Beneath the Sugar Sky, Seanan McGuire
I had to get this the minute it came out, of course. I was a little dubious since this is set primarily in a nonsense world, with a main character from a nonsense world, because that’s really not the sort of thing that attracts me. (Alice in Wonderland drives me wild, I really dislike it.) But fortunately the cast includes familiar and beloved characters like Kade and Christopher, and even drops in on Nancy in her world. Though I wasn’t enamoured of the world, spending more time with Kade was great, and the emotional pay off of the overall quest is pretty great.
I really want Kade to be the main character of his own story, though. It’s nice how he gets involved in everyone else’s, but… I want him to get a happy ever after, even if it doesn’t look like the others’ (i.e. doesn’t involve finding his door, since he doesn’t want to). I’d like to see Christopher get his own story, too.
Rep-wise, it’s also cool that this book features Cora, who is overweight — a fact which was an asset for her when she was a mermaid, and something she’s relatively comfortable with.
I also got this one ASAP! (I called like five stores the day it was supposed to came out; none of them had it in stock but one managed to next-day deliver it.) I would also love to read a book featuring Kade (fingers crossed for book 4). I’m not opposed to nonsense worlds, but sweets and candies and such are not really my thing…
Jenna recently posted…January 2018 Month in Review
I don’t know why nonsense worlds drive me so nutty, but they do. I love my logic too much…
I read this last weekend and it really didn’t work for me. I expected to find a candy nonsense world annoying (and, well, I did) – I didn’t expect to find the rest of the tale sitting badly with me, but sadly it did too. You know you’re in trouble when you get to the end of a novella and resent that you paid £8 to read it. I like the themes of Wayward Children, but McGuire’s take on portal fantasies don’t seem to work for me at all (although I’m tempted to try In An Absent Dream anyway, as Goblin Markets are my jam, the price tag will likely keep me away after this experience; I’ll go for Murderbot instead).
imyril recently posted…The Unbound Empire (Swords and Fire #3)
I would stay away from In An Absent Dream if the series isn’t generally working for you. I do enjoy them, but I always have caveats. (My review of that one is going up soon so you can see what I thought!)