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PRODUCT
The Lost Story: A Novel
Product Description:
Price:
$13.99
Detailed description:
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • Inspired by C. S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia, this wild and wondrous novel is a fairy tale for grown-ups who still knock on the back of wardrobes—just in case—from the author of The Wishing Game.
“This is the book you’ve been waiting for.”—Richard Russo, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Empire Falls and the North Bath Trilogy
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.
Alongside the headstrong Emilie, Rafe and Jeremy must return to the enchanted world they called home for six months—for only then can they get back everything and everyone they’ve lost.
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Product group:
Categories: Best Books of 2024 So Far
Product name:
The Lost Story: A Novel
Price:
$13.99
Christopher Monceaux –
***Thank you to Ballantine Books for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley. My review contains my honest thoughts about my reading experience.***
I’m not quite sure what to say about The Lost Story. It was exactly what I expected while also surprising me in so many ways. The plot was engaging, and the whole thing felt very much like a fairytale. The story structure was unique, though, and I enjoyed all of the storyteller asides that were integrated throughout the text. The writing was easy to read with beautiful descriptions that never bogged down the forward momentum. Although, it did feel a bit choppy at times because of a lack of variety in the sentence structure.
The world-building was one of the weakest things about The Lost Story for me. So much of the first half of the story was centered around the mystery of what happened in the woods when the boys were young. Then the reader is hit with some heavy info dumping that explained many of the mysteries. The characters didn’t really do much exploring to discover answers because one of them just spilled all the secrets at the first opportunity. It just felt forced and kind of underwhelming. I did like how the author described both worlds, though. They felt authentic, beautiful, and magical. I just didn’t love how a lot of the information about the mechanics of it all was imparted.
I really adored the characters in The Lost Story. Rafe resonated the most with me. I wanted him to get his memories back so bad, and parts of his story made me super emotional. I loved getting to see his friendship with Jeremy rekindle, and the two of them had a very great dynamic. Emilie’s search for her sister was engaging, as well, especially in the beginning. I do think her storyline took a bit too much of a backseat in the latter half of the novel, though. Rafe and Jeremy coming to terms with their past took up all the oxygen. However, I didn’t mind it because I was moved by their story and their entire found family dynamic.
I loved how The Lost Story explored the power of a story, especially how they can be used for safety, healing, and finding oneself. Through the fairytale, each of the characters found something they had lost. However, I was not expecting the level of trauma in this story. Please be careful if you are sensitive to stories about dealing with the impacts of child abuse and abduction. The message is ultimately hopeful, but a lot of pain accompanies the healing, as well. So, just be mindful.
Overall, The Lost Story was a beautiful fairytale about the power of stories to heal and help find parts of oneself lost to the pain of the past. The characters were easy to love, and the plot was intriguing with a unique style of storytelling. The world-building wasn’t always the best, but I did enjoy my time in each of the settings despite the minor imperfections. Therefore, I do recommend The Lost Story to anyone who enjoys magical realism and stories about stories. My final rating is 3.75 out of 5 stars.
the reader –
Two young boys fall in love. In this time and place it wasn’t allowed. But it did happen. To go away to another world and not be judged. Yes, this is a fairytale. Since I was a small child I listened to fairy tales. I grew up on them.
I enjoyed reading the Storyteller’s Corner and liked her comments.
I read the reviews on this book about the two boys and knew I needed to read this story. The book takes place in West Virginia. Two boys disappeared from a school trip. They were searched for for months. Never found, people gave up after a long time. They must be dead. Six months later the boys came back. In good health. One boy becomes an artist. He painted and carved animals, trees, flowers, skies and oceans that were so beautiful that were never seen on earth. Jeremy began finding lost girls and women. People missing their lost ladies paid him to find them. He was so good at his job.
Jeremy and Rafe.
Fifteen years later when the two were almost thirty, the two got back together. Jeremy had gone back to England, then decided to look up Rafe. Rafe lived in an old shack which was decorated, painted, and carved to look so beautiful and unworldly. He was a recluse.
A young lady, Emilie, 23. hired Jeremy to look for her lost sister, Shannon. Emilie had been adopted by a wealthy woman and had everything she wanted. Shannon, coming home on a school bus, was dragged from the bus by an evil man. His body was found dead, eyes picked out. Shannon’s body was never found. Emilie’s mother was dead, badly missed. No relatives. Emilie needed to have her sister buried, a tombstone, not forgotten as though she never was.
Off to a beautiful world, a magic world, a fairytale world. This part of the book takes this reader far away to this place. Beautiful animals, horses, dragons, unicorns which fascinated Rafe when he first saw a unicorn. There is a bright red crow, Aurora. She is the queen’s friend and spy. The evil Bright Boys, who liked to start problems. An interesting bunch, all of them good and bad. There are a few secrets. A world of danger. Imaginative. Adventure. Great read for those who like fairy tales.
The trip to Shanandoah was my favorite part of the book.
Marcsbride –
I keep saying I don’t like fantasy but clearly I do. While I wasn’t overly thrilled with Meg Schaffer’s first book, I absolutely loved this one. It has everything you’d ever want in a fantasy novel, plus it pays homage to some of the great fantasy books of childhood.
When best friends Jeremy and Rafe were teenagers they were lost in the woods of West Virginia. Just as mysteriously as they disappeared, six months later they reappeared looking just as healthy and robust as the day they went missing. Rafe can’t remember anything from the night before he disappeared onward Jeremy refused to talk about it. 15 years later they are no longer friends and Jeremy is well known for his skill of finding missing girls and women. When he’s approached by Emilie, a young woman looking for her long lost sister, he knows it’s time to get Rafe and head back into the woods to help Emilie find her sister and Rafe to find his memories.
I loved everything about this. Ms. Shaffer has created a book so magical you can feel it through the pages as you’re reading. Her descriptions are so vivid and the story really came alive within my head. While it is categorized as Women’s Fiction I think teenagers who are fans of the fantasy genre will love it too.
BarbarinaS –
I read this in a day. I had to as it was so complex that I didn’t want to lose any of the threads. When I say complex I don’t mean in a bad way, not something that would prevent a reader falling under the book’s spell. But rather, in a way that is intriguing, completely and incredibly spellbinding, and yet also poignant.
I loved it so colour me biased but for me this is my favourite read of the last two years mostly because of the tenderness with which the characters are treated. We worry for their happy ending.
This is a novel that walks a fine line between reality and fantasy, between an adventure and a love story, and one that allows reflection on life and the choices we make.
Loved the plot, the characters and the beautiful way the author has with words.