In An Absent Dream by Seanan McGuire, 204 pages.
Kara gave a great rundown of this book back in 2019, so feel free to look here for the plot.
This was a reread for me, and honestly I liked it even better the second time. All of McGuire's Wayward Children books are phenomenal, but I think this one is probably my favorite after the first book in the series. Maybe it's because I'm a sucker for goblin markets and tragedies. But it's also a rare treat to get a book where the heroine is quiet, and rule-abiding, and ultimately not that adventurous, and to see her not have to change to fit into a story worth telling. Which I think is really the strength of this series, focusing on the idea that there is a story where anyone can fit. These books are novellas you can read in a couple of hours! Why not read them?
