Review: In An Absent Dream by Seanan McGuire
In an Absent Dream is the third book is this incredibly fascinating and beautifully written series. The series follows children going through doors to different worlds and the boarding school that takes them in once (if) they have returned to our world. This book follows Katherine Lundy, we get the origin story of how exactly the woman came to be the way we met her in the first book. I think you can read this book without any knowledge of the previous books, it is one of the very interesting features of this series, that many of the books require no context but every book you read adds richness to the others.
I am terrible at picking favorites, and I have loved my whole journey into this book, but my favorite is either this one or book one. I just really absolutely adored every page. There isn't another main character in this series like Lundy. I was not expecting to like her book this much, but watching her choices knowing something tragic was impending, seeing the choice that the narrative was barreling towards. The tension was incredible.
Even if you know how the book is going to end because you had read book one the tension is incredible. I was completely worried about the wrong thing, and by the time I realized that we were so close to the end I just had to keep turning pages and not stop to think about what was coming.
Lundy is really an excellent narrator. I love how McGuire spent so much time rooting her in each world, really showing the reader the tension between the two places, and the tension Lundy feels about who she even wants to be, each world requires something different from her and she has totally different futures in each. I adored seeing how Lundy changes, seeing each world subvert or meet my expectations. Mostly I just want more goblin markets.
At the end of every book I have the bittersweet desire to go back while also knowing that I am going to see an entirely new adventure next book. I think this book is the most melancholy of all of them, just because you know exactly what happens in Lundy's future, but seeing her past was so engrossing. I am obsessed with this book. I want a "be sure" sign to hang on my door.
