In an Absent Dream by Seanan McGuire is a YA portal fantasy novella and the fourth book in the Wayward Children series (3/5 stars)

In an Absent Dream by Seanan McGuire is a YA portal fantasy novella and the fourth book in the Wayward Children series. The ebook version is 187 pages.

As this is the fourth book in the series, and thus an even-numbered book, it is a prequel. In this installment, we follow Lundy–a serious young girl who loves rules and books. She finds a door that takes her to a world based on logic and reason and making bargains; a place that feels like home. But she must be sure on which side of the doorway she wishes to remain before curfew.

There are a lot of cool ideas here, but I wish we spent more time with Lundy while she was at the Goblin Market instead of fast-forwarding jump-cuts back to the real world. I read this series because the characters are interesting and they are portal fantasies, so I’d really like to see as much on-page as possible about these various portal worlds. We didn’t get nearly enough information about the Goblin Market for me to understand why it was such a perfect place for Lundy.

I think this is my least favorite so far in the series. I gave book #1, Every Heart a Doorway four stars. My favorite was book #2, Down Among the Sticks and Bones, to which I gave five stars. I feel like the subsequent books just kind of go downhill: Beneath the Sugar Sky was 3.5 stars (rounded down to 3 on Goodreads), and this one is a flat 3 star. I’m not certain that it stuck the landing with its ending.

I plan to keep going with the series. Book #5, Come Tumbling Down, again brings me back to my beloved Jack. However, I’m starting to wonder if the fact that these books are novellas ultimately hurts the series as a whole. If these were full-length novels, we’d get more details about the portal worlds, and probably a lot more character development.

Tropes in this book include: portal fantasy, found family, coming of age, cautionary tale, folklore retelling

CW: physical child abuse (brief, child is slapped), death of loved one, abandonment

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The Wayward Children series includes:

• Every Heart a Doorway
• Down Among the Sticks and Bones
• Beneath the Sugar Sky
• In an Absent Dream
• Come Tumbling Down
• Across the Green Grass Fields
• Where the Drowned Girls Go
• Lost in the Moment and Found
• Mislaid in Parts Half-Known
• Adrift in Currents Clean and Clear