Name: Katie B.'s review of Beneath the Sugar Sky by Seanan McGuire
Item: Beneath the Sugar Sky
Rating: 5
Author: Katie B.

Seanan McGuire

A stand-alone fantasy tale from Seanan McGuire's Alex-award winning Wayward Children series, which began in the Alex, Hugo, Nebula, and Locus Award-winning, World Fantasy Award finalist, Tiptree Honor List Every Heart a Doorway Beneath the Sugar Sky, the third book in McGuire's Wayward Children series, returns to Eleanor West's Home for Wayward Children in a standalone contemporary fantasy for fans of all ages. At this magical boarding school, children who have experienced fantasy adventures are reintroduced to the "real" world. 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... A tale of friendship, baking, and derring-do. Warning: May contain nuts. The Wayward Children Series Book 1: Every Heart a Doorway Book 2: Down Among the Sticks and Bones Book 3: Beneath the Sugar Sky Book 4: In an Absent Dream

Beneath the Sugar Sky

High Fidelity

Adulthood brings limitations like gravity and linear space and the idea that bedtime is a real thing, and not an artificially imposed curfew. Adults can still tumble down rabbit holes and into enchanted wardrobes, but it happens less and less with every year they live.

Katie B.

This book was somewhat worse than the other books that came before it. It seemed more like a children's story when everything just came at their fingertips miraculously. It just did not make sense even though I enjoyed getting to know Nancy's and Sumi's worlds.

kelsey

children follow the foxes, and open the wardrobes, and peek beneath the bridge. children climb the walls and fall down the wells and run the razor’s edge of possibility until sometimes, just sometimes, the possible surrenders and shows them the way to go home.

i love this series so much. the worlds the author has built are so cool. and the characters are all so lovable and relatable.

Sarah Sammis

Family	Utopia	Cornfield	33FFFF . Although uhoria plays a big role in Runi's adventure, her ultimate goal is the restoration of Confection and her mother. As Confection is a world through a doorway (and along a road) the destination gets bumped up one.

http://pussreboots.com/blog/2019/comm...

shru

i'm disappointed. i really loved the first two books in this series, but this one felt so? flat? idek? the characters are okay, but i really wanted to know more about nancy's door and tbh i couldn't care less about sumi's. i mean it's cool, but not as intriguing as the more darker worlds. like i loved the moors, and this felt to childish for me? also the plot was eh too!

i've got to say, the diversity in the characters is really great, an i love love love christopher! (can you see a bit of a pattern in the characters i like? cuz i sure can lmao). i would love a book about him :)

anyways i probably will not be reading book 4, but i sure as hell am gonna read book 5 cuz jack!!

fatru tamzil

QUEST ALERTTTTT!1!!1 This was slightly brighter in tone than the other two, but just as entertaining nonetheless. I love Kade and Christopher more in this book <3

Denaiir

4.5 stars. 
I loved the word as usual, Confection was perfect for me since I love anything sweet. However, I didn't like Rini so I can't give it a 5 stars because she kept annoying me. 
But Cora was amazing, I loved her, and Christopher is such a darling!! 
Can't wait to read the next installment.

Krystyna 

I can't really say very much about this book without giving away spoilers but oh my goodness it was such a fun read! I LOVED this book! If you have read the other two books in this series and enjoyed them then I don't see why you wouldn't love this book as well. One of the aspects that I love in these books, especially this one, is the writing; it is gorgeous. The worlds that Seanan McGuire built in these books are amazing and fantastical, especially this one. You learn so much more about the original characters in this book. The characters are so diverse, which I love. It was definitely a very fun read and I cannot recommend this book and this series enough. The best way to describe it is Narnia, Alice in Wonderland, fairy tales, and a little sprinkle of Harry Potter all combined together to make this amazing and fun series. Please give it a read if you haven't already. It is definitely worth it!

Alexa M

Ok I LOVED getting to go to all the different worlds but I missed Jack and Jill :/

I can’t explain how mad I am at myself for not getting to these books sooner. Everything is just so whimsical and magical and hopeful, even in the hardest moments or the dire situations the characters are in it’s just so so good. I love this series more than words can ever express!

Jamieson

“Just keep getting through until you don’t have to do it anymore, however much time that takes, however difficult it is.”




FULL REVIEW NOW POSTED

I AM SO GLAD I HEAR SEANAN MCGUIRE IS WRITING MORE WAYWARD CHILDREN BOOKS BECAUSE I CANNOT ACCEPT THIS IS THE END God, I love these book soo much. I love this series and this world and these characters so much

I actually think I possibly liked Beneath the Sugar Sky the most of the three? Even more then Every Heart a Doorway?? But it was just SO FUNNY AND GOOD AND CUTE. And had all my favourite characters (KADE, SUMI) and cool new characters and oh my god did I mention it's SO FUNNY I was dying laughing at the nonsense of Confectionary as a world. 

Beneath the Sugar Sky begins after the events of Every Heart a Doorway, when Rini - the daughter of Sumi from book one, drops out of the sky - looking for her mother. The death of Sumi in book one has caused a shift in her world of confectionary, and now Rini is slowly disappearing, because Sumi's death means it's like she never existed (I swear I made this sound SO MUCH MORE CONFUSING THEN IT IS) but it makes sense in the book

Anyway, the children from Eleanor Wests home must embark on an epic quest that takes them across worlds, and eventually, into Confectionary, to save Sumi and defeat the Queen of Cakes



I absolutely loved pretty much everything about this book but I think my two favourites things were A: the return of the old characters and B: the world of confectionary and all its nonsense


  lets talk about characters


In Beneath the Sugar Sky, some old favourite characters make a return. Kade and Christopher from book one are part of the main group, and so is Nadia who was a brief part of the first book. Nancy also makes a reappearance, as does Sumi. Jack and Jill aren't in it but they're discussed. The only new character is Cora, a fat girl who's returned from a drowned world where she used to be a mermaid. 

I absolutely loved the cast of this book and their dynamics. Kade was also my favourite character in book one and I LOVE HIM EVEN MORE NOW. Christopher got so much more development and it was so nice to see, plus it was cool seeing Nancy again! As for Cora, I really enjoyed her as a new character and I'd love to know more about her drowned world. But her friendship with Nadia, and potential romance with Christopher, was really nice. 

I just loved all the joking and the way the characters bounced off eachother as they traipsed through Confectionary. I think McGuire writes such well rounded loveable characters you can get behind and I really hope some of the kids, especially Christopher and Kade, get books written about them. 


  now lets talk about the world-building


I already find the worldbuilding so interesting. I love the concept of kids coming back from worlds and needing help coming to terms with that. But the world of Confectionary was what I wanted to talk about specifically. CONFECTIONARY IS SO FUNNY AND WEIRD AND COOL. So basically, it's a whole world made of baking goods. There's a Queen of Cakes, and a Big Oven god who's the Big Baker of the world, and an entire backstory of all the bakers who created the world, and theres gingerbread castles and prophecies and ALL OTHER GOODNESS and it's just soo interesting. I loved getting to know more about this world, it was just so well constructed in such a short time? 

I also, really loved how the mapping of the worlds was expanded. How each world connects to eachother and the different types is so interesting and I really want it to be explained even more ?


  Christopher blinked. "You mean the world rearranges itself so that everyplace you want to go is within a day's walk from where you are?"
"Well, sure," said Rini. "Isn't that how it works where you're from?"
"Sadly, no."
"Huh," said Rini. "And you call my world nonsensical."
Christopher didn't have an answer to that.


Aaah this book just makes me so happy. ALL these books do. And one thing that also makes me so happy is the way diversity is handled. The main character Cora is fat and has anxiety, Nadya has a missing arm, Christopher is mexican/american and had cancer, and Kade is trans, Rini is Japanese and we also meet a hijabi character. I just think making such a beautiful, effortlesly diverse and interesting cast is such a highlight, especially because the rep is always so nicely done and the kids are so considerate of eachother. This world makes me SO HAPPYYY


  “We’re teenagers in a magical land following a dead girl and a disappearing girl into a field of organic, pesticide-free candy corn,”


The last thing I want to mention, is that I listened to this (like I did for all the other books) on audiobook and I ADORE THESE AUDIOBOOKS. I'm glad the original narrator has returned for this book because she does such an excellent job. I especially love the accent she does for Kade. Anyway, I highly recommend this audiobook series!


(This art is by Rovina Cai!)

I just absolutely adore this series and this book and I hope soo muuuch there is more to come. I could honestly read a hundred books in this series, because each one is so unique and interesting and every character makes me happy. 

Beneath the Sugar Sky was such a fun, quirky ride that really fleshed out the world even more. I loved catching up with the old characters and I hope there is more to come!!

Shay

Wayward Children is almost like Seanan McGuire made a bunch of nonsensical aesthetic pinterest boards and decided to write books based on the photo collection (rather than the other way around.) And... it works. 


  “We’re teenagers in a magical land following a dead girl and a disappearing girl into a field of organic, pesticide-free candy corn,” said Kade. “I think weird is a totally reasonable response to the situation. We’re whistling through the graveyard to keep ourselves from totally losing our shit.”


There's something about this series that takes me back. It peels all of the worldly worries away, plucking tension from my shoulders and letting me escape into something that doesn't have to make sense, it just has to be magical. 

I'm three books in and having all of these slightly disconnected short stories to explore the different worlds is the perfect wind-down at the end of the day - curl up on the couch with a glass of wine and escape into a nonsense candy land adventure. Down with the Queen of Cakes!



TW's for body shaming, transphobia, and fatphobia.

One character recounts her experiences of being judged for her size. The overall depiction of this is positive in my opinion because she fights against fatphobic ideas and uses other people's incorrect assumptions about her to her advantage. There is recurring mention for one of the characters who got kicked out of his world when he changed his pronouns. His parents also are not supportive of his transition but this is also overall positive in my opinion because there's a clear impression that he is living his life the way that he wants to and nothing is worth pretending to be someone you're not.

brianna

Izza

4.5 stars | I think this one is my favourite in the series so far. I love Cora!

Kelsey Joëlle

This was my least favorite book in the series so far. I wasn't a fan of Rini at all. Did like the other characters. Storyline wasn't for me either

Didi Chanoch

With this book months away, I'm not gonna say much. But I will say this: This series continues to be absolutely stellar. Also, I think Cora, like Nancy and Jack before her, is going to be very important for some readers.

Christine Bruce

It didn’t start on a high note for me. But it ended on one. I love that this series is so short in pages, but this one really seemed to drag until the last few chapters. I also loved once the adventure took off towards the middle. Not the best in the series, but I still enjoyed my time in its universe.

Savannah Winchell

BtSS by Seanan McGuire
5 ⭐️
- MY CHILDREN, THEY THRIVE
- for anyone still grossed out by soap dick 10/10 recommend this soul cleansing series
- I miss Nancy 
- Kade, my son, deserves the world of his dreams where he can just make clothes all day and crush on girls

Livia

This would be a five stars if it weren't for Rini, honestly. I listen to this on audiobook, and her voice is really, really getting on my nerves. And also because of her endless babbling.

Maggie Gordon

The Wayward Children are back with this third installment focusing on a crop of people we haven't got much of a chance to meet, including Cora, a character that I found exceptionally touching. Cora is fat and that drives a lot of her narrative. Not in the sense that she is constantly thinking about how she needs to lose weight, but in how she knows the world judges and shames her on a near constant basis. She was once a mermaid, powerful, strong, admired for exactly who she was. Then she returned and it was all about how she looked, not who she was. 

The story isn't about her returning home, alas. But about Sumi's future daughter, Rini, who falls into the turtle pond, demanding to know where her mother is so that she can try and prevent herself from disappearing. Given that Sumi is dead, this task is going to prove difficult. Cora, Kade, Christopher, Nadya, and Rini must go on a quest to different worlds to find all the pieces of her mother (body, ghost, spirit) so that Confection's baker can put her back together. It's a substantially different book than the previous two installments of the series given the whole sugary sweet vibe, but make no mistake, there's still that dark fairy tale foundation to the story that McGuire is so good at crafting. But this book certainly gives you more feel good moments than the last two which is a nice break.

Celeste Richardson

You can find this review and more at Novel Notions. 

It’s sad when a perfectly decent story leaves you disappointed, but that’s how I feel about this little novella. I absolutely loved Every Heart a Doorway and Down Among the Sticks and Bones. They were both deep and meaningful and had important things to say about accepting yourself no matter how different you are and finding your place, whether it’s in this world or another. They spoke about how adults don’t see children as their equals, and undervalue their experiences and opinions and value just because of their age.

Because I was so moved and inspired by the first two books, I was expecting some of the same from this third installment. But that’s not what I got. One the surface, this book fit well with the rest of the series. It returned to the school setting of the first book, featured characters from the first book, and involved visiting worlds mentioned in that first book. We have a few new characters who round out our diverse cast and bring in even more representation. 

Cora, our main perspective character, has been labeled “fat” her entire life. People see her and assume that she is a glutton who never gets her butt off the couch and exercises. People couldn’t be more wrong. Cora might have lost the genetic lottery when it comes to weight, but she’s a runner and a powerful swimmer. So powerful a swimmer, in fact, that her door to another world led to an aquatic realm where she found her true self in the form of a mermaid. She got caught in a current and swept back to the world of her birth, which is how she finds herself at Eleanor’s school and part of our story.

My problem with Cora was this: for someone who yearns to not be defined by her size, that is seriously all she thinks about. Wherever she is, she automatically assumes that she’s being judged because of her weight. I know this is a struggle, but it’s so unhealthy for it to be the defining characteristic within your own mind. Something you dislike about yourself or wish you could change should never be the first way you describe yourself, even to yourself. 

The children at the school are all different; if they were “normal,” they wouldn’t be here. But the others don’t seem to spend as much time belittling themselves over something they can’t change as does Cora. We learn that diet and exercise don’t alter her weight; she’s simply a product of her genetics. But then we have someone like Kade, who was failed even worse by genetics when he was born female but views himself as male, who doesn’t let his physicality define him or how he views himself to nearly the extent Cora does. I don’t know why, but in my opinion she lacked the depth of characters we’ve come to know in the previous books, in large part due to her constant focus on her physical form.

Something else that bothered me was the insinuation that some doors, if not all, are found through near-death experiences, particularly suicide attempts. I feel that this is unhealthy thought to plant within the minds of readers. This series appeals to people who view themselves as outcasts and misfits, people who feel like they don’t fit as comfortably into this world as those around them. It’s an amazing thing to find yourself represented in books like these, and to see a physical representation of the mental escape you crave. 
  But to plant the idea that suicide might provide that escape within the minds of those whose unhappiness leaves them impressionable, even if the idea is only vaguely implied, isn’t helpful.
 This is just my opinion, and others might read things differently than I did. But it’s something that bothered me.

This was a quest story, and we actually visit more worlds than we have in any of the previous books. I felt that the settings were the strength in this novella. The descriptions were lovely and transportive. But the depth of characterization present in the preceding novels wasn’t present. The prose felt like a hollow imitation of McGuire’s writing in the previous books. 

On the surface, this was a fun story that was engaging and an interesting escape from the realm of normal. If this would have been written by someone else, I honestly would probably rate it higher. But McGuire created something really special with the first two novellas in her Wayward Children series, and the expectations created by those two little books were unmet in this story. She’s capable of more than this, and I hope the next installment delivers the depth and proclaims the message that were both so present in those first two novellas.

You can read my review of Every Heart a Doorway here, and my review of Down Among the Sticks and Bones here.

This was a gift from my darling Mary. Even though I didn't love it as much as the first two, I still deeply appreciate the gift!

Ingrid 

Mary Rose Luksha

Another great instalment in the series but I rated it slightly down (more like 3.5 stars) for the talk of pinpointing all the worlds on a compass. It felt a little dry and like there could have been a more exciting way to do that.

2.5☆

i did not enjoy this one as much. funny how it really depends on which of the worlds you prefer (personally, the darker gloomier, logical ones are for me).

perfectly competent regardless. you can tell mcguire is having a lot of fun with this.

Katie B. &
Beneath the Sugar Sky by Seanan McGuire

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