Reviews with content warning for Death - The Book of Lost Things

It had a slow start and was rather predictable at times, but flew much quicker once the real adventure started. I really enjoyed the way that the different classic fairytales were woven into his journey. However, there were a few things that I found immediate problems with while reading.

My main issue was the portrayal of Roland’s sexuality. I do get how David’s initial about it being “unnatural” may fit into the WWII time period, but its use in the story still felt… off. Especially how Roland’s love for his “friend” is quickly used to insinuating that him being gay must that he must also harbor inappropriate feelings for David, a literal CHILD! It all felt very unnecessary and made me pity Roland’s character in a way that I don’t feel was the author’s intention.

Another issue I found was

David’s OCD just magically disappearing after one nice chat with the Woodsman. From the very beginning I thought that was such an interesting addition to his character, only for it to be quickly written away/cured once he entered Elsewhere! I just feel like it could have been included more throughout his journey.

I also found myself agreeing with other reviews about the randomness of the WWII setting or David’s fluctuating maturity level and how he oftentimes seemed unrealistic as a young boy, but I didn’t think about those things while I was actually reading, so much as after I finished and looked back.

Content Warnings

alleelei's review against another edition

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adventurous dark

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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chloemakesbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Deliciously scary, delightfully fantastic, solidly grounded in real appreciation for and understanding of fairy tales, this coming of age story made my heart ache and leap and pound.

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syaluo's review against another edition

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adventurous dark fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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jocy_'s review against another edition

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adventurous dark reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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nicoley3's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This story is an allegory about a boy named David losing his childhood innocence and being forced to grow up all too soon, told through fairy tales.
It is definitely an adult fantasy with some mature themes and frequent violence. The darkness in it reminded me a little of Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere. None of the darkness or violence seemed senseless though . . . it all served the story's purpose and was symbolic, portraying David's headlong fall into adulthood. It offered me a new and interesting take on life and faith in a dying world--hope and light in conflict with darkness and despair. I may not be great at explaining what this book meant to me, but it was 100% worth the read.

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rosannagh's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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booksploration's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

The Book of Lost Things is a dark and twisted story about loss, grief, and growing up. Regardless of its playful cover and the age of the main character, it’s not a children’s book.

Here’s a short description (taken from another edition): "Taking refuge in fairy tales after the loss of his mother, twelve-year-old David finds himself violently propelled into an imaginary land in which the boundaries of fantasy and reality are disturbingly melded."

I find the premise of the book exciting, the cover is beautiful, the author’s love for books shines through the story, and he manages to convey the complex feelings of grief well.

Despite all of this, I didn’t enjoy the book. "Disturbingly melded" summarises my overall impression (after reading the whole book) pretty accurately.

A few examples:

Blood and gore - I enjoy a good horror story and am not against scenes of graphic violence in general. However, I think the author sometimes overdid it a little in a way that didn't add to the story, especially since it’s about the adventures of a 12-year-old boy.

Paedophilia and the way in which it is addressed - In other parts of the book, the author described scenes of violence VERY graphically, but on page 47, he used a horrible "euphemism" to talk about the heinous crimes of a child molester:

"Now, in another bedroom, he thought of Jonathan Tulvey and Anna, and wondered if a man from a clean little house, a man who lived with his mother and kept sweets in his pockets, had made them go down with him to the railway tracks. And there, in the darkness, he had played with them, in his way." I’m glad that Connolly didn't go into more detail here, but the choice of words ("played") seems VERY unfortunate.

Homophobia - I’m aware that David is "only" a child, but the same doesn’t hold true for the author who chose to write this:

"David was being dragged along on a quest for a man whom he had never met, a man for whom only Roland had feelings, and those feelings, if the Crooked Man was to be believed, were not natural. There were names for men like Roland where David came from. They were among the worst names that a man could be called. David had always been warned to keep away from such people, and now here he was keeping company with one of them in a strange land." (p. 237)

And there's so much to unpack here:

"A bedchamber contained a naked woman and a naked man, and the Crooked Man would bring children to them (not the special ones, the ones who gave him life, but the others, the ones he stole from villages or those who strayed from the path and became lost in the forest) and the man and the woman would whisper things to them in the darkness of their chamber, telling them things that children should not know, dark tales of what adults did together in the depths of the night while their sons and daughters were sleeping. In this way the children died inside. Forced into adulthood before they were ready, they had their innocence taken from them and their minds collapsed under the weight of poisonous thoughts. Some grew up to become evil men and women, and so the corruption was spread." (pp. 304-305)

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