Book Review | The Lost Story by Meg Shaffer

The Lost Story by Meg Shaffer is my first NetGalley read and review. Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to check out this new book!

Jeremy Cox and Ralph Howell, two teenage boys, mysteriously disappear in the Red Crow forest in West Virginia in the 90s and are lost for six months before they return in better health and strength than when they left. How could two inexperienced teens have survived in the unforgiving woods for six months and then come back in even better condition than before? Jeremy Cox isn't telling, and Ralph Howell can't remember.

Fifteen years later, Jeremy is world-renown for his uncanny ability to find missing girls and women, dead or alive. He hasn't spoken to Ralph for all that time, either, until Emilie, a young woman who says whatever she's thinking whether it is socially appropriate or not, wants to hire him to find her long-lost biological sister. The only catch is that her sister went missing over 20 years ago...in the same forest where Jeremy and Ralph were lost. While hesitant to help her at first, Jeremy agrees to help Emilie find her missing sibling, and they embark on a journey that keeps getting weirder but better all the same.

While I was somewhat entertained by this story, I found that I kept waiting for something more interesting to happen. I was confused by Jeremy's character, who at first gave off serious, mountain man vibes, but his personality throughout the book wasn't consistent with my first impression of him. Later, he became a bit too sarcastic for me.

I really liked the premise of this book, and it got off to a good start. I liked Emilie and her pet rat, I liked that Jeremy has this uncanny ability that nobody can really explain, and I wanted to know more about why he hadn't spoken to Ralph in 15 years. However, once the introductions had been made, the story didn't go deep enough. It described a lot - how Jeremy and Ralph met, what the place where they went was like and the magic behind it, but I never felt fully invested in any of the characters. I was hoping there would be more to the story, something that would draw me in to their journey, pull at my heartstrings, or make me excited about their adventure. It just didn't have that for me.

Their journey back into the place where they were formerly lost was rushed. I expected an epic adventure, but there was only one main dangerous encounter that didn't seem that scary. I would've liked for it to be a bit more thrilling during the thrilling parts and building tension or excitement in the rest of the story leading up to a climax.

Overall, this was a great idea for a story, but the book just wasn't for me. Entertaining enough, and the writing was quite nice. If you want to check it out for yourself, The Lost Story by Meg Shaffer comes out on July 16, 2024.

I'm still looking forward to reading Meg Shaffer's first book, The Wishing Game, because I keep hearing great things about it! Thank you for the opportunity to engage with this book.