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.
Title : Lost in the Moment and Found
Author : Seanan McGuire
Series : Wayward Children (book three)
Format : eARC
Page Count : 160
Genre : YA fantasy
Publisher : Tordotcom
Release Date : January 10, 2023
Reviewer : Hollis
Rating : ★ ★ ★ ★
Hollis’ 4 star review
This story had me in a chokehold the moment I read the dedication and my heart was immediately broken into bits — which reminds me, there is an author’s note and content warning so please be mindful before picking this one up. Due to the one-connected, one-standalone pattern, this particular instalment isn’t part of the main storyline and instead focuses on Antsy, a young girl who runs away from home rather than face the horrors that await her at the hands of her stepfather, and, stepping through a door (which also happens to be a Door), finds herself in a junk shop housing lost things; of which she, herself, has become one.
Unlike most instalments, main plot or otherwise, this doesn’t have a lot going on. It’s a very quiet book which is incredibly fitting considering the subject matter of the beginning and also the themes for the rest of the story. And while I didn’t break down and cry (though I foresee one particular scene maybe being cause for many a tear, though I’m not sure why I didn’t shed any myself!), this somehow still packed a punch.
This series had been on a downward trajectory for me up until the last book and I’m delighted that I’ve loved one of these enough to again award a four star (only the second ever). I hope that means we only continue to go up — though I’d be just as happy to stay steady here! — because I do love the concept of this series, I admire the themes, and often I’ll even enjoy the characters. And yet somehow they never combine into a win. But this time? They did.
As this reads as a standalone, even if you aren’t invested in this series already, I would highly recommend it.
** I received an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher (thank you!) in exchange for an honest review. **
A Take from Two Cities 