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olivialandryxo 's review for:
In an Absent Dream
by Seanan McGuire
2.5 stars
In my experience, each book in the Wayward Children series is better than its predecessor. That, coupled with my five star reading streak, gave me high hopes for this novella. Unfortunately, In an Absent Dream fell flat for me; this is especially disappointing when I see that so many other readers praising it, calling it the best in the series. (I stand by my opinion that that honor goes to Beneath the Sugar Sky.)
I want to start by saying that from the first installment, I’ve loved McGuire’s writing style. Words flow in a simple yet enchanting manner. Each one matters. While that does remain true here, I feel that the time skips canceled this out. A few times Katherine would refer to an event that, as epic as it sounded, wasn’t included in an on-page scene, and it would throw me off. I understand that these scenes likely weren’t included because this story is intended to be one of belonging and growing up rather than adventure, but regardless, I wasn’t a fan.
My two favorite elements were the Goblin Market and Katherine’s younger sister, Diana. The former was an eerie, bizarre, but enchanting setting, where questions are forbidden and fair value is law. Although I feel that it wasn’t explored as much as it could’ve been, I very much enjoyed reading about it. As for the latter, she was inexplicably endearing. I didn’t expect to care for her so much, particularly since she only plays a significant part in the final few chapters, but I did.
The primary reason for my rating is that, sadly, I didn’t care about the story. I was intrigued at first, and I think the audiobook narration helped in that regard; these novellas feel reminiscent of a fairytale and having them read to you simply works, in my opinion. However, there was more than one instance in which I zoned out for a few seconds or even a minute, and I couldn’t be bothered to rewind and see if I missed anything important. By the halfway mark, my interest had diminished significantly, and with twenty percent left, I was waiting for the dots to connect and the story to end. Even in Every Heart a Doorway, previously my least favorite in the series, there was the murder mystery aspect to keep me engaged. Here, with little plot and a protagonist I also didn’t much care for, there was nothing holding my interest.
With the story being so concise, I don’t think there’s much else to be said. I think I’m in the minority on this one, so don’t let me stop you from reading In an Absent Dream — I quite enjoyed the previous three novellas. I do plan to read the final one when it releases next year, since each installment is unrelated. But unfortunately, this one was far from my favorite.
In my experience, each book in the Wayward Children series is better than its predecessor. That, coupled with my five star reading streak, gave me high hopes for this novella. Unfortunately, In an Absent Dream fell flat for me; this is especially disappointing when I see that so many other readers praising it, calling it the best in the series. (I stand by my opinion that that honor goes to Beneath the Sugar Sky.)
I want to start by saying that from the first installment, I’ve loved McGuire’s writing style. Words flow in a simple yet enchanting manner. Each one matters. While that does remain true here, I feel that the time skips canceled this out. A few times Katherine would refer to an event that, as epic as it sounded, wasn’t included in an on-page scene, and it would throw me off. I understand that these scenes likely weren’t included because this story is intended to be one of belonging and growing up rather than adventure, but regardless, I wasn’t a fan.
My two favorite elements were the Goblin Market and Katherine’s younger sister, Diana. The former was an eerie, bizarre, but enchanting setting, where questions are forbidden and fair value is law. Although I feel that it wasn’t explored as much as it could’ve been, I very much enjoyed reading about it. As for the latter, she was inexplicably endearing. I didn’t expect to care for her so much, particularly since she only plays a significant part in the final few chapters, but I did.
The primary reason for my rating is that, sadly, I didn’t care about the story. I was intrigued at first, and I think the audiobook narration helped in that regard; these novellas feel reminiscent of a fairytale and having them read to you simply works, in my opinion. However, there was more than one instance in which I zoned out for a few seconds or even a minute, and I couldn’t be bothered to rewind and see if I missed anything important. By the halfway mark, my interest had diminished significantly, and with twenty percent left, I was waiting for the dots to connect and the story to end. Even in Every Heart a Doorway, previously my least favorite in the series, there was the murder mystery aspect to keep me engaged. Here, with little plot and a protagonist I also didn’t much care for, there was nothing holding my interest.
With the story being so concise, I don’t think there’s much else to be said. I think I’m in the minority on this one, so don’t let me stop you from reading In an Absent Dream — I quite enjoyed the previous three novellas. I do plan to read the final one when it releases next year, since each installment is unrelated. But unfortunately, this one was far from my favorite.