In An Absent Dream book review

In an Absent Dream by Seanan McGuire
Series: Wayward Children #4
on January 8, 2019
Genres: Fantasy
Pages: 187
Goodreads

This fourth entry and prequel tells the story of Lundy, a very serious young girl who would rather study and dream than become a respectable housewife and live up to the expectations of the world around her. As well she should.
When she finds a doorway to a world founded on logic and reason, riddles and lies, she thinks she's found her paradise. Alas, everything costs at the goblin market, and when her time there is drawing to a close, she makes the kind of bargain that never plays out well.

I wasn’t sure whether I was going to enjoy In An Absent Dream as much as the others because we know what becomes of Lundy and I was worried that this was going to change my enjoyment. I can safely say that this was not the case and once again this series has blown me away and I adored this book just as much as the others. I really loved the way that this one ended and how it all worked out in the end. It was beautifully written and described, and made perfect sense.

I think the strength of In An Absent Dream is definitely in the characters and Lundy herself. I loved learning about her as a child and watching her grow up between the two worlds, and making decisions that impacted both her life in the ‘real’ world and the Goblin Market. It was really interesting to see how the relationships were impacted and how they shaped her time in both places. She went from one of my least favourite characters in Every Heart a Doorway to one of my all time favourite in the entire series. I was completely invested in her story and her choices it was really brilliant.

I also loved the way that rules were working around questions and fair value and trading. I adored watching Lindy figure this out and work with Moon to figure out where she was meant to be. I also loved the fact their friendship and how they built there lives through debts and working out how to give each other fair value and keep each other from flying away completely.

The best part for me was all of the different deals that went on and how they ended up working out. I loved watching Lundy use mundane things from the ‘real world’ to buy her life in the Goblin Market it was really well done and I thought it was amazingly well written. Also the setting is probably one of my favourites, it was such an immersive experience and I felt as though it was somewhere I would love to walk through.

The one thing I was a little disappointed in with this book was the fact that there was a battle and a death hinted at but there wasn’t a lot of detail about the event. The only reason I thought that there should have been more time spent on this particular occurrence because it shaped a lot of what happened after it. Plus it would have made the book a little longer which is always something I’m after when it comes to this series.

Is it going to be a surprise when I recommend this book? No. I think this series is one of my absolute favourite things to read and am I already looking forward to rereading this series when the next book comes out next year? Yes. Yes I am.

I really love this series. Are there any others you would recommend? Let me know!