Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by thekuster
In an Absent Dream by Seanan McGuire
5.0
4.5* - Wonderful audiobook narrated by Cynthia Hopkins; although the voices were only subtly differentiated, they were perfectly voiced with so much personality in each.
I am always unreasonably excited for a new installment of this series by Seanan McGuire and I say that because, of the 3 novels released prior to this one, I've only really loved one of them. It's the concept of children disappearing into impossible doors, discovering worlds all their own - that backdrop is endlessly intriguing and one that I wish were real.
This is my second favourite installment so far and I thoroughly enjoyed how the story unfolded. With Lundy in the forefront, but keeping the action only in the briefly mentioned passages. Wars may have been fought and hardships endured, but that was not where the reader was lead - it was the quiet, personal, decisive moments within Lundy's young mind that were the most important.
All throughout reading this novel, I had interpreted this character as Eleanor West - the proprietor of the Home for Wayward Children, which gave me a few erroneous assumptions of the ending to come. I can completely forgotten Lundy - the young/old therapist from the first novel! This actually served to completely derail me from anticipating the ending... and what a bittersweet one at that.
I had kept wondering how Lundy ended up opening a school for wayward children, how her distinctive appearance from the first novel had come to be, that I assumed Moon had somehow ended up taking Lundy's place in the "real" world outside the goblin market. I kept waiting for this final trade of fair value, either Moon or Lundy sacrificing themselves for the other. So when Lundy made her request to not age, I knew the ending was near, but I couldn't understand what would become of her until it was all complete - until it was too late. And then realizing my mistake and to know Lundy's final end from the first novel - it's really more bitter than sweet. And unfortunately it seems, even in this fictional world, not all stories have a happy ending.
I am always unreasonably excited for a new installment of this series by Seanan McGuire and I say that because, of the 3 novels released prior to this one, I've only really loved one of them. It's the concept of children disappearing into impossible doors, discovering worlds all their own - that backdrop is endlessly intriguing and one that I wish were real.
This is my second favourite installment so far and I thoroughly enjoyed how the story unfolded. With Lundy in the forefront, but keeping the action only in the briefly mentioned passages. Wars may have been fought and hardships endured, but that was not where the reader was lead - it was the quiet, personal, decisive moments within Lundy's young mind that were the most important.
All throughout reading this novel, I had interpreted this character as Eleanor West - the proprietor of the Home for Wayward Children, which gave me a few erroneous assumptions of the ending to come. I can completely forgotten Lundy - the young/old therapist from the first novel! This actually served to completely derail me from anticipating the ending... and what a bittersweet one at that.