the book of lost things. john connolly. (293)

i don't know how the book of lost things, got on my to-read list.  i thought it was new book, but it has been out since 2006.  i read it on some list as a retelling of fairy tales, which is why i check it out, this type of work is part of my book riot read harder challenge.

before i have start, i have to say that i wish i had discovered this work earlier because then i could have shared it with my grandma.  this is totally something she would have loved.  it actually reminded me of the abc show, once upon the time.  i mean i feel that conolly could have been a writer for a series, especially since the villain, the crooked man, turned out to be rumplstiltskin, just like the series.  also, the whole ripping pit the heart to take one's soul and lifetime was just like once as well.

the novel opened with a young boy, david, losing his mother.  he was a lover of books and they begin talking to him.  his father remarried a woman named rose and they have a child, george.  david and his father move into rose's home.  he stayed in a room that previously belonged to her uncle, a fellow book lover that disappeared one day with his adopted sister.

david began to see a crooked man and have nightmares and one day ended up traveling to another world through a hole in a tree (kind of like, once).  

on the other side, he befriended a woodcutter that saved his life and suggested that he go to the king to help

him return home.  the king had a book, the book of lost things (the title) that should help him!

along the way, david encountered different characters and hears tales similar to the fairy tales that he loves.  he meets half wolf/half human creatures that are offspring of little red riding hood who decided to lie with wolves instead of kill them.  he met a crazy woman that combined the bodies of humans and animals so that she had new creatures to hunt.  he heard the story of hansel and gretel but in this version, gretel saved the day but instead of living happily ever after with gretel, hansel went looking for his mother and ened up disappearing after entering the home of an old woman.  he met a knight that turned out to be gay and searching for his lover who had gone out looking for briar rose aka sleeping beauty. he also shared a morbid tale bad on the prince and pauper.  

in the end, david escaped death a handful of times and ended up at the king's castle.  however, he discovered that the king was in cahoots with the crooked man.  it turned out the crooked man took the hearts of children which then added years to his life.  he sought out children who hated their siblings and convinced them to bring their siblings to the other world so he could steal the siblings' hearts and years and then make the jealous child the king or queen.  this is what happen to david's stepmother's uncle.  the crooked man wanted the name of george and would make david king.  however, david resist and the king and crooked men were destroyed by the wolf/man hybrids.  and david returned home.

i have to add this novel went on to share the rest of david's life which felt excessive, but in the end, david ended up back in the magical land.  minus all the evil, of course.

an enjoyable read.  i, of course, loved all the retellings of the fairy tales, so thanks book riot for this challenge.