Zoé Duhaime
Erewhon Books
29 September 2026
268
eBook - EPUB
Fantasy
ARC via NetGalley
Everything you love must leave you.
Noon Bonaventure and Munro Forrest weren’t always rivals chasing each other through the pages of books. They grew up listening to stories from Munro’s grandmother and arguing over their favorites. But then one night, they discovered the Spectacular, a mysterious, ever-changing festival glittering with everything lone pearl earrings and apple orchards, abandoned first drafts and shipwrecks, a skyful of umbrellas. This Spectacular, found only by invitation or in the pages of misprints, is the most precious thing in the world. In its wake, stories settle. Noon has always been the sort to move on with grace, and Munro goes into the business of never letting go—their divide starker than ever after a misstep abruptly closes the door on what could have been.
Now long estranged yet forever drawn to one another, Noon and Munro’s differences have defined their ways of life. Munro, an ambitious museum curator, vows his next exhibit will trap the Spectacular and return its lost treasures, while Noon, queen of cat-and-mouse, has been chosen as the next captain of the show.
As opening night for Munro’s exhibit draws closer, he and Noon will have to stop running and finally agree on how their story ends—and perhaps, find a way to start again.
The Lost Spectacular was a book I struggled through. On the plus side, the premise was fantastic and fantastical. I loved the idea of travelling through and hiding out in books, and of the Spectacular itself, full of lost items and stolen umbrellas. However, I found the presentation of the story in the prose difficult to wade through. There were bizarrely phrased sentences and so much dreamlike narration that it was a struggle to follow the plot, especially through the middle section of the book. I was interested in the opening sections, and the ending also pulled things back a bit, but in the middle there were times when I almost gave up reading and found myself skimming. I think less wishy-washy prose and some clearer world building early on would have helped the great story idea to shine through. At present it's a book that, when you turn the final page, makes you wonder what on earth you just read. I am giving it three stars. It has an extremely compelling premise, but I felt the execution could have been handled better.
I received this book as a free eBook ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
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