Review: Tidal Creatures by Seanan McGuire

Tidal Creatures by Seanan McGuire
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was provided an ALC of this book via Netgalley, all opinions are my own.  I really enjoyed the narrator and her ability to voice all of the many different characters we encountered in this book.

This is the 3rd book in the series, and I do no recommend reading it as a standalone.  While this introduces several new characters and this focuses on the murder mystery they are involved in, there are underlying themes and explanations that you are going to need to understand first.  We are reunited with Roger and Dodger in this installment and to really understand who they are and what their purpose is you are going to need to read Middlegame and Seasonal Fears in order.

As mentioned this introduces several new characters, which I found hard to keep track of at times. A few of our new characters are lunar gods, each of whom have 2 personalities inside one body.  It took me quite a while to keep track of all of the new lunar deities and how that all worked, but it was a really interesting concept.  McGuire always ties the novel to some type of lore, and in this one it was various mythology related to the moon.  When one of the dieties is found murdered the other lunar gods/godesses band together to solver her murder and find out what is going on.  This leads them down an alchemical rabbit hole of strange occurrences and interactions.  We are reunited with Roger and Dodger and The Impossible City as they try to solve the mystery and stop the alchemists from taking over the city.

I feel like this is a series I need to read from beginning to end again to really grasp the entire premise.  This particular book had alot going on and I found it confusing at times.  I felt the same way about Middlegame.  I think if there is another book in the series I would want to reread all the books again to really grasp all of the concepts before diving in again.  That being said this book was still enjoyable, and the worldbuilding was great.  

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Review: Mislaid in Parts Half-Known by Seanan McGuire

Mislaid in Parts Half-Known by Seanan McGuire
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I was provided an Audio ARC of this book via Macmillan Audio and Netgalley, all opinions are my own.

This was wonderful, one of my favorites in the series so far. I am a big fan of The Wayward Children series. I highly recommend reading Lost in the Moment and Found prior to reading this as this installment is more of a sequel to that particular story and really finishes up Antoinette's story. All of the other installments are more companion stories. I recommend starting at the beginning with this series so you get to know the characters and the quests that they've gone on as they are mentioned again in later installments.

This follows Antsy after she left her door and ended up at the School for Wayward Children, and our familiar cast of characters that I've grown to love so much finds themselves on yet another quest. Antsy puts her ability to find lost things to good use in this installment and we get to visit some really interesting worlds via the doors. We also get some insight and closure on some of the characters. I'm not sure how many more books are planned in the series, but it feels like things are starting to wrap up. I really love this series as a whole and I'm looking forward to the next installment and plan to reread the series from the beginning soon.

This was the first time I've enjoyed one of the installments via audiobook and I highly recommend it. The narrator did a fantastic job giving a voice to each of the many characters.

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Review: Seasonal Fears by Seanan McGuire

Seasonal Fears by Seanan McGuire
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was provided an audio ARC via Netgalley, all opinions are my own. I enjoyed the audio narration and felt the narrator did a good job with the characters and pacing of the book.

I really enjoyed this! I actually liked this more than Middlegame. This is a companion novel to Middlegame more so than it is a sequel. While you can read this as a standalone, I do highly recommend reading Middlegame first so you can understand all of the references to "The Doctrine", "The Impossible City", and Roger and Dodger's backstories. They do make an appearance in the book and while McGuire does a good job summarizing what you need to know, Middlegame was a complex book when it came to the alchemy involved and their journey. If you want a better understanding, I'd read that first. Personally, I want to go back and revisit Middlegame after reading this because its has been over 2 years since I've read it, and I feel like I might be able to better understand it now. That is a common thread with McGuire's books, I find they make me want to revisit them to see what I missed the first time.

This has a unique concept with the main characters each being tied to a season. I very much enjoyed the seasonal lore and the alchemical aspects of the book. Melanie is tied to winter, while Harry is tied to summer. Neither of them are aware of their ties to the seasons until they both collapse at football practice and a random girl named Jack shows up spouting a bunch of nonsense about crowns, seasons, and alchemy. Mel has a heart condition, so her collapsing has happened before, but Harry is in pretty good health so sympathetic fainting is not something he's done before. Harry and Mel have been in love since they were 7 or 8, and now as teenagers, they are faced with a very dark and deadly competition with Jack to guide them as best she can. Their relationship helps to ground and balance them, but they are unprepared to face what is ahead of them. As they embark on their journey to claim their seasonal crowns, they must accept that what they thought was folklore as their destiny. I enjoyed Mel and Harry, but I really enjoyed the concepts of the Jack's and Jenny's. Not only were they really great side characters, but they were unique in their purpose.

There were parts of this book that felt repetitive, and I agree with other readers that the ending felt a bit anticlimactic. I expected more from the labyrinth and the confrontation with Aven. This is much more character driven, and the action and plot suffer at the expense of the world building. There is alot of world building on the page, while some of the action takes place off of the page. This follows along with the author's unique style of storytelling. Like McGuire's other books, this is dark and at times violent. That being said I really enjoyed this road-trip style novel. It had a cool magic system, good world building, and I enjoyed the characters. I'm not sure if there are going to be more installments of this series, if so I'm 100% invested in what comes next.

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Review: In an Absent Dream by Seanan McGuire

In an Absent Dream by Seanan McGuire
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

While still a good story, this was not my favorite of the series. It wasn't as whimsical as the others, it was far more serious with less action and adventure. This felt more character driven than plot driven which isn't my taste. This is still extremely imaginative and well written. It is still enjoyable and fits right in with the rest of the series. I recommend it for fans of the series and I'm looking forward to more books in the series. Unlike the other books in the series, this focuses on one character instead of visiting other characters at the school or somehow ending up back at the school with the other characters.

This is the backstory for Katherine Lundy, who if you recall is the child therapist at Eleanor West's school for wayward children who have gone through doors and can't quite adjust to their original lives. We learn about Lundy's experience in the Goblin Market and the choice she was faced regarding her door. Lundy grew up as a lonely young girl, but found her true identity in the world of the Market. As she traveled between the land of the Goblin Market and the "real world" she learned about fair value, trade, friendship, family, and love. In the end she must provide fair value in one world, but she must give up the other world completely because she can't provide fair value in both.

As always McGuire paints such a vivid picture of the characters and the world they are in. While I didn't love Lundy, I also don't think I was supposed to. She was detached and cold for much of the book only showing warmth to The Archivist and Moon, and then at the end to her little sister Diana. Her closed off demeanor is part of the reason why she ended up in the Goblin Market, she was lonely and detached from the world. I don't think you were supposed to love her. The rest of the characters aren't the focus of the story and they are well developed for the roles they play. The world building as always is great. I really love how Seanan McGuire tells a story.

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Review: Beneath the Sugar Sky by Seanan McGuire

Beneath the Sugar Sky by Seanan McGuire
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

All I can say is I want more and I need to know what happens with the rest of the kids. I need to go back and read Every Heart a Doorway because I think it makes more sense now. I loved this. I really didn't like Every Heart a Doorway when I read it the first time, but I think after having read the next 2 books in the series it really deserves another chance. I loved the more focused storyline this has, and while there is still alot going on and I was never quite sure where the actual plot was heading at the end of the day there was actually some closure to things that happened in the first book as well as in this one. The storylines fit together nicely, and leaves the series open for more exploration but you also feel like it ended if there isn't another book. I loved the characters and that we got to see some of the original characters and get to know them a little better. I also loved that we got to travel to a few different worlds and hear about a few different worlds from the perspective of the students.

The story mainly follows a group on a quest to save Sumi, who you will remember was killed in book 1 by Jill in an attempt to return through her door.  I say mainly because there are a couple of side plots, some get wrapped up and some are left open for future exploration.  Sumi's daughter, Rini, comes from the future because things have been upset and she asks Sumi's friends from Eleanor West's School for Wayward Children to help save her mother. Sumi is accompanied on the quest by Kade and Christoper who we met previously in book 1 and newcomers Nadya and Cora who are both from waterworlds and desperately want to get back. There is alot of good representation in the cast of characters, Kade is transgender, Chris is Mexican-American and had cancer, Nadya was born without an arm, Cora is plus sized but was also a great swimmer. They all had their hardships in the real world but they all found peace and comfort, except for Kade, in their doorways. I felt like the representation was written much more naturally and it was organic to the characters in this installment. Cora had body image issues from past experiences, but as a mermaid those things made her strong. She never quite understood Rini and her nonsense, but she was willing to help just like Nadya, Kade and Chris. While their quest was quite whimsical and ridiculous, it all comes together given that they go to a nonsense world. You just have to read it.

I would still recommend this to mature readers as the content can be a bit graphic and violent, but as a grown up myself I loved it. I think the story is creative, the writing is well done, and I hope that this is not the end. I would love to hear how things end up for Kade, Cora, Chris, and even our wonderful Eleanor West.

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Review: Down Among the Sticks and Bones

Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I loved this! This was exactly what I wanted from the first book. I loved the focused attention to Jack and Jill's story. I was pretty hard on Every Heart a Doorway because I felt like there was too much going on. There were all these wonderful characters, but the main story line was kind of lost because there was a murder plot, and so many characters that you wanted to investigate.  I wanted to hear more about the main character and her experience.

I really loved getting Jack and Jill's backstory and learning about how they found their door. We learned about the world behind their door in such detail and how it shaped them into they ended up as as teens when we met them at the home for wayward children. Their characters make much more sense now that we know them so much better.  I want to go back and read Every Heart a Doorway now and see what I think.  I really loved getting to know Jack, the mad scientist's apprentice and Jill who longs to be accepted as a vampire. Their parents broke them and their bond as sisters and they are doing their best to find something to put themselves back together as individuals.  This book is dark and sometimes gruesome, but it is also kind of magical in a strange way.  I really enjoyed it.

Seanan McGuire's writing was beautiful and poetic and I read this book in one sitting. I can't wait for the next book.  I hope it is like this one where it is focused on one character and their adventures behind their door.

This is listed as young adult, but there is some content I would recommend for more mature YA readers.  There is also a horror element to the story which also adds to the more mature nature of the content.  It isn't overly graphic or grotesque, but just something to to consider.