McGuire’s Wayward Children series always has a tinge of sadness, a tribute to mourning the loss of childhood innocence. 

This one though. This one comes with a trigger warning. Grooming behavior and adult gaslighting, and bless the author for being up front and assuring the readers no harm comes to our main character. It’s clear she writes from experience (even if you skipped the dedication). I physically had to shake myself as the adult in Lost in the Moment and Found gaslights 6-year-old Antsy. The machinations of the stepfather to alienate and isolate her from her mother made my skin crawl. It was too vivid, too close to reality, too close to my own history. I had to remind myself that Antsy runs before anything happens and to keep reading. For that alone, this author wins my everlasting respect. Capturing that moment in a way that was so real and so validating. After all, what sane adult picks a fight with a 6-year-old?

Antsy finds herself through her own door and into the shop of lost things. Much of the story here can’t be revealed or discussed as it deals with not just Antsy but the mechanism around the Doors themselves. It’s beautiful, it’s mournful, and it’s truly about being lost in the moment and then found.