Seanan McGuire’s Wayward Children series have been a lifesaver for me, one of the few series of books that have helped me escape the realities of 2020 for a few hours at a time. I have gulped down the rest of the series, usually reading each book in less than a day. So I was incredibly excited to receive an advanced copy of Across the Green Grass Fields, the next in the Wayward Children series, from NetGalley. I couldn’t wait to get started.

And then I started reading Across the Green Grass Fields, and I just didn’t love it. I certainly didn’t hate it, and I grew to like mostly like Regan over the course of the book. I didn’t hate the Grasslands, the magical world of all things hoofed, where Regan found herself, and in fact I found the world building there somewhat interesting. Just not incredibly compelling. I found myself wishing for more time with the kelpies and the perytons and the other races of the world, as the centaurs as depicted in this story weren’t very interesting to me, and I found the depiction of unicorns to be disappointing to me personally. The matriarchal structure of centaur herds was unusual, but perhaps not fully fleshed out, as Regan was too young to understand and thus to convey to the reader how courtship and marriage and foal bearing worked in that social structure.

But that’s a big part of why the story didn’t click for me. It wasn’t very interesting. Regan spent lots of time riding centaurs and climbing trees and being besties with Chickory. She learns to be a healthy, happy, confident child despite previous trauma. And that’s important to her development, but not very compelling reading. There’s a few action filled scenes and a journey towards an unknown destiny (even if Regan doesn’t believe in destiny). But the story managed to combine not a lot happening in a rather boring pastoral setting with a creeping sense of dread that at any minute everything in Regan’s idyllic world was about to go wrong, and I just couldn’t get comfortable.

Maybe this was my fault. 2020 has been a rough year for reading for me, and many books I’m eager to read end up underwhelming me or not holding my attention. Also, admittedly, I don’t prefer the origin stories in this series–I prefer the quests that involve the students once they’re at the home for wayward children. Nor do I love all things horses and ponies as much as the author. So maybe I wasn’t destined to love this book, even though I hoped I would.

I appreciated that this book actually featured an intersex character and grappled a bit with what that identity meant to a female-presenting child, first in the human world, and then in the Hooflands. Aside from that, though, there is really just not diversity in this story. Diversity of hoofed creatures, sure. But Regan and her family and school friends and all other humans default to white. At one point early in the story, Regan is described as “normal in every way that counted. . . . average in all directions, with hair the color of straw and eyes the color of the summer sky.” so….an average WHITE girl. Not an average girl. And the unspoken assumption there, that whiteness is normal or average or default, is problematic, if subtle. Especially in a book with no other racial/ ethnic diversity represented.

There’s also a call-out of colonizing mentality, when Regan ponders how people falling through doors have believed that they knew better than the people who were already there, all because they thought they were the best possible [race]. This addresses to some extent some pondering I’ve been doing lately about the often colonizing mentality of portal fiction. How that colonizing mentality was addressed in this book made me feel a little better about this series of portal fiction, at least.

So overall, I didn’t hate Across the Green Grass Fields, but I wish that I had found it more engrossing. Harder to put down, with a more engaging story. But I didn’t. Instead, I found it to be fine, not a story I hated or struggled to pick up, and probably an important one in the development of the Wayward Children series (Why else would McGuire have written an origin story about a character we’d not met before?). A story with mildly interesting world building and characters I didn’t dislike but didn’t particularly care about. If you have enjoyed the rest of the series, I’d say you’ll probably want to read this one. It is billed as a stand alone, and I suppose it could be read without the context of the previous books, but I’m not sure how interesting it would be without the greater context. So I would probably suggest to read the series in the order published, and work your way up to this one eventually.

This was my first "Wayward Children" book, and I LOVED it! It's from the perspective of an eight-year-old who grows to fifteen years old, so it does read like a younger audience book, but I really didn't mind that at all. One of my all time favorite book series is "A Wrinkle in Time" by Madeline L'Engle, and this felt like that kind of book but set on the ground, and in a grassy, forested land full of mythical creatures, such as centaurs, unicorns, kelpies, and others.

The story is all about finding one's place in the world, regardless of differences, and making peace with the fact there there are differences, but that that doesn't need to divide us. Such lovely sentiments and lessons, and the world Seanan McGuire writes is magical without magic. You can feel the peace that comes from doing hard work with appreciation for what it produces, in a rural landscape surrounded by those who care for each other. I also enjoyed reading about how each different group of creatures viewed their society and held their own customs. It seemed an excellent commentary on caring for our environment while also caring for our fellow living creatures.

I will look forward to reading this series in its entirety, and exploring more of Seanan McGuire's writing.

It's no secret that I'm a HUGE fan of this series, however, this one is probably my least favorite installment. This was the first time that I thought the short-form nature of this series was a genuine detriment to the overall narrative.

Regan discovers that she is intersex shortly before finding the door, and I feel like we didn't get as much exploration into Regan learning to accept and appreciate her identity. Regan finds her door due to a conflict at school, and yet that main conflict isn't really discussed again. We do get some interesting conversation about adhering to gender roles as social defense, though I felt some of the examples in the text were a bit out of touch.

Once in the Hooflands, Regan spends a lot of time with a group of centaurs, which I did enjoy as we got to learn about them and grow close to these characters, though we didn't get a lot of time on the quest component of the short because of this. I did like the ending reveal attached to the quest and felt like there was a good conversation that could have been had with that, though that second took up less than 20% of the overall narrative and could have been fleshed out a bit more, in my opinion.

I also really wanted to know more about what happened in the epilogue, especially after the information we get about Regan's parents at the beginning of the book.

I love that we got an introduction to a new character and I really hope we see her in future installments, but unfortunately this book just kept me wanting more.

I love every novella in this series. This one is about a young girl who discovers she is strangely different and in an emotional mess, chooses her door into a strange world full of magic and mystery. Enjoyable as always.

I will never not be amazed at Seanan McGuire’s ability to put years of a life into a 150 page book and not make it feel rushed at all. From worldbuilding to character depth to meaningful conversations, Across the Green Grass Fields is just as adventurous and fun as the rest of the books.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this review copy!
I am ALWAYS so excited to see a new Wayward Children title, and this one lived up to the series. I loved Regan and her story. Beautifully done as always, a great addition to the series. Will definitely be adding this to our collection!

This year I read all of the books in the Wayward Children series that are out and I loved them all. As soon as I saw the arc of the next one on netgalley I had to read it. I loved it just as much as the rest of the series. Seanan McGuire is great at world building. This was an amazing world with talking creatures. I could really picture myself being there among the centaurs, unicorns, fauns and all the other creatures.

I loved the representation of an intersex character. It’s not often seen in books and something I would like to see more often. It was great seeing Regan accepting who she was and becoming who she was supposed to be.

The ending of this book was great although I would have liked it to be a little bit longer. I enjoyed the way Regan handle everything and the choices she made. The meaning of what a hero is was interesting and how Regan chooses her own way of becoming a hero.

The only reason this book didn’t get five stars was because I wanted more. As usual with these novels, they are way too short. I want to read more about Regan and find out more about the world.

Another installment in the wildly creative Wayward Children series. This quick read takes us to Hooflands with Reagan, a well-written character who is figuring out the type of person she wants to be in the face of growing up. This book had less world-building and adventure than many of the previous ones, and made for a lighter, fast story.

I've been a fan of the Wayward Children series ever since I read the first book back in 2018, and each new installment has been a most-anticipated release without fail. I simply couldn't resist reading Across The Green Grass Fields almost as soon as my request was approved... I was THAT excited to have this title hanging out on my kindle months early. I most definitely didn't expect to have mixed feelings about this newest installment though... But it is what it is I guess.

Across The Green Grass Fields is already book number six of the series, but it can be read as a stand-alone perfectly as it only contains new characters. The whole magic behind the 'door to a different world' is quite easy to understand without the background knowledge of the previous books, so you wouldn't have any difficulties understanding the idea behind this story. That said, I did prefer the previous books over this one, so maybe reading them in order is worth it anyway? Across The Green Grass Fields is by no means a bad read, but I just felt that spark of the previous installments was missing here.

I do have to say that I loved having an intersex main character; something I haven't come across often during my years reading. Regan makes for an interesting character and I liked seeing the contrast between her situation in the 'real' world and the Hooflands. That said, I felt that the first part set in the real world dragged on for too long, and the pace was considerably slow there. Especially considering that this is a short story in the first place, and I would have loved to have more focus on the fantasy world. I understand that it was important to give Regan a background without just throwing in the intersex element and be done with it, but it took me a long time to properly warm up to the story with the way this first part was narrated.

I enjoyed the idea behind the Hooflands, with the centaurs, unicorns, kelpies and other creatures. As always, the worldbuilding of the fantasy world the main characters find themselves in is my favorite part of the story, and I would have loved to see even more background. It was interesting to see how the centaurs lived and took Regan in as one of their own, but again it felt a bit slow going and the final part considerably abrupt and quite an anti-climax. Was I surprised by the final twist? Yes. But I can't say that the ending was exactly all that satisfying.

As a whole, Across The Green Grass Fields was sadly my least favorite Wayward Children story by far to this date... Between the slow parts, abrupt ending and too much focus on the 'real' world, the elements I did enjoy (including the worldbuilding of the Hooflands and Regan's character) just didn't make up for it. This might just have been me though, as most people did seem to love this story so far.

Seanan's love of MLP and the Wayward Children just HAD to clash at some point and what emerges is a glorious fantasy cocktail of farmhand centaurs, flesh-eating kelpies, and dumb unicorns. With a signature Seanan twist, this novella was thoroughly enjoyable and I even teared up when Regan accidentally walked back through the door :'(

This is probably my favorite book of the series thus far. I loved the characters, the creativity of the world, and the plot twists.

The Wayward Children series is one of my favorites, so I was incredibly excited to receive this ARC! Across the Green Grass Fields introduces us to Regan and the Hooflands, a world where centaurs and magical creatures roam. After a classmate betrays a secret, Regan travels home through the woods and finds a doorway. Feeling sure, she steps through and arrives in the Hooflands. The arrival of a human in the Hooflands means that they are a hero and will save the world from a terrible evil. But Regan is only a child, so she is adopted into a centaur herd until she is older. When Regan at last faces the danger threatening the Hooflands, nothing is as she expected.

This is one of my favorite doorways thus far, I felt really connected with Regan and the centaur herd. The memorable characters, vivid imagery of the Hooflands, and magical creatures create a sense of wonder. Seanan McGuire always writes excellent representation and Across the Green Grass Fields is no exception, incorporating gender identity and the cruelty of young children. I was so relieved and happy when Regan found her doorway.

Each Wayward Children book is a brilliant adventure that ends all too soon. I love how Seanan McGuire expertly twists expectations about what it means to be a hero and I hope that we see the continuation of Regan’s story. Regan is one of my favorite characters yet, from her personality to how she views the world. I particularly enjoyed seeing the magical creatures Regan interacted with along the way, especially the kelpies, unicorns, and centaurs. The ending is bittersweet, as they all are, but it left me very eager for the next book! Across the Green Grass Fields releases on January 12, 2021. Thank you to Seanan McGuire, Macmillan-Tor/Forge, and Netgalley for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5/5, rounded up.

The Wayward Children books follow a pattern where we get one tale being told current day, the next as an origin story. Across the Green Grass Fields is an origin story, and I've been finding that I prefer those overall (In an Absent Dream has been my absolute favorite so far) in this series. I think for me it's the way McGuire so deftly describes the situations of the children prior to getting pulled to the places their souls call to. AtGGF was the same, but as with all of McGuire's writing, the characters had their own voices and ambitions, and it definitely did not feel like a rehash.

I commend Ms. McGuire's ability to tap into the human condition; it sets her apart from many other writers, and as with previous Wayward Children stories, I felt myself caring deeply for Regan even as the story ended within 150 pages. AtGGF left me heartbroken in the first few chapters because it reminded me of the grief and cruelty of children, and I just wanted to wrap Regan up and keep her safe... which thankfully solved itself when our girl found her doorway (Thank you Ms. McGuire!)

My only complaint is the same one I have every time... I want the Wayward Children stories to be longer. I always intend to savor the stories slowly, and then I blow through them in one sitting and I'm left feeling nourished, but a bit sad. Regardless, I'll be adding this to our stacks -and- my home library when it's released. I'd been waiting some time, and the story did not disappoint.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge for this digital eBook in exchange for my honest opinion.

I really love this series but this book was probably my least favorite. While extremely well written and still good, I just didn't really care about Regan's story. It seemed like a placeholder or a novella.

Reading stories in this world is always great, though always a little sad, given the whole concept of a child getting to magical worlds, and then coming home. After all, these are the Wayward Children who want to go back to those worlds. If they do make it back is the question.

So Juice Like Wounds goes back to Lundy, and of the story of how three friends went to defeat a monster, and only two came back. We know from reading that book, who doesn't make it back. But how, well, this story told us that.

I really enjoyed going to the land of Hooflands, it was a pleasant world. Of course, this book turns the stereotypes of heroes and quests on its head. I really enjoyed how Regan completed her quest. But that ending, oh, man, it was pretty heartbreaking!

I said in my review of previous book of this series that the pattern is present, backstory, repeat. Which would make Green Grass Fields a backstory. And maybe it is, because none of the existing characters were in this one like they have in the present stories. It's just that we haven't met, or I've forgotten meeting, Regan. So it technically fits the pattern. I won't know for sure that it fully does, until we meet Regan in the present. Hopefully that'll happen in book 7!

Loved reading these stories, they were really fantastic, and I can't wait to have more!

I'm a big fan of Seanan McGuire's Wayward Children series, so of course I wanted to read the next one. I knew from McGuire's Twitter that this one would be a little different - readers don't see any of the characters we already know, or even Eleanor's school. I hope we get to find out more about what happens to Regan after she saved the world.

This is genuinely one of the most interesting Narnia deconstructions that I've ever read.

✨Across the Green Grass Fields✨

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and Tor publishing for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

The book follows the story of Regan, a young girl whose naivety lands her in a strange new world. This is a story of self acceptance, making your own destiny and that family doesn’t always mean blood, but those you choose.

This book had an interesting premise and that’s what sold me on wanting to read. Despite the short length it took me a while to read it, Being a newbie to the series and with it being able to be read as a stand alone I had high hopes but personally it wasn’t for me.

I love the world building, the Hooflands were intriguing and wondrous and very well written, the characters were enjoyable but I found this book to be very anti-climatic. Whilst this book wasn’t for me, it will definitely appeal to a lot of readers!

Even when a book in this series doesn't thrill me, I still come back for more. I didnt know what to expect from Across the Green Grass Fields as the world seemed so different from the somewhat darker themes in previous books. However, I absolutely adored this. The writing was great, the world building was impeccable, and I enjoyed having a whole set of new characters. The story held so much heart.

I just want to say that I love this series and I was looking forward to this book so much. I am saddened to have to say that Across the green grass fields was a disappointment for me.
I felt that the storyline was missing the angst that previous books from the series had and even the climax of the story was missing the drama that it should have had.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book.

I love this weird little series so much! I love that Regan's story could connect to the greater world, or it could be a great standalone tale about heroes and families and truth.