The Lost Story by Meg Shaffer is a fantasy adventure novel. What if there was a magical realm ruled by a queen and her attending valkyries? What if lost boys and girls aren’t really lost?
Inspired by The Chronicles of Narnia, this also reminded me of Alice in Wonderland. Why? Because not everything in Wonderland is wonderful.
While I enjoyed the novel, it has some issues preventing it from being a 4 or 5 star read.
The novel feels like a mishmash of a lighthearted, YA fantasy rom-com and a more serious adult novel touching on grief and abuse.
Additionally, I felt the world-building for Shanandoah could have been better. We learn most of the good bits only second and third-hand, in retellings and stories, and not through the direct action of the plot.
And finally, the novel includes a fairy godmother-like storyteller who inserts themselves between chapters. I didn’t care for this, and I felt it mostly pulled you out of the (already) disjointed story.
Thanks to NetGalley and Random House/Ballantine for an advance copy in exchange for sharing my opinions. All opinions in this review are my own.