Review copy was received from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
The Lost Story by Meg Shaffer Published by Ballantine on July 16, 2024
Genres: Fantasy, Mystery
Pages: 336
Format: eARC
Source: NetGalley
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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.
With a respectful nod to the classics that have come before in the Portal Fantasy niche, The Lost Story by Meg Shaffer caught my fancy the moment I read the blurb. It has been a while since I was in the mood for such a tale, but The Lost Story had a way of winding me up in its magic from the start and keeping me turning the pages until the very end.
The Lost Story begins when Emelie tracks down the famous missing persons finder, Jeremy Cox, and persuades him to hunt for the older sister she recently learned she had. Emelie has social struggles, but she is good with animals. However, after the loss of her adopted mom, she is keen to find the last chance at a family connection and understands the emotional risk when the enigmatic Jeremy warns her about the West Virginia woods where her sister was last seen- and he would know since he’s one of the infamous Lost Boys who went into the woods and was missing for six months before coming out again.
I loved the mysterious tone the author created with her writing. There is an ominous feeling, but also a light and quirky one once Emelie sets out with Jeremy to rouse the third member of their search team to help. Rafe is the second Lost Boy and now a recluse who lives in the forest creating art based on his disturbing dreams. He remembers nothing of his time lost in the woods and resents that Jeremy, who does know what happened, has kept silent for fifteen long years.
But, as events push forward, Jeremy promises the silence is at an end. The narration is told from three main point of views with a linear plot thread and sprinkled with flashbacks that heighten the sense that something fantastical happened to these men, but also sketches in their backgrounds, characters, and relationship which all plays a strong role in what came after.
The Lost Story is slow build with a long set up before the adventure side really gets rolling. There is a superb suspenseful climax and a situation that left the reader wondering how it would resolve. This is also a story that hits some themes hard, but also likes to wink and laugh at itself, too. There is romance, but the heart of the story is actually friendship and quest for acceptance and family.
The Lost Story hit the spot for a fantasy adventure with some mystery and romance. Recommended to those who enjoy Portal Fantasy with light LBGT romance.
As a lifelong reader, it was inevitable that Sophia would discover book blogs and the joy of blog reviewing.Sophia is a prolific reader and audiobook listener which allows her to experience so many wonderful books, authors, and narrators.Few genres are outside her reading tastes, but her true love is fiction particularly history, mystery, sci-fi, and romance.Though, sorry, no horror or she will run like Shaggy and Scooby.
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This sounds good. I wasn’t familiar with the term portal fantasy, but now that I’ve looked up the definition, I know I’ve read several and I really enjoy them. Some of my favorites are portal fantasy, especially from childhood. Thanks!
Oh yeah, there have been some really good ones in this genre starting back with my first, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. 🙂
I really want to read this one!
Glad I could put you onto it, Lark!
I wouldn’t have thought this had fantasy just by looking at the cover. It does sound like something I’d enjoy. I wonder about those 6 months!
Yes, a very understated cover. I had a good time with it.
Oh this sounds good. I haven’t read anything like this and now I want to.
Yay, glad to tempt you, Mary. It is a little something different.
Ohh, I’m loving the sound of this one. Plus, a light LGBT romance?! Sign me up!
Glad to point you toward it, Vanessa. 🙂
“There is an ominous feeling, but also a light and quirky one” love the sounds of that
Yes, she hit a good balance between those for the tone of her story.
I think the slow build would probably keep me from getting into this one. It does have a beautiful cover though, and I’m glad you enjoyed it as much as you did! Thanks for sharing!
It has some mystery at first to hook one in, but no lie it does start slow.