Thank you, NetGalley and Penguin Random House!

I was really excited for this book. Unfortunately I DNF'd at 58%. This started off so interested, but unfortunately, I had issues relating to and connecting with the characters. I think this is because the writing style (which seems childish, almost like this was a MG book) made it hard to connect with the adult characters.

The first word that comes to mind when describing this book is beautiful. The imagery, the writing, the characters… It’s a soothing book to read and will capture your imagination completely. As an adult who read The Chronicles of Narnia as a child, this is a perfect re-entry to a fantasy world and will make you feel like coming home. Shaffer is very talented and I can’t wait to see where she takes this next, as I feel sure there will be a sequel. I also have her book The Wishing Game on my TBR and will be moving it up after reading this. Do yourself a favor and jump into this delightful fairy tale!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

What if Narnia was real, and what if it could be access through a tree in West Virginia? So, maybe not Narnia, but this is the story of Shanandoah, a magical world of unicorns, valkyries, queens, mermaids, and battles with the lost souls.

It’s a story that begins with two boys who go missing only to be found months later stronger and healthier in the woods of West Virginia, and a girl desperate to find her sister who went missing in these same woods.

Yes, it’s fantasy, but I loved it.

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Sadly this one just wasn’t for me. I can put my finger on what it was but it wasn’t my style. Maybe it was the time of year I read it in or something. But I will give this another try later on.

Thank you to Random House, Ballantine, and NetGalley for the eGalley to review!

If you want a whimsical, grown-up fairy tale featuring two guys in love, then this is a story for you! With a plot inspired by Narnia and a "what if" about the future of Jack and Ralph from Lord of the Flies (as per the Acknowledgements), a meta/fourth-wall breaking narrator who chimes in from time to time in between chapters, copious Stevie Nicks references, a lovely cake recipe in the back of the book, and an adorable fancy rat named Fritz, it's honestly needless to say I was charmed from page one right up to the end. It hits almost all the fairy tale tropes you could want and even better yet, it's subversively set in West Virginia--because even the least likely places could be the setting for a fairy tale.

In this story, Jeremy and Rafe went missing for six months when they were teenagers before they suddenly reappeared in the very forest in which they disappeared. The best of friends, they were inseparable before then, but for the next fifteen years, they would hardly ever speak to one another. Rafe remembers nothing of the time they were "the lost boys" and Jeremy refuses to say anything. When Emilie and her (adorable) fancy rat Fritz come asking Jeremy to use his remarkable search-and-rescue skills to find her lost sister, Jeremy must confront the past and enlist Rafe's help in going to the very place in which they were lost once more to find her. What follows are impossible things that you'd only find in fairy tales as they search for Emilie's sister and Rafe begins to unravel the mystery of his and Jeremy's past.

Oh, and Jeremy and Rafe are in love. It's heart-aching at first, because Rafe doesn't remember that he was in love with Jeremy. So they have to do the falling-in-love thing all over again (at least on Rafe's part). It's a very sweet romance and I appreciate Meg Shaffer explicitly using the word "bisexual" (and for shouting out us fellow "B's out there in the LGBTQIA world"--I see you too!). It was a pleasant, refreshing surprise.

Like most fairy tales, there is some cheese and many parts of the plot are contrived simply for drama (I won't spoil it but near the end something came out of left field and I had to go "HUH?"). I also need to warn anyone going in that there is some heavy talk about violent child abuse and while it's handled fairly well, there is a sentiment of forgiveness that might not be acceptable for some people. This is something that is obviously different for everyone and you as a reader will know your triggers better than anyone else.

Other than that, I really enjoyed this one, and being Meg Shaffer's second book, I think it's two for two and I can't wait to read the third!

This was not as good as The Wishing Game, but it was still a pretty good mystery/magical realism book. Meg Shaffer fell victim to the sophomore slump but when you have a debut as amazing as The Wishing Game, it was sure to happen.

I love that this books takes inspiration from The Chronicles of Narnia. That was one of my first "fantasy" books, so it was nice to get back in that realm. There was a lot going on in a short period of time which is what made this book less enjoyable. The author tried to put too much world building in one book. The amount we received would have been better in a series, and throughout the series. Instead it was crammed into a 300-350 page book taking away from plot and character development. Overall, it was still a fun read.

4.5⭐️ - the way Meg Shaffer mixes the magical and mundane is beautiful. I love that it was inspired by Narnia, but a wholly different story, so it wasn't like we knew everything that was going to happen. It's very easy to just get lost in this book and enjoy the journey.

This is the second book by this author. The first was THE WISHING GAME and I loved it. I also loved this one. It's a bit different and was inspired by THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA.

This is a very sweet but very intense story. It's about two boys. Two boys who were lost. For six months they were missing and no one knew where they were or even if they were alive. Then one day they are back....

Fifteen years later and the story begins. It actually begins earlier but it's told after they are grown now. After they returned and time went by and there was a reason for them to return to where they had been all those years before. Jeremy and Rafe grew up but didn't stay in touch all those years. After returning Jeremy's mother took him away and he just didn't keep in touch. Not exactly.

Things happen and they have to work together to help a young lady find her sister. Emilie's sister went missing before Jeremy and Rafe. She was taken though. By a very bad man who meant her pain and suffering. Emilie asked Jeremy to help her as he was well known for finding missing girls and women. He was hesitant at first but once he finally got Rafe to help off they all went. Now it's hard to write without giving anything away so just suffice it to say that this story is magical. It's hard in places and so happy in others. It is a love story also. A sweet love story about two boys.

I throughly enjoyed reading this book. It made me feel so much and for a while I believed in magic. In Red Crows and Unicorns. It made me smile and shed a few tears. Lots of tears in places.
Most of the characters were likable. I did not want to like Rafe's dad. He was a jerk in so many ways. He was actually very horrible to Rafe. Rafe's choices were not what his father wanted. In the end I did find a tiny sliver of sympathy for him though. Just a bit.

Thank you #NetGalley, #RandomeHousePublishing, for this ARC. This is my own true thoughts.

Five big stars.

Such a whimsical book! I wasn't the biggest fan of this meta-tale type of narration with inserts between chapters. But overall it was a great story. I loved the concept of a cozy place that will cure our hurt.

I was really hopeful for this as the premise sounded so interesting and fun, but ultimately I thought that this felt very YA after all was said and done.

Mannnn. I really loved the wishing game but this book just didn’t do it for me. I found it pretty boring and I just didn’t really want to read it. Thank you netgalley for my copy.

Oh how sad I was when this book ended!! I was FULLY immersed in the whimsical, endearing, engaging world of this novel and I just didn’t want to come back to reality. Shaffer is an absolute MASTER at tugging at your heartstrings without you even quite realizing it and wow was I just smitten with these characters and their innocent love and affection for each other. Charming yet not saccharine, Shaffer once again writes a delightful, mystical tale that is rooted in complex human experiences and emotions making the overall effect impactful and not even remotely “fluffy.” An absolute gem of a book. 5 very very bright stars!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read an advance copy. All opinions are my own.

This book peeked my interest. I loved the beginning of the story, the originality, the characters. I really wanted to love this modern day fairy tale. And I liked it. I didn't love it. I don't think the payoff was as good as it could be. I was hoping for something more akin to her first novel or The Night Circus. This is definitely worth a read, for folks who do love thise novels, but have less expectations when you go in. Thanks to Net Galley and Ballatine for this eARC in exchange for my honest review. 3.5 stars. Will definitely read her next book.

⭐️3.75/5!

Quick synopsis: Two young boys go missing in a forest and return 6 months later. Fast forward 15 years, a girl is looking for her missing sister who disappeared in the same forest and she enlists the help of both men to help find her sister. Turns out these two boys were living in a fairytale realm during their disappearance and that’s where her sister is currently.

Let me begin with: This book captivated me from page one. It felt like the adult version of Chris Colfer’s Land of Stories book series. There was suspense, mystery, comedy, and hints of romance, action and adventure. I enjoyed our three main characters Jeremy, Rafe and Emilie. We were on our way to a 4-5 star read… or so I thought.

Where it lost me a bit was the “fairytale-ness” and the land of Shenandoah. We didn’t actually go back to the forest and Shenandoah until HALFWAY through the book! So the world building that was there was crammed into the last half of the book along with the actual narrative, and I felt like a lot of the world building didn’t go as in-depth as I would’ve liked. I wish we had gotten to know its characters and history a bit more. For example, there is a scene where Jeremy and Rafe go visit “Granny” and her apple farm. She feeds them and takes care of their horses and gives them special apples and… that’s it. Like… who is this lady? What’s her story? How does she know the boys? How does she have magical apples?

A lot of the world building also seemed to come through as memories, usually Jeremy reflecting on adventures from 15 years ago. Briefly hearing about their exciting adventures from years ago didn’t compare to the present day action so it felt like a lot of action and adventure in our story was missing.

Overall, I did enjoy this book and I would recommend it to others.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House, and Ballantine Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This one sounded really interesting, unfortunately it missed the mark for me. I liked the mystery of it but I wasn’t a fan of the rest of the story.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy of The Lost Story by Meg Shaffer in exchange for an honest review.

Narnia meets Oz in this imaginative story set in West - by God! - Virginia 15 years after two lost boys are found after six months away. Now estranged, Jeremy and Rafe - along with new friend Emilie - need to go back to find what’s lost - including themselves.

If that sounds cryptic it’s meant to be. Until you enter Shanandoah, you really can’t understand.

Four stars for this sophomore outing by Shaffer. The Chronicles of Narnia spanned seven volumes. We can only hope!

Meg Shaffer has done it again. I absolutely love her writing after just devouring The Wishing Game and she did not disappoint here. Two boys disappear into the woods and 20 years later they are asked to return. Emilie was adopted as a baby and after her mother passes, she finds out through a DNA test that she has a sister she never knew about but also disappeared into the same woods as the two boys. This beautiful tale is an ode to Chronicles of Narnia and childhood fantasy worlds that we all wished to be part of. The romance in this book is stronger than the last and so wonderful.

I think this might end up being one of my favorite books of the year! It's a fairy tale and fantasy and a love letter to the power of stories and the landscape of West Virginia. It's a beautiful queer romance born out of deep friendship and a special story about the connection between sisters. It's got wild worldbuilding and very real moments of heartbreak and trauma. I can't even find the words to describe it so I'll have to go with JUST TRUST ME. READ THIS ONE!

This book is a rich blend of friendship, found family, love, and courage, set in a world of adventure, magic, and mythical beings. It’s much deeper than a children’s tale, tackling dark themes like abandonment, homophobia, and mental health. The dynamics among the three main characters are engaging, and even the less likable supporting characters are well-crafted. While the pacing is slightly uneven and the numerous subplots are not all explored in depth, these issues don’t overshadow the book's overall impact. If you enjoy complex, emotional fantasy, this is a must-read!

A fun and heartwarming adventure for middle graders. It follows 12-year-old Jax as he finds an old journal that kicks off an exciting quest to uncover his family's secrets. Shaffer does a great job blending mystery and personal growth, keeping readers hooked with a mix of suspense and emotional moments.

The book's world is rich and immersive, making Jax's journey feel both magical and real. With themes of family and bravery, it's a captivating read that’s perfect for anyone who loves a good adventure with a touch of wonder. The ending wraps up nicely, leaving readers both satisfied and thinking about the story long after the last page.