In "The Lost Story" by Meg Shaffer, readers embark on a mesmerizing journey into a world of magic and intrigue, evoking the enchantment of C. S. Lewis's cherished Chronicles of Narnia. Drawing inspiration from timeless fairy tales, Shaffer's novel offers a captivating adventure for adults who still harbor dreams of hidden realms.

The narrative follows childhood friends Jeremy Cox and Rafe Howell, who vanished into a West Virginia forest only to reappear six months later with no memory of their disappearance. Now, fifteen years on, Jeremy is a renowned missing persons' investigator, while Rafe leads a reclusive life as an artist, haunted by unanswered questions.

When vet tech Emilie Wendell seeks Jeremy's help in finding her missing sister, the trio embarks on a quest that leads them back to the magical realm where Jeremy and Rafe spent those enigmatic six months. As they confront their shared past and unearth long-buried secrets, they navigate a world of both beauty and peril, determined to rescue Emilie's sister and reclaim what they have lost.

Through Shaffer's richly imagined setting and compelling characters, "The Lost Story" captures the imagination and hearts of its readers. Blending fantasy with suspense, Shaffer delivers a spellbinding narrative that will keep readers enthralled until the very end.

The Wishing Game was my favorite book of 2023 so I was thrilled to receive an ARC of The Lost Story. It began so well - unsolved missing sister and promises of a Narnia like world. What could be better! And I enjoyed the Storyteller chapters sprinkled throughout. About 30% into the novel, it became clear this wasn’t going to be all I had hoped it would. The author tried to cover too much ground and too many themes. It was just all too much. It should also be noted (since this book is marketed to has nods to CS Lewis and Narnia) that there is a heavy homosexual theme throughout. There is also sexual content and adult language. So it’s definitely not a children’s book like Narnia. Overall, I had such high hopes for this book but ended up feeling let down. The overall tone of the book felt extremely juvenile and the story rushed.

Once upon a time in West Virginia, 14-year-old best friends Rafe Howell and Jeremy Cox go missing during a school field trip to Red Crow State Forest. After six months, they are found in the same woods—alive, inexplicably healthy, and with no explanation as to why they got separated from their group and how they survived in the wilderness alone. But the plot of 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 truly begins 15 years later when missing persons investigator Jeremy and reclusive artist Rafe reunite to help a young woman named Emilie uncover what happened to her sister Shannon, a kidnapping victim who was last seen in the same forest decades ago. Amazingly, the truth behind Jeremy and Rafe’s disappearance as well as the answers to Shannon’s mystery lie in the magical but dangerous realm of Shanandoah, an otherworldly land to which the trio must journey and fill in the missing pieces of their life stories.

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 is a whimsical, charming tale about friendship, romantic love, familial bonds, and the places we call home. I admit, however, that despite an intriguing premise and important themes about relationships and identity, the novel fell short for me in a few areas. The book started strong, but halfway through I felt like the author was trying to cram too much world-building and too many plot resolutions in 350 pages. The result was some stilted dialogue, various underdeveloped character relationships, and a somewhat rushed conclusion. But what saved the book for me was its enchanting tone and sweet ending. Ultimately, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 is an enjoyable novel I would recommend to those interested in a cozy and contemporary fairy tale.

4.25 stars. Thank you to Ballantine Books and NetGalley for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

A super interesting, fantastical, magical read that i would recommend to fans of Narnia. I liked the worldbuilding and the characters.

A validation for American fantasy lovers. Having gone to West Virginia every summer of my youth for a family reunion (and heck, probably reading Chronicles of Narnia on the twisty drives!), this book felt personal. America is also a land of secrets and magic, portals to process the world through magic. The characters feel real and warm, with a pleasant balance between platonic intimacy and gentle romance. You want to hear this tale around a fire in Shenandoah National Park. You want to wake up in this world. The prose shines like that perfect stone you find in the creek when you’re seven years old.

Jeremy and Rafe, two kids in West Virginia, went missing years ago for an entire six months. They arrived back taller, older, but with no memory of where they’d been. Fast forward to present day and they do not speak to each other - Jeremy is a missing person’s expert and Rafe has been in and out of mental hospitals. Emile arrives to bring them back together, as well as a red crow, as they go off to search for someone else who went missing ages ago.

I honestly don’t know what to do with this book, and I feel like this book doesn’t really know what it IS. It switches between third person narrative and first person, the first person perspective being a storyteller who interjects bits of information, but nothing really relevant. It is strange when it comes around to the storyteller part and the storyteller isn’t that likable. There’s so much talking, especially in the beginning. SO dialogue heavy. Some of it is witty and smart, but it seems to slow the whole plot down. I feel like it takes forever to get going in the beginning. I had to stop myself several times to wonder, “what age group is this for?” because it swings a bit childish. I know that Jeremy and Rafe are adults, but Emile seems really young, and the way things are described, it just has a young adult feel, especially when it gets to the other land.

This is billed as a “modern fairy tale,” and it has a lot of fun elements: the other world, the random food and flora/fauna of the fairy tale land, some of the banter between Emile and Jeremy, the romance between Rafe and Jeremy, and it says outright that it owes a lot to Narnia (it is referenced several times) which I get. But honestly, this book had huge potential for me and just really missed the mark.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC.

Six months after they went in the forests of West Virginia, two young teen boys are found in the woods. One didn't remember anything from the time they were gone, and the other wasn't talking. Even to his friend.

Fifteen years later, Jeremy is a searcher for lost souls. He spends his time looking for missing girls and women with a high success rate - one that garners him international attention as a savior of the lost. When Emilie approaches him to help find her missing sister, it looks like the perfect case for Jeremy to take - until he realizes it will take him back to the very forests he and his friend were lost in years before.

Rafe and Jeremy haven't spoken since they were rescued from the forest. But it will be imperative that the two work together to solve this case, as only together will they be able to reenter the woods and rediscover what happened to them so many years ago.

This is a great story, with a multitude of magical creatures and a society much different from our own. The characters are full of heart and well developed, and the relationships between them are perfectly imperfect, leaving readers with an emotional connection they will reflect on long after reading the last page.

A great read for adults who were fans of The Chronicles of Narnia as a child, and anyone who enjoys thinking of the possibility of magical realms just beyond our reach.

I picked this one up because I loved the Wishing Game and this book did not disappoint. I loved how imaginative this book is and how everything fits together. The characters are well-developed and it’s easy to get absorbed in the story.

This was my first Meg Shaffer book and I was pleasantly surprised.

Here's what I liked:
- The setting descriptions. I mean, wow, Shaffer was able to describe things in a way that made me not just feel like I was there but I could smell and taste everything happening.
- Loved the characters. They were all wonderful.
- Writing: honestly, impeccable. Loved it.

Things that could've been better:
- Pacing. It felt slow for the first half of the book and then it got going and was 100% worth the rest of the read. Just wish it happened faster.
- Character development was a bit lacking but not terrible. I just needed a little bit more from it.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you SO much, NetGalley and Ballantine books for the ARC. What a beautiful read!

The Lost Story was one of my most anticipated reads of the year. I loved The Chronicles of Narnia growing up, so I was ready for the whimsical, magical world that this book promised.

Plot: Fifteen years before this story takes place, Jeremy and Rafe went missing in the woods and reappeared six months later. Rafe has no recollection of those six months, but Jeremy does. Jeremy grows up and becomes a detective specializing in finding missing women. Emilie approaches him and asks her to help him locate her sister, who went missing in the woods years before Jeremy and Rafe. Jeremy agrees, and so the magic begins, as the trio enters/reenters the magical world of Shanandoah to find Emilie’s sister.

What I liked:
- Shanandoah was just as magical as promised. The details were beautiful. The writing was perfectly descriptive. The story was fun and adventurous and had all of the cozy/whimsical magical elements of my dreams. It truly felt like a fairytale.
- The characters were endearing. I wanted to hug all of them.

What I didn’t like:
- The story does not even begin until around the 52% mark. The first half of the book moved too slowly and could have been cut in half. In contrast, the second half moved too quickly - I wanted to be in Shanandoah longer. I felt myself getting antsy in the beginning and wanting to skip ahead. I also needed the existing magical scenes to last longer, and I needed more of them.
- This is likely connected to my previous point, but we needed just a tad more development of the relationships among the characters. Since this is meant to be a fairytale, I know character development wasn’t the highest priority, but I needed a smidge more.
- The writing at times had a bit of an identity crisis - it flounced between adult and YA. This didn’t bother me too much, and perhaps this was intentional, but is worth noting.

Overall, I had a great time with this book. I really hope the author creates a sequel - I would love to spend more time in this magical world.

First of all thanks to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

For all lovers of C.S Lewis and L. Frank Baum, you may love this story full of fantasy in a world where adulthood is already established.
Jeremy and Rafe, teenagers of 14 and 15 years old and best friends, are famous in their hometown for a fact that until now no one can explain: while they were on a school trip to a city they disappeared and no one heard from them again, until months later they were They appeared out of nowhere, without a scratch but without answers, because apparently they had forgotten what had happened to them.
Fifteen years later Jeremy becomes a celebrity because he is a lost person finder with a very special gift because apparently he can find anyone. He meets Emilie, a girl who has the urgent need to find her sister kidnapped from her decades before. Jeremy knows that only Rafe can help them find Emilie's sister, and the journey they are about to take is beyond anyone's imagination.

This book is full of love and magic, it hooked me from the first moment since all the characters have that little thing that makes you fall in love with them from the beginning. I loved the plot, it is addictive and the setting was such that it made me want to get to know West Virginia.

I already knew the author's work with The Wishing Game and I loved it and I think that with this book she surpassed herself.

Another whimsical and heartwarming story from Meg Shaffer. She continues to prove the power that stories, especially those from our childhood, hold in our lives. What I love about her work is that while it is targeted towards adults (who sometimes need a reminder that it is okay to believe in the impossible), it is simple enough to be read to children as a bedtime story. Thank you to NetGalley, Meg Shaffer and Ballantine Books for an ARC of The Lost Story!

“Books are magic. Maybe even the strongest magic there is”.

Meg Shaffer did it again. She created a wonderful magical story full of hope, love and books. I’m utterly obsessed with the way she writes. It is a stunning book to read.
I did prefer The Wishing Game and felt like the plot was easily predictable but it was still magical. The romance in here was to die for and the found family trope so well done. The ending was PERFECT. The last few sentences are permanently inked to my brain. I cried of course. It’s Meg’s personal magic trick.

As a huge fan of the Wayward Children series by Seanan Maguire, this sounded right up my alley. It followed the same premise but that was okay with me because I was expecting this to be written more for adults.

It wasn't. 

Here's the thing...the beginning started off great. I loved that the young boys had aged to nearly 30 in their 15 years of being back and were figuring out a way to return.  I was ready for adult themes, dialog, mature queer romance, mystery, and knock me on my ass magical world building.

None of those things happened.

In fact, the Wayward Children series is more grown up, fleshed out, unique, and grappled with characters far more complex than this book even came close to. 

Instead, we got 30 year old men talking and acting like high schoolers. A weird uninteresting side character who just drove the plot to where it needed to go next, and some kinda foofoo ding dong let's make the bad guys go poof with a nose boop "magical land". Ugh. It was such a let-down. Especially once I got halfway into the book. But let it be said that the first 1/4th of the book had such promise!

Also, the whole narrator bit was unnecessary. 

The more I think about this book, the more convinced I am that it was written by a 9th grader.

I'm sorry that this was a total miss for me because I truly appreciate that I was granted the privilege by Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group: Ballantine to receive this ARC for my honest feedback and review.

I was such a fan of Shaffer’s last book that I had to read this one as soon as I heard about it. If you love Narnia, this is just your type of book! I plan to offer it as an option for my Children’s Lit class.

This is my new favorite book of all time. No exaggeration.

The plot…incredible.
The characters…well rounded, lovable, unique
Writing…extremely entertaining, funny, heartfelt.

The whimsy, magic, strong FMCs, representation, wonderful MMC, magical realism…it’s everything I want in a book.

I hope this is a series because I need to submerge into Shenandoah again 😭

Easy read. Enjoyed the theme of the magic of a book. This book may be difficult for some to read especially child abuse. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

4.25/5

Two teenage boys disappear for 6 months in the wild woods and mysteriously return with no recollection of where they’ve been. Years later, one of the boys has grown into a tracker with a reputation of finding lost women drawing the attention of the FMC who recently learned she has a missing half sister that she never knew who disappeared 15 years prior and suddenly the last begins to reveal. What if he had known where he was this whole time, and what if it was some place no one could ever have imagined?

A surprise take on the lion witch and wardrobe that I enjoyed thoroughly.

A beautiful book about love, family, fairytale kingdoms, and the love of stories. I really enjoyed this. I will be thinking of these characters for a while. While some heavy subjects are touched on, the book remains light. I highly recommend this if you are looking for a light fairytale read.
Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an e-arc. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This book was magic - really!

I was drawn in by the idea of a grown-up Narnia because as a kid I legit would walk in the forest or check wardrobe just hoping to get sucked in and I never really have grown out of it. I am happy to say this book did deliver on that concept. I really felt transported to this world and the characters were fantastic.

Good news it did close out nicely but also has promise for further stories - just the perfect kind of wrap up. I will definitely be checking out the next book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this review copy!