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tangleroot_eli's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
I first crossed paths with this series one year ago (January 2023). I loved it so much that I 1) devoured the whole then-extant series in about 3 weeks; and 2) got a tattoo inspired by it. So I'm a very biased reader/reviewer.
That said, I really enjoyed this one. The quest plot is fun, and I loved McGuire's exploration of the metaphysics of Doors and world. These books are kind of standalone, but also kind of not, and some very interesting things are happening in the world(s) in this one.
It's not perfect.
That said, I really enjoyed this one. The quest plot is fun, and I loved McGuire's exploration of the metaphysics of Doors and world. These books are kind of standalone, but also kind of not, and some very interesting things are happening in the world(s) in this one.
It's not perfect.
Seraphina's involvement, which could've been a rich complication, turned out to be a McGuffin. I would probably read a book about her. -
I really wanted more time given to Kade's reactions to both returning to Prism and Cora's departure. I desperately want a book about him. -
Christopher's chapter at the Door didn't go much of anywhere. I'd've liked to see him have to deal with Vineta or Yulia on his own.
On the whole, though, this is a delightful addition to a wonderful series.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Bullying, Abandonment, Child abuse, and Animal cruelty
Minor: Cancer, Murder, Transphobia, Cannibalism, and Medical content
ninjamuse's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse
Minor: Murder, Transphobia, and Death
bookcheshirecat's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
4.0
"The door wasn’t there because you have any obligations left to these people, or this world. It was there because sometimes people can’t let go of who they thought we were, and so they keep trying to tangle us in nets and drag us back. That doesn’t mean we have to go. Or if we do go, that doesn’t mean we have to stay."
I received a digital Arc from Netgalley and Tor in exchange for an honest review! The quotes are taken from the Arc and are subject to changes!
Mislaid in Parts Half-Known is a direct sequel to Lost in the Moment and Found! It follows Antsy as she settles into Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children following the events of the previous book. Antsy's still struggling with the years that have been stolen from her, as she's not the age she looks like and is scared everyone else will notice. Luckily, she's got new friends on her side, including Cora, Christopher, Kaede and Sumi! I really liked seeing them again and loved how they were looking out for Antsy all this time. She might be able to find the doors - as she's got a knack for finding lost things - and in a school full of people desperate to go back to their worlds, this could cause a lot of problems.
The main theme of the book is breaking the cycle of abuse and hurt! I liked how the author picked Antsy's story back up and had her face the Shop of Lost Things again, including the shopkeeper who stole all these years from her. Anty's adamant that her successor should make an informed choice about whether to open the doors, as they cost time every time you open them. Vineta is still using young children and trying to justify it by saying that she didn't have it any better. There's a big emphasis on being hurt in the past not being an excuse to do the same to someone else. Having suffered doesn't mean you can inflict pain on others - Antsy knows this better than anyone.
"Those travellers learned not only what it meant to be mislaid, but what it meant to become so fundamentally and foundationally unanchored from who they had originally been that they could no longer find their way back to that person."
The novella sadly felt a bit unfocused and all over the place. I much preferred Lost in the Moment and Found and Where the Drowned Girls Go, as they had a clear goal. In the beginning, there was even another antagonist who wanted to use Antsy's powers but they quickly got dropped and their story got wrapped up so quickly in the end. There's also a time skip right in the beginning, as the events of Where the Drowned Girls Go take place, which felt a bit jarring. The actual dinosaur world that's depicted on the cover only gets a small amount of page time and I wish we'd seen a novella completely about it because Stephanie was a great character and her world so interesting. It feels a bit misleading to have the dinosaur on the cover since it's not what the story is about.I'm also sad that we'll probably never get a novella about Kaede, as the biggest part about his character - facing Prism after it threw him out for being trans - is used here. I liked seeing this conflict about Kaede being forced back into the world that rejected him, but I'm so sad it was barely explored because the story had its focus elsewhere. I wish this had gotten some proper attention and not been thrown into this novella.
I received a digital Arc from Netgalley and Tor in exchange for an honest review! The quotes are taken from the Arc and are subject to changes!
Mislaid in Parts Half-Known is a direct sequel to Lost in the Moment and Found! It follows Antsy as she settles into Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children following the events of the previous book. Antsy's still struggling with the years that have been stolen from her, as she's not the age she looks like and is scared everyone else will notice. Luckily, she's got new friends on her side, including Cora, Christopher, Kaede and Sumi! I really liked seeing them again and loved how they were looking out for Antsy all this time. She might be able to find the doors - as she's got a knack for finding lost things - and in a school full of people desperate to go back to their worlds, this could cause a lot of problems.
The main theme of the book is breaking the cycle of abuse and hurt! I liked how the author picked Antsy's story back up and had her face the Shop of Lost Things again, including the shopkeeper who stole all these years from her. Anty's adamant that her successor should make an informed choice about whether to open the doors, as they cost time every time you open them. Vineta is still using young children and trying to justify it by saying that she didn't have it any better. There's a big emphasis on being hurt in the past not being an excuse to do the same to someone else. Having suffered doesn't mean you can inflict pain on others - Antsy knows this better than anyone.
"Those travellers learned not only what it meant to be mislaid, but what it meant to become so fundamentally and foundationally unanchored from who they had originally been that they could no longer find their way back to that person."
The novella sadly felt a bit unfocused and all over the place. I much preferred Lost in the Moment and Found and Where the Drowned Girls Go, as they had a clear goal. In the beginning, there was even another antagonist who wanted to use Antsy's powers but they quickly got dropped and their story got wrapped up so quickly in the end. There's also a time skip right in the beginning, as the events of Where the Drowned Girls Go take place, which felt a bit jarring. The actual dinosaur world that's depicted on the cover only gets a small amount of page time and I wish we'd seen a novella completely about it because Stephanie was a great character and her world so interesting. It feels a bit misleading to have the dinosaur on the cover since it's not what the story is about.
Content Warnings
Minor: Child abuse, Abandonment, Death, Grief, and Transphobia
booksthatburn's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
*I received a free review copy in exchange for an honest review of this book.
This is the one with dinosaurs! It's excellent, and if you've been enjoying the series so far you'll love this too. Antsy is trying to make it so no other kids get tricked out of their childhoods by unknowingly paying for too many doors, but this time she has some help from Kade, Sumi, and the others.
For a school where “No Quests” adorns the door, the students at the school for Wayward Children sure do get up to a lot of quests. A core group with a slowly shifting cast has been established as traveling to try and fix things on a semi-regular basis. In MISLAID IN PARTS HALF-KNOWN, some of the kids figure out that Antsy’s gift for finding lost things might let her find their doors... whereupon trouble ensues. Kade, Sumi, Cora, Emily, and Christopher travel with Antsy to try and set things right which were left broken when she fled the Store at the end of LOST IN THE MOMENT AND FOUND. The worldbuilding has been getting more complicated as they learn more about what's happening. Eleanor's assumptions about the students have started having more to do with her desire for Nonsense than their actual experiences, and it's getting to a point where it's affecting the room assignments. This continues several storylines which were begun earlier, creating what feels like an entirely new storyline through recombination of older threads, even though as each piece was something introduced earlier. This far into the series, that’s an excellent feeling, making the adventure feel both fresh and familiar even on a first read-through. A particular problem in the Store is both introduced and resolved, and several more tangles either arise or are addressed. As a story about nexuses and connections, it’s especially nice to reach a point where everything feels so connected to everything else that it’s a complicated tangle to explain the setup, which for me is one of the joys of a long-running series.
MISLAID IN PARTS HALF-KNOWN could partly make sense to someone who starts here, but if such a person wanted to jump in midway without starting at the beginning of the series, LOST IN THE MOMENT AND FOUND (the previous book) would be a much better entry point. That reader would find themselves knowing as much as Antsy does about what’s happening, which is a comprehensible perspective even if it misses earlier portions of the ongoing story. I particularly enjoyed some moments with Kade and Sumi (both separately and together). This felt like an ensemble cast in a way that earlier books didn't, and it's wonderful to be at the point in the series where the focus can smoothly shift between characters as needed.
This entry is great, don't miss it! This series is consistently excellent and I'm eager to read what happens next.
This is the one with dinosaurs! It's excellent, and if you've been enjoying the series so far you'll love this too. Antsy is trying to make it so no other kids get tricked out of their childhoods by unknowingly paying for too many doors, but this time she has some help from Kade, Sumi, and the others.
For a school where “No Quests” adorns the door, the students at the school for Wayward Children sure do get up to a lot of quests. A core group with a slowly shifting cast has been established as traveling to try and fix things on a semi-regular basis. In MISLAID IN PARTS HALF-KNOWN, some of the kids figure out that Antsy’s gift for finding lost things might let her find their doors... whereupon trouble ensues. Kade, Sumi, Cora, Emily, and Christopher travel with Antsy to try and set things right which were left broken when she fled the Store at the end of LOST IN THE MOMENT AND FOUND. The worldbuilding has been getting more complicated as they learn more about what's happening. Eleanor's assumptions about the students have started having more to do with her desire for Nonsense than their actual experiences, and it's getting to a point where it's affecting the room assignments. This continues several storylines which were begun earlier, creating what feels like an entirely new storyline through recombination of older threads, even though as each piece was something introduced earlier. This far into the series, that’s an excellent feeling, making the adventure feel both fresh and familiar even on a first read-through. A particular problem in the Store is both introduced and resolved, and several more tangles either arise or are addressed. As a story about nexuses and connections, it’s especially nice to reach a point where everything feels so connected to everything else that it’s a complicated tangle to explain the setup, which for me is one of the joys of a long-running series.
MISLAID IN PARTS HALF-KNOWN could partly make sense to someone who starts here, but if such a person wanted to jump in midway without starting at the beginning of the series, LOST IN THE MOMENT AND FOUND (the previous book) would be a much better entry point. That reader would find themselves knowing as much as Antsy does about what’s happening, which is a comprehensible perspective even if it misses earlier portions of the ongoing story. I particularly enjoyed some moments with Kade and Sumi (both separately and together). This felt like an ensemble cast in a way that earlier books didn't, and it's wonderful to be at the point in the series where the focus can smoothly shift between characters as needed.
This entry is great, don't miss it! This series is consistently excellent and I'm eager to read what happens next.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying and Grief
Minor: Vomit, Blood, Emotional abuse, Confinement, Excrement, Injury/Injury detail, Cannibalism, Forced institutionalization, Death, Child abuse, Murder, Animal death, and Child death
sarrie's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
I don’t stick through with many super long series. Inevitably I find they meander, and with no clear ending in sight I tend to give up. I had that issue with Seanan’s Incryptid series and I think I’ve reached that point with the Wayward Children. This is a direct sequel the previous book, following Antsy when she’s finally at the School, then as she returns to the Store/Nexus to resolve the issues she left hanging.
My biggest gripe with the series as it stands is that we haven’t had any resolution for our initial, what I would call, our main cast since Jack & Jill. Kade, Christopher, and Sumi are following along on quests that revolve around side characters that seem to appear for a purpose and simply disappear (return to their world). This story was exactly that. I am left wondering, what is the point of these last two books? The previous one felt heavy handed with the emotional manipulation and this one felt almost boring.
As I mentioned, we return to Antsy’s world for the bulk of any plot events. The cover depicts Stephanie’s world (who we met in a previous book), and it’s part of the tale very briefly. Sadly that means we see very little of a new world, or setting. We get very little when it comes to greater world or metaplot movement and it felt… dull.
Ultimately I am left wondering, could this have been two chapters in another book? There was little of impact, and what impact we had in the previous book (as the two have to be taken together) was in the end not needed. I’m also beginning to wonder, if going through doors is so common how is it none of these parents or guardians give a damn? Surely someone somewhere besides Eleanor understands. It makes me seriously question the continuity of this world. As a parent even if I didn't quite understand, I would never simply abandon my child in the way nearly every child in this story is abandoned. It boggles my mind.
2 Doors out of 5… meh
Content Warnings
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Transphobia, Abandonment, Physical abuse, and Child abuse
Minor: Death of parent and Death
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