2025 & 2026 Reading Challenge discussion

This thread is to discuss The Lost Story by Meg Shaffer.

Pages: 352 pages

Length: 1 month (June)

Participants: Keets, Elaine, Patricia

Everyone reads at their own pace during a Buddy Read. Because participants can be at different parts of the book at different times, it is extremely important to mark spoilers so that the book is not ruined for someone who is not as far along as others!!!

Mark spoilers by placing {spoiler} before the text and {/spoiler} after the text but use the < and > instead of the { and }.

Here are some questions to help get the conversation started! Feel free to look up discussion questions specific to this book or come up with your own. Just make sure any questions that contain spoilers are under spoiler tags.
Discussion questions are not required but may be a fun way to talk about the book and get to know each other!

Prior to starting:
What prompted you to join this buddy read?
Have you read this author before? What do you think of their other books?

Mid-read:
What character or ideas do you relate to the most and why?
Do you have any favorite quotes or scenes?

After reading:
What was enjoyable or not-so-enjoyable about this book?
Did this book change your perception about anything, either within the book (character development) or in real life?

Beginning - Chap. 6: (view spoiler)[I am really intrigued by this story so far…I love how it has been structured, from the prologue being told from the pov of someone who is only vaguely, tangentially connected to the characters to the Storyteller’s in-between chapters. The writing is really solid…I am taking notes of little bits and pieces such as “two hours and a bucket of sweat later…”. This sentence level enjoyment is more than matched by my intrigue with the plot itself. I feel like we have been given only the scantest of bred crumbs at this point but I am happy to follow to see what will be revealed next. (hide spoiler)]

Chap. 7-33: (view spoiler)[I am continuing to enjoy this one quite a lot…I will say that Rafe’s dad being the false king did not surprise me, but learning the reason behind him being so did. I saw some reviews that complained about slow pacing but I am enjoying the way the story is taking its time to unspool. With all the craziness of the real world, I am fine with lower stakes and lower angst in my reads. (hide spoiler)]

I’ve just started Chapter 6, (view spoiler)[ and so far I’m really enjoying it, there’s definitely a lot of intrigue! Elaine, I'm with you on the structure, I also really liked how the Storyteller’s chapters are woven in between. (hide spoiler)]

I had to put this off for a while since I had a couple of other library books due back, but I finally finished it today. This was a 3-star read for me because I went in with fairly high expectations, and I think the book could’ve been a bit more whimsical. Also I think I would've liked an explanation as to how Shannondoah came into being. Still, there were parts I really enjoyed, especially the storyteller chapters in between.