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.