The Book of Lost Things

I have read this book several times, I have 2 paper copies, 1 cd and now I downloaded it from Audible. I got it from Audible so I could bookmark it and so it would take up less room on the mp3 than the cd does. Anyway on to the review. How do I tell you how great it is without telling too much? Hmmmmm, well, I think I will try to tell you just a few of the things that I loved about it. This story grabbed me from the first page, yes the first page! No joke at all about that. The way the words spoke to me was different than most books, it was special. The stories pace was detailed but fast, to me it was just the right mixture to make me want to keep going without many breaks. As the story starts it is about an older boy whose Mom dies and he has to accept a new mom and a new half brother. Somewhere around there he starts to hear books talking to him, a "crooked man" starts coming around and he finds a door to a secret land/world.
When he enters the new world he finds one of the greatest and worst adventures that anyone could imagine. He meets some of my favorite characters that I have ever read in one book. Some of them befriend him while others scare him, lie to him, try to kill and even try to steal his soul. It is a coming of age book but also so much more. It is an adventure for some older teens but mostly for adults. It has a good ending so don't worry about that. All in all I believe most readers will find a reason to like this book. I usually read Koontz and Stephen King type of books but I now find this book among my all time favorites. The only thing that upsets me is that John Connolly has yet to write another story like this one! I will patiently wait.
I hope you give it a try.
Thank you for reading my opinion!

Set in England at the start of WWII, the 12-year-old main character, David is struggling with the death of his mother after a long debilitating illness. After his father quickly remarries and has another child, David feels abandoned and resentful. Always a reader, he turns to his books for solace and they in turn begin to talk back. He escapes into a secret world of fairy tales and embarks upon a quest to learn the truth about what really happened to his mother. This book is a mixture of coming of age story interspersed with fairy tales turned grisly. It is rare to find a book with truly creative concepts, but Connolly manages to take what could have been a fairly common format and make it unique. I will definitely be reading/listening to more of his work. I also thought the narrator was perfect for this story and added to the overall experience.

A bit like CS Lewis's Lion, Witch, and Wardrobe series and a bit like the movie Pan's Labyrinth, in that a child is pulled from the troubled real world into a dark, parallel fantasy world. This book, though, finds a middle ground between the preachyness of the former and the creepiness of the latter, paying tribute to a few other classics as well.

Connolly is imaginative, and I enjoyed his subversion of familiar fairy tales. Most are dark, but there's some Monty Python-like humor in a revision of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, and I found a tale involving a not-quite-typical knight in shining armor to be moving in its simplicity.

Unfortunately, the book gets caught up in its episodic structure, and the larger plot arc is less satisfying. David, who begins the novel in World War II Britain as a standard everyboy, other than for an odd ability to hear books talk, has little more personality by the end. Still, Connolly creates an atmospheric world that's as foreboding but fun as the grim, old-fashioned tales of magic, wolves, and wicked tricksters that we loved as children, and it's a fine place for a visit, though perhaps not multiple reads.

Stories want to be told, and this is a good one -- twisted fairy tales intersperse the larger story of David and his trip into his own story. I found the narrator to be excellent; the story was suitable for both adults and young adults. This was such an enjoyable book, I could not put it down. If you like fairy tales with a twist of darkness, you will like this one.

I really enjoyed this book. It started a little bit slow, but once the little boy disappeared into the other world, I couldn't stop listening. You couldn't help rooting for him, and understanding how he thought. The people he met were as interesting as he was.

I read The Book of Lost Things years ago and I never forgot it. I recommended it to several friends who loved it just as much. Set during World War II, this book tells the tale of a young boy, David, who has recently lost his mother. His life is further uprooted when his father remarries and has another son, and they move into an old, mysterious house in the country. David begins to hear voices and suspects there is an evil man prowling around the house. One night, David goes into the garden and he is suddenly transported into another world. It is a world filled with an array of fascinating characters, some of which aim to help David return home and others who mean to harm him. Connolly takes well-known fairy tales and turns them on their head (e.g. Snow White is really a fat, nasty person and the Seven Dwarves are Communists who seek to overthrow her). You will love the Woodsman and Roland and be truly frightened by the Huntress and especially the Crooked Man. Connolly has a magical writing style that is a reminiscent of other fairy tales and he has you hooked with the first few lines. Steven Crossely has a wonderful range for the many characters' voices. I highly recommend this book and believe it will stay in your memory for years to come.

I enjoyed Connolly's "The Gates", which had an energetic protagonist and a reasonable premise, and fell for the good reviews for this book. After 2+ hours of hearing about the problems of a depressed and depressing young boy, the action finally started. Some of it was inventive; much was ugly; some was related to fairy tales but other bits seemed like just an opportunity to bring in grotesques. There was an almost complete lack of humor, and what there was was heavy-handed and soon over. Since it was set in WWII, I kept looking for parallels, but, trust me, Tolkein did it a lot better. But obviously, given the reviews, a lot of people have like it. Go take a look at a hard copy before you decide this one is for you.

This is one of those books that appeal to a specific listener. If I know my friend has a fondness of fairytales and enjoys rather warped retellings, I'd suggest this book.

The ending was satisfying in its resolution, but it was perhaps a little too "tidy" for a book that was "out there."

His agility with regional accents from the UK is admirable.

David's delicate state after his mother's death was heartbreaking and disturbing. John Connolly did a great job engendering pity for the boy's plight, particularly in the scene at the psychiatrist's office when David has a meltdown.

The Crooked Man stands out as a particularly menacing bad guy. Towards the end of the story, the author pushed a little too hard with an overabundance of gory details and sickening anecdotes about the character's misdeeds. My finger hovered over the fast-forward button because the gratuitous detail became irritating. We already got it: he's a really bad dude.

The Book of Lost Things portrays the healing power of stories and books.

What an entertaining mother of all stories, wrapped into one. If you don't like one story, just wait till the next. Lots of action, enjoyable characters and a bad buy to rival Stephen King's It--the crooked man. This is a treat, especially for those who enjoy imagination and fairy tales.

Although I am no longer a teenager, I love the how the teen fantasy books transport you to another world. I have been in search of a story that is geared towards adults and has the same affect. This story did if for me. It was addicting and I was sad when it was over.