Thank your NetGalley and Random House for the Arc of this book.

Synopsis: Two teenage boys, Rafe and Jeremy, go missing in the West Virginia forest only to be found 6 months later with no explanation on how they managed to survive in the forest for so long. 15 years later after they are found alive in the forest, Rafe has become a reclusive artist who remembers nothing about the 6 months he spent in the forest. Jeremy has a successful career finding missing girls/women. Jeremy is approached by Emilie to help her find her sister Shannon who went missing in the same West Virginia forest around the same time as Jeremy and Rafe went missing. Jeremy agrees to help Emilie because he remembers seeing Shannon in the forest and knows she is still alive. This ultimately leads Rafe, Jeremy, and Emilie returning to the West Virginia forest and that is where the magic of this book begins.....

I loved this book! What I loved about it is...
- The story captured me at the very beginning.
- I loved the characters. This book will even having you loving a rat. There is also an array of fairytale characters, like mermaids and unicorns.
- I loved the unfolding of the relationship between Jeremy and Rafe.
- I loved the Storyteller chapters. They brought such a fun element to the reading of the book.

What I didn't love about this book....
- I found some of the dialogue between the adults a bit too childish and distracting from the overall story.

If you are looking for a book to scratch the Chronicles of Narnia itch but with adult reading vibes, look no further. This book releases July 16th and I would run not walk to get a copy.

Oh man I DEVOURED this, this was exactly what I needed to break my reading slump. I mean - friendship, grief and trauma, and found family in a magical realism setting? Say less. I was sooo attached to all of the characters and I would die for sweet baby angel Rafe. My only grievance is that this doesn't come out until July and my book friends are going to be sick of me talking about this for the next four months.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine for sending me this ARC!

Meg Shaffers books are magic. I loved the Wishing Game immensely and was both thrilled and nervous about a new book. However, The Lost Story exceeded my already incredibly high expectations. It truly was a fairy tale. The use of a narrator was absolute perfection. It was impossible not to fall in love with each and every character. This book is for anyone and everyone.

I loved this whimsical story about princes and princesses, queens and knights, mermaids and unicorns and finding what’s lost! This book was written in a way that made me feel like a child again and all the magic was still alive. I love Meg Schaffer books! 4 1/2⭐️and waiting for the sequel! Thank you NetGalley for the advance digital copy.

4.5/5 stars! The Lost Story is a cozy fairytale escape, perfect for adults! It's the story you curl up in a blanket and devour.. or was that just me?

I read the author's debut novel last year, and really enjoyed it, but I loved The Lost Story. It was gripping, heartwarming, and a very quick read for me. It's a perfect book to read while you are in a slump. If you were one who read fairytales as a kid (who didn't?), then step into your inner child and read this book!

I enjoyed the LGBTQ rep, and that the beginning of the novel really grips you, as it starts off with detailing how the main characters went missing in the forest many years ago. The characters then go on to reunite to help a girl to find her lost sister, who is lost in the same forest they were once lost in. I found one twist in the plot to be predictable, but perhaps it wasn't intended to be a big mystery. Aside from that, I was very much just along for the enjoyable ride that was reading this lovely novel.

I highly recommend picking this book up when it publishes in July 2024. Thank you to NetGalley, Ballantine Books and Meg Shaffer for the advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

(Note: Will add link to review once it is published close to pub date)

The Lost Story- 4/5 ⭐

I do enjoy a plot about magical realms accessed via hidden portals, and this is no exception.

I loved many things about this story. It does have everything you need for a good fairytale, including the horrors of the “real” world. The characters are interesting and quirky, and you will root for them on their journeys. I did feel that none of the characters "act their age", so that annoyed me a bit. The story took way too long while to get going for me, it was about 50% of the way through when the plot began to really pick up the pace. I loved the idea of a hidden world, though it did feel a bit cheesy at times. Once they finally entered the fairy tale realm, things sped up too quickly for my liking. I wished we could've spent more time there instead of rushing through. And yeah, it was pretty easy to see where the story was heading, but oddly, that made it more cozy than annoyingly fast-paced. Some tweaks could've made it truly phenomenal!

My biggest gripe? I wished there was more character development. I wanted to see the characters grow and change, to act their ages, and for the world to be built up enough for me to get a good mental image of it.

With that said, I still had a lot of fun reading this, and I would happily read about more adventures!

If you're up for a cozy magical realism read, give "The Lost Story" a chance.

Big thanks to NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, and Meg Shaffer for my ARC!

Goodreads Summary:

"As boys, best friends Jeremy Cox and Rafe Howell went missing in a vast West Virginia state forest, only to mysteriously reappear six months later with no explanation for where they’d gone or how they’d survived.

Fifteen years after their miraculous homecoming, Rafe is a reclusive artist who still bears scars inside and out but has no memory of what happened during those months. Meanwhile, Jeremy has become a famed missing persons’ investigator. With his uncanny abilities, he is the one person who can help vet tech Emilie Wendell find her sister, who vanished in the very same forest as Rafe and Jeremy.

Jeremy alone knows the fantastical truth about the disappearances, for while the rest of the world was searching for them, the two missing boys were in a magical realm filled with impossible beauty and terrible danger. He believes it is there that they will find Emilie’s sister. However, Jeremy has kept Rafe in the dark since their return for his own inscrutable reasons. But the time for burying secrets comes to an end as the quest for Emilie’s sister begins. The former lost boys must confront their shared past, no matter how traumatic the memories.

Alongside the headstrong Emilie, Rafe and Jeremy must return to the enchanted world they called home for six months—for only then can they get back everything and everyone they’ve lost."

Wow!

This book is captivating from the first chapter.
The imagery is beautiful, the characters were fun to read about and you really feel connected to their stories.
I'm not a fan of Narnia, and while it does remind me of the premise of Narnia, I enjoyed this story a lot more.
I can't wait to see what happens in the 2nd book (hopefully?).

Lgbtq friendly.

Also I love seeing such creative authors so close to home! I can't wait to read more from you!

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

TW: abandonment, abuse, child abuse, child death, death, death of a loved one, domestic abuse, drug abuse, emotional abuse, grief, homophobia, injury/injury detail, kidnapping, medical content, mental illness, panic attacks/disorders, physical abuse, sexual content, terminal illness, torture, violence.

There are no words for how sad I am that I didn't love this book. Everything about it seemed like it was created for me, but unfortunately the brilliant concept and the execution of said concept are two very different things.

The Lost Story was an overly ambitious novel, that attempted to fit an expansive story into 330 pages, whilst also struggling to ride the line between mature and whimsical. There were moments when this was successful, when the intention of the story was so clearly felt and realized that I knew I could have adored this novel if things had been different.

Unfortunately, they were not.

I struggled with the characters. I struggled with the dialogue. I struggled with the pacing. I struggled with the world-building or lack thereof (which gets explained at the very end, but by that point, it felt like it was being thrown in there so we didn't question the lack of world-building.) I struggled with the timeline (acting like the characters were there for years when it was only 6 months, felt weird). I struggled with the relationships between each of the characters. I hated the interjections from the Storyteller.

I say I struggled with many of these aspects because - for most of them - I could see what the author's intention had been, I could see that I would have liked them if they had been executed differently. As it was, attempting to create a contrast between the maturity of the characters and the magic of the enchanted world by having the characters say things like "Magical horses are whores for berries." did not work for me.
It made the story feel strangely like it was written by a homeschooled child trying to create an edgy story with how they think adults speak. (I can say that, I was homeschooled.)

This might be considered a spoiler so if you consider romantic relationships a spoiler, I wouldn't read this next paragraph.

Rafe and Jeremy's relationship was another one of those things that I could have loved if it was done differently. I appreciated the queer rep and how meaningful it was that the enchanted world was a safe haven for them to finally be their true selves. However. When the entirety of their relationship is built off of a year they spent together when they were fourteen (half of which one of them can't remember), and the reader is consistently reminded that they're a.) both nearly 30 and b.) how physical their relationship was at 14, on top of them being called brothers within the narrative... it made it really hard for me to feel much more than a topical concern for them.

This review is getting too long and at the risk of just becoming me ranting, which isn't what I want to do at all. Despite all of my criticism, this was an easy read and there were things I really liked about it.
I appreciate what Meg Shaffer was attempting to do with this book and I'm grateful for the ARC, but unfortunately, The Lost Story missed the mark for me.

The Lost Story was an ARC graciously sent to me by Random House / Ballantine. This will be out in July of 2024!

Brief, spoiler-free synopsis: Two boys go missing in West Virginia. The search was called off for the most part, until they both appeared again after six months. They both were suspiciously in good health, and one of them couldn’t remember where he had been, or what happened to him. Cut to adulthood: Jeremy has gone on to find missing people all over the world and is under a spotlight; Rafe is a recluse who creates brilliant, fantastical art. They crash together again after 15 years of not speaking when Emilie desperately engages Jeremy to find her long-lost sister. And Jeremie knows Emilie’s sister.

The story hooked me almost immediately, and it kept me reading as I did not know what to expect each time I turned the page. Overall, it has a taste of a lot of different genres — true crime, mystery, horror, fantasy…but they’re all mixed into the story well so that it became something unique and novel. It scratches almost every itch I could have, as a childhood fantasy reader / unicorn obsessive / Lisa Frank devotee, and current true crime fan.

The fantasy world building was AWESOME. It was spot on to the kinds of things I dreamed about as a kid, it was like Meg Shaffer reached into my head and put them into her own words. Reading those parts of the book was like draping your favorite old blanket around your head and shoulders — comforting and nostalgic. And the rest of it was a love letter to West Virginia, which is just as beautiful as it’s described in the book. We love a holler.

The three main characters were probably the strongest part of the writing — they all were fully formed and mutl-faceted, which was a delight. I was rooting for all of them and felt like I knew them the further I read. There was a lot of loss touched on in the book as well, and I definitely cried near the end because I felt the pain of Rafe as well as Rafe’s dad so deeply, despite being a morally gray character.

Overall, this was a really fun and satisfying book to read. Looking forward to more from Meg Shaffer. And most appreciative of the recipe in the end.

The Lost Story is such a beautiful modern fairy tale. I really enjoyed reading this. It was whimsical, exciting, heartbreaking, and also a story full of love. The characters were well developed and easy to like. I found myself rooting for Ralph, Jeremy, and Emily from the beginning.
I also appreciated the fun storyteller corner segments.
This book was a wonderful escape.

As boys, best friends Jeremy Cox and Rafe Howell went missing in a vast West Virginia state forest, only to mysteriously reappear six months later with no explanation for where they’d gone or how they’d survived. Fifteen years after their miraculous homecoming, Rafe is a reclusive artist who still bears scars inside and out but has no memory of what happened during those months. Meanwhile, Jeremy has become a famed missing persons’ investigator. With his uncanny abilities, he is the one person who can help vet tech Emilie Wendell find her sister, who vanished in the very same forest as Rafe and Jeremy. Jeremy alone knows the fantastical truth about the disappearances, for while the rest of the world was searching for them, the two missing boys were in a magical realm filled with impossible beauty and terrible danger. He believes it is there that they will find Emilie’s sister. However, Jeremy has kept Rafe in the dark since their return for his own inscrutable reasons. But the time for burying secrets comes to an end as the quest for Emilie’s sister begins. The former lost boys must confront their shared past, no matter how traumatic the memories. Alongside the headstrong Emilie, Rafe and Jeremy must return to the enchanted world they called home for six months—for only then can they get back everything and everyone they’ve lost.

⭐️⭐️⭐️/5. The Lost Story by Meg Shaffer. Thank you to the publisher, the author and NetGalley for this ARC. Ms. Shaffer took her inspiration from the Chronicles of Narnia for her second novel. Jeremy and Ralph are childhood best friends living in West Virginia. As young teens, they go missing from a field trip to a state park. Miraculously, they reappear six months later with no answers as to where they had been. Fifteen years later, Jeremy and Rafe (as he now likes to be called) have lost touch. Jeremy is a reality investigator, finding missing people. Rafe is a recluse with mental health issues. Emilie gets in touch with Jeremy in hopes that he can help her locate her missing sister who was taken from the very same park that the boys were taken from fifteen years ago. Jeremy makes the decision to return to the magical land they were in, but he needs Rafe’s help. Fantasy really isn’t my genre, and this novel very quickly becomes a fairy tale. We meet unicorns and many other magical creatures, but the story dragged on too long. Beautifully written story, but it wasn’t my favorite. #bookstagram #netgalley #whatiread #bookgram #bookworm #reading #goodreads #libbyapp #megshaffer #books

Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Since I enjoyed The Wishing Game by this author, I was eager to read this ARC. The mention of Narnia also intrigued me. The premise caught my attention, but the plot started unraveling at around the thirty percent mark.

I feel as though I trudged through the last two-thirds of this book because it was trying to cover so many areas: contemporary, fantasy, paranormal, thriller, family drama, and LGBTQ+. The story felt quite young adult, although it is being marketed as adult fiction. It is also a coming-of-age queer story, which is not a subject I tend to gravitate to or connect with.

I found that the central relationship in this book echoed that of the one in The Binding by Bridget Collins, which I had recently read and enjoyed. The details involving a gay lover’s lost memory and a magical book felt a bit too familiar. For me, it started to feel like bits from too many stories patched together.

This story was a weak three-star for me. While there are vague similarities to Narnia, overall, the plot and world-building felt weak. I’m a Stevie Nicks fan, so those references were appreciated, though!

15 years after being lost in the woods as teens, Jeremy and Ralph reunite to find a missing girl.

Having read, and enjoyed, The Wishing Game, I was more than ready for The Lost Story. Meg Shaffer has a unique ability to write stories for adults that bring back the whimsy of childhood fairytales. The Lost Story is a book that’s easy to get lost in, much like The MCs getting lost in the woods.

Jeremy, Ralph, and Emilie are lovable, real characters. Each has faced their own heartbreak but with snark and determination stand together to achieve their goal of finding Emilie’s sister. I was rooting for them the whole book! The ending left me torn, unsure where I wanted Jeremy and Ralph to end up, and devastated when the decision was taken from them. My only hope is that Skya, I mean Meg Shaffer, finds a way to continue the story…because what’s a fairytale without a happy ever after?

this book reminded me a lot of the wishing game!!!! i was pleasantly surprised by how much i liked this!!!! 5/5 stars

I really wanted to like this one like I did The Wishing Game, but there were too many main characters without enough character development for me. I felt like I couldn’t fully understand any of them and don’t feel super connected to any because of all the bouncing around. I also didn’t think the fantasy world was particularly unique. As always, I do love Meg Schaffer’s writing, and the storyteller corner was a cute addition. Thank you for the ARC!

I really was intrigued by the first half of The Lost Story. It felt like a fun and unique take on classic children’s fantasy. What if the characters are adult now? The second half let me down. While still very entertaining, I didn’t think it kept the momentum of the promising concept. It started to feel like it was in fact a kids’ book. Overall, I still enjoyed this book, but my own hopes for a more adult take kept me from loving it. Thanks to Random House - Ballentine for the ARC through NetGallery.

This is the sophomore novel to Meg Shaffer's The Wishing Game. I was thoroughly entranced by the cozy, magical storytelling from her first book. The Lost Story continues her style in full-force, but leaves a story that is convenient, predictable, and at times frustrating. The prologue draws the reader in with mystery and wonder, wanting to know what happened with two of our main protagonists. As the book continues, reveals and plot points don't feel rewarding, just the probable next steps to happen. Intermittently, a narrator will chime in with their own short chapter, which at times is charming, but at others is used to gloss over events that could have been fully written out. Rather than focusing on really exploring the magical, Narnia-inspired land, the story focuses more on characters saying things that had happened in the past. I think with the premise of adults going back to a hidden world was not utilized to its fullest. All in all, the book was solid, but did not make for a lasting impression.

✨This may be the finest feel good fairytale in all the land! The author of “The Wishing Game” once again created a world that feels like the perfect escape to its reader- packed full of courage, hope, love and a whole lot of magic from beginning to end. Maybe I’m biased having lived there, but I LOVED that the novel was set in one of my favorite wild and wonderful states of West-By God!-Virginia. Its forests and natural beauty deserves a fairytale to be written within it!

If you loved The Wishing Game, add this piece of art to your pre-orders ASAP! I sure hope we hear more from these lovable characters’ beautiful adventures soon✨

Publication date: July 16, 2024

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine for allowing me to read a digital ARC copy in return for my honest review.

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 back of wardrobes—just in case—from the author of The Wishing Game.


A Fairytale for adults? Yes, please! Oh, my, I am so happy to have found Meg!

Two boys go missing in the Virginia state forest and reappear six months later. One with no memory of where they have been.

Fifteen years later Emilie has discovered she has a sister who has been missing for a long time. Can she convince one of the boys to help her find her?

Jeremy has become a famous missing person investigator. Rafe has become a recluse. Neither want to help Emilie. But they will and oh my what a fantastical adventure it will be! Danger, magic and beauty. But danger.

In order to face their own pasts, they agree to help her and they all set off for this magical kingdom.

It’s best you read the rest yourself. I have to go knock on my wardrobe walls.


NetGalley/ Random House Ballantine July 16, 2024