I just finished John Connolly's The Book of Lost things. And I loved it. In all honesty, it is exactly the kind of thing I like. Fairy tales reshaped in all sorts of ways+coming of age story=I'm a happy reader. I really was interested in the book from the moment I began which is very unlike me. Even when I read a book I'm super excited about it takes me a little while to get acquainted with it and open myself up to the story. Not the case with this book. The protagonist, David was a character that made me feel right away that I needed to love him. He's perceptive and he's kind and vulnerable yet very capable.
The plot was also a great hold. In the book, David's mother dies and his father remarries and has a new son. David is coping with the radical change in his family when he gets lost somewhere that is not like his own world at all. David goes on a journey to see the king of this new world because he believes that the king's Book of Lost Things has the answers David needs to go home. Along the journey David is told and experiences stories that are familiar fairy tales. I know some people do not like "fractured fairy tale novels". Admittedly, I love them. However I will say that this novel does not fracture the stories at all. They retain all of their integrity even when they are adapted to fit the story.
The book really held me captive which hasn't happened in a while (notice my hiatus from blogging. which had to do with more than just that). I highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in the slightly darker side of fairy tales or any lover of hero's journeys and coming of age novels.
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