Tag: seanan mcguire

Book Review: Where the Drowned Girls Go by Seanan McGuire

~ Liz Harrison ~ Leave a comment

Title: Where the Drowned Girls Go
Author: Seanan McGuire
Series: Wayward Children
Publish Date: January 4, 2022
Publisher: Tordotcom
Format: ebook

Goodreads Summary:

Welcome to the Whitethorn Institute. The first step is always admitting you need help, and you’ve already taken that step by requesting a transfer into our company.

There is another school for children who fall through doors and fall back out again.
It isn’t as friendly as Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children.
And it isn’t as safe.

When Eleanor West decided to open her school, her sanctuary, her Home for Wayward Children, she knew from the beginning that there would be children she couldn’t save; when Cora decides she needs a different direction, a different fate, a different prophecy, Miss West reluctantly agrees to transfer her to the other school, where things are run very differently by Whitethorn, the Headmaster.

She will soon discover that not all doors are welcoming…

Review: Once again, Seanan McGuire has hooked me back into this world.

I went into this knowing that this was book seven. I was curious to see how the author would hook in Regan from Across the Green Grass Fields, considering that the story didn’t seem to tie into the original five novellas. And wow, did she succeed in a way I wasn’t expecting.

Whitethorn is almost the exact opposite of the Home for Wayward Children. Instead of being taught to really accept the fact they have gone on fantastical (or horrifying) adventures, the students at Whitethorn are basically being forced to forget exactly who they are and what they’ve seen and done. It’s a truly horrifying thought, but at the same time, it makes sense that some children (or rather their parents) would want to be “normal” again.

Cora, who previously appeared in “Beneath the Sugar Sky” and “Come Tumbling Down,” wants nothing more than to slam her door shut and be normal again. She makes the choice to transfer to Whitethorn, and straight into the mysteries that lie there. There’s not much more I can say about the plot without giving away massive spoilers.

While I did like “Across the Green Grass Fields” from last year, this one felt more true to form for the series. I’m happy to be back with characters I already knew, but I’m also glad that Regan got to appear again.

There’s actually a lot of set up for the next few novellas, so I’m very excited to see what next year’s installment, “Lost in the Moment and Found,” will bring.

Rating: 4/5

Goodreads Goal 1/52

[Edit Update: This novella was originally read on January 7, 2022.]

Book Review: Juice Like Wounds by Seanan McGuire

~ Liz Harrison ~ Leave a comment

Title: Juice Like Wounds
Author: Seanan McGuire
Series: Wayward Children
Publish Date: July 13, 2020
Publisher: Tor Books
Format: eBook

Goodread Summary:

In the course of every great adventure there are multiple side-quests. All too often these go unreported - perhaps because the adventurers in question fail to return to the main narrative due to death or other distractions, and sometimes because the chronicler of the events decided to edit out that part of that particular history for reasons of their own (historians are never infallible) - but occasionally we get another window into our heroes' world.

In Juice Like Wounds we once again get to meet Lundy, and some of her companions. Lundy's main adventure is detailed in In an Absent Dream (which is nominated for a Hug Award, this year!) and you should definitely read that. Before or after this tale is up to you. Remember: side quests are fun. For the reader, at least...

Review: Damn it. Seanan McGuire made me like Lundy.

I wasn’t a fan of In an Absent Dream. I know I’m among the few who think that. I never warmed to Lundy in Every Heart a Doorway, where she is first introduced. I further didn’t really care for her when her backstory was expanded in In an Absent Dream. She just didn’t click with me. But I think, I needed to read this, because I’m having a change of heart.

This is the tale of three girls featured in Absent Dream. It’s a quietly mentioned scene, finally expanded upon. And it really sets into motion Lundy and Moon and their story together.

I only just found out about this little short story, released on the publisher’s website. And I’m glad I did, because I was in the mood for more Wayward Children. But did I have to be hurt like this?

There’s a quote from the story, one that is going to stick with me for awhile. “Stories are weapons, you see. All stories. Some are swords and some are cudgels, but all of them can hurt you, if you allow it. If you give them the space they need to twist and wriggle in your hands, becoming something other than friendly, becoming something other than tame. All stories are weapons, and children’s stories are doubly so, for children have not yet learned how to be careful.” And if that doesn’t set into motion a short but chilling tale, I don’t know what will.

Rating: 5/5

Goodreads Goal 2/52

Book Review: Across the Green Grass Fields by Seanan McGuire

~ Liz Harrison ~ Leave a comment

Title: Across the Green Grass Fields
Author: Seanan McGuire
Series: Wayward Children
Publish Date: January 12, 2021
Publisher: Tor.com
Format: eBook (Kindle)

Goodread Summary:

"Welcome to the Hooflands. We're happy to have you, even if you being here means something's coming."

Regan loves, and is loved, though her school-friend situation has become complicated, of late.

When she suddenly finds herself thrust through a doorway that asks her to "Be Sure" before swallowing her whole, Regan must learn to live in a world filled with centaurs, kelpies, and other magical equines - a world that expects its human visitors to step up and be heroes.

But after embracing her time with the herd, Regan discovers that not all forms of heroism are equal, and not all quests are as they seem....

Review: The Wayward Children novella series is one that I held off reading for years, until June of last year when I blasted through their first five books in rapid succession. Besides the fourth book (In an Absent Dream), I’ve enjoyed the series very much, and they’re easy reads, usually under 200 pages. Across the Green Grass Fields is a great starting point if you have never picked up this series before. It takes place in the same universe at the first five novellas, but it entirely separate, so you don’t have to read the others first.

With Across the Green Grass Fields, we are introduced to Regan, a young girl with possibly the most toxic “best friend” in history, Laurel. When Regan is finally told that she is intersex, after questioning why she wasn’t going through puberty, she confides in Laurel, who rejects her in a rather horrific manner. Regan runs from school and ends up finding a doorway into the Hooflands.

Regan comes off as a very quiet and insecure young girl at the start, but by the end, she has a maturity in her that shows her growth. She isn’t a typical teenager by the end of the story, but she does have heart. She is able to assimilate into the herd pretty quickly. I do like that for much of the story, she doesn’t forget where she comes from. She references back to her parents, to Laurel, and to her former friend Heather, and starts relating more to Heather than before. I love the fact that she heals from Laurel’s bullying.

Some of the detractors is that, to me, the intersex plotline just seemed to… vanish once Regan was in the Hooflands. Unless I missed it (which is possible, because I finished the book at like two in the morning), she never really thinks about it. The other big thing was the ending. Without spoilers, it just seemed that the stakes ramped up in the final section, and just kinda dropped. It was a bit of a disappointment on how the “Queen” plotline ended. Again, not going into detail, but it felt rushed.

I’m curious if we will see the Hoofland again in any of the newly-announced sequels. We did end up revisiting the Moors in a sequel, and I really enjoyed that. We shall just have to wait and see.

Rating: 4/5

Goodreads Goal 1/52