Mislaid in Parts Half-Known is an absolutely fantastic audio book (or read ) I loved Antsy’s story and learning more about the store where the lost things go. I loved all the information about the doors and the cost of using them. A stark reminder that nothing is ever free not even if you don’t understand the cost. I highly recommend this book too anyone who loves the Wayward Children set and even if you haven’t tried it you can read it as a stand alone but you definitely get more understanding from the story by having read the other books. Don’t let it stop you if you’re curious because it is whimsical and tragic and wonderful. All the best things in all the best stories! The narrator is amazing and truly brings the story to life.

This particular Wayward Children novel follows Antsy who can find anything lost as long as it still exists even doors which is a rare talent indeed although Antsy having lost much of her childhood to the doors may not always agree. Antsy trying not to be used for this talent by the mean girl at school escapes with a small group of students from Wayward Children and go on an adventure to the Shop Where Lost Things Go to be sure that an important promise is being kept. So the lost things and lost children can all be safe.

A poignant look at what the boundaries of cost can be is so very different from one keeper to the next. A price too high to some is more than worth it to others. But does an old promise get overwritten by a new one? Antsy must navigate all this and more as she must decide what is the intent behind the doors and set things as right as right can be in lost place waiting to be found.

I really enjoy this series, and I really like how McGuire writes some books about single children and their doors/worlds, while others are about the whole group, going on quests. This was a quest book, and if we got to briefly see Kade’s world, see a dinosaur world, and spend a little bit more time in Antsy’s world.

It definitely feels like McGuire is trying to wrap things up, as, especially in the last few books, we are getting a lot of answers, getting a better understanding of how the doors work, and it’s making me really excited to see what comes next!

I was given a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the advanced reading copy of Mislaid in Parts Half-Known by Seanan McGuire. The audiobook is narrated by Jesse Vilinsky.

I highly recommend this to anyone who has read the previous novels in this collection. I know that you do not necessarily need to read them in order but I believe the reading experience is that much better when you are able to read it in order.

This particular Wayward Children novel follows the character Antsy. Antsy is able to find anything… even doors. Antsy and a small group of students from Wayward Children end up on an adventure to the Shop Where Lost Things Go to be sure that an important promise is being kept.

Mislaid in Parts Half-Known is the newest addition in the Wayward Children series (book 9), which is one of my all-time favorite series. This is an amazing portal fantasy series that touches on found family, identity, the place one is truly meant to be, and a lot of darker themes as well. The series is definitely best read in order.

This book is a follow-up to events from Where the Drowned Girls Go and Lost in the Moment and Found where we met Cora and Antsy. In this installment, Antsy is the latest student to pass through Eleanor West’s School for Wayward Children. When the children learn than Antsy has the ability to find absolutely anything, and that her talent may even extend to finding doors…things get complicated.

Through this story we follow Antsy and her small group of friends, and learn right along with them everything Antsy knows about doors, how to travel, how the doors work, what is taken, etc. We travel back to the Shop Where the Lost Things Go, search for a magpie, visit a world with dinosaurs, go on a quest, and see the friends make decisions about their futures.

I just love this series to pieces and could get lost in these books forever. While this one didn’t hit as emotionally as the previous one, I was glad to see more of a conclusion to Antsy’s story! I received an audio ALC from Macmillan Audio via NetGalley, all thoughts in this review are my own.

This is another wonderful addition to the Wayward Children series. Each new installment feels like an adventure and coming home all at once. This being the 9th book I can’t comment much on the plot but I love the characters and as more pieces fall into place other puzzles reveal themselves. The audiobook was well done and I am waiting for the next installment.

Seanan McGuire is a long-time favorite of mine. Some of her Mira Grant novellas top my Top 25 SFF Novellas list, and I’ve loved the Wayward Children series since the beginning. However, somewhere along the way – probably during the pandemic – I lost a bit of steam with this series. Reading Mislaid in Parts Half-Known was a bit like coming home after a long day. It felt like curling up on a couch and listening to old friends as they tell you a story. This series is magical, lyrical, and full of lovable characters. It's not without fault, but it remains a series I’ll continue to look for year after year.

I loved Antsy and thought the focus on her was lovely. Cade and Christopher were delightful, and their scenes were wondrous. Sumi and Cora are two sides of the same coin, and seeing them interact was bittersweet. Emily was criminally underused in this book, and I wholeheartedly believe she deserves an entire book.

Mislaid in Parts Half-Known slips a bit in its reliance on details. Its heavy focus on the rules of the shop and the Doors makes this book feel a bit dense compared with other novellas in the series. There is a theme of childhood trauma, which feels genuine and heartfelt. However, that theme doesn't actually encompass much of the book outside of conversations in the shop.

Given the cover, I expected a whole lot more dinosaurs. If you go into this book expecting chapter after chapter of dinosaurs, you might find yourself disappointed.

Audiobook:

Clocking in at just over 4 and a half hours, this is the perfect audiobook for a road trip, a week of commuting, or a weekend of chores. Jesse Vilinsky narrates Mislaid in Parts Half-Known. You might know her narration from Allison Saft’s A Far Wilder Magic, Skyla Arndt’s Together We Rot, or Seanan McGuire’s previous entry in the Wayward Children series, Lost in the Moment and Found. Vilinsky managed to make every character’s voice distinctly different. That’s no easy feat when there are so many characters. I highly recommend the audiobook if you prefer that format or if you're looking for a quick listen.

Final Thoughts:

I adore this world. I adore the characters. I adore the quests.

Even though I’ve skipped a couple of the Wayward Children books, I didn’t feel too lost reading this entry. The overall themes of generational trauma and abuse were concise and sharply done. There are very few dinosaurs, but there’s magical prose, sparkling dialogue, and lovable characters. This is pure Seanan McGuire.

I adore this series! So far none of the titles in this series has missed and this one is no exception! As always there is not a single word wasted in this fantastic novella. Multiple beautiful worlds were created in the way only McGuire can. I always enjoy revisiting these characters and seeing how they are doing and how they have progressed!
If you haven't already do yourself a solid and read this series. There are several books but they are all short and worth the read. You won't be disappointed!

This is a fantastic Wayward Children audiobook!!

I love Seanan McGuire’s writing. (Note: I review a bunch of her books so I am copying part of some of my other reviews here to save time.). She has quickly become my favorite living writer and I feel very lucky that she is so prolific. I was first introduced to her work when her book Parasite, written as Mira Grant, was nominated for a Hugo Award. I loved it and quickly devoured the Newsflesh series before I realized that Mira Grant and Seanan McGuire were the same person.

I started reading her works under her own name, starting with Sparrow Hill Road, which is amazing, but I picked it because I was intimidated by her long running October Daye series. I had read some Urban Fantasy before, and I fondly remember Mercedes Lackey’s Diana Tregarde books, but my tastes run more to science fiction and then secondary world fantasy, so I was hesitant to dive into such a long series. I picked up the first book, Rosemary and Rue, when it was on sale as a kindle daily deal, and I found it somewhat disappointing compared to her other work. I reminded myself that it was her first published novel, so I cut it some slack. Then Incryptid was nominated for the Best Series Hugo in 2018 and I dove into that instead. I loved it! So I vowed to give Toby another chance. And I was so glad that I did! It is no one of my favorite series.

I was already a big fan of Ms. McGuire’s when the first wayward children book, Every Heart a Doorway, came out, and I loved it! As a kid who grew up loving the Oz series and resenting the Christian imagery in Narnia, it was right up my alley. It is a wonderful book and this is an excellent series, definitely deserving of its Best Series Hugo win. In this series, the odd numbered books are the main timeline, and the even numbered books tell stories outside the main timeline - sometimes introducing us to new characters when they travel through their Doors, and other times showing up backstory of preexisting characters.

I was overjoyed when the publisher and NetGalley awarded me an eARC of the audiobook of Mislaid In Parts Half Known. I have been hoping for eARCs of the wayward children books every year and this year I was finally lucky enough to get one!

This story starts with Antsy, who was introduced in the last volume, and follows her story at the school. The adventure (that’s not a spoiler, is it? Surely not) ropes in perennial favorites Sumi, Kade, Christopher, and Cora. There is a decent amount of world hopping in this book, and my only complaint is that it was too short! I know this is a series of novellas, but this volume, like several of the previous ones, feels so restricted by its length. I feel like this story could have easily been told in a 300-500 page novel and then we would’ve gotten more insights into the characters’ feelings and motivations.

But that is a minor, minor quibble. This was another amazing entry in this series and I cannot wait to devour the next one!

I read this book originally back in July when I got an eARC, and I just listened to the audio book version and it was excellent. The narrator did an excellent job with all of the characters’ voices and I really enjoyed it!

I liked the story I thought it was fun and overall a good instalment into the series. Not as strong as Lost in the Moment and found but not the weakest.
I was slightly disappointed that such a short portion of book was spent in the dinosaur world because bitches love dinosaurs (I am bitches). I guess I was spoiled by the magic treehouse as a child. Aside from that unfulfilled expectation the book was overall good and I am excited to see what comes next.

Thank you to Tor and Seanan McGuire for an audio ARC in exchange for my full, unbiased review!

4.5 stars…I have so many feelings.

When I got this arc I was on book five of wayward children so I binged a bunch of the books to catch up and I can confidently say this is one of my favorites of the series. You get more of Antsy’s story as well as way more world- building surrounding the doors and whatever entity or set of rules controls them. There’s also some progression in Eleanor’s story, and I really like the threads that this book is laying down for the series.

I like that these books can be read somewhat independently and that they’re fairly episodic but I’m LOVING the emergence of larger plot lines that span the series. Truly, I cannot wait to see where they all go.

For those who have been longing for Kade’s world, you get a peek in this book! The fact that we’re seeing it at all makes me think one of the next few will be more Kade-focused, and also that there will be a book focused on Eleanor coming up.

For this book in particular, I really enjoyed the themes of generational trauma, or rather trauma that’s passed down. All of these book deal with quite dark themes but this one really hit home for me. Also…there were dinosaurs. I didn’t know I needed dinosaurs. I also can’t wait to learn more about Harvest!

Y’all are gonna love this addition to the series and all the framework that it’s laying down.

Another great addition to the Every Heart a Doorway series. Also great commentary on generational trauma.

This was favorite quest story of the series as it includes many of my favorite characters.

Although most of the books can be read as a stand alone I would not recommend it with this one. It calls back so many characters, reference and worlds from prior books that it would be difficult to grasp the full story. But if have read all or most of the series this one is highly recommended.

Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for an advanced audiobook for review.

This book feels like the direct sequel to Lost in the Moment and Found (and, in a way, completes a trilogy that also includes Where the Drowned Girls Go). To me, these three books feel like one giant story. I love that we got much more of Antsy (who has become one of my favorite characters in the series), but we also get to spend time with Kade and Christopher again. We also get more of Cora (whom I've always liked) and Sumi (who has somehow grown to be the voice of reason and wisdom through all of her nonsense). Lastly, we get to spend more time with Emily and hear more about Harvest (her Halloween world).

The quest itself was pretty straight forward - in order to save themselves, Antsy leads the group through some Doors and along the way teaches them about the true payment for traveling. We got to visit two new worlds, one I was really excited to finally see and one that was a surprise and I wish we got a little more of.

In a way, the book felt like it was starting to set up the end of the series (which I hope isn't the case). There was definitely a lot of conversations about growth and being ready for whatever comes next and whether or not people want to truly go back to their worlds. The end took me by surprise. I turned the page and suddenly had a tear in my eye.

Overall, this was a good book if you're a fan of the series. I don't think one pushes out any in my Top 3, but it fits solidly at the top of the middle tier. I am already awaiting the next book (still hoping for Christopher, but would love to see Emily get her own story as well) and am sad that I have to wait another year before it arrives.

Also, thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an audio ARC of the book. All of the my feelings from above are still accurate, however I would like to comment on the narrator of this book. Jesse Velinsky is FANTASTIC as a narrator. She brings life and emotion to Antsy (who she voiced in the previous book) but also has an amazing ability to make a conversation between two characters feel intimate, personal, and emotional. It really does feel like you’re listening to someone’s conversation rather than listening to a story. I really hope she gets to continue narrating these books in the future.

I’ve always really enjoyed the books in this series and this 9th installment was no exception. I love the world, the magic, the characters and the whimsy. This gave great closure to Antsy’s story and I always enjoy the books that feature the bigger group from the home for wayward children a tiny bit more. The characters are so well-written and distinct. The adventures and mischief they get up to together make for such entertaining reads. I’m so excited to see what this author comes up with next for this series!
The narration of this audiobook was fantastic! The narrator made it so easy to fall into the story.
Thank you so much to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for providing me with an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

An absolute delight, and very well-read by the narrator.

This is the conclusion to Ansty’s story that I didn’t know that I needed (and an introduction to the kids that I have not yet met in their own stories - though this feels very purposeful - a way in for those that didn’t start this series earlier. Though, if you haven’t, you should read Ansty’s story before this one).

A nice little snack of a quest. For once, I am not begrudging that a novella isn’t a true novel. Quirky, fun and just the right length.

Getting what we want, often doesn’t amount to us getting what we actually need. Our intrepid door-travellers define this. Plus, along the way, this group of friends speak many other personal and interpersonal realizations that are made.

Huge gratitude to the publisher, MacMillan Audio, and NetGalley for an AUDIO ARC of this novella, in exchange for my honest review.

I absolutely adored Lost in the Moment and Found and this just feels like a continuing chapter. It takes place basically moments after the previous installment and really builds on the themes of cost and knowledge. Of the importance of informed choices. Beginning with the idea that we want isn't always what we need, Mislaid in Parts Half-Known only continues in wisdom. It explores the prices of choices. The weight of adults in our lives to make sure we know about the costs and consequences.

Listening to the audio also felt wonderfully nostalgic. It brought back memories of being read to as a child. That's one of the joys of the series. It feels like a childhood bedtime story with grit, with lessons and wise words encased in whimsy and magic.

As usual, Seanan McGuire has blessed us with a truly captivating story, at once both whimsical and full of nuance and depth. The found family aspects of this tale in particular are especially poignant as are the themes of growing up, and how some children find themselves having to grow up faster than others due to unfortunate circumstances. Though I have enjoyed each of Seanan's Wayward Children books, Antsy's story is especially touching. This is the story of tragedy turned strength.

And while the narration is stellar as always, I do wish Emily hadn't had an accent. A bit unnecessary and jarring.

I listened to the audiobook of this one and while I have read the physical books for the rest of the series I truly enjoyed having a narrator bring the story more to life. The last book was one of my favorites so I was excited to see more of Antsy and a true and satisfying end to her story (although I could see her popping in again). I loved that there were dinosaurs. Sometimes I wish these books were longer, but as frustrating as it is to wait they are really the perfect length for the silly wonderful stories inside. Antsy is in school and while she doesn’t truly fit in her too old for her mind body she is trying to adjust and learning. But when she and her friends find themselves on a quest she realizes that maybe she was more sure than she could have imagined. This is a part of a series and one that should really be read in order.

Book #9 in the Wayward Children series by Seanan McGuire. I enjoy this queer novella series, but unfortunately I didn’t “love” this book. “Like,” sure. Diving into the Jurassic era was fun, but this book was really missing something, I just can’t put my finger on it.

Although I listened to the audiobook, I would give the physical copy another chance. I wish McGuire would narrate their audiobooks more often. Vilinsky does a good job, but nothing beats when it’s coming from the actual author.

(I received this ALC via NetGalley in return for an honest review. Thank you.)

This is such a cozy series! This installment provided some more world building with descriptions of the doors, nexuses (nexi?), and travel between the worlds. The follow-up to Antsy’s storyline in Lost in the Moment and Found was not terribly elaborate, but wrapped up the story arc nicely.

More than anything, this book felt very character focused. I enjoyed getting more insight in the relationships between students and their hopes for the future. I think there were some interesting discussions about how much children can understand and how much they have to lose.

There definitely seems like there will be more interesting stories to follow in the future with this group!

Another fantastic installment in the Wayward Children series! The narrator was enjoyable. I enjoy that the books are each individual stories but they can all tie together too.