I love how Meg Shaffer manages to make a cold case story feel whimsical. Loved the dynamic between the characters and how the story turned mid-way. Such a fun read and definitely a book for readers who loves stories.

I recently finished The Lost Story by Meg Shaffer, and it was an enchanting journey that resonated deeply with me. Inspired by C.S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia, this novel masterfully blends fantasy with real-world challenges, creating a narrative that’s both whimsical and profound.

The story follows best friends Jeremy Cox and Rafe Howell, who, as teenagers, vanished into West Virginia’s Red Crow State Forest, only to reappear six months later with no memory of their time away. Fifteen years on, Jeremy has become a renowned investigator with an uncanny ability to find missing persons, while Rafe lives as a reclusive artist, haunted by fragmented memories and unexplained scars. Their lives intertwine once more when Emilie Wendell seeks Jeremy’s help to find her missing sister, Shannon, leading them back to the enigmatic forest and the secrets it holds. 

Shaffer’s writing is both evocative and immersive, painting vivid landscapes that transport readers into the heart of a magical realm. The characters are richly developed, each grappling with personal demons and past traumas that add depth to their interactions. I was particularly moved by the exploration of friendship, love, and the enduring impact of childhood experiences on adult lives.

The novel’s pacing is well-balanced, with suspenseful moments that kept me eagerly turning pages, interspersed with reflective passages that invite contemplation. Shaffer’s ability to weave together elements of fantasy with poignant human experiences makes this book a standout in contemporary literature.

For anyone who has ever yearned for the magic of hidden worlds or the solace of understanding one’s own story, this novel is a must-read.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Meg Shaffer's books are fabulous, and I adored this Chronicles of Narnia-esque story. The Lost Story is a powerful novel of friendship and magic.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for sharing this book with me.

Rating: 1.5/5 ⭐️💫

Thank you @netgalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Oh how I WANTED to love this one. I LOVED the wishing game. I raved about it.

It’s hard for me to believe this is the same author. I know the author was a YA writer and debuted with adult content with the wishing game. I think they fell back into YA land because this writing was so juvenile. The dialogue was atrocious to follow.

I think the story itself could have been written better and more interesting/entertaining. This was not it.

I felt like I was reading a middle school children’s book.

I’m hoping for more from this author in the future.

Gorgeous writing, beautiful and entrancing! I loved being transported to the lush and vivid realm in this book. The characters and their relationships were enhanced by the trademark humor and vulnerability with which Shaffer paints her characters.

Wow this book was such an amazing mixture of some of the most classic fantasy stories, Narnia and Tolkien. Meg Shaffer has brought to life a magical world where kids call the shots and women rule!

One part of this book that I absolutely loved was the Storyteller chapters! Not only did the Storyteller break down the fourth wall they also brought the readers into the story by enhancing the magical world!

I really enjoyed Jeremy and Rafe's story and how they depend on each other and adventured together. I also found both Jeremy and Rafe's magical gift to fit their personality perfectly and helped bring the story together.

Emilie's character was a little annoying but overall her character was not really front and center of this story.

While I really enjoyed this story I felt that the last quarter of the book kind of dragged and didn't really give much to the story overall.

I LOVED the premise. However this fell flat. The depth was not there for me. The world building just wasn’t quite up to par and left me wanting more, along with the main characters.

I really wanted to enjoy this book but alas, I couldn’t quite get into it and that was a little disappointing for me.

I wanted to love this book, unfortunately it wasn't for me. While I loved the premise for the book, the rest fell flat for me. The female protagonist felt one dimensional and was constantly making decisions that didn't make sense. I also really struggled with the dialogue and the world building felt lacking.

This was a cute story but fell a little flat for me. Now I may have brought this on myself I loved this authors last book so I was expecting a lot. This book felt more YA then I usually enjoy, I started out really enjoying this book but about 30 percent in I just lost interest, while they were in the other world. To me it felt like the fantasy world felt surface level and as a big fantasy fan this is something that drives me crazy. I enjoyed the characters and the writing but don’t think this one was for me. I did really enjoy the narrator cutting in and breaking the fourth wall. Even though this wasn’t my favorite I can’t wait to read more from this author in the future! I would like to thank net galley and the publishers for a chance to read this book for an honest review.

The Lost Story by Meg Shaffer is a charming, heartfelt novel about the power of storytelling and the journey to find yourself. The story follows Emma, a young woman who discovers an old, unfinished manuscript that leads her on an adventure to uncover the truth about its mysterious author. As she gets deeper into the story, Emma begins to learn important lessons about love, loss, and the courage it takes to follow your heart.

The author has a way of making the characters feel real, with emotions and struggles that many readers can relate to. The book mixes mystery, romance, and a little bit of magic, all while exploring what it means to be part of a larger story, whether it’s your own or someone else’s.

What stands out most about The Lost Story is its ability to make you think about the connections we have with others and the stories that shape us. It’s a gentle reminder that sometimes the greatest adventures are the ones we take in our own lives.

This is not my normal genre but after i started reading i really enjoyed the story and this book.

The writing was easy to following and it was good character build, development and the suspense was also good makes you want to keep reading. It was easy to get invested with the characters and overall just really enjoyed the book and would recommend.

I will read more from this author.

Thanks NetGalley for letting me read and review.

While I enjoyed The Lost Story, I didn't feel very attached to the characters. I felt like I was being told more than being showed what the characters emotions were, which took me out of the story more that I cared for. I had to slog through the first half to get to the action and payoff in the second half. Usually I would have DNFed much sooner than I did, but I really wanted to see where Meg Shaffer was going with this one. The adventure and whimsy really saved this book in the end.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

It was a nice retelling but I had already had a book that felt so much more real to me in it's Narnia vibes. It might have been a better read if I had read it first or far enough out from the other.

When I read Meg Shaffer's The Wishing Game, it became an immediate favorite. I wasn't sure her new book could possibly compete, and I was SO glad to be proved wrong.

As children, Jeremy Cox and Rafe Howell went missing for 6 months in the West Virginia forest, only to reappear unable to explain where they'd been or what happened in their absence. All grown up, Rafe is a reclusive artist who's still dealing with the internal aftermath of what happened while he was missing. Jeremy is a famed missing persons investigator— and Emilie Wendell's only hope for finding her sister who went missing from the same forest. Here's the thing... Jeremy knows exactly what happened so many years ago, and he's kept quiet to keep Rafe safe. Now, the two former lost boys must reunite and travel back to the magical land where they disappeared to decades before to face the secrets and the danger they escaped in an effort to find Emilie's missing sister. This book is magical and imaginative and anything but predictable. I know I'll be recommending Meg Shaffer and rushing to read everything she writes from now on!

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and publisher for the digital ARC of ” The Lost Story” in exchange for my honest opinion. I wasn’t sure if this was the book for me considering it is fantasy and that is not what I normally read. I was pleasantly surprised by how quickly I got into the story. I shouldn’t have been surprised since I enjoyed her other novel, “The Wishing Game”, which was a five star read for me. This book brings you in quickly with good character, development, suspense, and setting. By the time the fantasy part became the main plot. I was already invested in the characters. Overall, I enjoyed the story and would recommend it to other readers. As the author states, “All books are magic…..Loving or hating people made out of ink and paper, not flesh and blood? Yes, books are magic. Maybe even the strongest there is.”

The Lost Story by Meg Shaffer is a gorgeous fairy tale for adults. Two boys, lost in the woods for six months, turn out not to have been lost at all, but to have slipped through a magical, Narnia-like opening into another world inhabited by magic trees, unicorns, Valkyrie warriors, and ghostly demons.

The book starts with the boys returning to their own world, in the West Virginia forest. The story of their "real lives" is actually quite interesting, but things get weird and wonderful when circumstances compel them to return to the magical world of Shanandoah.

This reminded me of The House in The Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune, and of course of the C.S. Lewis Narnia stories.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I featured this book in a new release video prior to publication and was very excited to read a Narnia retelling! I adore a portal fantasy, and to have this one also so set in real life is wonderful. I love the mystery aspect to this story as well. Will update when final review posts, but I'm expecting 5 stars!

I loved this fairy tale with a gay romance. It surprised me. I recommend this book for anyone who likes fantasy or adventure. I hope to see more from this delightful author.

I had such high hopes for this book. The Wishing Game was one of my top books of 2023, so I couldn't wait to read this one. Unfortunately, it fell flat for me. The premise sounds great-Rafe and Jeremy went missing for 6 months when they were teenagers with no explanation of where they'd been. Now, 15 years later, Jeremy has been hired by Emilie to find out what happened to her half-sister, who went missing in the same area Jeremy and Rafe did many years ago. This story held so much promise but it just didn't work for me. It took too long to get to the heart of the story and was very predictable. To be honest, I skimmed the last 1/3 of the book because I just wanted to be finished.

This was a like and not a love for me, which is disappointing because I really enjoyed Wishing Game! It didn’t bother me that it felt like two different books - the transition from the first to second half moved smoothly enough. What did bother me was that the back half felt almost YA?? And then there were some dirty jokes to balance it out, like see this book is for adults, heh heh! It didn’t work for me. The book was extremely formulaic to the point that it felt like certain things were included because they were supposed to be, rather than because they belonged. I didn't feel swept up in the magic the way I wanted to. It was close! But just far enough that it felt discordant rather than harmonious. Ahhh I’m disappointed. Also, Rafe and Jeremy weren’t different enough for me to easily keep track of them. I kept switching them in my mind and every time one of them would say or do something I would have to think so hard to determine which one they were that eventually I just gave up. Emilie was quite a stand out, her personality was really unique so that was something positive.

2.5 rounded up because it wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t for me.