The Lost Path by Amélie Fléchais
Expected Release: April 10th 2018
Format: PDF
Publisher: Lion Forge
Source: NetGalley
Three young boys set off from Camp Happiness, map in hand, determined to be the first to find the treasure before anyone else. But the shortcut they take leads to something far more spectacular and sinister! All manner of magical beasties live in these woods, and the kids find themselves caught between warring Forest Spirits. Will the three boys find their way out of trouble? Get your map and ready, set, go! Amélie Fléchais’s incredible artwork combines the best of French illustration with manga influences. A spooky new fairytale, for fans of Over the Garden Wall.
A BIG Thank You to NetGalley and Lion Forge for providing me a copy of “The Lost Path” by Amélie Fléchais in exchange for my honest review.
This book started out great! We got a backstory of a cursed forest, and saw three adventurers accidentally set into the forest while playing treasure hunt. I was hooked to the plot after reading the first few pages, and felt it had so much potential. Each of the 3 main characters have their own charm and personality, and I kept wondering how they are going to get involved in whatever was happening in the forest. Although the story got strange and vague at times, I felt the weirdness added to the charm of the plot. However, after finishing the book, I was disappointed. I had high expectations for this to be something great, but there are a lot of things unexplained, and just left me hanging in the end. The three characters also turned out to be just onlookers and weren’t much involved in what was happening in the forest.
The illustrations on the other hand were a wonderful treat. I really liked the idea of the images being colored when the atmosphere shifts in the story. While the colored illustrations are breathtaking, the black and white ones are rough around the edges. I especially found the black and white ones to be confusing towards the climax of the book, as a lot of things happened suddenly, and some of the characters started looking alike, so it is hard to follow what is happening. However, the details drawn in each frame is definitely something to stop and admire. It is obvious that Amélie has spent a lot of time trying to put her style in each page, and I am definitely curious to pick up one of her other works to see how good it is.
I am giving “the Lost Path” a 3.5 star rating, 2 for the surreal images, and 1 for the story. I would have given this book a higher rating if I knew it was a first in the series, hoping to come back to find out the continuation to the characters in the forest. However, from what I can see online, I don’t think it is the case, as the book was released in French in 2013 itself and doesn’t have any sequels to it. I do hope the author changes her mind in the future and decides to have a sequel published with these characters.
