It’s no secret that I am a longtime fan of Seanan McGuire’s Wayward Children novellas. I am always in awe of the ways in which McGuire can deliver whimsical magical worlds, while also discussing complex themes of grooming and choices. Keep reading this book review for my full thoughts of Lost in the Moment and Found.
Summary
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
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
TW: grooming, gaslighting
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.
Then before our eyes, Lost in the Moment transforms into a whimsical story about being lost. And what it means to be found. All the worlds Antsy finds herself in which are full of danger and promise. We become transported into McGuire’s signature worlds. The topsy turvy ways logic follows us and colors take on new meanings. But not all is right. Because all knowledge, opportunities, and promises seem to come with prices. This is where Lost in the Moment and Found shines.
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How McGuire explores the idea of agency and informed choices. Even in an utopia, one without an exit is never a utopia. Lost in the Moment and Found only evolves as the novella progresses. It becomes impossible to put down as we question the idea of cost and knowledge, of escape and being found. Find Lost in the Moment and Found on Goodreads, Storygraph, Amazon, Indiebound, Bookshop.org, & The Book Depository.
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