I loved this book (as I've loved pretty much all of the Wayward Children books). It does take a bit darker turn in the real world than the others have, but there is an author's note at the beginning with some reassurance. Though the author's note might also have added a bit to the sense of dread at the beginning.

The really interesting part of this book is that instead of the child having just one door that opens for them, their first door leads them to a place where there are hundreds, maybe thousands of doors that they get to visit. It gives a lot more insight into how the Doors work without taking away the magic of it, and adds a new element of danger that isn't obvious at first.

Really well written, great addition to this series. This one might be a bit more sad overall than the others, but it's a great read. I'll probably never stop wanting to read books from this series, because they're all so unique but still of the same cloth, like a square in a huge quilt of stories.

This book was already on my “2023 most anticipated” list, so imagine my shock, awe, and delight when I got the email I was approved for an ARC of this on Netgalley. Well, I’m here, and extremely pleased to report that it did not at all disappoint, and makes for an excellent next entry in the Wayward Children series. Highly recommended, and if you haven’t started on this series yet, what are you waiting for? it’s even got a Hugo now!

Lost in the Moment and Found is an even-numbered series entry, which means it focuses on the individual story of one of the wayward children; it centers around Antsy, to whom we were briefly introduced back in Where the Drowned Girls Go.

Antsy makes for a wonderful narrator, and I really hope we see more of her in the series going forward; I’ll save the details so I avoid spoilers, but her pre-Door and post-Door stories were both extremely compelling. The world-building around the Doors gets expanded upon in a really rewarding and intriguing way in this one, and I adored the new places we got to visit.

One thing I have always loved about this series (and the stand-alones in this series especially) is how Seanan writes children, and that holds true here; she really captures both the surprising maturity of a lot of kids, and the limits of their understanding and knowledge of the world.

All in all, a fantastic read, a very worthy next addition to the series, and a great jumping-on point for anyone who hasn’t started it yet. (But, you know, this comes out in January, so why not devour the previous books first?? It’s very much worth it!) My enormous thanks to Tor and Netgalley for an e-ARC!

Thank you to NetGalley, MacMillan/Tor-Forge, and Seanan McGuire for the eGalley copy of this novel.

Seanan McGuire has done it again. With another near-perfect entry into the Wayward Children series Seanan provides readers with another beautiful & excruciatingly accurate into the suffering, grief, resilience, and grandeur of children along with expanding on the mythology of the Doors, the worlds behind them, and the cost of their use.

While this book deals with grooming & child abuse, Seanan provides a hope-fueled forenote to the novel that equips readers well and assures us of the outcome of this particular horror.

Reader beware, however - this book left me sobbing no fewer than 5 times in it's short 160 pages. I cannot wait for the next entry in the series, nor recommend the Wayward Children strongly enough.

This is another great entry in the Wayward children series, giving us a glimpse into the adventures of a brand new character (this is something that I like about the series, it often has a few standalone entries leading up to a book where a bunch of the characters band together on a Quest before veering off into standalones again). Antsy loses her father (heart attack) at a young age, and when she mother quickly remarries, she's wary of her stepfather. She's not sure why, but he seems dangerous, so when things escalate, Antsy takes the initiative and runs away from home. Now Lost herself, she opens a Door to a shop where lost things gather. The premise of this one is a bit different, instead of going to a single world, Antsy visits several worlds through the Doors that appear in the shop. Loss is a huge part of this book, and it pops up throughout the story in a variety of ways. While reading, I kept feeling like the vibes were a bit different from a lot of the other books in the series, and after thinking about it, i'd say this one pretty similar in tone to Down Among the Sticks and Bones (there's even a brief Jack and Jill cameo). A great entry, and i'm excited to see what Antsy gets up to in the future.

Excellent addition to this world. The main character is so well developed and loveable. You really feel for her. I greatly appreciate the trigger warning at the beginning of the book.

Lost in the Moment and Found by Seanan McGuire is another fantastic, incredible addition to the phenomenal Wayward Children series.

I absolutely love Seanan McGuire's writing.
This installment in the series didn't disappoint at all.
The characters are so well written and atmospheric.
Antsy is a wonderful character and one strong willed girl and beautifully developed.
She is so relatable shows strength and courage throughout the novel.
I enjoyed following her journey and seeing the outcome.
Seanan McGuire creates the most incredible magical world.
The setting and adventure kept me turning the pages till 1am and honestly I'm not at all upset about it!

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

Tordotcom,
Thank You for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!
I will post my review to my blog, platforms, BookBub, B&N, Kobo and Waterstone closer to pub date.

Another great addition to the Wayward Children series. I appreciated the trigger warning at the beginning of the book. Loved Antsy’s story.

This particular volume of Wayward Children has a great balance of set-up, magical world, and afterward. After however many books it has been, I haven't even begin to feel like this universe has been explored, and I continue to love the even books the best.

A new novella in the Wayward Children series is always a pleasure, and Antoinette’s story is no exception.  This one can easily work as a standalone and introduction to the series.

Lost in the Moment and Found is one of the heavier novellas in this series.  McGuire lets the reader know in an author’s note at the start that this book deals with grooming and child abuse — though the heroine, Antsy, escapes before anything can happen, it’s the main focus of the first third of the book and is difficult and heartbreaking to read.

The book begins when Antoinette (Antsy) is a young girl and her father dies suddenly.  Her mother remarries, and Antsy is frightened of her new stepfather.  She eventually runs away, and opens a door to a mysterious shop where she means an elderly woman and a talking magpie.

Antsy is a great character, wise beyond her years in some ways but somehow still full of childish naivité in others. The world she finds isn’t as colourful or overly magical as other worlds in this series, which set the pace a bit slower for me, but it was still interesting reading about Antsy uncovering its secrets.  

I liked the way the themes of this book tied in so well to the heartbreak of child abuse: Antsy loses so much of her childhood. The story ends on a bittersweet but hopeful note in the best fairy tale way, and I appreciated reading a story where a child was able to rescue herself. It’s not representative of the real world, but that’s the point.

Thank you to Netgalley and Tordotcom for my review copy of this book

This is another great installment in the Wayward Children series. I love that the portal stories can be read as standalones, and now it's possible to choose from five different books to start the series from based on what suits your tastes (i'm partial to 2 and 4)

Thank you to MacMillan-Tor/Forge and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion!

Like every other book in the series, I absolutely adored this. It was a bit of a different tone than a lot of the other books in the series, and spent a lot of time with our main character, Antsy, before she finds a door.

I think this book really did a great job exploring the lasting impacts of childhood trauma, and readers should definitely heed the content warning that is included at the beginning of the book.

Antsy was a great main character, and I also appreciated getting to explore a part of the world (worlds?) in this series that was quite different from what was explored in previous books.

Needless to say, I'll obviously be picking up a copy when it is released.

Another very interesting addition to the Wayward Children collection. I loved the shop in this story and I love how we usually get a glimpse of something familiar in each book. This was one of the darker ones though - dealing with child abuse/child assault - especially after a very emotional start. But the ending was very satisfying and I hope we see more glimpses of Antsy in future books.

I'd say this is by far the most intelligent book in the Wayward Children series yet. I went into this expecting a mostly lighthearted story, but it wasn't and I mean that in a good way. Antsy's story is mostly sad up until the end and it's made up of a lot of metaphors. We also get a more interesting dynamic with the Doors which I absolutely loved. Overall, it's another fantastic book in the series and one that I think a lot of people will relate to.

1.) Every Heart A Doorway ★★★★.5
2.) Down Among The Sticks and Bones ★★★★
3.) Beneath The Sugar Sky ★★★.5
4.) In An Absent Dream ★★★★
5.) Come Tumbling Down ★★★★
6.) Across the Green Grass Fields ★★★.5
7.) Where the Drowned Girls Go ★★★★
8.) Lost in the Moment and Found ★★★.5

I'm conflicted about this book. On one hand, I enjoyed Angsty story and the fact that we got to learn more about the Doors and how these magical worlds work but on the other, this book is completely separate from the rest of the series and you can almost read it without having read the previous 7 except for a couple of mentions of other characters here and there... I much prefer when we have a big cast of characters going on an adventure. I also think Angsty was a very mature child for her age... at the start, she was thinking like a 14-15-year-old, instead of an 8 -9-year-old... it made it less "believable"

Now, I need to re-read the other 7 books because I can't remember much about them hahaha

I love these books. This one is Antsy's story (I may need a reread, because I didn't have good memories of her from previous books). She runs away from danger in her home and finds a Door to the place where lost things (and Doors) go. Her story is about trusting oneself and knowing when it is time to GO, but also really taps into the wonder at the heart of these stories. Each door is a new adventure, and Antsy has to decide what she'll trade for those experiences. She probably wins the prize for visiting the most worlds of all the characters in this series (including some recognizable ones), but we mostly stay with her in the shop of lost things.

This book was hard - Antsy's story is scary and difficult, but Seanan McGuire handles the story well. She is intentional about illustrating the toll these experiences, this broken trust, exacted on Antsy. I'm so sad for Antsy and for the kids who don't have door to escape through, but glad that we have stories like this one. I'm in on these books forever.

It's a Wayward Children novella. It's always an exciting moment.

One thing I that both makes me happy and sad with some of the recent novellas is that they're standalone. I love that they provide new entry points for readers, and also that McGuire is exploring such interesting variations on the 'there are Doors that lead to new worlds and young kids who need them can sometimes find them' thing.

The only reason I'm sad is that I love many of the original cast and I will always want to know more about them. But that's definitely about me and not about the books.

So! If this is your first Wayward Children, how awesome! And if it's your 8th, how awesome is this series??

As McGuire herself does in the Author's Note, I will point out that the lead character deals with an adult gaslighting and grooming them. McGuire wants very much to let readers know that Antsy runs before anything actually happens, and I deeply appreciate this reassurance. I also appreciated, as the story progressed, the narrator noting that Antsy's fear of not being believed was in fact unfounded. Which is of little use to Antsy, of course, but perhaps of enormous use to a reader.

Antsy: unhappy at home, runs away, finds a Door... which leads her to a shop with a talking bird and a very old woman, which turns out to be a shop where lost things turn up (yes, all your odd socks; kittens and my favourite frog ear cuff, too, I expect). The bird and the woman and now Antsy catalogue what turns up, help people find lost things if they can, and sometimes sell things when they know they won't be claimed. Many Doors open from the junk shop - which is a very different premise from what happens in most of the other stories - and Antsy goes through to visit markets and to explore. It is, of course, an adventure... and things do, of course, turn out to be not quite as they appear.

I love Antsy; I thoroughly enjoyed the story; McGuire is still doing great work in this series.