The Stats:
đ BOOK REVIEWâ đ
BOOK: Beneath the Sugar Sky
AUTHOR: Seanan McGuire
@seananmcguire
Publisher: Tor Books @torbooks
Stars: ââââ
Published: July 21st 2020
“Sometimes you say ‘nonsense’ like it’s an idea and sometimes you say it like it’s a proper name,” said the Baker. “Why is that?”
â Seanan McGuire (Beneath the Sugar Sky (Wayward Children, #3))
The Review:
Right, ready for round three? Third in the Wayward Children Series, Beneath the Sugar Sky deals with the aftermath of Sumiâs death in the first book. You see, in Sumiâs past, she was sucked into Confection, a nonsense world of gumdrops and baked goods. She had a prophecy that sheâs overthrow the Queen of Cakes and become the new ruler. But, you see, she didnât. She died. And in nonsense worlds, time and space arenât exactly linear. So, the daughter Sumi never got to have pops in to Eleanor Westâs Home for Wayward Children, her hand vanishing all Marty-McFly-style. She knows she has to find a way to bring her mother back to life, or sheâll never get born!
Great plot. Really loved it. Incredible world building. Letâs move on to the real attraction here. The characters. Rini, Sumiâs daughter, is fun enough. Sheâs a carbon copy of her mother. We get to see a lot more of Kade and Christopher, a couple of characters I adored from the first book. We also get to meet two girls who went to watery worlds: Cora and Nadya. These two just further highlight McQuireâs talent for crafting characters that humanize marginalized groups. Cora is overweight, and not because of her appetite. Itâs just her genes. Sheâs actually an athlete, but she has a ton of problems with self-esteem and social situations because of how horribly sheâs been treated for being âfatâ. Nadya comes from poorer areas of Russia, and has a few issues of her own that we donât really see until later.
These stories donât just get into these charactersâ heads and show us how they feel. McGuireâs Wayward Children universe makes it so that their defining characteristic, what isolates them in our world, makes them welcome and epic in the worlds they go to. The series is about looking at a person for who they are and celebrating the possibilities of their individuality.
Oh, and Confection sounds like it would be lovely for a quick visit. Then, back to the Moors for me.
You can see more in my video review:
The Summary:
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 canât let Reality get in the way of her quest â 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 doesnât 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.
I voluntarily listened to a narration of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.