Reviews with content warning for Emotional abuse - Mislaid in Parts Half-Known

Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Mislaid in Parts Half-Known by Seanan McGuire

10 reviews

yvo_about_books's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective fast-paced

3.5

Finished reading: May 17th 2024

"People who can't change aren't really perfect, and no matter how much we love it somewhere, that doesn't mean it's good for us."

I've been catching up with this series and I decided to read the most recently published sequel as well so that I'm finally up to date. Mislaid In Parts Half-Known is already book number nine of this YA urban fantasy/magical realism series, and it's a direct sequel of book eight with plenty of spoilers for the other books as well. This means it's definitely important to read the books in order! That said, I really liked that we got to see how Antsy's story ends in this sequel. Mislaid In Parts Half-Known is partly set at Eleanor West's School and partly a quest set in multiple worlds. As always, I prefer the quest parts, and while it was great catching up with some of the characters, it also kind of distracted from the plot itself. There were actually too many references to past quests and things the characters did, and it kind of made my head spin. Also, when did Sumi get so mean? I would have loved more focus on just Antsy and maybe Kade, as the story didn't really feel all that cohesive as some of the previous sequels. The quest itself also wasn't quite as challenging as I thought it would be... Although I still enjoyed following the characters and I liked how things were wrapped up. All in all it wasn't my favorite Wayward Children book, but still a pretty good read.

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green_amaryllis's review

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adventurous emotional hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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directorpurry's review

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adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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woodsofthebooks's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

As always with this series, I loved this book with my whole heart and soul. These group adventure books are always wonderful, and I loved finding out more of the lore about the doors. Seeing old characters again, and leaving some behind, was both heartbreaking and wonderful. I will continue to love these books until I can’t anymore.

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imstephtacular's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

I will read this series forever. Every entry continues to be wild and unique and riveting and I am glad this particular installment was a return to a group of already lover characters

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leanniefae's review

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

This is one of my favorite series, with this installment no exception. We learn a little about all our beloved characters in this book, though as the author stated, this is the continuation of Antsy's story. I'm SO glad we got more about Antsy, and I feel good about her progress and where she was at the end of the story. Knowing what Seanan said online about the dinosaurs cover, I feel that we were given the perfect amount of dinosaurs, though I understand that some would want more.
My prediction is that we go to Mariposa next for Christopher. We shall see!

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paisleypetty's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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anni_swanilda's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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booksthatburn's review against another edition

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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.

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sarrie's review against another edition

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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

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