I had absolutely no expectations of this book other than the hope of feeling some childhood nostalgia for the stories I read and heard while growing up (The Chronicles of Narnia were a STAPLE of my childhood summer visits to North Carolina and Virginia). These expectations were absolutely blown out of the water! We witness the reappearance of two boys in a West Virginia forest after they’ve been deemed lost for 6 months. Jeremy (Jay) and Ralph (Rafe) return and are completely changed after their time away and are unable to explain the reasoning behind their “lost” time, much less what happened to them. Jay leaves the States and returns home to Europe and Rafe is stuck in this small-town with his parents and never ending questions from locals. Jay starts making an international name for himself when he reveals he’s able to “find” lost girls, and this notoriety is what crosses his path with Emilie, who just so happens to have lost a sister she’s never met in the same forest where Jay and Rafe went missing 15 years ago (at this point).

On a mission to find Emilie’s missing sister, Shannon, Jay tracks down and convinces Rafe to join them (it takes a lot of convincing since they haven’t seen each other in 15 years). We eventually make our way into the kingdom of Shanandoah - an absolutely picturesque realm full of Valkyries, large firefly-like moths, and unicorns, but also plagued by devious and shadowy spirits. I will leave the plot hanging here for fear of revealing too much, but I’ll mention a few more aspects of this book that just WORKED for me: the subtle romance plot; very fun and modern banter; LOTS OF SECRETS; the heartbreakingly realistic commentary on themes such as adoption, substance abuse, and parental abuse; and the poignant fairytale imagery that just kept making me think of Narnia and the Land of Oz. Shaffer really knows how to tug on your heartstrings and she writes beautifully complex characters with a delicious plot to match. I will absolutely read anything Shaffer writes, now. If you’re looking for a fairytale written for adults to remind them of their childhood - this is the book. This is it, for sure.