. . . ⭑ ⭑ ⭑ ⭑ ⭒
This books was so unexpected in so many ways. Just as it was meant to be, I’m sure, it’s stories within stories within stories, and not the journey I expected to take reading them.

The first quarter of the book entirely moved me - the story of Ceres and Phoebe - how Ceres struggles to find meaning and hope after her daughter’s accident, was written so truthfully and genuinely, that I found myself pausing and rereading lines over and over just because of how hard and accurately they hit.

The bulk of the book is entirely different than what I had expected, and I will admit that I didn’t particularly welcome the change at first - but I firmly believe it’s just because I was so thoroughly captivated by the book I had already been reading, that I didn’t want to switch gears. Because it was so different and not reality-based, my adjustment took time, but I did eventually enjoy it for what it had become. Which, let’s be clear, was done expertly, it’s essentially a grown-up fairy tale, and not the cute watered-down Disney versions but the gritty, dark, and eerie original folklore, so it definitely appealed, just took me a minute to get there.

Truthfully, it’s actually a pretty difficult book to review because it’s like a story inception, but safe to say that I ultimately enjoyed it, and there were some passages that will live rent-free in my head. I’ll leave you with a couple:

“𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦: 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦, 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘬𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘢 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳.”

“𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘶𝘴. 𝘞𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘶𝘱 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦. 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘧 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘦𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘣𝘺, 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘶𝘴, 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘱𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘵.”

“𝘏𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘱 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴: 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴. 𝘌𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘳𝘣𝘪𝘵 𝘶𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘷𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘤𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦, 𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺, 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘴.”

I’ll be thinking about this one for a while.

~👩🏻‍🦰

This story whisks you away to a fantasy realm teeming with twisted fairytale creatures, culminating in a thrilling and action-packed climax. I took immense pleasure in the dark reinterpretations, intricate plot, and the author's whimsical writing style.

Interestingly, I stumbled upon this ARC on NetGalley without realizing it was the second book in a series. In fact, it wasn't until I was already a third of the way through that I discovered there was a first book! Surprisingly, I never felt lost or bewildered by the narrative, a testament to the author's storytelling prowess. Now, I'm genuinely intrigued and eager to delve into the first installment, given how much I thoroughly enjoyed this one.

Connolly's writing possesses an enchanting quality that perfectly caters to my appetite for dark fairytales.

We are flung back into Elsewhere with Ceres decades after David's story ended. I was really excited to return to the land made by fairy tales, so I was a little disappointed that we didn't really have any new stories brought to life (homicidal Rapunzel aside).

The reasons I fell in love with The Book of Lost Things were lacking a bit in this one, the suspense of the darkness creeping up behind, and being taken by our childhood fears. This might have to do with the fact that Ceres is a grown woman and not a child. I did have some issues with how Ceres was written (call me bias for not liking how men write women) There were a few instances that did cause me roll my eyes. ex: Ceres falls out of the doorway and falls upon her breasts. I have fallen forward multiple times and cannot say that my breasts are ever what broke my fall.

There are a few other instances of just nonsense like this and as a mother I did not find them really that believable. Ceres goes between the feelings and thoughts of a grown woman and then swings into an angsty teen who has an attitude problem with people who generally are doing their best for her. Her internal dialogue and choices didn't make much sense to me at times. Then again, I have never had a child laying in a coma with little hope of them ever regaining consciousness.

The telling of a mothers undying love and the choice to believe and have hope that things will work out was a lovely story and we ties up a nice ending for this world. But it took us some time to get there. Ceres was willing to pay any price in order to have her daughter back, until that choice was taken from her. I am interested in what would have happened had her decision making not been interrupted, who would have suffered at her hands for the chance that she had more years with her child?

I also wanted there to be some resolution to the homophobic feeling we got from the Knights story in book 1. There was an instance where David talks about seeing two women who may have been lovers and he was happy for him. But it felt like a bit too little too late in my mind. The Knights deserved their resolution and love story too.

4.5 Stars! Magical, memorable, and fresh!

The Land of Lost Things is a creative, moving, adventurous novel that takes you into the life of Ceres, a young mother who, after her daughter is involved in a tragic accident that leaves her in a coma and struggling for life, finds herself spending her days reading out loud the fairy tales her daughter once loved until a visit to an old property on the grounds sends her to another world, Elsewhere, where the crooked man once reigned, the fae hide patiently in wait, the dwarfs diligently work, the giants are friends to some and foe to others, and where Ceres will have to fight all kinds of wickedness to find her way back to the light and her ever-sleeping daughter.

The writing is eloquent and expressive. The characters are resourceful, dependable, and fearless. And the plot, using stories within a story, sweeps you away into an engaging, action-packed, heartfelt tale about life, loss, friendship, family, power, heartbreak, parenthood, tragedy, action, loneliness, danger, the magic of books, and love.

Overall, The Land of Lost Things is a unique, immersive, fantastical tale by Connolly that is a beautiful reminder that life is a story, and whether it’s short, long, light, dark, filled with joy or filled with pain, it always has spirit and hope.

I received an ARC of this from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Book of Lost Things is one of my favourite books. There is something so unique but also very familiar about it with the incorporation of fairytales with a twist colliding with our own reality.

When I saw that John Connolly had written a sequel, I was floored. I couldn’t wait to read it. It has a separate storyline to the first but close connections to the land and its characters. The storyline was good, it just wasn’t quite as good as the first one. I think I may still be processing it but I did thoroughly enjoy it. And it’s a must read for fans of all Lost Things.

I was utterly delighted to get my hands on an ARC of this book. First of all, the *cover.* Second of all, I will forever and always be a sucker for books-about-books, especially when "dark grownup fairy tale" is the vibe. I should disclose that I haven't read the first book in this series, but I don't think it's necessary; Connolly has done a great job allowing THE LAND OF LOST THINGS to stand on its own feet.

Much of the material here feels classic, familiar. We have a mother dealing with a catatonic child. A library. A doorway. A Woodsman. A monster. A journey. It was all delicious, visceral, violent, and heartrending; the pace never flagged, and I loved exploring Elsewhere. True, the worldbuilding is a little odd -- we have Rapunzel, dryads, and plentiful references to other Old English/Germanic/Classical folktales, yet despite the specified presence of "dark-skinned" villagers coded as non-European, nothing seemed to deviate from this very European culture of storytelling. I understand that there are limits to what can be realistically explored within a single novel, and equally, I'm glad the author didn't appropriate, but I couldn't help but wonder how these intertwined cultural narratives *worked.*

To be honest, the thing that bugged me most was Ceres' voice: oh my LORD she was archetypal "man tries to write a strong modern woman" from the inside. In general, I loved her character, but the frequent asides (girl, did you really ask a fairytale character if they'd heard of the patriarchy) got a little irritating. So, you know how to bargain with an evil spirit because ... men? Good for you, I guess.

ANYWAY now that salty little rant is out of the way, I want to reemphasize that my overall reaction to this book really was positive. It felt like an embrace (sometimes too tight, but always welcoming) and I will 10000% need to get my hand on the prequel. I adored the creatures, the danger, the easy cadence of Connolly's writing, and above all, the appreciation of story (as healing, as World) stitched into every page. Thank you for the chance to read!

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

I did not know this was a sequel when I first requested it, so I had to go read the first book before tackling this one! I enjoyed them both. The writing is enchanting, reminded me of reading a fairytale. I enjoyed the prose quite a bit. If you haven’t read the first book though, it is fine, as I believe this can hold as a standalone! I enjoyed the change of voice and the progression made by the main character in this novel. In comparison to the first book, the way the female characters are written in this one is so much better and way more progressive in theme. The last chunk of the book is where things started getting confusing for me and the new characters introduced.

This book was so enjoyable. I loved that John Connolly switched this up from The Book of Lost Things. Book one was about a boy who lost his mother, book two was about a mother afraid of completely losing her young child. I especially loved how David was included in this story because really it is HIS story. If you haven’t read the first book, no worries, this works as a standalone.

Even though this book is very similar to the first one and there are identical characters and setting as in book one Connolly kept the story fresh and just as magical. He has a way of making old stories (like fairytale retellings) seem new again. I suggest you go into this one without any expectations and just enjoy the enchanting journey the author takes you on.

I so loved my second visit to Elsewhere while meeting characters new and old. Captivating and poignant this is yet another tribute to the power of stories and a love of books. Fans of the original will find lots to love and new readers will become fans. It can’t be easy to write a sequel to a much-adored novel, especially seventeen years later…Connolly does a masterful job of it.