A young girl discovers an infinite variety of worlds in this standalone tale in the Hugo and Nebula Award-winning Wayward Children series from Seanan McGuire, Lost in the Moment and Found.
Welcome to the Shop Where the Lost Things Go.
If you ever lost a sock, you’ll find it here.
If you ever wondered about favorite toy from childhood… it’s probably sitting on a shelf in the back.
And the headphones that you swore that this time you’d keep safe? You guessed it….
Antoinette has lost her father. Metaphorically. He’s not in the shop, and she’ll never see him again. But when Antsy finds herself lost (literally, this time), she finds that however many doors open for her, leaving the Shop for good might not be as simple as it sounds.
And stepping through those doors exacts a price.
Lost in the Moment and Found tells us that childhood and innocence, once lost, can never be found.
REVIEW
I am really lucky to have discovered the first book in the Wayward Children’s series on Goodreads because of a very well-written review. Since my read of book one, I have eagerly waited for each novella in the series, and ensure that I have the time to read it as soon as it reaches my kindle upon release. Now imagine, if you will, my excitement at the receipt of a review copy ahead of release.
“People should be themselves, not just part of a classification.”
For the uninitiated, the Wayward Children is a series of urban portal fantasies of eight novellas this far, each that focus on a different character, or a set of characters, with common themes of identity and acceptance. They are strange, beautiful, one sitting reads that are thought provoking, yet read easy. This book focuses on Antsy, who runs away from home to escape her stepfather, and comes across a door that takes her to a shop in a world of talking birds and more, one in which she is taken care of and feels safe.
Like each of the previous instalments, this book can be read independently of the others. Personally, I think one Seanan’s greatest achievements is that someone who has read all the previous instalments will be able to enjoy this book with the same level of comfort as someone who hasn’t read the ones before it, and at the same time, not find it repetitive. The other thing the author does really well is give each protagonist across the series a distinct voice, without losing any narrative quality.
“She didn’t like the idea of being alone with him even more than she didn’t like the way he looked at her sometimes.”
In a touching show of consideration, the author has added a note at the beginning of the book that discloses that it does contain themes of grooming and adult gaslighting in the early chapters, with the reassurance that Antsy, the protagonist, runs away before anything can actually happen. After Antsy’s father dies of a heart attack, her mother starts seeing and then marries a man who makes her uncomfortable for no evident reason, one she can’t even put a finger on. She runs away as things get to a stage where she feels that he could turn her mother against her, and eventually get his way with everything. The beginning chapters showcase her grief at parental loss and her grudging resignation that her stepfather is likely to be around her and her mother forever. The later chapters show her find her way around the shop where the lost things go, and her discovery of the truth behind the establishment of the shop. This book has a particular focus on the idea of loss in multiple forms, and talks of those things that can’t be found, once gone. All of this is done in the typical Seanan way that is engaging and blunt, in a way that kept me thinking of the topics the book raises a lot longer than it took me to read it thoroughly.
This is a highly recommended read for those who want to read something compelling and bittersweet. Readers who are familiar with the series are going to be delighted at yet another entry of high quality, and the others will likely find here a read that might just urge them to pick up the rest. As is characteristic of every novella before this one, it shows us that we have much to learn.
RATING
I received an ARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Quotes are taken from the ARC and are subject to change upon publication.
LINKS
Add this book on Goodreads here | Author’s website
Find this and more of my reviews here, as well as on the Fantasy Book Critic blog
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YOUR REVIEWS ARE HONESTLY THE BEST THINGS OF EVER??? I LOVE THEM SO MUCH!!!! its been about a year since i read (AND HOPELESSLY FELL IN LOVE WITH) the first book in this series (bittersweet describes the books perfectly, actually) and it was EVERYTHING I NEVER KNEW I NEEDED??? the looming darkness and yearning for a place you’ve spent so much of your life in and then wanting to get back to that?? IT WAS BEAUTIFUL OK. and i need the rest of the series so bad?? but keeping up with reputations and such i havent gotten to the rest of them yet EXCEPT AFTER THAT YOUR REVIEW CAME ALONG. and this changes things. EXCUSE ME WHILE I HUNT FOR ONLINE COPIES RIGHT AWAY AND THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS!!!!!
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