night and agrees to help--but only if Rafe comes, too. Problem is, Jeremy hasn't spoken to Rafe since that fateful day Jeremy fled the country, and he isn't sure Rafe will be too happy to see him.

So begins a magical and heartwarming journey about love, forgiveness, and magic.

I was hooked on this book immediately. Shaffer's storyteller, an unnamed participant in the story, is witty and fun, and pokes their head in every few chapters to let us know what's going on. There's mystery, there's intrigue, there's unicorns. What more could you want? This is marketed as "Narnia for grown ups" and I think that's right on the nose. I will say, I have not read all the Narnia books, so I am unable to identify any subtle comparisons, but it has some of the same major elements--real world, door to another world with magic. Easy enough.

Rafe and Jeremy were both so fun to read, and I loved seeing their dynamic shift and change throughout the story. This is told in third person omniscient, so we get to see a bit of all of their perspectives, and I have to say I wasn't as excited about Emilie's as I was about Rafe's or Jeremy's. They were the show stealers for me.

I had two minor qualms. At times, there seemed to be an abrupt transition between scenes, and I would be left confused how we got to one place from another. This could be explained by the fact that this is an ARC and not the finalized copy, so we will see if that is changed. If not, not a huge deal, as it only happened 2-3 times, but it did leave me confused and I would re-read the paragraphs to make sense of it.

Additionally, my love for the narrator also became a downfall of the book. Because the storyteller pokes their head in so much, it took me out of the story. It's like watching a movie with someone who has seen it before, and every now and then they pause the film to make a comment or explain something. For me, that doesn't ruin the movie watching experience, just as it didn't ruin the book, but it was immersion breaking at times. I also felt that the characters could border on all sounding the same. Though they all had their own likes and dislikes, their own passions and goals, when they spoke it just sounded like the same person, likely because we have this storyteller who is telling us this story, as opposed to us just observing the story. If that makes sense?

Despite its flaws, I loved this book so much. I think I will have to pick up Narnia now just because I'm curious! I cried several times throughout reading, which does not happen often with me at all. Sometimes it was a heartwarming cry, other times it was shock. You'll have to read it to find out!

Highly recommend, and will absolutely be purchasing a copy for my shelf. I can see myself returning to this story again in the near future.

Thank you to NetGalley, Penguin Random House, and Meg Shaffer for an eARC of this book!

****

Review to come. I stayed up late to read this because I had to know how it ended and now I’m cryingggggggggg

Wow. Just wow. I adored Meg Shaffer's first book, and while I thought I would be disappointed that this book is in many ways very different, I think the heart of all the best things I loved in The Wishing Game are shining through to make me love this book too.

This magical story has a bit of everything: a fresh plot full of magic, adventure, and growth, a unique framing of the story with a narrator dropping in with dry wit and omniscient facts , characters with depth and real problems, and sense of humor had me smiling right along. And despite a large main cast (I would argue Jeremy, Rafe, Emiliee, and even Skya) all were my favorites and each felt like they were fully developed with their own faults, humor, plots, and triumphs, and all the side characters were fill of all the vim and vigor I love in fantasy adventure books.

The author's handling of some serious topics like suicide, adoption, personal trauma could have all made this book heartbreaking, but instead they were handled and incorporated so well they added a depth of connection that enhanced my reading of this book. Also the LGBT inclusion was *chef kiss* although maybe a bit more angsty than I prefer although that is 100% a personal preference.
As with Wishing Game I think the setting really shines through in this book and as an Ohio resident with my whole family from West - by God! - Virginia it was such a joy to see both states reflected here - in all their wonderous messy glory.

The story's plot was magical and exciting; it felt new and fresh. Although the plot was interesting, some of the time elements with the relationships between the characters were confusing to me; they knew each other for less than a year but had a connection that lasted the rest of their life. The world felt a bit randomly thrown together, but the lyrical writing describing the sights made up it. A very cute found family fantasy.

Yet another fabulous book from Meg (Tiffany Reisz). The scene building is utterly fabulous and the story like no other. 10/10

I read this lovely fantasy novel in one sitting.

This story begins 15 years earlier, with two lost teen boys in the forests of West Virginia. Thankfully, they are found safe, but part on uncertain terms. Now, Rafe lives alone with no memories of his time spent lost. Jeremy recalls the events but won’t divulge and spends his days as a Missing Person sleuth. Enter Emilie, an Ohio woman who convinces Jeremy to help her locate her missing sister. The catch? She hasn’t met this sister. The sister went missing in the same forest five years prior to Rafe and Jermey’s disappearance. Jeremy agrees and enlists a very reluctant Rafe’s help.


The three of them go on an adventure to find Emilie’s sister Shannon, whom the boys knew in their time away as Skya- a queen. All will be revealed in this journey. The past and secrets will be uncovered, and friendships will solidify.

If you liked the Binding by Bridget Collins, or were a childhood fan of fantasy stories like those by CS Lewis or Never-ending Story, for example, you will love this read. Akin to watching Stranger Things, this book made me feel that wonder as an adult, and that was a joyful break.

The Lost Story reminded me of how much I love fantasy stories. The world building was so incredible, so detailed, it truly felt like I was in the story and could picture everything in the Painted Sea! The characters, Jeremy and Rafe, were so well thought out, I couldn't help but to fall in love with them! Seeing their growth, their friendship, their romances, it was such a treat. I truly could not put this book down even if I tried! This book both felt like a cozy fairytale read yet also explored more serious concepts like suicide, LGBTQ+ orientation, adoption, trauma, and more. I feel so emotionally connected to this story, even more so than I did to the Chronicles of Narnia which this was inspired by. This was my first Meg Shaffer read and is certainly not going to be my last!