Lost in the Moment and Found

I have read every book in this series and some of them are fantastic and some of them are “meh”. This one falls someone in between. We meet Antsy, who runs away from home (at the age of 7). I'll try to stay spoiler-free. The story tries to cover a lot of ground in a few short pages and the end result is the reader is left unsatisfied on pretty much all accounts. Are we about to deep-dive into parental gaslighting (as the trigger warning in the front of the book suggests), are we taking on the topic of what it means to lose time, are we talking about colonizing empires and their effect on native lands-even when they are just there to shop (or study, a la Star Trek)?????
We get a sort-of cameo from two regulars in the series and a set up ending to the book that assures us that Antsy will probably return in the Wayward Children world eventually (a safe bet, as most characters return).
I'm always glad to return to this series, but I really prefer ones that are set at the school instead of these side stories.