Starting the new year with a Seanan McGuire novella is always such a treat!

I, once again, didn't read the synopsis for this so I was pleasantly surprised to be back with Antsy in this installment. With her, the world-building developed further and we got more answers about the Doors and how they worked. That's always been the most fascinating part of this series for me and McGuire did fantastic work at plucking at those threads here.

It was so much fun to go back to the Store and then through another Door. The quest here was intriguing from beginning to end and the fast-pace made it impossible for me to stop reading. I kept wanting to know what was going to happen with everyone and what decisions they were going to make through it all. Some tiny characterization bits (Sumi) did get a little repetitive, though.

I also very much enjoyed Cora's character journey here! It's no secret Cora isn't my favorite character, but her progress in such few short pages and the way in which she came to terms with what she wanted for herself was lovely. The ending even made me tear up a little bit because of that!

Overall, a lovely installment!

First off...DISCLAIMER: I requested this title on NetGalley. Thanks to Tor/Forge for providing a temporary ecopy. This didn't influence my review in any way.

A while ago, I decided I wouldn't write full reviews anymore for certain types of books, including novellas. But since I've been reviewing this series in full from the start, I'm making an exception here, and I intend to go on doing so for all its future installments. So, I'll keep writing a mini review after my first read, and a full one after my second.

WE ARE FAMILY

If I have a bias when it comes to the Wayward Children universe, it's towards stories with an ensemble cast, especially if going on a quest (OK, so maybe I didn't love-love Book 1, but that one was peculiar, and the series still had to find its footing somehow). They merge two of my favourite tropes - found family and alternate worlds - and they usually feature at least a couple of characters that I love fiercely, so I tend to write more enthusiastic reviews when all these things are involved. This is precisely what happens with MIPHK, where old fan favourites Cora, Sumi, Kade and Christopher and later additions to the group Antsy and Emily are forced to flee the school and reckon with the past of some of them, all while touching base with a familiar face and righting some wrongs in the process. For a book so short (160 pages), the 9th installment in the Wayward Children saga delivers with a vengeance, and despite the rather large cast, you never feel like one of the kids doesn't get enough attention, though the main focus is on Antsy and her peculiar relationship with the doors (established in the previous installment, but explored in more detail here). The found-family dynamic is spot-on, and so what if "family" is a broad term here, that may or may not include talking birds and ancient predators 😉.

CRUX OF THE MATTER

After so many years and installments, McGuire's portal universes system still has some surprises in stores (and what surprises!). To be fair, the most shocking has been introduced in the previous book, but as MIPHK is a direct sequel to that one, it serves the purpose of making us fully grapple with its implications. In the same way, even so late in the game, the latest WC adventure manages to make us become more intimate with characters we've known since Book 1, while fleshing out relatively new ones and teasing us with snippets of the worlds they visited (if I know McGuire a little, it won't be long until we get a tour of Emily's Halloween world, and I'm so here for it). Full of humour, wisdom and adventure, suspended between Logic and Nonsense, MIPHK is also - like Antsy's world - a small nexus itself, full of doors leading to a number of emotional places, sometimes when you less expect it to happen. It's a bridge between the past and the future of the series, providing some closure and heartbreak (but of the good kind) and building towards more revelations and plot twists. And yeah, it has dinosaurs in it - but they don't "make" the book, and they're not the point. Come for the dinos, stay for found family, witty banter, justice warriors (I consider it a positive label, and anyhow, I'm using it for lack of a better one here), and kids who find their (peculiar) happy ending, if with a side of melancholy. It doesn't get any better than this 😀.

Antsy is one of the newer students at Eleanor West's School for Wayward Children and possesses a unique talent: the ability to find almost anything that has been lost. Her fellow students, all longing for the doorways that led them to their true homes, soon find out about this ability, and some of them will stop at nothing before they make her open doors against her will. When Antsy and her friends must escape, they find themselves traversing through various worlds, all leading back to the people who stole Antsy's childhood.

This was a thoroughly engaging and whimsical entry into the franchise, with McGuire's usual knack for balancing humor and emotion. There was a clear theme of breaking cycles of abuse, which is, of course, powerful and necessary. Still, I did feel that the action would often stop for various characters to monologue about both that and the feeling of belonging they found in their portal worlds. At this point in the series, we understand that the characters went where they felt most at home. This one is too steeped in lore from the other books to act as an entry point, so I'm not sure it was necessary. Overall, though, I was happy to revisit Antsy, and honestly, I want Kade to have a Good Day sometime in the very near future.

I absolutely adore this series and I chose to request the audio and the e-book to try and tandem listen and read. I took a leap of faith with the audio because I tend to struggle with fiction narration due to the narrators changing their voices for the characters. I was totally thrilled to find that I loved the narrator and the way that they chose to voice each of the characters. It gave a unique voice to characters that are well loved and new characters that we met along the way.

I absolutely loved this new adventure in the wayward children series and the bonds that the reader gets to see grow and strengthen as they go on yet another quest, this time with Antsy leading the charge as they follow her ability through the Doors. I can't wait to see where they end up next!

Seanan McGuire's latest Wayward Children installment, Mislaid in Parts Half-Known, picks up amidst during some of the events from Where the Drowned Girls Go and Lost in the Moment and Found, before catching up in time and becoming its own story, focusing once again on Antsy.

When Seraphina discovers that Antsy's talent of finding anything may include her door, she tries to force Antsy into service with her own unique ability, being able to persuade almost anybody to do anything for her. With the help of Cora and Christopher, Antsy is able to escape to Kade's attic, but when Seraphina brings a mob to Kade's door, she does the only she can, finding a door to escape.

What follows is a slightly madcap race through various doors and worlds, as the kids try to find their way back to the school. However, when the door to Shop Where the Lost Things Go opens, Antsy decides she needs to set things right once and for all, making sure all children who come to the Shop understand the cost of opening the Doors.

Another fantastic entry in the series, I particularly enjoyed McGuire's weaving the elements of WtDGO and LinMaF into the beginning of the book, before giving this story its own space. I'm worried that the series may be coming to a close. There are hints, or at least what I'm reading as hints, that things may be coming to a head at Eleanor's school, and that changes may be coming. All series must come to an inevitable end, but I've enjoyed this one so much over the years that I would love for McGuire to keep it going indefinitely. But alas, all stories must end at some point, and if the story of Eleanor West's School for Wayward Children is coming to that inevitable final chapter, I'm sure McGuire will be wrapping everything up just as it should be. But maybe I'm wrong, and I'm reading too much into the story. Either way, I'll be looking forward to more Wayward Children adventures!

Mislaid in Parts Half-Known by Seanan Mcguire is out January 9, 2024, from Tordotcom Publishing.

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

Another lovely installment for the Wayward Children series! I thought this one was a bit different than the others in that it didn't focus on a particular child and their world specifically. While different I still loved it! Wonderful characters, wonderful worlds!

the upside of this series is that disliking one book doesn't mean you won't like the next, but the downside is that the inverse is true, too. this still had characters i'm a fan of and the same magical world, but it felt more shallow than some others — a lot of truisms and forced banter. but i still had a good time and will continue with this series!

One of my personal holiday traditions has become reading the newest Wayward Children novella on or right after Christmas. Tordotcom has been kind enough to facilitate that tradition for the past 6 years by sending me a galley copy of each installment before its publication, usually in January. It’s always one of my most exciting pieces of book mail of the year. Some installments have been more successful (for me) than others. Unfortunately, Mislaid in Parts Half-Known is not one of those more successful installments. While not in anyway a bad book, it was missing the magic of the eighth installment, Lost in the Moment and Found. It’s the book that I expected after the seventh installment, Where the Drowned Girls Go, though it could never have have worked without learning Antsy’s story in Lost in the Moment. And yet, even though this was the book I’ve been expecting, it fell a bit flat for me.

I think that, in comparison with previous books, the tale being told here had too much story packed into too small a space. We had so many threads coming together in one slim book that the plot felt muddled. We had so many important characters from the past sharing the page that all of them felt somehow lost in the shuffle. And not lost in the way that attracts Doors. They felt less real than they have in the past.

Because some of these characters departed the mortal coil in prior books only to return, I won’t be discussing anyone by name except for Antsy. The sole protagonist of Lost in the Moment and Found, she is also the reluctant star of the show here. Abilities she developed in that book are the focal point of this one. Through her, we get reacquainted with Eleanor’s Home for Wayward Children, as well as getting to revisit some worlds and meet others for the very first time. As always, McGuire’s settings are one of the greatest strengths of the series. Her representation is also a huge strength but, while it there was plenty of that here, I felt like she relied too heavily on the characters’ backgrounds in previous novellas for that to come through quite as strongly as normal.

If I was going to draw comparisons between this book and any of the others, I would tie it most closely to Beneath the Sugar Sky or Come Tumbling Down. Some novellas in this series stand beautifully on their own. The aforementioned do not. Mislaid in Parts Half-Known relies on every single installment that came before it. If you’ve not read the other eight, and if they’re not fairly fresh on your mind, you will be missing a lot.

There were some good messages here, about how the abuse in your past does not excuse abuse done by your hand and that, while we can’t fix the injuries of our own past, we can use them to protect the present and future for others. There was the series-spanning emphasis on finding who you are and embracing it, no matter what the world has to say about it. These are positive, uplifting messages, but they were hazy beneath the muddled plot.

While this wasn’t one of my favorite installments, it wasn’t a bad book. I think that the books in this series that are the strongest are those that can stand alone. When the storylines come together, the characters and messages seem less powerful instead of more. But regardless, I’m so thankful for this series, and I’m already looking forward to wherever McGuire takes it next!

I just finished an advanced copy of Seanan McGuire's Mislaid in Parts Half-Known that I recieved from netgalley. This is the most recent entry in the Wayward Children series. Unlike some of the other entries in the series, this one is absolutely not a stand alone. We catch up with our core group of remaining inhabitants of Miss Eleanor's school as they go on an absolutely not a quest. This novella does a lot to further the overarching story that lies in the background of the other novellas. Although I thoroughly enjoyed this one, it lacked some of the magical wonder of the others. Seanan is not introducing us to new places, but rather wrapping up some old story lines, and as usual friends are gained and lost along the way. If you've read the other novellas, this is a great entry. If you're new to the series, absolutely go back and start from the beginning. Easily one of my favorite series.

This was another great addition to the Wayward Children series. This one incorporates characters and their stories from previous books, so it isn't as much of a standalone. I really love how McGuire ties so many different threads together so that they both continue and build on the worlds that have previously been explored. This was such a fun story--as always with this series, my only complaint is that I wish the books were longer, because I love exploring these worlds!
I also liked that this book addressed the lingering concern from the previous book about other children's lives being used up to travel through different doors. There is always an edge of danger to these books, which keeps the stakes high and is part of what makes them so good.

I have adored every story from this series, but I think this one just took the spot for my favorite in the series! The mix of new and old characters coming together on their adventure together was fun to follow and read! I love the unique settings that were woven together in this story. There are also great sprinklings of knowledge and life lessons throughout the story which give me chances to pause and reflect. Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Books for an advanced copy! All thoughts and opinions are my own!

Whenever I read a Wayward Children book, I am always torn as to whether it is my favourite. This installment is no exception! I absolutely adored this offering, with it's mix of sadness and triumph and it felt like a conclusion to a trilogy of books that began with Where the Drowned Girls Go. A lot of information about the Doors and the way they work was provided here, which I really appreciated and I always enjoy the books that see our rag tag group go exploring. The friendships are wonderful, the acceptance of people for who they are is beautiful and overall, this could well be my new favourite!
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Very fitting that this is coming out on the 9th and it’s the 9th book in the Wayward Children series, a series I feel like has been going my entire life. A lot of the books in this series can be read as standalones but definitely not this one. This takes place right after the events of Lost in the Moment and Found. This entire series revolves around children as they stumble across portals into other worlds and well, get lost. We finally really get to see the threads of all the different novellas coming together here which will lead us into the finale, that’s right. I’m pretty sure the next book will mark the end and whether that’s a happy ending or not, we shall see.

Well of course this is fantastic, it's Wayward Children with DINOSAURS. I was so happy to revisit the world(s)/characters from the volume immediately preceding this one, and these novellas are always a great start to the year.

The ninth in the Wayward Children series, this comes almost immediately after book 8, and again features Antsy, who is able to find things that are lost. When some students realize that means she might able to find their Doors, she is forced to flee, and ends up back in the Shop Where Lost Things Go (ie her world from the previous book.)
*
This is just as charming as all the books in the series, but I didn't get the same amount of depth as some of the previous books, (This might be because Book 8 was just SO dark) but it is filled with the characters and worlds that have made this series so fun. If you've been reading this series through, you will not be disappointed.

4.5 stars rounded up!

This is a continuation story from the last book and I love the books where all the characters come back for a big adventure. It has the feeling of Beneath the Sugar Sky and all my favorites were back.

This is book 9 in the Wayward Children series, and the tone and cast of characters has definitely evolved since the earlier instalments of the book. In this book, we're back at Eleanor West's School, but we don't stay for long as we're basically immediately transported off onto a quest - which is almost a direct continuation from the previous book, as we head back to Ansty's world. This was an interesting choice, as it feels like the previous book and this book could have just been a single novel rather than being split into two novellas.

Unfortunately, one of my biggest gripes with this book is I feel like the cast of characters is too big now, and we don't get to spend long enough with them as the books are so short, which means it feels like I barely know them and therefore can't really feel that strongly about them. Too many people came along on the quest, and I was definitely hoping for more dinosaurs in this book, or at least for there to be something more fantastical about the dinosaur world rather than it just being (what seemed to be) Earth while there were dinosaurs.

I'm still interested to see where this series will go, but it feels like it's starting to lose its focus a bit now as there are too many characters and more and more keep getting added in. Plus, it feels like the worlds are getting less magical. Definitely one of the weaker instalments for me, but still intrigued to see where the series goes next.

Another well written story in the Wayward Children Series. This one transports us to a world of dinosaurs!! These books take you on a journey to unimaginable places while melting your heart. The characters in these books are so wonderful and their relationships are so powerful. I love this series and cannot wait to see what is next!!

4 ⭐️

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Another Wayward Children novella from genius Seanan McGuire, MISLAID IN PARTS HALF-KNOWN picks up where Lost in the Moment and Found left off and finishes Antsy's story.

3.5 rounded up to 4. These books where we follow the original Wayward Children through their quests are never my favorite. I always like to meet a new character and explore the world they came from. I also think this cover sets up an unrealistic expectation of what the book is going to be about. I know Seanan McGuire said that this book is not a "dinosaur book" but not everyone who is going to pick this up is necessarily going to know that. While I LOVE the cover, I wish it had set my expectations correctly because I'm a total dinosaur nerd and was hoping for more. With that being said, if you've read the other books in this series, I'm sure you'll enjoy this too. Just go in with the correct expectations.