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sam_uel_c's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping, Animal death, Torture, Blood, Death, Violence, War, Animal cruelty, and Gore
Moderate: Terminal illness, Death of parent, and Child abuse
Minor: Pedophilia and Homophobia
aliyas_encanto's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Nothing like what I expected from the book's description, but still pleasantly surprised by how engrossed I became in this story. Was near tears by the end, a beautiful celebration of growing up and learning to live a life of wonder despite hardships that come before you.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Death, War, Violence, and Death of parent
Minor: Homophobia, Pedophilia, and Suicidal thoughts
lea_liest's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Blood
Moderate: War
Minor: Grief, Kidnapping, and Death of parent
vagrantheather's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
The Book of Lost Things was recommended to me when I put up a request for trashy paranormal romance books. So obviously it was not at all a proper recommendation lol. It's a well written, solid book. It follows David, a child during the first World War, who watches his mother die of a drawn out illness, then his father remarry and have a new child. He's dealing with a lot of difficult, heavy emotions and he's angry at everyone. David is pulled through a wall into a fantasy realm where all the usual fairy tales are just a bit different from how he knows them. On his journey to return home, he does a lot of reflecting and growing up. Essentially it's a coming of age story in a dark fairy tale frame.
Connolly did a great job but it was certainly a more forthright distribution of life lessons than I'm accustomed to reading. The characters - the crooked man, the woodsman - were faithful representations of archetypes, rather than fully developed characters. It's a story that explored heavy themes via the familiar lens of centuries old stories. Connolly even goes so far as to dedicate the last quarter of the book to a discussion of the original material, from the first written versions to variations across cultures to the moral lessons portrayed in each.
For personal enjoyment I'd probably give it a 4/5. It didn't hit emotionally for me, nor am I interested in a coming of age story at the moment. I thought the initial allusions to OCD were unfortunate in that David is cured of his compulsions by a couple words of fatherly advice. I would probably recommend this to literary teenagers. It's probably not compelling for fans of popular booktok fantasy.
Connolly did a great job but it was certainly a more forthright distribution of life lessons than I'm accustomed to reading. The characters - the crooked man, the woodsman - were faithful representations of archetypes, rather than fully developed characters. It's a story that explored heavy themes via the familiar lens of centuries old stories. Connolly even goes so far as to dedicate the last quarter of the book to a discussion of the original material, from the first written versions to variations across cultures to the moral lessons portrayed in each.
For personal enjoyment I'd probably give it a 4/5. It didn't hit emotionally for me, nor am I interested in a coming of age story at the moment. I thought the initial allusions to OCD were unfortunate in that David is cured of his compulsions by a couple words of fatherly advice. I would probably recommend this to literary teenagers. It's probably not compelling for fans of popular booktok fantasy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent and Grief
Minor: War
queenshrike's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Animal death, Grief, War, Child death, Torture, Blood, Death, Death of parent, and Violence
swalk's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
A quintessentially English, gothic fairy tale; but if you are expecting a lighthearted fable, this is certainly not it.
Set in 1939 during the war, David is just a 12 year-old boy, his mother is sadly dying. The terrible stress and trauma of this has lead to him trying to prevent her death, by performing tasks in a very obsessive manner and becoming withdrawn. After some time David begins to collapse when he is stressed or angry and his father takes him to see a doctor about it. As his mind spirals David begins hearing the words inside of books come to life, until one day he is consumed by another world entirely; A world filled with fairytale horrors, battles of good and evil, wolves, harpies, knights and a sinister crooked man.
This tale has truly magical world building and a fantastic mix of malevolent and virtuous characters, I loved the the humour of the dwarves and how the story was woven with messages of overcoming grief and a sense of self discovery and growth. Honestly I absolutely adored this book and I even shed a few tears towards the end. Truly excellent.
This tale has truly magical world building and a fantastic mix of malevolent and virtuous characters, I loved the the humour of the dwarves and how the story was woven with messages of overcoming grief and a sense of self discovery and growth. Honestly I absolutely adored this book and I even shed a few tears towards the end. Truly excellent.
Nick Rawlingson was an amazing narrator, his character voicing was excellent and really made the audiobook immersive.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Body horror
Moderate: Child death, Animal cruelty, Homophobia, War, and Blood
Minor: Death of parent and Torture
zsabella's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
this is a deceptively simple coming of age story of a young boy transported into a dark, fantasy world. the story carries the same energy and atmospheric quality of the movie pan’s labyrinth (2006) by guillermo del toro but with a less fascistic, war-torn angle. at first I was pretty enchanted by the fairytale-like writing until the crooked man was introduced and I could literally feel my skin trying to crawl off my body. I liked the adult retellings of classic fairytales and fables, along with reading a few others that I had never come across before. I also really enjoyed the woodsman and roland characters who served david as interesting companions! such a solid read for any fantasy fan that needs a stand-alone novel and not an entire series to win them over.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Animal cruelty, Grief, and Violence
Minor: Death, Pedophilia, and War
lisas_bookshelf's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Torture, Violence, Death of parent, Child death, Animal cruelty, and Body horror
Moderate: War, Murder, Medical content, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, and Grief
saskiajva's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Child death, Confinement, Gore, Vomit, Grief, Murder, War, Violence, and Death of parent
Minor: Homophobia
lucibello's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
The language is rich and elegant, the imagery drew me in. The author gave voice to the main character's thoughts in a believable way. The story was gldark and gruesome, but still wholesome. It reads like a fairy tale (the original ones, not the sanitized modern ones). And there is a lot to be learned. I only held off half a star because of the gruesome nature of a few scenes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, War, and Violence