The Wayward Children series is one of my all-time favorites and I have been eagerly awaiting the moment when I could read this third book. It does not disappoint! Each standalone book in the series has a different flavor, which keeps things interesting while tying together all these different worlds. Beneath the Sugar Sky has us revisiting some characters from the first book (I loved getting to see these characters again!) and introduces new characters who are so interesting. I especially loved getting to see how characters who came from different worlds interacted with one another and tried to explain the way things worked (or didn't work) back "home."

I'm so thrilled this series has continued beyond the first book and I will continue to read each new installment and recommend these books to readers.

Another excellent entry into this series. The novella format, while quick to read, leaves the reader wanting more. While the volume of work the author puts out each year is prodigious, I wish she could dive a little deeper into this world. Excellent. Would recommend.

(Link will go live Jan 12, 2018)

I read and loved the first book in this series of novellas, had complicated feelings about the second, though still largely enjoyed it, and was counting down the days until I could get my hands on this one (even better, I got it early so I was able to do away with my "counting calendar" before the madness really took over).

"Beneath the Sugar Sky" introduces us to Cora, yet another girl who has been unwillingly returned to a world where she feels she no longer belongs. New to the Home for Wayward Children, she is just beginning to make friends with the others around her and beginning to understand the far-reaching and complicated network of other worlds that children have traveled to and from for years. But, like them all, she wants only to find her door and return as soon as possible. Instead, what she finds, is a girl who has traveled to this "regular world" with one goal and one goal only: to resurrect her mother, Sumi, who died so tragically way back in the first book.

First off, I loved the combination of introducing a completely new character and world through Cora, but also directly tying the plot to the action from the very first book in the series, and using this contrivance to more naturally bring in characters from the first two books with whom we are familiar and enjoy. I particularly loved the surprise appearance of a past main character and exploring more fully the world she loves.

And that was another great thing! We got to visit multiple fantastical worlds in this book! I always love adventure/quest stories, and that it was lovely following our band of strange heroes through various worlds and seeing how they reacted/experienced each of these worlds. We know that the worlds choose children who are natural fits for those worlds, so seeing those characters out of place in a strange new world was very interesting, highlighting how "high nonsense" worlds would have a negative impact on characters who are more aligned to "logical" worlds. And how the world itself could actively resist those rules being pushed upon it.

Alongside some returning characters, the two new faces are Cora and Rini. Cora, our main character, was an excellent addition to a ever-growing pantheon of characters who push against conformative exceptions of society that make quick judgements of who a person is. In this particular story, we see Cora dealing with the judgements based on her weight. Her athleticism, particularly in the water, was continuously dismissed before she finds her own door that leads to a water world where she goes on adventures as a mermaid. There, in the freezing depths, her extra layers and strong, poweful body are an asset. So, here, returned to a world that sees only a "fat girl," Cora is struggling to re-assert the powerful self within her.

While I did like the exploration of the judgements and insecurities that Cora deals with in this aspect, I was also a little underwhelmed with its resolution. Namely, there never was much of a resolution to speak of. Throughout the story Cora remains insecure about the judgements she assumes others are making about her. At the same time, she knows her own strength and begins to see how truly in-tune her own world was to her particular strengths. But she also finds ways to use those same strengths in other environments. However, I felt that this particular thread was left a bit hanging in the end. The plot itself was resolved, but this arc seemed to just peter out without any true revelations, either on Cora's part or on other's.

Rini was very fun, being the first "native" other world character we've seen. It was fun watching her character travel through the book with a "nonsense" perspective on everything. So far, we've only seen children from our world who, while particularly attuned for one world or another, understand that strangeness of it when compared to our "real world." Through Rini, we see a character who has grown up in one of these strange lands and understands its rules and history (there was some great stuff with a creation story here) as as "obvious" as we consider our own world's rules and history.

This was an excellent third story to McQuire's Wayward Children series. While some of the internal conflicts weren't resolved to the extent that I wish they had been, I very much enjoyed her combination of new worlds and characters with familiar faces. Further, each book seems to build upon the last as far as the mythology and connection between all of these various worlds. Even more fun, the characters themselves are learning right along side us! For fans of this series, definitely check this one out. And for those of you not on this train yet, get on, but start with the first as it's a "must read" to fully appreciate this on.

I have loved this series from the first book (although the 'mystery' framework of that story didn't appeal to me as much) through the second (a fantastic complete story set in only 1 world) and now the third! I would describe Beneath the Sugar Sky as the road trip/quest addition to the family, it is all about a new character named Rini trying to find and bring back her mother Sumi, from Every Heart a Doorway. Boring summaries aside, the nonsense level in this book was perfect! I am all about world building and the rules that go along with that, we get to learn how the candy world started, their religion, and many descriptions of what life is like there. The new main character Cora struggles with people's perceptions of her weight, a pernsickety but very important detail that is different from 'struggles with her weight', and one that made her very believable. The portions that dealt with her back story, both in the real and and her doorway world, were some of m favorite. I don't want this series to end!

I absolutely love this series. Beginning with Every Heart a Doorway, continuing with Down Among the Sticks and Bones and now Beneath the Sugar Sky, the Wayward Children series is quickly becoming one of my all-time favorite fantasy series. McGuire is getting it so right with these books and this one is no exception. From the tone to the characters to the pacing, these books just flow perfectly are so so readable. I was very excited by the premise because portal fantasy is a favorite of mine so getting to watch as one of my favorite authors plays around with the tropes and rules of the genre is really fun. It is clearly a favorite of the authors as well which only makes the series more fun and enjoyable.
In this installment we learn more about Nonsense worlds and the rules that govern them. Our band of intrepid heroes from Eleanor West's Home for Wayward Children has set out to save one of their own, Sumi and by extension her daughter, Rini. To do so they have to travel to the world of The Baker. This world is really fun and interesting and the group has to do some interesting things to make the worlds rules work for them instead of against them. I loved this group of characters together. They are all very different but also very relateable and getting so see them find their place and use their strengths is very satisfying.
Overall this book is great and I am again anxiously awaiting the next one. I will read as many of these as Seanan McGuire wants to write. If you have enjoyed the others in the series I don't think this one will disappoint.

I have a complicated relationship with these books. Like, I'm gonna read them all because I'm completely entranced by the idea of a bunch of people who get taken from our world and then are lost when they are returned to it again, but I didn't love this one as much as I'd hoped.

It pretty much takes up immediately where Every Heart a Doorway left off. Jack and Jill are gone. Sumi is dead.

And then a girl from a candy and nonsense world comes falling from the sky. This takes a lot of the characters who are currently in the house on a journey through one of the death worlds, into Confection and back again.

I loved seeing Kade again. He continues to be fantastic. I'm very much looking forward to him taking over the school after Eleanor is no longer with us. But every other character in this novel? I could have taken or left. And so, despite the story being a good one, I just found myself not particularly engaged.

McGuire is a startlingly empathetic writer. She writes young characters that in lesser hands would come off as cloying as they are whimsically charming and sincere. While having this book only be tangentially connected to the first two books in the series didn’t completely land for me, still enjoyed it!

The third book in McGuire's Wayward Children series takes students from Eleanor West's school on a quest. The students are shocked when a girl appears and announces that she is the daughter of Sumi, another student who was killed before her daughter Rini was born. Rini, who comes from a nonsense world created by a baker out of confectionary, is disappearing and needs the students to help her get her mother back before the evil Queen of Cakes takes complete control of the world.

The first two books in the series were fairly grim, so this adventure was a nice change of pace. Beautifully written with poignant characters.

This is an absolute joy, exactly what the series needed after the darkness and heartbreak of Down Among the Sticks and Bones (which I also loved). It's wonderful to see Sumi's world, to see Nancy in her element, to learn more about Kade and Christopher and to meet Cora, the most delightful mermaid the worlds have ever seen. I don't know how this series keeps getting better, but it does.

Seanan McGuire's Wayward Children series is one of my favorite worlds to read about - every installment is a delight and so full of whimsy and wonder. Beneath the Sugar Sky is no exception. This novella is a direct sequel to Every Heart a Doorway and I was as happy with that as I was with the prequel setup of the second installation, Down Among the Sticks and Bones. Basically any installation in this series is going to be one I'll love because I'm so interested in all of the characters and their backstories and their futures - and Beneath the Sugar Sky introduces us to new characters who I now love too. These novellas are so short, but they pack so much into each one. It's difficult to talk about this installment because it deals specifically with major spoilers for the first one, but needless to say I loved it. It was enchanting and happy-making from beginning to end.

I like the concept of this series so much. This was a quick read but not my favorite in the series. I wasn't a huge fan of the world we got to explore in this book or the overall plot involving Sumi. This may just be because we never really had a chance to really get to know her in the first book. I would have much rather explored some of the other worlds like Christopher, Nadya, Cora or Kades. However, I enjoyed visiting Nancy and seeing her in her world. I am interested in discovering more about each of the worlds in future books. .

I recieved an ARC of this novel via Netaglley in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoy most of the books by this particular author and I definitely liked the first two books in this series. Unfortunately, this is a much weaker entry. It lacks a lot of the heart of the first two books and definitely the character development, world-building, and sense of wonder. It felt as sugary and unsubstantial as the two dimensional, lackluster descriptions of the sugar world that the majority of the book takes place in and I believe the ending gave me a cavity in its unlikely sweetness and light. That said she is still a highly talented writer and this lesser effort was still worth reading if you are a fan of the series...if only to follow up on some of the characters from the previous two stories.

Beneath the Sugar Sky is the third book in Seanan McGuire’s wonderfully imaginative and gritty series about children who travel through doors to worlds of Nonsense, Logic, Death, etc. On the other side of the doors, the children and teenagers usually find harrowing adventures and a place where they truly feel at home. In this entry, children from Eleanor West’s School for Wayward Children go on a quest with a girl who fell out of the sky and into their turtle pond.

The books in the Wayward Children series are all blisteringly fast. After Rini—a girl with candy corn colored eyes—falls out of the sky and asks for help finding her mother, the students at the school immediately volunteer to help her. The fact that her mother was murdered before Rini was born is a complication, they admit. But since Rini and her mother belong to a world of Nonsense, cause and effect are fuzzy enough that their half-baked (‘scuze the pun) plan is crazy enough to work.

I don’t want to reveal too much of the plot because a lot of the joy of these books is going on an adventure with the teens to bizarre words that seem more real than the earth they left behind. What I enjoy about this series is that all of the students were the heroes of their stories before they had to come back. They don’t shy away from things that seem difficult. They do what needs doing. But what I love about the series is that the characters have found places where their flaws are virtues, places that are the perfect home and no one gives them a hard time for being flighty or overweight or morbid. I’ve purchased the first two books in the series for my library and, as soon as they come in, they’re going to be my go-to recommendations for a lot of readers.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley for review consideration. It will be released 9 January 2018.

The third installment in what might be my favorite series ever. This writing book, as well as in the previous ones, paints the most vivid pictures of the most fascinating worlds you never knew you needed to read about. While I didn't feel quite as drawn in by the characters in this book to compared to the first two, nothing can compare to Seanan McGuire's world-building.

I loved the first two books in this series by Seanan McGuire, however, I found the premise of the story a little too fantastical. I couldn't wrap my head around getting Sumi's bones, then her "soul" and then her 'nonsense" to make her whole again. I did, however, enjoy the descriptions of the nonsense worlds and the explanation of logical etc.

This series is for every adult who felt like they lived in Wonderland, Oz or Narnia growing up. Venturing into each world is like returning home yourself. Seanen makes you want to search for doors in all the unlikely places so that you too can find somewhere you really belong.

One more quest for the students of Eleanor West's Home for Wayward Children. A small band of McGuire’s returned children—teens facing the after effects of trips through doorways to magical lands while desperately wishing for their doors to reappear—are enlisted to return the destined savior of the land of Confection to her rightful timeline. Rini falls out of the sky onto the school grounds looking for her mother, only to find that Sumi died well before Rini’s conception. But Confection is a Nonsense world and there is still a chance of bringing Sumi back and putting the timeline to rights. Kade and Christopher are joined by two newer students and Rini in their quest to bring Sumi back to life. It’s absurd and fabulous!

Sigh...What a wonderful story......
I absolutely love this series, and this one is just as good as the first. We meet a few new "wayward children", and get to see more of old favorites.
In this story, they must visit a "Nonsense" world, Confection, to save Rini, Sumi's daughter. If you've read the first, you know that Sumi doesn't have a daughter, and she has been murdered.
But Sumi was supposed to return to her world, save it, and have a daughter. Now Rini is in danger of disappearing unless they can find a way to bring Sumi back to fulfill her destiny.
Told with McGuire's trademark writing, this story is sure to delight her fans.

This book is absolutely as lovely as the previous two books in the series. I had to force myself to slow down and savor the writing. I do hope there are further installments in this series. Highly recommended.

This book picked it up a notch or two.

I didn't hate any of the MCs, I LOVED Cora and getting to see Christopher again. I want their stories next please!

The writing is, again, stellar and the universe this is set in felt like slipping into a comfy pair of shoes after spending all day in heels. It felt like, home.

Absolute delight. You will probably want/need to read the other two books before this one in order to know the back story re: Sumi, but the first two books are, unfortunately, quick reads, so getting to this book won't take too long.

And it's WORTH it. It's left me SALIVATING for more. Again, I repeat, more Cora and Christopher please!

I also liked that the characters weren't the stereotypical "white savior" and that Cora was a bigger girl. She had hang ups about it, but we got to see how being "fat" was important in the world whose door she went through and how she was starting to value herself, "fat" and all.

5 stars, all the way. Highly recommended, YA and up. Some violence and gender orientation discussion. Not offensive, but educational to those who know little about the topic.

My thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge to an eARC copy of this book to read and reivew.