Fairytales do exist, because Meg Shaffer made it so.

📖 ✨🍎 🧜🏻‍♀️ 🕯️🦄🐴 🫂🚪 🌳 🪄🎁

Here is what you need to know before you read The Lost Story. If you’re feeling alone, this book will be a friend. If you want the magic that a wardrobe once brought, you will find it in a tree. If you feel like you have to hide your love, this story will seek it out. And last but certainly not least, if you want to be read a story instead of reading it yourself… well have a seat and get yourself a treat. Maybe some golden apple Christmas cake (so what if it’s July). This book is a gift, and we are lucky to have this tale told to us.

What a fun story! I loved the depth of the characters as we learned more about the world they lived in and left behind. I'm a huge fan of the prose in this book, it was comforting as well as engaging. A perfect cozy read in my opinion.

This book was just a one of a kind gem. It is the perfect escapism blended with a beautiful fairy tale.

2 boys go missing for 6 months and when they return they are different. How different? Well their once inseparable bond is now destroyed as Rafe struggles with his mental health and Jeremy struggles with his newfound ability to find lost girls.

Years later Emilie is searching for her sister who happened to go missing in the same place Rafe and Jeremy did. Are their stories connected? Can Jeremy help find her sister?

The readers are then transported to a magical storybook land full of Bright Boys, magical unicorns and apples that fill you with sunlight. The imagery is masterful and made me want to get lost in Shannandoah. Meg Shaffer is a talented world weaver!

Many thanks to Random House Ballantine and Netgalley for the ARC.

I hate when I read a book I loved, rate it 5 stars on my spreadsheet, and then don’t get around to writing a review until a couple of months later.

I still remember how much I loved this book, what’s not to love about a book inspired by The Chronicles of Narnia. A book that promises to be a grown-up fairy tale.

Two boys, best friends, go missing while hiking in a forest in West Virginia. They disappear for 6 months and reappear perfectly healthy. One boy doesn’t remember anything and one boy isn’t telling the whole story.

Since this is a fairy tale, you and I know that they had to have disappeared into a magic fairy tale land. A land with princesses, mermaids, and unicorns, but also danger.

When someone shows up who needs their help, they must return to the magic land.

Beautifully written, lush descriptions, relatable characters. Loved it all!

Meg Shaffer is continually impressive. I love a writer that can transport you in to the universe they've created in their mind, and Meg delivers time and time again. This story is beautifully written.

🌳 The Lost Story by Meg Schaffer 🌳

Rating: ⭐️⭐️ 2/5

💭 Thoughts:
The first half was great. I felt like the scene was set and I was ready to step into the magical world! But somewhere in the middle, I got lost in The Lost Story 😭 the pacing was off and the dialogue was immature for how old the main characters were. I think this would have been better as a YA book! I also would have rather had first person instead of third person with an interrupting storyteller narrator, but that’s a personal preference. I absolutely loved The Wishing Game by this author and definitely recommend that one!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House - Ballentine for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

"The Lost Story" filled my heart up to completely shatter it and then piece it back together again. I absolutely loved this book. I was initially drawn in by the cover and the description, but once I started reading, the story itself kept me coming back. One of my favorite things about "The Lost Story" is that it's a fantasy novel with mystery novel elements, which is something you don't see often in the fantasy genre. It read like a home-brewed D&D campaign, if you know what I'm talking about, especially with the character, The Storyteller. I think one of the most surprising parts was that the romance element is a LGBTQ+ love story. If you're not into that, this book is not for you. I however LOVED it and thought the moments where we get to see pieces of it shine through were heartwarming. There are, however, parts of this that might trigger certain people, so be warned that there is parental verbal and physical abuse, and homophobia. Just know that love wins in the end. The trope of found family is sttrroonnggg in this book and it hit me deeply as I consider most of my friends to be found family. Within the context of the book, I don't think the characters could have survived without each other and the bonds they all share. Each character is so critically important to the others, and it's those kinds of relationships and the fact that Meg Shaffer took the time to build them up just makes them so much better.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to read a twist on the stereotypical fantasy novel tropes. You won't regret it.

I requested this book thinking maybe this would be the portal story that would finally take me in. Unfortunately, it fell flat for me. It wasn't terrible. I didn't' hate it, I just didn't love it. I am however going to set it aside to come back and maybe give it another chance at another point in life to see if it resonates differently.

This felt like Narnia mixed with Princess Bride? My favorite part? There are “chapters” from a “storyteller” as narration explaining the story in fairytale terms. Very clever and funny. Reminded me of the grandfather in Princess Bride.

Reasons it wasn’t a 5 star book for me:

✨ While this book was written as adult fiction, it felt very YA, and not just because it was a fairy tale, but because the writing and plot felt basic and juvenile.

✨ I had a hard time following who was narrating each chapter. There wasn’t a clear point of view and the characters were similar enough and relatively unexplored that it was confusing.

✨ The second they got into Shanandoah, they were in action mode. There wasn’t much explanation or exploration of the land other than there’s a queen, a prince, unicorns, bad boys, red crows, and all these other seemingly random fairytale things thrown together. It felt like too much and needed some editing and clear direction. I sorta get why it’s written that way, but I didn’t like it Not that I wanted to read 500 pages, but I would have understood it more and maybe enjoyed it more as well.

🫣 Basically, the author tried to do too many things in too few pages. It felt rushed to get to the action and not sussed out enough followed by the world’s longest non-epilogue epilogue.

In the end, I did have fun reading it, but it won’t be a favorite. I felt that way about Wishing Game as well so maybe the authors writing style just isn’t my favorite. Cute basic story, but the writing didn’t work and written too YA, though it wasn’t YA.

ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed the premise of this story! It kinda gave me Harry Potter for adults/ The Magicians vibes! There are some triggers relating to domestic abuse/child abuse but it’s not a main theme of the book. It was a wild ride and I loved the m/m romance aspect of the story! If you’re into fantasy and magical realms, be sure to check this book out!

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.
This book was very good. I really enjoyed the way the writer described the magical forest and loved her depiction of the tender loving relationship between Jeremy and Rafe.
As someone who read, the Wishing Game. I really was looking forward to this book because of the author and I was not disappointed.
Thanks NetGalley for the book and my opinions are my own.

i sooo enjoyed this book! i loved the writing style and it kept me interested throughout the entire read!

I listened and read THE LOST STORY 3 hrs. round trip for back-to-school shopping. (Thanks to @simon.audio ) and on my Kindle sitting outside changing rooms. (Thanks to @netgalley ) Not a bad way to spend a Saturday. ⁣
⁣
WHAT WORKED: ⁣
An adult contemporary fairy tale with magical nods to Narnia.⁣
Chapters told from the ‘Storyteller’ perspective.⁣
A love story to home and West Virginia. (I’ve never been but now I really want to visit)⁣
Enchanting and endearing.⁣
Heavier themes blended throughout.⁣
⁣
WHAT DIDN’T: The dialogue felt very juvenile for characters in their 20s & 30s. I imagine it’s part of the fairy tale/magical world aspect, but the lack of maturity really came through on the audio. I found myself grabbing the print instead.

Really enjoyed this book!

Loved the characters and the references to The Chronicles of Narnia.
The world was so fun and I adored the romance.
I thought the writing style was interesting in this one and loved that the “storyteller” had a voice; it was super unique.

If you liked The Wishing Game, you will definitely like this! I highly recommend!

What a cute fairytale! The Lost Story definitely has elements from other books like The Wizard of Oz and Narnia. I love that there’s an adult-ish version of a fairytale that kids can still read.

Overall, I loved the concept but I still was a little bored. Cute and I’d recommend it to others!

The Lost Story opens with two teenage boys lost in the woods for six months are miraculously found alive and seemingly in good health. Fast forward 15 years. Rafe and Jeremy haven’t seen each other since being rescued from the woods where they disappeared. But they are brought back together to help Emelie find her sister who went missing in the same forest 5 years before the boys.

I enjoyed the mystery part of the book, but the magical realism part seemed to drag and I found some of if unnecessary. While I enjoy fantasy, this kind of crossover genre wasn’t my favorite. I will still read future Meg Shaffer books as I loved her previous book The Wishing Game.

Meg Shaffer's trademark glorious writing shines brightly in The Lost Story. The first chapter was so beautifully crafted that I immediately handed it to my fiction-writing daughter, saying, "You’ve got to read this!" How can you not fall in love with paragraphs like this:

“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.”

Despite the stunning prose, I can't quite give The Lost Story five stars. I enjoyed it, but it didn’t quite reach the level of Shaffer's The Wishing Game, which was my absolute favorite book last year. And that’s not a knock on The Lost Story—it’s just that I’m not a huge fantasy fan, and this book definitely leans into that genre. The Wishing Game had more of a magical realism vibe, which resonated more with me.

That said, Shaffer has once again created likable, three-dimensional characters and paints landscapes so vividly that I now have a burning desire to visit West Virginia in the fall. Some readers are comparing The Lost Story to C.S. Lewis' Narnia, and while there are similarities, it’s not a retelling of that classic. If you’re into fantasy, enchanted kingdoms, or just love gorgeous writing, definitely check this one out!

This book didn't hold my attention like The Wishing Game. I see a lot of people liked it, so maybe it was just me. I was never able to connect with any of the characters, which made this one struggle for me.

"Nobody ever tells you that when you go to another world, that even if it's paradise, you'll still miss your mum and your dog."

The Lost Story is a Narnia-inspired tale of two lost teenagers Rafe and Jeremy, (now adults) and the events that led up to their six-month disappearance.

It's 15 years later and Jeremy, a missing person investigator, seeks out his former best friend Rafe (who has zero memories of what happened in the past) to assist him on what will be their most life-changing case - a girl looking for her sister.

In this quest to locate the missing girl, they are led back to the land of Shanandoah where they had lived during their disappearance. Aside from trying to rediscover old memories, finding what was lost and uncovering the secrets of the existence of this magical land, they also have to contend with a mysterious figure known as the King who is set to destroy the boys.

Although it was a fairly predictable story, it was written very well, even despite the events leading up to who this mysterious king was. While it felt like it was written as the inclusion of a villain for the sake of it, the character development was really good as you see the villain's progression from the start to the end of the story.

The only character that wasn't a standout to me was Emilie's sister who felt so far removed from the whole story and other characters - but that could be because of the circumstances of her life and disappearance.

While the ending was left to the reader's own imagination, it was easy to see what the final outcome would be, based on the hints throughout the story.

I was also intrigued with the Shanandoah recipes at the end of the book and will definitely give them a try.

Why was this not labeled as an LGBTQ book? There is an entire population of people who are not a good fit for this as an arc.

I am absolutely not homophobic, but I have no interest in reading about gay relationships either. 🤷🏼‍♀️