A huge thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for an ARC of this!

Published: July 2024

The Lost Story is about a lost prince who rediscovers who he is meant to be (in a nutshell). It took me most of the book to realize this was very similar to The Silver Chair (Narnia book) and felt it was more along the lines of Peter Pan (e.g. Bright Boys vs. Lost Boys, etc.). The story follows Emelie who is seeking help of a renowned missing person finder: Jeremey, who he himself disappeared for six months in the very woods her sister disappeared in 5 years prior. Using Jeremey's help, along with his friend Rafe, they enter into a hidden world where not all who wander end up lost, but rather where they are meant to be.

I felt the dialogue and characters overall very juvenille. The boys originally got lost in their teens and I felt they were still teens even though they were well into their twenties. That being said, it is a really beautiful story about dealing with domestic abuse, guilt/shame, and finding family. I thought the LGTBQ storyline was rather good- and fans of Under the Whispering Door would enjoy this one! I also felt that some the platonic friendships teetered on something more which had me scratching my head. Also the narrator was a very good addition I thought.

I teetered not finishing this one, but decided to rate it three stars solely because several friends/family members really enjoyed it and I might be the odd ball.

Content: very mild language, descriptions of domestic physical abuse

I struggled with so much of this book. The characters felt two-dimensional, the dialogue was clunky, the pacing felt off, etc. The bones if the story itself are good, but this one just wasn't it for me unfortunately.

I will read anything Meg Shaffer writes. This was one of my most anticipated reads of the year and it did not disappoint! This book gives you all the feel good feelings of your childhood favorite books. I don’t have any note, it was just perfection!

This was such a beautiful book! I was pulled in from the very beginning...the story and characters made me fall in love almost instantly and I absolutely devoured it!! It felt so magical and had moments of pure joy and adventure, but also had me unexpectedly emotional (i.e., a crying mess). I highly recommend it!

3.5 Rounded

The Lost Story is captivating and moves quickly, but the writing style and pacing was not to my taste. As magical as the world built in this book it, I didn't feel that we got enough time inside of it and the descriptions were not as robust as I would have prefered. That being said, I whipped through this book in about a day and a half and couldn't seem to put it down.

Thank you Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Netgalley, and Meg Shaffer for the ARC of this book. All opinions shared are entirely my own.

I loved everything about this book. At first, I didn't think it was going to be my cup of tea. But the queer romance was excellent, the magical elements were fun and cheeky, and the story itself was uplifting. I gave this one five stars because I enjoyed it, would recommend it to a friend, and would definitely read it again.

DNF at 60%. I was really excited about this and loved all of the magical elements combined with missing girls/women. But it's just not doing it for me at this point--the story is too slow, and getting this far without much of the magic, just having heard of the magic, isn't keeping my attention.

3.5/5 <3
After reading the wishing game by the same author, I was really happy to see that I got approved for this one, and even more excited to see that it was inspired by chronicles of narnia! I especially loved how diverse the characters were. It was a bit slow in the beginning, but its coziness was something that kept me reading. Thank you for this beautiful book!

Favorite quote from The Lost Story- "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? 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."
I absolutely loved Meg Shaffer's The Wishing Game. It was a 5 star read for me last year. This fairytale/coming out/survival story was inspired by The Chronicles of Narnia & Lord of the Flies.
This was a beautiful story about love, hope, fear & acceptance while trying to find your way forward in spite of the traumas of your past. The author states she wrote this book for the LGTBQIA+ community. It reads more YA & would be great for anyone that may be dealing with prejudices surrounding their sexuality. The friendships of Skya, Emilie, Rafe & Jeremy reminded me of that one saying "friends are the family you choose". This foursome would die for one another and the bonds they shared transcended worlds. The ending sets this fairytale up for a series so we shall see. Also there's a recipe for a Golden Apple Christmas Cake at the end.
So if you want a story about adventure, friendship, & acceptance this is for you.

As children, Jeremy and Rafe disappeared for six months only to reappear with no explanation. Rafe has scars but no memory of what happened and Jeremy has never told him that they traveled to an enchanted magical land. When Emilie hires Jeremy, now a famed missing persons investigator, to find her missing sister, Jeremy must come clean to Rafe about their past and return to the enchanted world to recover everything they lost.

After her darling bestseller The Wishing Game, I was excited to see Meg Shaffer take on a new story with Narnia vibes. At first, I loved the mystery of Jeremy and Rafe and their time in a magical land when they were children. However, once they traveled through the looking glass, the book just completely tanked. The plot, pacing, world-building, dialogue and character relationships were all very poorly executed in the second half. A terribly disappointing read that I can't recommend to anyone.

3.5/5

The premise of this book really gripped me, and my favourite genre is magical realism. However, I felt like I struggled to get through this book as it wasn't particularly fast paced (especially the first part). As I result I wasn't particularly drawn in and didn't feel like picking it up too often. Saying that, I thought it was an overall pleasant read with a lovely element of found family (and I'm a big fan of Jeremy and Rafe). If I had read it at a different time perhaps I would have enjoyed it a bit more. I do like the ideas / premises of the books this author writes and will pick up whatever comes next.

The Lost Story is proof that you’re never too old for a good fairy tale. This grown-up nod to Narnia had just enough magic, mystery, and whimsy to keep me reading straight through from start to finish.

Thank you Meg Shaffer, Ballantine Books, and NetGalley for providing this ARC for review consideration. All opinions expressed are my own.

I absolutely loved this book. I was so attached to the characters. Meg Shaffer has a way of writing that once you finish you're forlorn at returning to the real world. I definitely want a sequel to this one.

I love a portal fantasy! I like the juxtaposition of the fantastical and mundane, and I think there’s a lot of room in the genre to write the kind of story you like. Shaffer wrote the kind of story I like.

The characters were great - I like the number of the platonic relationships developed through the book, and I really loved the storytelling framework. By the end of the book I had cried real tears and laughed real laughs.

It did start… quite slow. I almost DNFed at 30% - by 40% I was in it and so glad I stuck it out.

This was an interesting and unique novel that kept my attention. I really enjoyed the characters and how much they cared about one another.

5 enchanting stars for this one. I immediately became completely enraptured by the magic that this book is. It took hold of me and did not let go until long after I was finished. It was one of those books that will stick with me and I will think about the characters for a long time. I highly recommend!

I loved this book. It was an adventurous, imaginative and sweet story about two best friends who get lost in the woods as kids and how they come back together in adulthood. I felt like I was escaping life during this read and it had a nostalgic quality that reminded me of my childhood favorite, "The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe". Highly recommend for someone who wants something emotional and escapist.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House-Ballantine Publishing for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review!

I was so excited to dive into this, I mean look at that cover, it's swoon worthy! I had heard so many amazing things about Meg's debut, so I was pumped to receive this ARC. I immediately was drawn into the story of two boys who have gone missing, only to return 6 months later healthy and unharmed. Years pass without them speaking, one boy knowing the full extent of their time "lost", while the other has no memories from that time.

I could not wait for them to return to where they were "lost" and discover what really occurred, but that is where the book lost me. I wanted magic and all the forest feels, but got none of that. I felt the dialog was a tad childish (these characters are adults when they return to this magical world) and the story was more telling vs. showing. There were chapters with a storyteller filling you in what had happened rather then reading about the characters experiences. That took me out of the story and made it feel flat.

While I wanted more of the magical feels and world building, I did love the romance storyline of this book. It's what kept me reading to the end.

Delightful fun but the pacing was all over the place and it felt unfinished (which may have been the point). Parts of it were fully fleshed out and others were half assed ideas pinned on at random. I wish it were more focused narratively, but I still enjoyed it a lot.

I loved this so much I will be getting the hardcover. For grown ups that love Narnia and wanting their own magical story, and finding out what happens when you return to a magical world.