Book Review: The Lost Story by Meg Shaffer
Often compared to The Chronicles of Narnia, The Lost Story by Meg Shaffer is a story of lost boys, magical worlds, and things that aren’t ever what they seem (in the best possible way). Check out my full review for The Lost Story below!
Book Information
Jeremy and Rafe disappeared into a state forest when they were only boys just to reappear six months later healthier than when they went missing. Rafe doesn’t remember a thing and Jeremy isn’t talking. Fifteen years later, Jeremy can find lost things and lost people just by picturing them. Rafe is a reclusive artist. But when Emilie, who is searching for her lost sister, asks Jeremy to find her, Jeremy knows it’s time to find Rafe and go back to that same state park they went missing in so many years ago.
Review | Heidi Dischler
So, I’m just gonna say it plainly. This book wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t good either. I really loved Meg Shaffer’s The Wishing Game (and I mean really loved it), so I was excited to receive this advanced reader copy from the publisher. However, it felt a little lackluster in its story and plotting.
I’ll start with the characters because I liked that aspect of the story the best. There was so much promise with these characters. I loved Emilie, Rafe, and Jeremy. They were magnetic at times, so I had no problem with the characters at all. Each felt real and you could truly feel their desires on the pages as you read them. What brought this story down was the plot.
The premise for this novel had so much going for it, but the actual urgency and drive to keep reading wasn’t there for me. I think it was because it felt so nontraditional with its layout. You had this big battle-like scene in the middle of the novel, then happiness until about thirty pages from the end. I think what would have made it so much better is saving the battle scene for the end and letting the last tragic thing that happens happen right after the battle scene. It would build more tension in my opinion and make more sense.
A lot of what bothered me about this novel is once you get to the main part of the book, it gets sooo cheesy. There were many times when I honestly cringed because it felt a little too sappy for me. It took me out of the book a lot, but a lot of why it was cheesy is revealed towards the end. The only problem with that is, at that point, it had already been bothering me for a long time.
Overall, this book had promise and it wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t great either. I think it could benefit from a plotting rewrite, but that’s just me. Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for allowing me to read an ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review!
Source: eBook ARC from NetGalley
(P.S. You can read this book for free by signing up for a free trial of Audible, which gives you two free audiobooks of your choice!)
