The Book of Lost Things - John Connolly
Rating:
Ugh. This book was so good, I wish I had written it.
In this story, our protagonist, David, becomes bitter when his father remarries after the passing of his mother. From this marriage comes his little brother Georgie, whom David loathes merely for existing. The book begins a bit slowly as all of this evolves, leading to an argument between Rose (the step-mother) and David in which he is quite rude, and she retaliates by slapping him across the face. David’s father becomes angry and punishes David by telling him he is to stay in his room on his bed and do nothing.
This is where the magic begins and the true story unfolds. This story does have many of the tropes that you find in coming of age fantasy stories, but it plays with them. David is clearly aware that he is playing a role in a fairy tale, and he uses this awareness to his advantage. He comes across characters that are familiar to us from tales we have heard in our youth - but Connolly gives them a sharp twist that makes them darker, more serious.
Connolly handled a story that could have been generic masterfully, reworking it in a way that I wish I had the skill too. It was a beautiful piece of prose from beginning to end. I want to squeal about so many details of the book that I loved, but I don’t want to spoil anything for anyone. Just please bloody read it, it’s so damn good. I had the same feeling reading it that I get with a good Gaiman book - that it’s just perfect and well-thought out, and I never want it to end.
