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Beneath the Sugar Sky
(Wayward Children #3)
by
Beneath the Sugar Sky, the third book in McGuire's Wayward Children series, returns to Eleanor West's Home for Wayward Children in a standalone contemporary fantasy for fans of all ages. At this magical boarding school, children who have experienced fantasy adventures are reintroduced to the "real" world. When Rini lands with a literal splash in the pond behind Eleanor Wes
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Start your review of Beneath the Sugar Sky (Wayward Children, #3)
But children, ah, children. Children follow the foxes, and open the wardrobes, and peek beneath the bridge. Children climb the walls and fall down the wells and run the razor’s edge of possibility until sometimes, just sometimes, the possible surrenders and shows them the way to go home.
It's not often I give books in a series three five stars in a row, but these stories just speak to an inner part of me - the curious, feminist adventurer who longed for nothing more than to follow Lucy throug ...more
“They can be hard for their families to understand, those returned, used-up miracle children. They sound like liars to people who never had a doorway of their own. They sound like dreamers. They sound... unwell, to the charitable, and simply sick to the cruel.”
The Wayward Children series continues to be strong, but I felt this book doesn’t reach the same level as the previous two.
We are back at Eleanor West's Home for Wayward Children, where children who have spent time in portal wor ...more
Feb 20, 2017
Melanie
rated it
really liked it
Shelves:
dark,
lgbtqiap,
novellas-and-short-stories,
young-adult,
arc,
read-in-2017,
fantasy,
sapphic
ARC provided by Tor in exchange for an honest review.
1.) Every Heart a Doorway ★★★★★
2.) Down Among the Sticks and Bones ★★★★★
This is my 100th review of 2017! And I couldn’t have picked a better book! Beneath the Sugar Sky is another amazing installment in the Wayward Children series and it starts out right back at Eleanor West's magical boarding school. And this book heavily centers around one of my favorite characters from Every Heart a Doorway, Sumi!
“There is kindness in the world,...more
I'm so disappointed.
I've realized that I'm more in love with the idea of these books rather than the actual plots, which was never more apparent than in this installment. It didn't work for me from start to finish.
For the past two novellas, I've blamed my lack of connection to the story on the simple fact that they weren't long enough. However, this plot seemed to be all over the place. There were seemingly no stakes!
A large part of this book is set in a Nonsense world. Kade specifically mention ...more
I've realized that I'm more in love with the idea of these books rather than the actual plots, which was never more apparent than in this installment. It didn't work for me from start to finish.
For the past two novellas, I've blamed my lack of connection to the story on the simple fact that they weren't long enough. However, this plot seemed to be all over the place. There were seemingly no stakes!
A large part of this book is set in a Nonsense world. Kade specifically mention ...more
Jan 22, 2018
Chelsea (chelseadolling reads)
rated it
really liked it
Shelves:
books-ive-reread,
queer
Re-read 1/3/20: I still feel pretty much the same I've felt during all of my previous reads of this one. It isn't my favorite, but I do still love everything about this series and honestly? I'll take any opportunity I can get to hang out with these characters so it is what it is lol
Re-read 2/19/19: Yeeaaah, this one is definitely not my favorite. I really love the fat-girl rep and the fact that we get to hang out with some of our favorites from the first book again, but I just do not really jive ...more
Re-read 2/19/19: Yeeaaah, this one is definitely not my favorite. I really love the fat-girl rep and the fact that we get to hang out with some of our favorites from the first book again, but I just do not really jive ...more
The Wayward Children series has stolen my heart yet again. What a wonderful third installment to an already fantastic series!
As always, Seanan McGuire has one of the most eloquent writing styles of which I have ever had the pleasure of indulging in. Her prose is truly magical, allowing you to feel as if you are beside these characters, engulfed in their whimsical worlds. I’m not a writing buff in the least, but Seanan McGuide makes me melt every single time.
I particularly LOVED how we got to see ...more
As always, Seanan McGuire has one of the most eloquent writing styles of which I have ever had the pleasure of indulging in. Her prose is truly magical, allowing you to feel as if you are beside these characters, engulfed in their whimsical worlds. I’m not a writing buff in the least, but Seanan McGuide makes me melt every single time.
I particularly LOVED how we got to see ...more
3.8/5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This is definitely my least favorite from the series, apart from the first one of course. Something about changing perspectives in a single page bugs me. I can't feel close and personal to a character when it changes POV all the time. In 200 page books like this one, it doesn't need that.
I truly think I have a problem with the books that talk about the school in this serie ...more
“There is kindness in the world, if we know how to look for it. If we never start denying it the door.”
This is definitely my least favorite from the series, apart from the first one of course. Something about changing perspectives in a single page bugs me. I can't feel close and personal to a character when it changes POV all the time. In 200 page books like this one, it doesn't need that.
I truly think I have a problem with the books that talk about the school in this serie ...more
oooh, goodreads choice awards semifinalist for best fantasy 2018! what will happen?
"Nobody promised me a happy ending. They didn't even promise me a happy existence."
i love this series so dingdang much. it’s true that i gave this one four stars instead of the five stars i gave to the other two, but it’s a really high four stars. there’s been no decline in writing quality, character development, or worldbuilding, not even a little bit. the only thing i liked somewhat less here than the first two ...more
"Nobody promised me a happy ending. They didn't even promise me a happy existence."
i love this series so dingdang much. it’s true that i gave this one four stars instead of the five stars i gave to the other two, but it’s a really high four stars. there’s been no decline in writing quality, character development, or worldbuilding, not even a little bit. the only thing i liked somewhat less here than the first two ...more
I know, I know. 2 stars? 2 stars!?
Well friends, my expectations for this book were sky high & 2 stars is actually being generous. Considering it took me a whole month of slogging through 10 pages at a time of this 176 page book, I think 2 stars is being very generous indeed.
McGuire largely missed the mark with her third installment of the Wayward Children series. In fact, the only part of this I thoroughly enjoyed was her writing style. She is whimsical & straightforward in the same breath, and ...more
Well friends, my expectations for this book were sky high & 2 stars is actually being generous. Considering it took me a whole month of slogging through 10 pages at a time of this 176 page book, I think 2 stars is being very generous indeed.
McGuire largely missed the mark with her third installment of the Wayward Children series. In fact, the only part of this I thoroughly enjoyed was her writing style. She is whimsical & straightforward in the same breath, and ...more
A delightful confection! This is the sequel to Every Heart a Doorway and Down Among the Sticks and Bones. Final review, first posted on Fantasy Literature:
In Beneath the Sugar Sky, the third book in Seanan McGuire’s WAYWARD CHILDREN series, we return to Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children, that haven for children and teens who once found their way through portals to other, magical worlds but have been involuntarily returned to ours. At Eleanor West’s boarding school, at least they find oth ...more
In Beneath the Sugar Sky, the third book in Seanan McGuire’s WAYWARD CHILDREN series, we return to Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children, that haven for children and teens who once found their way through portals to other, magical worlds but have been involuntarily returned to ours. At Eleanor West’s boarding school, at least they find oth ...more
Jul 09, 2017
Elle (ellexamines)
rated it
it was amazing
Shelves:
x-coverporn,
x-buylist,
y-2018releases,
z-2017reads,
y-notowned,
sff-high-fantasy,
x-arcs,
z-2018favs,
x-series,
5-star
This series just keeps getting better.
This is seriously one of the best worlds I've ever come across in YA and I want 10,000 more of these novellas. But wow, let me ...more
“Adults can still tumble down rabbit holes and into enchanted wardrobes, but it happens less and less with every year they live. Maybe this is a natural consequence of living in a world where being careful is a necessary survival trait, where logic wears away the potential for something bigger and better than the obvious.”
This is seriously one of the best worlds I've ever come across in YA and I want 10,000 more of these novellas. But wow, let me ...more
Feb 12, 2019
emma
rated it
really liked it
Shelves:
fantasy,
to-buy,
library,
3-and-a-half-stars,
magical-realist-urban-whatever,
reviewed,
ya,
diverse,
dark,
fairytale
THIS BOOK IS SET IN CANDYLAND.
That’s both the single biggest positive of this book and about the only thing I remember from it.
Even though this book is teeny-tiny, it managed to drag a bit. It felt weirdly paced - maybe the fact that it was so short made the plot feel half-baked. (Pastry pun semi-intended.) I did not exactly fall in love with the characters, and Every Heart a Doorway remains far and away my favorite installment of this series so far.
However - and I cannot stress this enough - C ...more
That’s both the single biggest positive of this book and about the only thing I remember from it.
Even though this book is teeny-tiny, it managed to drag a bit. It felt weirdly paced - maybe the fact that it was so short made the plot feel half-baked. (Pastry pun semi-intended.) I did not exactly fall in love with the characters, and Every Heart a Doorway remains far and away my favorite installment of this series so far.
However - and I cannot stress this enough - C ...more
*4.5/5
I love this series so much. I want a hundred books.
I love this series so much. I want a hundred books.
![destiny ♡⚔♡ [howling libraries]](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1557144778p2/15335689.jpg)
#1 Every Heart a Doorway ★★★★★
#2 Down Among the Sticks and Bones ★★★★★
#3 Beneath the Sugar Sky ★★★★★
#4 In An Absent Dream ★★★★★
#5 Come Tumbling Down ★★★★★
#6 Across the Green Grass Fields ★★★★★
Every time I think I can’t love Seanan McGuire any more than I already do, I read another of her stories, and I’m proven wrong. She is such an incredible storyteller, and she portrays the most necessary, important perspectives on the world and on how humans treat one another, and I am so here for it, alway ...more
1.) Every Heart A Doorway ★★★★
2.) Down Among The Sticks and Bones ★★★★.5
3.) Beneath The Sugar Sky ★★★★.5
4.) In An Absent Dream ★★★.5
5.) Come Tumbling Down ★★★★
6.) Across the Green Grass Fields ★★★★
-----------------------------------------------
Delightful!
2.) Down Among The Sticks and Bones ★★★★.5
3.) Beneath The Sugar Sky ★★★★.5
4.) In An Absent Dream ★★★.5
5.) Come Tumbling Down ★★★★
6.) Across the Green Grass Fields ★★★★
-----------------------------------------------
Delightful!
Audiobook Re-read Review (2018):
So I stand by everything I said in my original review (below) about the fat rep being too heavy handed for my preference, but it's either less noticeable in the audio format, or some of the mentions were taken out of the finished copy. I could still notice some instances where it felt pointless and like the character was being reduced to this one thing, but the statements about weight were overall positive and I do feel like positive fat rep is MUCH needed. So ...more
So I stand by everything I said in my original review (below) about the fat rep being too heavy handed for my preference, but it's either less noticeable in the audio format, or some of the mentions were taken out of the finished copy. I could still notice some instances where it felt pointless and like the character was being reduced to this one thing, but the statements about weight were overall positive and I do feel like positive fat rep is MUCH needed. So ...more
Beneath the Sugar Sky, the third installment of Seanan McGuire's Wayward Children series, returns the Reader to Eleanor West's School.
At the beginning of our story, a girl, Rini, falls from the sky into the little pond behind the school.
Students observing her arrival are shocked by the dramatic entrance, but what she has to tell them shocks them even more.
Rini comes from the land of Confection and she is searching for her mother, Sumi.
But how is that possible? Sumi died years before, at the sch ...more
At the beginning of our story, a girl, Rini, falls from the sky into the little pond behind the school.
Students observing her arrival are shocked by the dramatic entrance, but what she has to tell them shocks them even more.
Rini comes from the land of Confection and she is searching for her mother, Sumi.
But how is that possible? Sumi died years before, at the sch ...more
3.5ish stars.
Maybe my most anticipated read of the year. To say I loved Every Heart a Doorway would be an understatement, and I thought Down Among the Sticks and Bones was really wonderful, too. Couldn't wait to get back to the school!
While the world is still enchanting and creative, and while it's often funny and sometimes profound, it also feels like McGuire phoned this one in. It seems rushed and sloppy. There isn't as much character development as I expected there to be, based on the first ...more
Maybe my most anticipated read of the year. To say I loved Every Heart a Doorway would be an understatement, and I thought Down Among the Sticks and Bones was really wonderful, too. Couldn't wait to get back to the school!
While the world is still enchanting and creative, and while it's often funny and sometimes profound, it also feels like McGuire phoned this one in. It seems rushed and sloppy. There isn't as much character development as I expected there to be, based on the first ...more
3.5 ish?
I mostly read these books for the world and they do that SO well. The characters aren't anyone I'm attached to and the plots rarely interest me (book two did) but they're short and the worlds I get to dive in are always absolutely perfect ...more
I mostly read these books for the world and they do that SO well. The characters aren't anyone I'm attached to and the plots rarely interest me (book two did) but they're short and the worlds I get to dive in are always absolutely perfect ...more
Re-Read 1/4/20:
Gotta love it when you can break causality. Sometimes, going to a batshit insane reality is the smart move. :)
Original Review:
Modern fairy tales. Gotta love them, especially when they take twelve core hearts and totally run with them, allowing an almost meta world-building full of magical doors taking the young at heart (or obsessional) directly to their best dreamland. :)
This third book in the Wayward Children novellas doesn't disappoint. It's Candy Crush land and Mermaids, with ...more
Gotta love it when you can break causality. Sometimes, going to a batshit insane reality is the smart move. :)
Original Review:
Modern fairy tales. Gotta love them, especially when they take twelve core hearts and totally run with them, allowing an almost meta world-building full of magical doors taking the young at heart (or obsessional) directly to their best dreamland. :)
This third book in the Wayward Children novellas doesn't disappoint. It's Candy Crush land and Mermaids, with ...more
“There is kindness in the world, if we know how to look for it. If we never start denying it the door.”
🌟 This series simply keep getting better and that is always a good thing although keeping this progression may be hard. My favorite introduction was the one for the 2nd book but this had a good intro nonetheless.
🌟 This takes place after the first book so it is a continuation of the story, but the main character is not Nancy this time and it was the other characters from book one in addition to ...more
🌟 This series simply keep getting better and that is always a good thing although keeping this progression may be hard. My favorite introduction was the one for the 2nd book but this had a good intro nonetheless.
🌟 This takes place after the first book so it is a continuation of the story, but the main character is not Nancy this time and it was the other characters from book one in addition to ...more
[Completed my Potions exams for the OWLs Readathon! 🧙🏼♀️✨]
These stories are like crack to me. I need to disappear into one of these worlds.
These stories are like crack to me. I need to disappear into one of these worlds.
Jan 20, 2018
✨ jamieson ✨
rated it
it was amazing
Shelves:
2018-reads,
favorites,
owned-books,
audiobook,
favourite-covers,
contemporary,
fantasy,
series,
young-adult
“Just keep getting through until you don’t have to do it anymore, however much time that takes, however difficult it is.”
FULL REVIEW NOW POSTED
I AM SO GLAD I HEAR SEANAN MCGUIRE IS WRITING MORE WAYWARD CHILDREN BOOKS BECAUSE I CANNOT ACCEPT THIS IS THE END God, I love these book soo much. I love this series and this world and these characters so much
I actually think I possibly liked Beneath the Sugar Sky the most of the three? Even more then Every Heart a Doorway?? But it was just SO FUNNY ...more
Aug 03, 2018
may ❀
rated it
really liked it
Shelves:
100-pgs,
buddy-read,
look-at-that-beauty,
aaaaaaaaaa,
fantasy,
mystery,
series,
audiobook,
binged,
ded
🎉🎉 book #7 done for the booktubeathon ✔️ 🎉🎉
this series is so deliciously whimsical and just the right amount of creepy and ughhh i love. its like i want to live in seanan mcguire's head bc it seems like such an imaginative, unrestricted place
just like the physical book, the audiobook was fantastic and very short in length. i had so much fun listening to it.
this book is like basically like walking through a darker version of candyland and i approve
4.5 stars!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Buddy r ...more
this series is so deliciously whimsical and just the right amount of creepy and ughhh i love. its like i want to live in seanan mcguire's head bc it seems like such an imaginative, unrestricted place
just like the physical book, the audiobook was fantastic and very short in length. i had so much fun listening to it.
this book is like basically like walking through a darker version of candyland and i approve
4.5 stars!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Buddy r ...more
The Reading Rush day 4: Read a book with purple on the cover.
★★★½ /5
It was quite a surprising and refreshing read. This short, little story was very engaging and easy to process, but didn’t lose its meaning, wasn’t too preachy, everything in the story was beautifully balanced out. So far this is my favorite book that I read for The Reading Rush.
Of course, because this was so short, it felt a little bit rushed and hadn’t as much impact as it could have. From my point of view, this little story fo ...more
★★★½ /5
It was quite a surprising and refreshing read. This short, little story was very engaging and easy to process, but didn’t lose its meaning, wasn’t too preachy, everything in the story was beautifully balanced out. So far this is my favorite book that I read for The Reading Rush.
Of course, because this was so short, it felt a little bit rushed and hadn’t as much impact as it could have. From my point of view, this little story fo ...more
Beneath the Sugar Sky takes readers back to the world of Eleanor West's Home for Wayward Children, but not to a moment in time before the events of the first book. It is a sequel rather than a prequel.
I found it strangely satisfying in a way that Down Among the Sticks and Bones was not.
"They can be hard for their families to understand, those returned, used-up miracle children. They sound like liars to people who never had a doorway of their own." pg 7, ebook.
And instead of just one world other ...more
I found it strangely satisfying in a way that Down Among the Sticks and Bones was not.
"They can be hard for their families to understand, those returned, used-up miracle children. They sound like liars to people who never had a doorway of their own." pg 7, ebook.
And instead of just one world other ...more
fairytales on crack is my new favorite book genre
I loved this! This may be my favorite in the series. I need more!
Reading this book in Ramadan is a fun way to torture yourself.
I mean all those sweets made my mouth water, and I couldn't even drink anything.
Rating 3,75 stars
The Plot
I seriously can't think of anything to write. Sorry.
The Characters
We have a crew to save the day which reminded me of Six of crows:
Kade
I love you! That's all you have to know.
Cora
I liked her a lot. She saved a boy twice which regardless of her personality makes her a bad ass in my book. She is a new student at th ...more
Rating 3,75 stars
The Plot
I seriously can't think of anything to write. Sorry.
The Characters
We have a crew to save the day which reminded me of Six of crows:
Kade
I love you! That's all you have to know.
Cora
I liked her a lot. She saved a boy twice which regardless of her personality makes her a bad ass in my book. She is a new student at th ...more
You can find this review and more at Novel Notions.
It’s sad when a perfectly decent story leaves you disappointed, but that’s how I feel about this little novella. I absolutely loved Every Heart a Doorway and Down Among the Sticks and Bones. They were both deep and meaningful and had important things to say about accepting yourself no matter how different you are and finding your place, whether it’s in this world or another. They spoke about how adults don’t see children as their equals, and un ...more
It’s sad when a perfectly decent story leaves you disappointed, but that’s how I feel about this little novella. I absolutely loved Every Heart a Doorway and Down Among the Sticks and Bones. They were both deep and meaningful and had important things to say about accepting yourself no matter how different you are and finding your place, whether it’s in this world or another. They spoke about how adults don’t see children as their equals, and un ...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Play Book Tag: Beneath The Sugar Sky 4 stars | 1 | 5 | Jun 23, 2020 08:07AM | |
| Fantasy Buddy Reads: Beneath the Sugar Sky [Jan 18, 2020] | 20 | 19 | Mar 07, 2020 05:26AM | |
| YA Buddy Readers'...: Beneath the Sugar Sky (Wayward Children #3) by Seanan McGuire - Restarting October 2nd 2018 | 8 | 34 | Oct 19, 2018 01:40PM | |
| Play Book Tag: Beneath the Sugar Sky, Seanan McGuire - 4.5 stars | 1 | 19 | Sep 05, 2018 08:41AM | |
| Play Book Tag: Beneath the Sugar Sky by Seanan McGuire - 3 stars | 1 | 12 | Aug 14, 2018 05:13PM | |
| Nothing But Readi...: McGuire,Seanan--Beneath the Sugar Sky informal buddy read starts June 22, 2018 | 75 | 185 | Jul 30, 2018 02:42PM |
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Hi! I'm Seanan McGuire, author of the Toby Daye series (Rosemary and Rue, A Local Habitation, An Artificial Night, Late Eclipses), as well as a lot of other things. I'm also Mira Grant (www.miragrant.com), author of Feed and Deadline.
Born and raised in Northern California, I fear weather and am remarkably laid-back about rattlesnakes. I watch too many horror movies, read too many comic books, and ...more
Born and raised in Northern California, I fear weather and am remarkably laid-back about rattlesnakes. I watch too many horror movies, read too many comic books, and ...more
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Wayward Children
(7 books)
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“There is kindness in the world, if we know how to look for it. If we never start denying it the door.”
—
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“Children have always tumbled down rabbit holes, fallen through mirrors, been swept away by unseasonal floods or carried off by tornadoes. Children have always traveled, and because they are young and bright and full of contradictions, they haven’t always restricted their travel to the possible. Adulthood brings limitations like gravity and linear space and the idea that bedtime is a real thing, and not an artificially imposed curfew. Adults can still tumble down rabbit holes and into enchanted wardrobes, but it happens less and less with every year they live. Maybe this is a natural consequence of living in a world where being careful is a necessary survival trait, where logic wears away the potential for something bigger and better than the obvious. Childhood melts, and flights of fancy are replaced by rules. Tornados kill people: they don’t carry them off to magical worlds. Talking foxes are a sign of fever, not guides sent to start some grand adventure.
But children, ah, children. Children follow the foxes, and open the wardrobes, and peek beneath the bridge. Children climb the walls and fall down the wells and run the razor’s edge of possibility until sometimes, just sometimes, the possible surrenders and shows them the way to go home.”
—
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More quotes…
But children, ah, children. Children follow the foxes, and open the wardrobes, and peek beneath the bridge. Children climb the walls and fall down the wells and run the razor’s edge of possibility until sometimes, just sometimes, the possible surrenders and shows them the way to go home.”
