Review: The Lost Story

Author: Meg Shaffer

Genre: Fantasy, Magical Realism

Rating: 4.5 / 5

Features:

• An adult fairytale inspired by The Chronicles of Narnia

• A book about stories, nature, and art of all types

• Explores themes of found family, trauma, and self-discovery 

• A lot of clever little Easter eggs to discover

One seeks the memories he is missing. The second seeks to be free of the secrets he must keep. The third seeks a sister the world has forgotten. All must return to where it all began in order to find what they have lost. The Lost Story had me captivated from the start with its beautiful prose and unique characters. You can definitely see C.S. Lewis’s literary DNA in this, but the focus on adult characters and themes make it very much its own thing. It is a story that celebrates artistic expression in its many forms through its characters and their journey. Though I loved this read, the second part of the book is very different from the first and it loses some of what captivated me in the beginning a little. If you are someone who likes The Chronicles of Narnia and/or stories that have that fairytale whimsy to them, you will probably love this book. However, it still covers some serious and complicated topics so is not what I would classify as ‘cozy’.

What it means to be lost in the woods

Fifteen years ago, Jeremy and Rafe went missing in Red Crow State Park. Though they reappeared 6 months later, they were forever changed. Rafe cannot remember anything about the time of his disappearance while Jeremy remembers everything but refuses to even speak to Rafe. But the time for silence is over as Emilie asks the now famous investigator Jeremy to help her find her sister who disappeared 5 years before them in the same place. Going back might mean reopening old wounds, but it is also the last chance they will have to find answers.

This book plays a lot with the idea of what it means to be ‘lost’ in both the literal and figurative sense. Each character is lost in their own way and this makes it easy to invest in the journey they take both as a group and as individuals. Mixed into this is some beautiful nature writing. Whether in the real world or the fantastical one, the story maintains a deep connection with nature and the roles each creature plays in its balance. The idea of physically losing yourself in the natural world quickly feels less sinister and it is clear that getting lost is a very different thing than being lost. Needless to say, I found this thematic and scenic exploration both beautiful and poignant.

A tale of two parts

To start, this book is written in a fairytale style complete with a narrator who speaks directly with the reader. In the narrator sections, it tells you what to expect from the book and generally moves the story along. Though it is no surprise that the story is going to make a pretty dramatic shift and does it well, it can still feel a little disconnected from where the book begins. The only thing that is keeping this from being a five star read for me is that I feel some of the deeper character exploration that drew me in at the beginning of the book gets a little lost as the overall focus of the piece shifts. I was still satisfied with the resolution, but it lost a little bit of its impact along the way. 

Special thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

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