Review: In An Absent Dream (Wayward Children #4)

4 stars. What an incredible fairy tale. I love the way Seanan McGuire makes room for the in-between individuals: those of us who are average, plain, decidedly not superstars but who deserve star treatment anyway. This one felt just as preachy as the others, but I appreciated the message more - even as it was being screamed in my ear.

In An Absent Dream focuses on Katherine Lundy, who escapes to the Goblin Market where there is no asking - there is only exchange for fair value. Though she loves and embraces her new home, she feels pulled towards her old one, caught between two worlds, two ways of life, two families. Desperate to cheat the system and have both, she makes a choice and is punished accordingly, which is how she winds up at Eleanor West’s School for Wayward Children. 

It contains all things I’ve grown to expect from Seanan McGuire: a deft exploration of gender, society, and other themes (in this case, fairness), emphasis on the space in-between the adventures rather than the adventures themselves, a flavor of caution that tastes so like a fairy tale, witty writing, delicious world-building. I’ve mentioned before that these books always inspire me and make me consider where my own door would go … knowing there will be a price, of course. 

Whimsical, clever and brutal. 

In An Absent Dream on: Amazon | Bookshop.org | Goodreads