Published: 8 January 2019 (print)/8 January 2019 (audio) 
Publisher: Tordotcom/Macmillan Audio
Pages: 204/4 hrs and 57 mins
Narrator: Cynthia Hopkins
Format: Audiobook
Genre: Fantasy
★ ★ ★ ★ – 4 Stars
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 love the pattern of a group book, a solo origin story, another group book, and then another solo origin. It breaks up the main story, and gives the characters a chance at their own history without needing it threaded into the main plot, either successfully or unsuccessfully. Giving them space to have a book to themselves is amazing and I love McGuire’s respect to these characters. That isn’t to say some characters have their history interwoven, but these feel like extra special origins we need to give special attention to.
Lundy is a character we have of course met before, but now we get to see her story. How she found her door, how she ended up at the Wayward School with Eleanor West.
From the dark world of Jaq, to Nancy’s world, and the sugary nonsense of Confection, Lundy comes from a world of logic and reason, but also debts and bargains. I loved the Goblin Market and I loved the variation on everything having a price in the form of fair value. While Lundy gets it to work for her, there is also a reason she is no longer in her perfect world and seeing her adventure was fascinating. It is mystical but somehow also more suited into the real world in a way, especially compared to the other worlds we’ve seen.
There is a tragic past in Lundy’s story and I loved how intricate McGuire’s imagination is to create something so logical to the point of absurdity. It’s fascinating and I loved Lundy’s navigation of this world.
Like the other origin stories you can read it as a standalone, and could also skip it, but it is a great insight into a character we’ve met and tells their story and role in the Wayward world.
You can purchase In an Absent Dream via the following
Wordery | Blackwell’s | Angus & Robertson
Fishpond | Amazon | Amazon Aust | Audible
When Rini lands with a literal splash in the pond behind Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children, the last thing she expects to find is that her mother, Sumi, died years before Rini was even conceived. But Rini can’t let Reality get in the way of her quest – not when she has an entire world to save! (Much more common than one would suppose.) If she can’t find a way to restore her mother, Rini will have more than a world to save: she will never have been born in the first place. And in a world without magic, she doesn’t have long before Reality notices her existence and washes her away. Good thing the student body is well-acquainted with quests… 
Twin sisters Jack and Jill were seventeen when they found their way home and were packed off to Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children.
Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children
I did not realise until writing this I had so many rereads in my five star category. I thought there’d be more but clearly I was not that generous last year. I thought about adding some four stars but that is not the rules here. I had 25 to choose from and most of them were in a series or rereads. On the flipside, if I had read the pile of picture books I had gotten from work last year when I borrowed them instead of early in the new year I would have a few more options for that category, but those will have to wait for next time. Like last year where I only had four main reads, this time I only have four in my picture books. I will definitely have to up my reading game this year and try and find some magnificent reads that are stand alone books.
The highlight of the whole entire year was finally reading the masterpiece that is Animorphs. As a whole I have to give the entire series five stars. A lot of the individual books rated five stars, but I have to acknowledge the absolute way this series took over my life for two months and continues to live in my head as one of the most impactful things I’ve ever read.
This was a reread but it was amazing once again. I love the humour and the amazing science behind it. Mark is a great narrator and Weir tells the story in creative ways that are impactful and clever. There are enough little surprises that each time I am amazed by a plot twist because there’s tiny details I forget while other favouritess stick firmly in my mind.
Another reread but the entire series holds up really well. My favourite book is still number five Burning for Revenge but going on the whole journey with Ellie, Homer and everyone else after so many years was so much fun and it’s truly a classic Aussie YA series everyone should read. It goes through the realities of war, of growing up, of being teenagers, and enduring the unexpected and unfathomable.
Even though I gave this five stars when I read it, it feels weird adding to my Top Five. It feels too obvious. Too…I dunno, weird. But it certainly a five star read. Douglas Adams is a genius with his words, his ideas, his ability to loop everything back together and weave the strings together where what seems nonsensical suddenly had greater meaning. And then of course at the same time make you realise nothing has meaning. It’s a fantastic book and a great introduction to the five book trilogy and even though it seems a clear choice, you can’t ignore it is still all these years later an amazing read.
Jon Klassen is one of my all-time favourite picture book authors and this is a new addition to his spectacular catalogue. The humour found in all his books is there, there’s drama and beauty, suspense and jealousy. The use of the page in terms of illustrations and text narration is amazing and I love the unexpectedness of the story.
I was crying with laughter by the end of this book which is a solid review in itself. The illustrations are also fantastically cute, filled with colour and great character designs. The humour is great, it’s engaging for kids and adults, and the absurdity adds a whole other level of enjoyment.
Once again drawn in by a cute cover and rewarded with a great story. The illustrations aren’t only adorable but there is a great story about wanting to big and grown up only to realise there is something wonderfully special about being yourself and not rushing to change who you are.
I was surprised how much I adored this book. Mini Rabbit is adorable and her desire to help and her curiosity and enthusiasm for everything is lovely. The illustrations are charming and really pull you into the story and make you invested in the story.
