Libby Lost and Found centers around Libby Weeks (also known as F.T. Goldhero), a children’s author who’s been diagnosed with early-onset dementia at just 40. As she struggles to complete the final book of her wildly popular Falling Children series, she enlists the help of 11-year-old super-fan Peanut.

This premise is unique and compelling, though it was nothing like what I was expecting based on the cover. I love an unreliable narrator, and this book offers two great ones—a child with a vivid imagination who struggles to separate fact from fiction and a woman whose mind is slipping due to dementia.

Equal parts heartwarming and heartbreaking, Libby Lost and Found is a touching exploration of memory, imagination, and the ways we make sense of the world through stories. Readers will fall in love with the characters and enjoy peeling back the layers of the book within a book.

Libby Lost and Found is a unique, retro book about books with a hint of psychological thrill.
The main character, Libby, is writing the final installment of her fantasy series, “The Falling Children”, which she has been writing under the pen name F.T. Goldhero. While struggling to complete the series, she is diagnosed with dementia. Her symptoms worsen rapidly, and she decides to enlist a superfan for help.
I went into Libby Lost and Found expecting a lighthearted story, but I was quickly surprised by the inclusion of child abuse, medical trauma, family dysfunction, and mental illness. The themes were presented in a raw manner that left a freightening psychological impact on the story.
“Is the medicine protecting the still heathy parts of her brain? Does it matter if she’s otherwise incapacitated?”
The story consistently felt unrealistic or “far-fetched” for modern times. Libby, who is 40 years old, recruits a 11-year-old fan to help her complete a fantasy series that she has written under a pen name for her own safety. The relationship was difficult to believe but I enjoyed the character arc of the super fan, Peanut. The way her and her family helped Libby find an end to the story and navigate her health condition was chaotic but sweet.
“Maybe Libby does want the [Falling] Children to suffer the way she is.”
The line between reality and fantasy blurs as Libby’s dementia worsens and the lives in the Falling Children parallel the real lives of Libby and Peanut. I became lost through the transitions between the stories and POVs and before I knew it, the young child was attempting to take her life like Libby did with the fictional children.
“There’s reality and there’s imagination. Do you even know the difference?”
I found the style of writing and the inclusion of child suicide and the casual treatment of the psychological impact of medicine in “Libby Lost and Found” to be difficult to read. However, I can see how this book might appeal to fans of psychological thrillers and contemporary fiction. I admire Stephanie Booth’s ability to write a story that evokes such strong emotions, and I would recommend this book to anyone who isn’t disturbed by the raw themes mentioned.
Thank you NetGalley, Sourcebooks and RB Media for the ARC of Libby Lost and Found.

Utterly magical and heart warming. I was sucked in from the very beginning. There is something very charming about the narrative voice.

3.75⭐️

I wasn’t a massive fan of this book, I couldn’t connect to the characters, and the plot line didn’t really work with me, but I rated this book on the higher end because of how it made me feel. Libby, the main character has early on-set dementia and as such the book is written with a really unreliable narrator. But what I loved this book is that it felt like it could be a true accurate representation of dementia. Libby gets confused, loses her train of thought, you can feel her frustration and anger with her memory and it gave me all the feelings of what dementia would feel like. And for that alone this book was good, it stands out for the realitisic portrayal of the emotional rollercoaster of a women losing her mind slowly as her world falls apart with expectations, deadlines, friends, and more.

So I’d still recommend this book but it might bring out more negative emotions than good ones, so take that with a grain of salt.

Libby is a reclusive, anxiety-ridden writer that is struggling to remember after an early onset dementia diagnosis. She finds herself leaving her comfort zone to find someone who can help her finish her final segment of her children’s book series.

This is a story of love and friendship. The story reads very similar to how children’s adventures books do, leaving me wanting to finish in one sitting. This book is well-rounded, and finishes strong.

Immensely famous author who is unknown off the page. Libby is struggling with the last book of her well known children's book series. What she thought was typical writer's block caused by the pressure and anxiety she's experiencing is really early onset dementia, a death sentence for her writing career. Hoping to find an ending that will make her fans happy, she asks for help. Help will come in the form of Peanut, a young girl who lives her life through Libby's books. As these two work towards a closure for her books, Libby will learn forgetting is not always a bad thing. This was a wonderful read that is guaranteed to give you a couple of sniffles along the way. The ending will make your heart smile for at least a few minutes.

I found the way that the author portrayed Libby and Peanut and their points of view to be really interesting. Some parts of the book felt disjointed but it felt very intentional--so that the reader could experience what was happening to Libby. The parallels between the children's story and Libby's found family were an important aspect of the book.

i simply loved this story and didn't want it to end. each and every character was so unique and i love every single one of them. this is definitely one of my favorite books i've read this year. an absolute 5 star for me! thank you netgalley for the advanced readers copy.

Thank you to the author, Sourcebooks Landmark and NetGalley, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a story with a huge and creative imagination, Libby is the reclusive and anonymous author of a wildly successful YA series, grappling both with a terrible case of writer's block and crippling anxiety - and has recently been diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's disease. She is under a huge amount of pressure from both her publisher and the fandom to deliver the final book of the series and is struggling mightily. Enter Peanut, an 11-year-old superfan, who may be the key to helping Libby finish her book and who has her own painful history to contend with. At a certain point, these different stories bleed into one another and at times I found it difficult to differentiate between what was real, what was a product of Libby's addled memory, and what was part of the YA series. The elements of friendship, familial love and forgiveness are heartwarming, but having the narrative folded into the storyline of the YA series was a bit too much for me. However, I am sure that this book will find many fans that don*t have as much of a problem with magic realism as I do.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Sourcebooks Landmark and Recorded Books Media for gifting me both a digital and audio ARC of the debut book by Stephanie Booth, beautifully narrated by Mia Barron. All opinions expressed in this review are my own – 4.5 stars rounded up!

Libby Weeks is the reclusive author of the best-felling fantasy series, The Falling Children, written under the pseudonym of F.T. Goldhero. Her last manuscript is months overdue and fans around the world have grown impatient. Already suffering from severe anxiety, Libby is newly diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s. She knows she needs help to finish her last book. She turns to 11-year-old superfan, Peanut Bixton, who knows the books better than Libby, but has her own issues.

What a wonderful book and the audio narration made it even better! It’s somewhat like a book in a book tale, as we learn just what some books mean to readers. Think of the Harry Potter craze and it relates perfectly to how much The Falling Children series means to its readers. The struggles of both Libby and Peanut are heartbreaking but they are both so open and charming, that it’s not depressing or sad. Instead, it’s hopeful and magical and shows the power of books. Wonderful!

What a fun surprise this book was! I heard a favorite podcaster raving about it and decided to give it a try. I am so glad I did. A beloved children's author develops early onset Alzheimer's and needs a super fan to help her finish the series. This book has so much heart. It's a unique premise and one that will appeal to the book lover in all of us.

Made it though the first quarter of this book before ultimately deciding I just didnt care to continue due to little connection to the MCs and not wanting to read so much fake childrens literatrure.

Here is my review for Libby lost abs found by Stephanie booth! Thank you so much NetGalley for allowing me to read this book in advance in exchange for an honest review! This book was a 3.5 stars for me! I realky enjoyed it! Review linked below

An incredibly moving debut about an anonymous popular children's author with early onset dementia who is struggling to finish the last book in the series. Faced with a harrowing diagnosis and a spiraling ability to remember ordinary day to day things, Libby gets the idea to pair up with one of her young super fans, travelling to her small town with her loyal canine companion. What follows is a family drama, a heartwarming friendship and a beautiful story of forgiveness and redemption. Perfect for fans of books like The brilliant life of Eudora Honeysett. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital and audio copy in exchange for my honest review.

CW: suicide attempt, parental abandonment, depression

Libby Lost and Found is a heartwarming and quirky novel that follows Libby, a reclusive author of an immensely popular children’s fantasy series, grappling with debilitating anxiety and the onset of early dementia. Writing under a pen name, Libby’s true identity is unknown to the world, and the pressure from her devoted fandom and demanding publishers mounts as she struggles to complete the series’ final book—only she’s slowly losing the ability to remember the story. Libby reluctantly teams up with an unlikely companion, an 11-year-old superfan named Peanut, whose heritage and backstory are as mysterious as Libby’s books.

Booth’s writing brings these characters to life with vivid charm. However, there were moments when the story felt a bit far-fetched, particularly with the parallels between Libby’s fantasy series and Peanut’s small town. At times, it was challenging to distinguish between what was real and what was occurring in Libby’s deteriorating mind, which made some parts feel confusing. While these elements added layers to the narrative, they also disrupted my enjoyment at points—especially towards the end, where the resolution surprised me but left me slightly underwhelmed.

I appreciated the creative formatting throughout, including news articles and search results, which gave the book a unique texture. However, the “world within a world” aspect—Libby’s fictional universe of the Falling Children—presented a barrier to entry that I found a bit too high. I think a slightly less complicated set up would have had better payoff for the reader this one demanded a lot of effort to get up to speed on.

Despite these minor frustrations, Libby Lost and Found is a beautifully written and worthwhile read. It’s a poignant story about memory, identity, and the weight of expectations, balanced with moments of humor and heart. If you enjoy stories with a blend of fantasy, real-world struggles, and book-within-a-book elements, this one might just be for you.

The audiobook narration was excellent, enhancing the immersive nature of the story, and it’s one that will stay with me long after finishing.

I would like to thank NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I fear that this book just wasn’t for me. It is a cute concept, and I can see how fans of magical realism-style books might enjoy it more. It was pretty funny/silly at times (especially in the media releases) and the main plot was a pretty cool concept. The undercover author of a YA series with a cult following is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and has to rely on an 11 year old super fan to help her finish the final installment.

However, while I agree that the plot does sound cool at face value, something got lost along the way throughout the book in my opinion. The narration alternated between Libby (the author with Alzheimer’s) and Peanut (11 year old). Libby becomes increasingly forgetful over the course of the book, and Peanut is very imaginative but often to the point of delusion. Reading the story solely through these somewhat unreliable POVs made it feel really disjointed and awkward to me. If there had even been one POV solidly grounded in reality, I think it might have made a difference. Most of the time I was lost and unsure what was real, what was being confused by Libby or what was imagined by Peanut. Now of course this could be the charm of it all for other readers, it just wasn’t in my case.

I ended up just being confused for most of the book, especially when the whole town seemed to be eerily matching what Libby had written in her book series. I pushed through, hoping to find clarity in the ending. While there were loose ends tied up, I’m still left with questions!

I received this book as an eARC from the publisher via Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. Thank you Stephanie Booth and Sourcebooks!

Meet Libby Weeks, author of the mega-best-selling fantasy series that has captured hearts and minds across the world, The Falling Children. Except nobody knows the author is Libby other than her publisher. Libby writes under the pseudonym F. T. Goldhero to preserve her anonymity. When early-onset Alzheimer’s threatens to leave the Falling Children stuck in a world where Libby can’t save them, she turns to her most loyal fan to help her – 11-year-old Peanut Brixton, who knows the books even better than she does.

As Libby’s symptoms quickly accelerate, Libby and Peanut must work together to save the children. Each struggling with their own demons and secrets, can Libby and Peanut save each other in the process?

This beautiful novel is a love letter to readers and is for anyone who has ever felt like they didn’t fit in anywhere. Libby and Peanut will break your heart and put it back together again. I loved it and I know you will, too.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the advanced reader copy. All opinions are my own.

Libby Lost and Found is an absolute treasure. The originality crackles on the first page. The themes resound toward our deepest fears and offer hope through profound pain. The prose stuns in both its beauty and wisdom. The whole thing is a parallelogram that had me wondering for a while if everything I was reading was a jaunt into madness or relatively reliable which left me nearly speechless. But not completely, lucky for you.

Libby is a writer. But not just any writer. She writes The Falling Children series-the most popular franchise in all of history (bigger even than HP). She's struggling to write the next book so much she sees a doctor and gets an early diagnosis of dementia. It leaves her already anxiety prone personality in shambles. She's missed so many deadlines the fans are feral. She's desperate for some way to Save the Children (who she's written into a forest from which there is no escape), so she reaches out to her 'biggest fan' for help finishing the book. The thing is, no one knows she is F.T. Goldhero, and it's vital she keeps her real identity a secret.

Maybe my favorite part of the book are the voices. Libby and her biggest fan Peanut are our two narrators, and each one of them has such a strong and pigeon-holed voice. Peanut is a series obsessed child with unique family circumstances, and Libby is quickly losing trust in her own mind. Their voices covered everything in an almost otherworldly sheen that was so interesting and beautiful.

Then we can talk about world of The Falling Children. Wow! The creativity it takes to come up with a secondary world like that for the sake of telling another story is incredible. The concept, the personalities, the 'magic'...I was blown away.

So don't be a bone grocer - go get this book!

Note:: I received this title as an advanced readers copy from netgalley and the publisher. Then I pre-ordered a copy for myself :-)

I thought this was a really solid book. I love a book that is all about the love of books and reading. This also has a little bit of found family element to it, which is a catnip trope for me. There were parts where I was a bit confused, but I think that ended working well as a device to make me feel like Libby did as she was coming to grips with her diagnosis of early onset dementia. I'm almost tempted to reread this at some point when my head isn't quite as distracted to see if I would bump it up

** I received an e-ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Libby Lost and Found is not so much the cross generational friendship story I thought it was going to be, based on the summary. Instead this is more of a young adult fantasy book.