Lost in the Moment and Found is a novella which manages to balance a story about grooming, escape, and gaslighting with a story about choices and knowledge. The ways children pick up on things, plot holes, glances they can't quite decipher, yet know are wrong. The beginning parts of Lost in the Moment and Found broke my heart. All the lengths adults will go to discount the feelings of children. To continue living in a fantasy in fear about what these words could mean.

I’m feeling pretty melancholic after finishing Lost in the Moment and Found. Most of the books in the Wayward Children series have an edge of horror or sadness to them, but Lost in the Moment and Found really drags you down. There are a few glimmers of hope, but it continually keeps you submerged in the depression.

From the first page, Antsy is everything little girls should be: wild and free with no threat of adulthood and no sense of fear or apprehension. But it drastically changes so quickly and then continues to get worse from there.

I don’t usually look to McGuire for uplifting or happy books, but I wasn’t quite prepared to end feeling so sorry for Antsy and her lost childhood. On top of the sadness I feel for Antsy, after reading eight books in the Wayward Children series, I can't believe there isn't a next book to reach for. It looks like there should be another two books coming out in the next few years, and I can only hope there are even more to come so I can once again escape into this incredible world.

Thanks to Netgalley & Macmillan Tor-Forge for the ARC of this book!

I can't believe this is #8 of this series, and it's official...I'm definitely not sick of it yet. Each of these small novellas follows a different character; each child just doesn't quite belong in our world. After stepping through a doorway labeled "Be Sure", they are transported to a new world.

While I enjoyed the world building around Antsy's new world, it didn't quite live up to the standards of previous books. In An Absent Dream and Beneath the Sugar Sky remain as my favorite worlds in the series thus far. Antsy's journey though, was what separated this book from its predecessors. There's a theme running through the series that most worlds do have a price to exact, but Antsy's was definitely the saddest price to pay and it was a small twist that I wasn't expecting. I'm hoping that this book sets up another book that takes place in the Home. I enjoy the standalone books, but am still just as invested in the larger storyline. I also feel like it's been awhile since we've had a book focused more on the Home and the larger cast of characters, although that could be my imagination.

I know that eventually this series is going to wind down, but I hope we at least have another 5 or so books. I'm not sure when I'll get bored of this series, so far its kept my attention and I'm always eagerly anticipating the next chapter in the story!

Lost in the Moment and Found by Seanan McGuire
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This Wayward Children book is very good for what it is. There isn't so much magic and adventure in it, but that's all right because it seems some of the best magic is often the quiet, stable kind.

There's a bit of trauma in here that may hit close to many people's homes. It's not just gaslighting and emotional abuse, but the potential for a whole lot worse.

Getting back into the core of Wayward Children is the need to escape, after all, and I think this does the job admirably.

Sometimes finding oneself is everything.

4.5/5 stars

TW for: grooming, gaslighting, childhood sexual abuse, death of a loved one, trauma in general

Thanks so much to Macmillan and Netgalley for offering me an early copy for review!

Every time I read one of these books, I'm immediately transported into the weird and wonderful little worlds. They're short, sweet (or not so sweet, sometimes), and really pack a punch despite their length. I think that really pays homage to the author's storytelling--she really has a knack for it. This story, however, hit harder than the rest of the ones I've read by her.

I've had my fair share of trauma to deal with re: CSA, so at times this was difficult to process and I took a lot of breaks, but I really loved the way that the author touched respectfully on triggers in the beginning of the novel. I related to the main character and her struggles, and was thankful to the author for illustrating her in such a sensitive and hard-hitting way.

All in all, this was a wonderful story that I am going to treasure forever. I can't wait to get my finished copy and I hope Seanan McGuire continues to tell these stories, because there are so many people out there yearning for them!

From the very first page of this book, where McGuire has written a thoughtful and beautiful author's note, I was immediately hooked.

As the author's note states, this book is easily McGuire's hardest hitting book to date in the Wayward Children series. This book is a fantastically crafted allegory on the loss of innocence as we are following Antsy as she ventures to The Land Where Lost Things go.

I really enjoy and appreciate that every world that we visit in this series is unlike any that we have visited before and this is definitely true with this book. I also liked how it felt like we learnt a little more about the Doorways and excited to keep learning more as the series continues.

This book hurt. I loved it, but it really, really hurt.

I already can't wait for the next book!

This might be my favourite of the series yet. First off I would say read the author’s note. McGuire gives a thoughtful summary of trigger warnings, such as grooming and gaslighting. While these topics are heavy McGuire writes them with such precision never stepping over the line but keeping such strong emotional resonance. From Antsy’s grief in loosing her father to the new feeling of fear and trepidation inspired by her step father all have so much emotion pouring from the page.

The darkness of the first half is complimented so beautifully by the magic of Antsy’s door. I think by far it is my favourite world we have visited in the Wayward children series. There is still a little darkness and sadness to the world, an almost Wonderland quality to it where there is just a touch of darkness in all the wonder. It is beautiful in its darkness. Like the whole series it finds the joy of childhood and highlights little beads of sadness that come with growing up.

To me this was a gorgeous and poignant edition to the wayward children series.

Lost in the Moment and Found may just be the most heartbreaking entry so far in Seanan McGuire’s Wayward Children series. Which is not something I thought I would ever say after reading the end of In An Absent Dream (book #4), but there you have it. Because the even-numbered books in this series are stand-alone stories set in the characters’ pasts and can be read in order, I’m not going to assume anyone reading this review has read Absent Dream and spoil that ending – suffice to say, the conclusion of Lost in the Moment feels like Absent Dream’s opposite twin. People who have read both will understand what I’m getting at.

Lost in the Moment and Found is the portal story of Antionette, called “Antsy,” and it starts with the heartbreak of a child witnessing the death of a beloved parent. This is not a spoiler, as it happens in the first few pages and sets the stage for everything that will come after, but more of a Content Warning: if childhood loss of a parent disturbs you, you should go in to this book forewarned. In fact, this is one of several Content Warnings. All of the Wayward Children books deal with heavy topics, but this one involves gaslighting, grooming, emotional abuse of a child, and the clear intimation of impending sexual assault of a minor. But McGuire also assures us in an opening note: “Antsy runs. Before anything can actually happen, Antsy runs.”

And when Antsy does run, the Door that appears for her, with the traditional admonishment to Be Sure written above it, takes her to The Shop Where the Lost Things Go. Unsurprisingly, this is yet another of McGuire’s intriguing and deeply-developed portal worlds – but with a difference. There is no Quest for Antsy to go on to save the locals from a Great Evil before she can go home; there is no clear villain to overcome. There are just lost things to be catalogued and shelved until the person who lost them shows up to claim them, or until they are so forgotten they can be sold to someone else. The Shop has two other residents: a secretive and commanding old woman named Vineta, and a talking magpie named Hudson, who hire Antsy because of her ability to open the Doors that appear throughout the shop, allowing Vineta and Antsy to go shopping across myriad portal worlds. (Most of the worlds Antsy visits are worlds readers of the series have not seen before that I hope we’ll see more of – but I have to admit I might have squealed a bit in delight at the brief appearance by my favorite of the portal worlds we have seen before. I won’t spoil which one, or when it appears. It’s a fun call-out to earlier books.)

Also unsurprisingly, all is not as it seems with the Shop or its residents. The question that drives the narrative is whether or not Antsy will figure out what’s going on before it is too late for her to return home. The reader, of course, realizes the danger Antsy is in long before she does, but the reveal of the depths of that danger and its origins is beautifully revealed.

Lost in the Moment and Found comments on the ways in which we lose our innocence: sometimes suddenly (the unexpected death of a beloved parent; the unwanted advances of a dangerous adult) and sometimes so subtly we don’t even notice the change is happening (one of my favorite quotes from the book: “That’s one of the things about living in a body. It can change, but the ways it changes today will be the ways it has always been tomorrow. If the modification isn’t noted in the moment, then it can be all too easily dismissed.”). And while I found the book heartbreaking at multiple points, I also found it poignant and personal and imbued with hope that Antsy (and all of us) will eventually find the happiness and love she has lost.

Lest you think the book is a complete downer: there are plenty of moment of intrigue, of joyous exploration, and, without spoilers, comeuppance for at least some of those who deserve it. There are also hints at the nature of the portal Doors and why they appear to whom they do.

Lost in the Moment and Found isn’t the easiest book to read in the Wayward Children series, but it is an important one with what it has to say about the ways children are manipulated and taken advantage of and about how we start on the road to healing from trauma.

I received an advance reading copy of this book for free from TorDotCom Publishing via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. Lost in the Moment and Found releases today, January 10th, 2023.

Ahoy there mateys! I say this every time I finish one of these novellas but I seriously could read dozens of books set in the various worlds.  This book starts with a trigger warning / disclaimer by the author and I am very glad because the first part of the book made me heart hurt and me skin crawl.  I could only get through it because of the author's promise.  It was extremely well-written though.  The second part involves Antsy going through her door to a place where the lost things go.  I would have loved being in the shop and digging through all the sections and finding random treasure.  I really enjoyed the markets she goes to and how she handled the other folk in the shop.  It was also nice to get a bit more understanding of how the doors work.  This can be read as a standalone but I suggest ye start from the beginning.  I am glad there are two more scheduled in this series.  Arrrr!

Lost in the Moment and Found is a hard read. Right at the beginning there is an explicit trigger warning, which I really appreciated as it meant I knew what to expect.

As with several of the Wayward Children books, this is not a happy read. It is, however, a moving one, a jarring one, a sad one.

I felt so much for Antsy and what she went through, feeling betrayed by everyone she loved. I was heartbroken for the child she was who didn’t trust that her mother would believe her, and for the version of her who realised that she probably would have.

I am, however, looking forward to seeing more of Antsy’s story, and I sincerely hope it will be a happier one.

Myth: 3.5/5

A place of lost things, a collecting ground of the universe. The story seems whimsical at times but really packs a punch with sobering reality. A story of needing to get away, getting lost and not knowing the whole story. Antsy’s story isn’t easy, but she makes it her own.

Magic: 3/5

I haven’t read any of the other Wayward Children books, so I’m not sure how much is thematic, with the exception of the ending, I felt like this was really standalone (the ending was also standalone, I just think it had more meaning if you were familiar with the rest of the books).

You’ll get trips to magical bazars across the universe, a collection of lost things that self manages and creatures of all kinds.

Overall: 3.5/5

A unique and sobering fantastical story. Seanan McGuire’s writing is excellent, her characters impeccably done, honestly was just a little darker than I was in the mood for.

One of the most heartbreaking books in the Wayward Children series so far, and also one of my favourites (Down Among the Sticks and Bones takes the top slot for anyone wondering). Antsy leaves a dangerous home situation and finds herself The Shop Where the Lost Things Go. Carving a life for herself in the shop, she soon discovers that everything comes at a price.

**Thank you to Netgalley and Tor for allowing me to read this book. All thoughts are my honest opinions.**

I love this series so much. I reread it every year before the new one is released and the adventures never get old. It's honestly the best way to start off the new year.

In this installment, we follow Antsy to the Shop Where the Lost Things Go. The reason for her door taking her there is heartbreaking. I felt anxious reading the beginning of her story, knowing that something was going to happen. The author did have a content warning at the beginning of the book, which helped a lot. Still heartbreaking, but lets you know that everything would be okay for Antsy in the end.

I loved that the store is basically a giant lost and found/thrift store that is kind of a middle ground for all kinds of door to open up. It was fun catching glimpses of these other worlds and their inhabitants. I really enjoyed this story, just like the others, and cant wait to see whose story is next!

Thank you to Tor Publishing and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This series breaks my heart and puts it back together every time I read an installment. This novella was no exception. Antsy at 6 broke my heart and the events that led her to Eleanor West's School for Wayward Children were both exciting and terrifying by turns. As usual, I am in awe of the way Ms. McGuire 's mind works and glad that she allows the rest of us to go along in the journey. I highly recommend you pick this up if you have been following along in the series and if not, I recommend you start the series right away.

(And once again, I say, #TorNeverDoesMeWrong)

Absolutely heartbreaking. The way McGuire writes about the things Antsy has lost pierced straight to the heart. I've only read the first book in the series so I can't compare it to much but it was a wonderful story in itself.

These are some of the only YA books that still pique my interest and is a series that I’m still excited about and keep coming back to. I will say, even though this is a series of novellas, this one somehow felt much shorter than the others, but that also could have been because I flew through it in about a day.

Even though this is a YA, it still addresses some pretty dark topics (as many books in the series do) but I think Seanan McGuire handled it with a lot of care and I really appreciated the author’s note at the start of the book, definitely not something to skip over.

In this book we follow Ansty as she finds her door, and the world she stumbles into is a little bit different from the previous places we’ve encountered, and even though I liked the premise of a magical lost and found shop, honestly this world felt a little bit less whimsical and unique than the previous worlds we’ve journeyed to in the series.

I really liked Ansty as a protagonist, and I think she’s someone that all readers will really root for, particularly with the difficult circumstances she faces and deals with in the story.

This is one of the stories within the series that can be read as a standalone/entry into the series without having to read the previous 7 instalments (though they’re still definitely worth the read!)

Thank you to the publisher for providing an advance copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

content warnings provided by the author: [“themes of grooming and adult gaslighting are present in the early text.”]

Well, this was a heavy read for the start of the New Year. I had a really difficult time getting through the first few chapters of Lost in the Moment and Found due to the content warnings above. Seanan McGuire really left a piece of her heart in this story and it showed through the narrative from Antsy’s perspective. The writing here was fantastic and so was the way she explored the loss of innocence and what it can cost.

In terms of world-building: this new installment was also excellent. One of the big questions regarding the Doors was answered in such a satisfying and heartbreaking way. I didn’t expect it and I really loved how McGuire decided to tackle that here. It added a lot of depth to the series and more understanding about what it meant to find Doors and go through them.

The ending was pretty bittersweet, in a way? And a little ominous. I very much enjoyed how it tied to familiar settings and information we already knew about how this world works. And I’m also incredibly curious about how the series is going to progress considering what we’re now aware of.

Another Wayward Children book and another emotional read dealing with some really tough topics. Antsy is a strong protagonist and her story is a particularly difficult one given that it deals with child abuse, and I thought the world of the Lost and Found store was an interesting one. I liked Hudson as a character and the magpies in general. Overall, this is not my favourite book in the series, but it is another strong addition.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

As ever, this is a stunning novella. I will say, the first half is heavier than some of the Wayward Children entries, but Seanan McGuire provides an ample, generous author's note about the content, and (as she says), the focus is more on threat than action, and once the threat is understood, the central character flees and the 'fantasy' part quickly takes over. I loved it, and I can't wait to own a copy, though I might tend to skip the first half of this book in my annual re-reads of the series.

My first completed read of 2023 and it was a magnificent one! This 8th installment in the Wayward Children series is near perfection.

I love this series so incredibly much. I'm a big fan of portal fantasy to begin with, but Seanan McGuire just has a way with words. Her characters are wonderful, her stories both heartbreaking and uplifing. The narrative is beautifully written and atmospheric. The Shop Where Lost Things Go is magnificent and I really enjoy the creativity of all the worlds that she manages to create. The only downside to this book is that it is a novella. I would devour each of these reads even if they were 1000 pages long. They are just incredibly magical.

There is some gut-wrenching and potentially triggering content at the introduction of the story, but it is gracefully handled and does a wonderful job of setting the scene. McGuire is nothing if not authentic to her work and I appreciate how many different facets and ways of life she brings to her tales. She is so effortlessly inclusive that I am just constantly in awe.

The plot is full of wonder and magic, but also contains her trademark nature of allegory and life lessons. An absolutely perfect read to begin 2023.