Welcome to the Shop Where the Lost Things Go.
If you ever lost a sock, you’ll find it here.
If you ever wondered about a favorite toy from childhood… it’s probably sitting on a shelf in the back.
And the headphones that you swore this time you’d keep safe? You guessed it….
Antoinette has lost her father. Metaphorically. He’s not in the Shop, and she’ll never see him again. But when Antsy finds herself lost (literally, this time), she discovers that however many doors open for her, leaving the Shop for good might not be as simple as it sounds.
And stepping through those doors exacts a price.
Lost in the Moment and Found tells us that childhood and innocence, once lost, can never be found.
In Lost in the Moment and Found, Wayward Children 8, Seanan McGuire has achieved new heights, creating a story that is haunting and complex in the exploration of innocence lost and the prices we pay as we grow up.
The novel is immediately gripping, reaching in and breaking your heart from the very beginning as you fall in love with Antsy and the sea changes in her life. I particularly empathized with Ansty having lost a father figure at a young age myself. The shape of that type of trauma is difficult enough but adding in other hurts, the loss of innocence and the manipulation of adults, can be particularly painful. Yet, what Seanan McGuire does well is add in hope and an escape, exploring the strength and a sense of belonging. And what makes Antsy so compelling is how powerful her voice remains despite the pain and loss of innocence she has encountered.
There is a richness to all of the novels Seanan McGuire writes so I will always recommend her books but I found Lost in the Moment and Found particularly poignant as it explores the loss of time and innocence, things a child can never recover. But it is the inner strength that Antsy displays that makes this novel so impactful and worth reading. It is haunting and complex but it is full of hope as well.
Rating: 5 out of 5 lost things.
