It’s January, and that means that it’s time for one of my favorite parts of the year. Yup! There’s a new Wayward Children novella out this week! I’ve been a fan of this series since Every Heart a Doorway came out in 2016, and the subsequent titles in the series have continued to break my heart and make me fall in love with Seanan McGuire’s writing over and over again. Mislaid in Parts Half-Known is the ninth full novella set in this collection of worlds (McGuire has written several short stories that flesh out some background details of characters as well).

It’s somehow been three years since the last time I reviewed one of these novellas for my blog, which I daresay is a disservice to my readers and friends (and those of you who overlap). I will include a caveat for this title for anyone who isn’t familiar with the series. This is book number 9. This is not a starting point. This book heavily references characters and events from the previous eight books.

Eleanor West’s Home For Wayward Children is a special kind of school, serving as a place for people who have found their ways into other worlds through magical Doors and then made their way back to Earth. The students are given three simple rules at the school, where they learn to adapt to a mundane life (and many wait for their Doors to appear again). “No solicitations. No visitors. No quests.” Rule number three gets broken a lot. In Mislaid, we again find Antoinette, or “Antsy,” our protagonist from book #8, Lost in the Moment and Found. Antsy has found her way to Eleanor’s school and is struggling to fit in (difficult to do when you’re 9 years old, but the magic of the Doors has aged your body to almost twice that) when several of her classmates discover her unique talent. After spending time in a shop of things that are lost from around hundreds of worlds, Antsy can find things again. Most notably for the students at the school, Antsy can find Doors. With sufficient concentration and certainty, she can locate a door to a world once inhabited by the other students. However, as she learned in Lost, the Doors take three days of your life for each one that you open (hence her appearance). She’s understandably hesitant to risk more time to open Doors for the other students.

Eventually, when one of her classmates threatens to force Antsy to find her Door for her, Antsy flees the school, in the company of some of the more adventurous (and friendly) students, Kade, Cora, Christopher, Sumi, and Emily. What follows is a whirlwind tour of worlds we’ve known existed but never visited (including Kade’s Door to Prism) and a lot of references to characters that we know from other earlier books in the series. These continuity nods are almost overwhelming, but serve to tightly pull many threads together in what may be one of the final novellas in the series, as Seanan has said that Kade’s book will likely be the end. While on the run, Antsy and her cohorts make their way back to the store where Antsy used to work, bringing her back into conflict with the shopkeeper who refused to tell her about the cost of opening the Doors.

Not everyone who comes to Eleanor West’s School for Wayward Children stays for long, and not everyone who leaves on a forbidden quest gets to come back again. Antsy leads her classmates through the Doors with the best of intentions, but some things (and some people) just have a way of getting lost.

Seanan McGuire remains one of my absolute favorite authors, and Mislaid in Parts Half-Known is a brilliant reminder of why that is. It’s out on store shelves today, so do yourself a favor and grab a copy. My utmost thanks to Tor Publishing Group and Netgalley for the eARC in exchange for a fair review.

This review originally appeared here: https://swordsoftheancients.com/2024/01/09/mislaid-in-parts-half-known-a-review/

Rating: 4.63 leaves out of 5
-Characters: 4/5
-Cover: 5/5
-Story: 4/5
-Writing: 5/5
Genre: Fantasy, Magical Realism, Urban Fantasy, YA
-Fantasy: 5/5
-Magical Realism: 5/5
-Urban Fantasy: 4/5
-YA: 5/5
Type: Ebook
Worth?: Yes

Want to thank Netgalley and publishers for giving me the chance to read this book.

For only reading the 1st, 8th, and now 9th book in this series I really do love it. Seanan does a great job at woving dark ribbon into a white cloth. She takes you to these places and somehow you leave a bit of yourself there.

This book is a continuation from book 8 and I was so happy that it was. Wouldn't like if it didn't have me feeling a little bit sad but it was nothing compared to how in awe I was while reading. I don't know if it was super quick or I just got lost in it.

I absolutely love Seanan McGuires YA fantasy series ‘The Wayward Children’. Each novella feels like a whimsical and magical bedtime story, but with added depth, lessons, and wise words.

‘Mislaid in Parts Half-Known’ is book 9 and is virtually a seamless continuation of book 8, ‘Lost in the Moment and Found’. The children who attend the School for Wayward Children, are there because they have special secret doorways that lead to other worlds. Antsy is a newer student and possesses an extraordinary talent for locating anything lost, including lost doors. She is compelled to escape with a small group of friends to return to the Shop Where the Lost Things Go. They encounter enticing temptations, reaffirm their choices, and venture into a world inhabited by dinosaurs!

I’m not sure I’d ever tire of these fantastical little stories. Each one is unique and whimsical and a few are also quite dark and severe. Fans of ya series like ‘Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children’ or ‘A Series Of Unfortunate Events’ will likely really enjoy this series as well.

Anytime I read a novel or story by Seanan McGuire, I find myself drenched in her words and knowing that I have once more encountered an exquisite story to savor. In Mislaid in Parts Half-Known, I am once again astounded by Seanan McGuire’s talent at bringing to life rich characters, diverse backgrounds, and storytelling that enriches the soul.
This story continues where the last Wayward Children’s novel left off, with Antsy, the latest student to pass through the school. Except Antsy is different. She has the ability to find lost things, including doors. And that makes her of interest to the entire school. Kade, Sumi, Cora, Christopher, and new recruit Julie all find themselves helping Antsy as they travel to several worlds to escape their initial problem.
What makes the story work so well is how perfect the pacing is and I absolutely love how Antsy’s abilities work. But I also like her compassion, her caring, and how willing she is to stand up for others when she has the chance to do so. I also appreciate that we get a touch more of Kade’s story, one of my favorite characters. There are changes and endings and while some of them are heartbreaking, that’s what makes a beautiful story. There are unexpected truths, mercy, and justice. I also love the diversity of the worlds we see, just how different they can be from what we see on our earth. That fascinates me and astounds me.
If you liked the previous Wayward Children books, you will love this novel. It will surprise you and possibly make you cry a bit but I think you will find it an exquisite story much like I do. I can’t wait for more.

Mislaid in Parts Half-Unknown, picks up right after Lost in the Moment and Found. We follow Antsy as she integrates into the school and starts meeting other students. While talking to Emily, one of the Whitethorn students, another student overhears that Antsy can find Doors. Wanting to use that against Antsy, she and the OG crew (Kade, Sumi, Cora, Christopher, and now Emily) have to travel through Doors to help Antsy escape.

One of my favorite parts of this installment, is that we finally get a glimpse of Prism, Kade's Door world! While he wasn't a fan, I sure was! And the little plot twist with Sumi before they left Prism! I hope that gets brought up in the next book.

While this didn't end up being one of my new favorites, I did really enjoy it. I love these books so much, and wish she would keep writing them forever. If you haven't read them yet, you should!

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

Thank you to NetGalley and Tordotcom for providing an ARC of this title in exchange for an honest review.

This is honestly one of my most eagerly-followed book series ever, at this point. I don't ever want to see a January without a new Wayward Children book, and it's already making me nervous that next January might be the last one; for such a huge bummer of a month, this series has always done its fair share, for me, in helping to beat the January blues. Seanan McGuire is one of the most gifted and prolific SFF writers working today, and everything I read of hers is a delight.

Now, admittedly, I tend to like the Wayward Children books that focus on a new character and their adventures behind their door better than the "bridging" books (as I call them) about the shenanigans of the rotating cast of characters at Eleanor West's. This is the latter type of book, following Antsy (the protagonist of the previous book, Lost in the Moment and Found) and her experiences at Eleanor West's once it's discovered that she, by nature of the door she walked through, has the ability to find almost anything that's lost. As you might assume, this becomes problematic for her at a school full of children all desperate to find the doors that lead back to the worlds they went to, and Antsy and some familiar faces from previous books (Cora, Kade, and the ever-wonderful Sumi) as well as some new characters introduced two books ago in Where the Drowned Girls Go set off on a quest. Personally, one aspect of this series I've always found problematic is the fact that these books are short—you could rightly call them novellas, I think—and published twelve months apart, which means I don't always remember characters from one book ago, let alone two. McGuire never makes it too difficult to reacclimatize, but I do think that reading these books back to back would probably make for a richer reading experience in some ways.

I don't want to give away too much of the plot, except to say that yes, there are dinosaurs (as the cover suggests) and yes, it's amazing. Apart from that, this wasn't necessarily the strongest book in the series—it gets off to a fairly slow start, and there's what feels like a lot more character monologuing than is typical even for this series (as a devotee of Mike Flanagan's work, I love a monologue, but I can see how another type of reader might find this less fun to read). But it was still delightful, and I stand by what I said earlier: I don't ever want to see a January without a new Wayward Children book.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
A solid new installment, and I like how this one builds on the previous one, once again following Antsy, while the prior books were interconnected standalones. I love how imaginative the worlds of these stories are, especially with this one having dinosaurs. And Antsy having two books to grow didn’t hurt either.

First, a caveat: you must have read the previous novella in this series because this one is the continuation of Antsy's story. However, if you are current on this series you should love this installment as well. Antsy is still an amazing character - her strength to do the right thing is astounding considering that she's only actually nine years old. Many favorite characters reappear in this book as they quest to both a dinosaur world and back to Antsy's store. This is one of my favorite series ever and this story did not disappoint. Seanan McGuire continues to write stories I want to read.

This series is truly one of my all time favorites!

I absolutely adore each and every character that is introduced in this series, and Seanan McGuire’s latest one - Mislaid in Parts Half-Known - definitely did not disappoint! I enjoyed continuing to see Antsy’s story play out and get her ending.

I also loved seeing the group back together for another quest! Kade, Sumi, Cora, and Christopher (and the newly joined Antsy and Emily) were all so fun to follow through their adventures and seeing how they overcame certain tough situations.

As always, McGuire’s language that she used in this book moved me. I smiled, laughed, and teared up. I loved every page of this book!

(Now I’m DYING for Emily’s book!)

The previous book in this series, Lost in the Moment and Found, was my introduction to the Wayward Children and a full introduction to Antoinette aka Antsy. After finding herself in the shop where lost things go and spending her youth (literally) opening doors to all sorts of worlds, Antsy has developed a gift of being able to find anything. Absolutely anything. And now her classmates at Miss Eleanor West’s school are finding out about this talent, and seeing a fast way back to the fantastical worlds they left. Only, it’s not really going to be that easy, is it?

On the run from a fellow pupil determined to use Antsy and her gift, the core group of characters ends up in several worlds they are not equipped for, including a return to the shop where lost things go.

I really enjoyed LitMaF, and it’s great that we get to continue with Antsy’s story so soon – or, in my case, after backtracking through the entire series first! Perhaps that didn’t help, but while I thought this was a lovely slice of story, it didn’t pack any big punch for me.

That said, there’s a lot of happy-making little bits and pieces. Kade is such an interesting character of whom we’ve learned relatively little, so it was great to see his reactions to finding himself back in the world that threw him out. Mostly, though, it’s about bringing some closure to Antsy’s horrible discovery in the shop, and asking her to make decisions about what to now do about it. Oh, via a world with a lot of dinosaurs 😉

Fans of the series will find a lot to like here, and it’s just as well-written and absorbing as the other books. However, it’s not a good place to start – you rather do need the background from the earlier instalments – and it’s not got quite enough ‘oomph’ to be one of my favourites. I do love the sense of closure at the end, though, even if it means saying goodbye to another character. That only ups the intrigue of where everything will go next!

Another installment in a series I will always devour! Mislaid in Parts Half-Known is sure to whet the appetite of Wayward Children fans. While this entry felt a bit less robust in advancing the storyline, I still thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish and am eagerly awaiting the next novella!

A continuation of some the children we have already met and a sequel to the last story. This is one where it would be a lot easier to follow along if you have read the previous books (especially the last one). It isn’t necessary as each one can stand on its own but it would certainly help as this one leans on the others more than previous titles have. It’s always a joy to renter this world and this latest installment is no exception as we get some conclusions and some more to be continued stories. Interesting to see where it will end up next

This book continues this wonderful series with another solid entry to it. This book goes back to the school as all the odd books do in the series, but this time, we get a continuation of the last book's character with Antsy. I enjoyed going back to this world, though I wish there were a few reminders of who a couple of characters were since it's been some time since I read the drown girls (I forgot who Emily and a couple of the other side characters were). I was satisfied with Antsy's conclusion and how this book settles some theories of the Doors. I think the characters get some growth knowing this information and feel better about missing their worlds. Though not my favorite in plot or action, It was a quick, satisfying read, and I look forward to the next one in the series.

I gave Mislaid in Parts Half-Known by Seanan McGuire 4 stars

Antsy is the latest student to pass through the doors at Eleanor West's School for Wayward Children.

When her fellow students realize that Antsy's talent for finding absolutely anything may extend to doors, she's forced to flee in the company of a small group of friends, looking for a way back to the Shop Where the Lost Things Go to be sure that Vineta and Hudson are keeping their promise.

Along the way, temptations are dangled, decisions are reinforced, and a departure to a world populated by dinosaurs brings untold dangers and one or two other surprises!

--------- REVIEW --------

In the pasts months I have read all 9 books in this series and the previous one, Lost in the Moment and Found, was my favorite. Since I knew this book was picking up where the last one ended, I was very excited to read it. It was wonderful, and I liked that we got closure on Antsy's story. However, I wanted more dinosaurs. We only got to spend two chapters in that world, but I was expecting more from the look of the cover.

All in all, this is another great installment to a fantastic series that I recommend to all fantasy lovers out there. Usually you don't have to read the books from this series in order, but book 8 and 9 really go together, so don't skip the previous one.

This book comes out Jan 9.

Thank you, NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

https://www.instagram.com/p/C11sQFKLIgU/

Mislaid in Parts Half-Known (Wayward Children #9) by Seanan McGuire
Expected publication date: January 9, 2024

Date read: August 10, 2023



Antsy is the latest student to pass through the doors at Eleanor West's School for Wayward Children. When her fellow students realize that Antsy's talent for finding absolutely anything may extend to doors, she's forced to flee in the company of a small group of friends, looking for a way back to the Shop Where the Lost Things Go to be sure that Vineta and Hudson are keeping their promise. Along the way, temptations are dangled, decisions are reinforced, and a departure to a world populated by dinosaurs brings untold dangers and one or two other surprises!

This is one of my favorite book series, and I'm always excited when a new one comes out. I was surprised to get another Antsy story right after the last one, but I like Antsy, so I was okay with it, despite having a few other character's stories that I'd like to hear.

While this wasn't my favorite of the series so far, I would rank it somewhere around the middle; it was still enjoyable. I liked seeing where Antsy's story led, since her story wasn't completely wrapped up in the last book. The remaining characters at Eleanor West's School are some of my favorites anyway, so anytime I get an adventure featuring Sumi, Cora, and Christopher, I'm always happy. It was also fun seeing a few new worlds, including (as shown on the cover) dinosaurs! I only wish we had been able to spend more time there.

I will always recommend the Wayward Children books (until/if they fall off in quality), so I highly recommend this book to any lovers of fantasy or adventure. I will remind those interested, however, that this series really should be read in order. Some of the books are standalone, but as a whole, readers will get more out of the series if they read it in order.

Rating: 4/5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book.

› The cover of Mislaid in Parts Half-Known gives the impression that dinosaurs have a big part of the story, which is not the case. Nonetheless, I enjoyed this installment of The Wayward Children series. The character development, world-building, writing style, plot, and intrigue are always top-notch in every book that I've read by McGuire.
› Antoinette, Antsy to her friends, sometimes gets a sort of static in her head which she's learned is a signal that there is something nearby that wants to be found and she can find anything. Before living at Eleanor West's School for Wayward Children, she lived in The Place Where the Lost Things Go. She loved being there, but something changed, making her feel unsure and you can only stay in your magical door-land if you are sure. Her inside age doesn't match her physical appearance because she aged differently in her previous world. A couple of the children at the school discover Antsy's ability and try to force her to find their doors. Cora, Kade, Sumi, and Christopher help Antsy look for a safe place for her to live.

› Characters: 10
The Wayward Children series has a diverse cast of interesting and well-developed characters.
Sumi is my favourite. She made me laugh many times with her quick wit and dry humour.
"If I was nice all the time, that would be predictable, and if I become predictable, I die inside."

› Atmosphere: 10
Incredible descriptions and world-building. I love how McGuire's writing creates a unique atmosphere for each door-world.

› Writing Style: 10
The whimsical writing style is easy to read with authentic dialogue, however, there are dark parts that are hard to read.

› Plot: 6
The beginning had me immediately engaged, lost me a bit in the middle, but ended strong. Mislaid in Parts Half-Known didn't make me worry about the characters like other books in the series did.

› Intrigue: 10
I didn't want to put it down. Antsy's story is heartbreaking and the message of breaking cycles of abuse is important.

› Logic: 10

› Enjoyment: 7

Average 9
My Rating ★★★★★


Average Story Graph Rating 4.38

Average Goodreads Rating 4.3

› Final Thoughts
• Mislaid in Parts Half-Known is an adventurous, emotional, fast-paced sci-fi fantasy about the pursuit of freedom, found family, and healing trauma.


Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

At this point in the series, I am a die-hard fan. I will follow these characters wherever Seanan McGuire takes us.

This world is my world with its portals to worlds that are meant just for those who go to them.

This book is everything I’ve expected from the last eight books since discovering the series. Whisking us away into lost places with a family that has been found together.

From this point on, I may have spoilers because talking about this far into a series, I want to talk about what I love based on continuity.

This felt like a wonderful conclusion to Antsy’s story. Lost in the Moment and Found remains to be my absolute favorite book and it paralleled the choices made by Lundy in book four, but she knew not of the consequences like Lundy did.

This book is definitely not a book that can be read without reading the past books, especially books 7&8 - so many of the actions that took place in those are resolved in this one.

What I loved most was the deeper understanding of the children and their connections to one another and their connections to their doors. The students are beginning to understand their choices more and the longer we follow them, the harder it is to say goodbye to them. The ending, oh the ending broke my heart.

How many close friends is Kade going to have to say goodbye to?

My only minor criticism is I wanted MORE DINOSAURS! But I feel like that with every book. I always want more.

Seanan McGuire just has a way of entrancing you as a reader and hooking you in from start to finish. This is a dazzling installment to a brilliant series.

I just adore this.

Thank you so much Tor and Netgalley for so generously giving me an unpaid for e-copy in exchange for my honest review. This one was such a treat to start 2024

This book is the 9th in the Wayward Children series and a direct continuation of Antsy's story from last year's Lost in the Moment and Found. To that end, this book is less of a standalone adventure than many of the others and relies on the reader having read the previous installments.
I found Mislaid in Parts Unknown to be less of an essential entry in the series, but remain intrigued to see how McGuire will wrap up a decade of novellas with next year's finale.
Thank you to the publisher, via NetGalley, for providing me with an arc for review.

It’s really well written and easy to read and follow, but I’m not finding it personally engaging. I stopped after chapter 3 (21%). It’s too slow-paced and overly-expositional for me. Solid three to four stars for the target with five for the right reader.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor for the ARC.

I’m torn between three and four stars but I’ll round up to 4 on the strength of the series as a whole. It rambled a little which isn’t great in a novella but it’s a good wrap up for Antsy’s story.