The Lost Story by Meg Shaffer

This early review copy was gifted to me by Ballantine Books through NetGalley. This in no way impacts the rating of the book. All of my reviews contain my honest opinions.

Title: The Lost Story

Author: Meg Shaffer

Release Date: July 16, 2024

Publisher: Ballantine Books

Genre: Fantasy

Source: digital, NetGalley

TW: child abuse, homophobia, kidnapping, death of parent, physical abuse, death, cancer, suicide, violence

Synopsis

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.

As boys, best friends Jeremy Cox and Rafe Howell vanished in a West Virginia state park, 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, Jeremy is a famous missing persons investigator with an uncanny ability to find the lost, while Rafe is a reclusive artist unable to stop creating otherworldly paintings and sculptures he shows to no one. He bears scars inside and out from his disappearance but has no memory of what happened while they were gone.

Jeremy alone knows the fantastical truth behind their time in the woods. 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. 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 when vet tech Emilie Wendel hires Jeremy to find her long-lost sister . . . the long-lost sister he and Rafe knew while living in that hidden kingdom. Now the former lost boys must confront their shared past, no matter how traumatic the memories. Alongside the headstrong Emilie, Rafe and Jeremy return to the enchanted world they called home for six months . . . for only then can they get back everything and everyone they’ve lost.

Thoughts

I approached "The Lost Story" with high expectations, drawn in initially by a compelling and promising premise. However, as I delved further into the narrative, I found that the plot began to unravel and lose its original allure. Initially optimistic about the book's potential, I unfortunately found myself disappointed as the story failed to live up to the promise it held at the beginning.

One of the aspects I found particularly off-putting was the book's comparison to the beloved classic, "The Chronicles of Narnia". In my view, this comparison was overly optimistic and set up unrealistic expectations. The presence of heavy trigger warnings in the book raises concerns that prevent it from being comfortably likened to a classic children's fantasy novel such as "The Chronicles of Narnia".

My reading experience was marked by a struggle with the text's volume and variety of elements, resulting in confusion. I found the narrative filled with a dense mix of genres, making it challenging for me to discern the author's primary intention or the fundamental message.

Moreover, I found the portrayal of the relationship between the main characters, Rafe and Jeremy, to be problematic. Their relationship, which forms a significant part of the narrative, was based on a fleeting year when they were teenagers. However, the physical aspects of their relationship were depicted in a graphic manner, creating an uncomfortable reading experience for me. I found the emotional connection between them lacking, which made their relationship feel hollow and unconvincing, particularly in the later years when the bulk of the story takes place.

In conclusion, while "The Lost Story" had a promising start, it fell short of its potential. The heavy trigger warnings and the problematic depiction of the main characters' relationship added layers of discomfort. Despite my initial enthusiasm, it ultimately wasn't the book for me.