What if young love lasted forever?

Harry March is a 17 year old high school athlete madly in love with his sweetheart, Melanie Cosgrove. Melanie is a frail girl, always suffering and constantly on the verge of dying from a heart disease. One day they both collapse at the football field, but when Melanie wakes up, she feels stronger than ever, and she rushes to Harry's side. Their connection to one another is stronger than either of them ever thought. What neither of them know quite yet is that Melanie's heart has stopped and the two of them are now pulled into a centuries-old battle wherein they are the living embodiments of Winter and Summer. This is slowly explained to them by Jack Frost - currently represented by a 13 year old.

Confused yet? Don't worry, it only gets more confusing before becoming clearer. And that's one of the real charms about a Seanan McGuire novel. Those of us who have journeyed with McGuire before know to have faith in that journey. If you're new to her work, just keep going - you'll survive (but it may hurt a bit).

The book really took me by surprise, in a really good way.

First, this feels like a stand-alone fantasy/mythology story. I only now see that it's considered to be the second book in the "Alchemical Journeys" series but I honestly don't think there's anything that would require your having read Middlemarch before enjoying this. A stand-alone book is a real treat in this age of publishers trying to make a series out of everything (in order to 'guarantee' sales no doubt).

Second, we have some truly incredible world-building. That's not surprising, given that this is from Seanan McGuire.

I very recently read and reviewed two books, Star Mother and Star Father by Charlie N. Holmberg wherein I waxed on about how truly amazed I was at the mythology created by Holmberg for those two books. I am equally amazed and impressed here with McGuire's taking that existing nugget of mythology - Jack Frost - and weaving it like an intricate tapestry into this story.

McGuire is so good at world-building, but she's equally good with creating characters who are unique, strong, and identifiable. Not just the main characters, but everyone who makes an appearance in the story (but she also know how to minimize the number of characters necessary so that we don't have a revolving door of minor characters). We feel like we know these teens, Harry and Melanie, and we like them, so when they become something more, we're already attached to them and aching to follow their story.

McGuire is also just a darn good wordsmith as well. ("The woman in the doorway has a laugh like smoky bourbon, smooth and peaty and rich and a bit intoxicating.") At one point, after finishing a certain chapter, I realized that we had just been given a massive info dump. Normally my skin would crawl reading a book wherein we get such a massive download of background information, but McGuire somehow manages to pull it off. I might not have even realized it if I hadn't stopped to reflect on what I'd just read. I have to laugh now as I realize that not only is McGuire so adept at handling this, she even has the temerity to tell us she's going to do it. The title of that chapter...? "Explanation"

I really liked this book, and as much as I enjoy McGuire's October Daye, Wayward Children, and InCryptid series' I don't need ten more books with all the trials and conflicts of Melanie and Harry or Jack Frost or the Winter King and Summer Queen. Let me relish this and then move on to another gem.

Looking for a good book? Seasonal Fears by Seanan McGuire is an outstanding fantasy/dark fantasy of young love and centuries' old conflict with familiar mythological figures.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

I love both Seannan McGuire and her alter ego Mira Grant so I was over the moon to get a copy of this. Middlegame was one of my top reads of that year and Seasonal Fears, though more difficult to get into (for me at least) has turned out to be just as promising. This was immersive and reality bending, with Grant’s trademark snark and unusual way of looking at the universe. Highly recommend

I love this world. My only complaint is that so much of this book is just explanation, especially in the first half. And it’s explanation that gets repeated, over and over and over. It really slows down the progression of this narrative, but the world-building is fascinating.

The second in this series by McGuire, Seasonal Fears fell a little flat for me. The writing is gorgeous, the characters are rich, and it was exciting to see old characters. Dynamics are expounded upon, and the web of worldbuilding behind the series is clearly visible. I felt that the book over-relied on unreliable narrators, though, to the point that our main characters still required over-explanation 75% of the way through the book. While clearly expressing an extensively planned cycle, it made the story feel somewhat repetetive.

I liked this installment better than the first because it involved a LOT less math and theoretical concepts. Harry and Melanie were cute and you wanted to root for them. This whole crazy world that was set up in Middle game is expanded upon in this. Instead of the doctrine of Ethos, we deal with the Seasons and the coronation of the new Crowns of Summer and Winter.

The 2 are in a race across the country to claim the crowns to keep Melanie alive. A lot of this book was telling, not showing which made it feel like it was dragging. I enjoyed the depth of the world and pulling from the companion books she wrote as A. Deborah Baker I was a little confused, but that's because I hadn't read Along the Saltwise Sea before I read this one.

The ending DEFINITELY felt lacking and too neat. I wanted SOMETHING to happen in the labyrinth, but I also understand why it didn't. While this isn't my favorite series from Seanan, I will continue on with both halves of this series.

This is another wonderful weaving of folktale and alchemy from Seanan McGuire. The Alchemical Journeys series (at least both of them so far) explore the concept of making ideas or concepts incarnate, and as we can gather from the title, this book is all about the Seasons.

Our main duo is Melanie & Harry. High school sweethearts who are hopelessly devoted. (yes, I'm singing the song). And when an age old contest is kicked into effect, and Melanie and Harry are unwittingly in the running, they scramble to ensure their survival and maintain their humanity as unrealized instincts start to kick in.

When I tried to explain this book to my partner, I found myself saying "It's like Hunger Games, but much better science fiction, way more folklore, better characters, and no stupid love triangle." So really, not like it at all I guess, except for the fact that a bunch of teenagers are competing for both survival and a major honor? Suffice it to say, it's very compelling, it's complicated in a good way that will make rereads lots of fun, and you're rooting for the duo as soon as you meet them because they are excellent characters.

McGuire never skimps on her villains either, and this book has some excellent ones. Some dangerously insidious, some tragically unhinged, and all perfectly frightening.

We also get some fun cameos from the first series, and getting to see the Roger and Dodger from a third person perspective certainly drives home how scary powerful they actually are. (Which also makes you really glad that they ended up being decent people too.) And it was nice to see how things played out for them and where they ended up.

If you like GOOD science fiction, folklore, great characters, destined lovers, or some complex world building that you just get to go along for the ride on, check out this book. And maybe read the first one too.

DNF@52%

I had really enjoyed reading Middlegame. I had never read a book quite it and I was really looking forward to reading Seasonal Fears. but unfortunately, I just couldn't find myself getting lost into the storyline like I did with Middlegame. Perhaps I'll give this book a try another time but unfortunately for now, I DNF-ed Seasonal Fears at 52%

This follow-up to Middlegame was still definitely interesting, but it lacked the excitement of the first.

Middlegame was a masterpiece of a novel and still remains one of my all-time favorite books. To say I was excited for Seasonal Fears would be an understatement, and while I don't think it lived up to the hype I'd given it, this book brought a fresh new perspective to McGuire's strange, alchemical world and solidifies its place as one of the most exciting offerings that adult science fiction and fantasy has to offer right now.

There has been very little Seanan McGuire has written that I haven’t loved. This novel is no exception and there is a reason for that. She is incredibly skilled at creating characters that are multilayered and complex that readers immediately connect with. While that is not the sole cause of how incredible this novel is, it starts there. Both Melanie and Harry are both immediately captivating as they navigate their new reality. Part of what makes them so dynamic is that neither of them is what you expect from the initial descriptions Seanan gives and both have emotional weight and heart to their decisions and their lives. These characters sweep you into the story. The story is multilayered and magical. 

More than just the characters, it is the plot that drew me in. Seanan takes older concepts of elementals, the seasons, and old magic and mixes them into a new completely original idea. She blends romance, magic, and horror with almost giddy abandon and everything sings, everything shines. Not only that but besides the plot, the dialogue will stick with you long after you’re done reading. Seanan slides inevitable truths into her dialogue, both witty and profound that captures your heart and makes you believe in the magic of hope and love. Her story is just magical. 

If you love anything Seanan McGuire has written or if the only novel you liked is Middlegame, I truly recommend you pick up this novel. It continues many of the themes and ideas from Middlegame but with new characters and twists. The story connects but also brings its own flair and joy. I love, love, love it and I truly want more immediately. It is multilayered and magical. I can’t wait to see what Seanan brings us in this rich and magical world.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
Seasonal Fears is the sequel to Middlegame (which I read and loved last year). It’s set in the same world, but follows new characters. We get to know Melanie and Harry. Melanie was created by alchemist parents. Her mother died while giving birth, along with Melanie’s twin sister. Harry is a local boy, one that Melanie has loved from childhood, and Harry loves Melanie just as much. But when the ruling Winter and Summer die, Mel and Harry are in for a big surprise.
I had a total blast reading this book. I feel like this one was a bit simpler than the first book only because the differences between the seasonal magic and whatever Roger and Dodger are many. Also, because of certain plot reasons, Harry just really struggles to understand what the hell is going on, so things are explained several times in a few different ways.
I really liked following Melanie and Harry. They were a really sweet young couple and their love was wholesome until it wasn’t. Their relationship progressed with the changes going on around them. They were both more mature than the other kids their age because Melanie was likely to die and soon, so the pair knows how to deal with heavy things. But learning magic is real and the lengths they need to go to in order to survive and stay together take things down a darker path.
Overall, I loved this book. I loved the surprised and twists. I loved the world of alchemy. I loved the characters. I highly recommend both this and Middlegame.

A deep dive into the world glimpsed in bits and pieces in Middlegame (first in the series). This follows two characters in love and trying to find their place in this world without being forced into roles they are only just discovering that they are being forced into.

Amazing world building from one of my favourite authors

Thank you to netgalley for providing an e-galley for review. Seasonal Fears is an urban fantasy book that follows Harry and Melanie, two high schoolers who have been in love since childhood, as they discover they are in the running to be the living embodiment of Winter and Summer. Harry came by his season naturally, but Melanie didn't. This is considered to be a sequel/companion novel to Middlegame, and events in that novel explain Melanie, and some characters that she and Harry encounter on their journey, but someone could read these books as standalone or in reverse order.

I think Middlegame was the strongest, most creative thing Seanan has written since some of the mid-series October Daye novels. Seasonal Fears almost lives up to the strength of Middlegame, but suffers from a dragged out road trip and abrupt resolution. It’s still a highly enjoyable read and worthy follow up to Middlegame (with cameos from characters in Middlegame).

Seasonal Fears is a companion novel to Seanan McGuire’s Middlegame, which came out in 2019 and was one of my favourite books that year. It’s all about power-hungry alchemists and complex sibling dynamics and I just loved it! So obviously I was over the moon excited when Seasonal Fears was announced, which features different protagonists, but promises to give the readers glimpses into the lives of familiar faces as well.

Seasonal Fears clearly shares many of Middlegame’s major themes: it’s about power and those who want to take it by force, as well as those who are reluctant to do so, even when it’s bestowed upon them; it’s about complex, oftentimes co-dependent relationships; it’s about alchemy, but this time the focus is neither maths nor words, but the seasons—because in Seasonal Fears an unexpected competition is kicked off for the first time in centuries, and a race for the Summer & Winter crowns begins.

What I found very charming about Seasonal Fears was the fact that it focused on an established couple, which I feel I don’t often see in books, at least not in science fiction and fantasy. I really enjoyed Harry and Mel’s relationship, the depth of the trust they had in each other, and how, in part, the connection they shared was what kept them human. I also think the idea to revolve the plot around what is, essentially, a magical road trip, was very clever. It built a lot of tension and anticipation, as it became clearer and clearer that, at the end of it, Harry and Mel would either be crowned Summer & Winter Incarnate—or die.

Back when I read Middlegame, I immediately knew that Seanan McGuire would become a favourite author of mine, despite it being the first book of hers I ever read. There’s something uniquely and seemingly effortlessly beautiful about her prose, the way it flows, as if, while reading, the words were being plucked straight from the page and placed into the reader's mind.

That said, although the prose is just as stunning in this second instalment in the Alchemical Journeys, the book as a whole sadly couldn’t live up to its predecessor—at least in my opinion. Somehow I just found the reading experience to be incredibly slow (it took me a month to finish Seasonal Fears, although, to be fair, I have to admit that I read other books in the meantime), and at least for the first half of the book I didn’t have an urgent desire to pick it back up. It was also strangely repetitive, as if certain information was handed to the reader on a silver platter. The pace picked up around the 50% mark, which was—slight spoiler, maybe?—when the reader finally met a few of the characters from Middlegame again.

All this is not to say that I hated or even disliked Seasonal Fears. I don’t think I could dislike a book written by Seanan McGuire, really, because she comes up with such out-of-the-box stories and ideas I’ve never encountered anywhere before. Her mind truly is a place of wonders! But sadly, overall Seasonal Fears just fell a bit flat for me—I did go into it with very high expectations, though, so I’m at least partly to blame, I won’t deny it! 😅

Overall, Seasonal Fears had a promising premise—seasonal Incarnations, a race to claim the Summer & Winter crowns, a fantastical road trip, and more—but, at least to me, it just wasn’t executed in the way I hoped it would be. I truly love the world Seanan McGuire created in the Alchemical Journeys series, and how it’s been expanded upon in this newest instalment, and for that alone (and Seanan McGuire’s utterly stunning prose!) I will undoubtedly continue with this series. I just didn’t love this book as much as I hoped I would. I found it repetitive at times and very slow, and the pacing overall seemed off to me; I also felt like all the big reveals were predictable, which meant that the moments that were supposed to be high in tension, felt somewhat subdued.

Still, if you loved Middlegame, Seasonal Fears is a book you cannot miss! The way it delivers all these new insights into the world Seanan McGuire created is absolutely fascinating, and I’m very curious to see where the series is going to go next. If nothing else, it opens the door to so many more stories!

This was a really solid fantasy novel, though it wasn't the same as 'Middlegame' in tone or focus at all. It's very much a companion novel and not a sequel, and I think it helps going into the story knowing this.

This book was odd. I had no idea what was going on for large portions. It made sense but also didn’t, so I struggled to get into this book. I think October Day and Wayward Children are more of my Seanan McGuire preference than Seasonal Fears.

Seasonal Fears is a successful, though tonally different return to the McGuire’s world of alchemy, mad scientists, and the Improbable Road to the Impossible City. This is certainly a necessary book if McGuire is planning on writing more Alchemical Journeys, as it answers a lot of the questions readers might have about how alchemy works; it fleshes out the worldbuilding and magic system in a really satisfying way. Whereas Middlegame was an experimental fever dream of a novel, Seasonal Fears is a far more straightforward plot with far fewer questions left unanswered. I can see readers who adored the weirdness of Middlegame not liking this as much, or readers who were baffled by the lack of explanation of the first book finding that this helps things click into place. It can read a little younger than Middlegame - the main characters are 17 - but the more straightforward plot might appeal to a crossover audience and draw them into McGuire’s adult novels. While there are certainly references to Middlegame - Roger and Dodger make multiple appearances - this could probably be read on its own, or before Middlegame. (It might even make the alchemy in Middlegame make more sense!)

DNF @ 40%

I really enjoyed Middlegame and obviously I was very excited when I heard about the sequel. Sadly, Seasonal Fears was a big disappointment.
The reason that I enjoyed Middlegame so much was that I was invested in the characters so I had to follow their journey. Seasonal Fears just doesn't have the same level of characterization. The story focuses more on the relationship between the two main leads than each of them separately, which means the characterization suffers because of it.

Speaking of relationship, that wasn't anything to write home about either. In the Middlegame, the relationship between Rodger and Dodger was very complex. Sometimes it was sweet, sometimes it was painful, but it was always always compelling. Sadly, I can't say the same thing about the main relationship in this book. I was so excited to see they were childhood friends and wanted to see how their relationship changed from friendship to romance. But we don't see any organic development of it. When we see them as teens they are already in love. And that relationship just never changes. We don't know where the love comes from, we don't see how it was formed, and we don't know what other complex emotions are between the two. Because they don't seem to be experiencing any emotion other than their love for each other.

So in summary, this book is super bland. Characters are bland, their relationship is bland, even the inclusion of alchemy and the society of alchemists is bland. In conclusion, this book is a huge pile of blandness.

ARC received by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book was a ride and a half. For some reason my brain just couldn't connect with it while reading on the kindle. Thankfully, the paper format worked for me and I was finally able to finish this story. While I really did come to love all the characters it felt a little lack luster compared to Middlegame. I feel like it would have been just slightly better if we had time just to focus on our main characters here while not brining any old ones back up. While I love Roger and Dodger I didn't really like their appearance here. It seemed to take some of the glow off of our lovestruck couple that they really needed to have due to being the main characters. I really did love to go back to this world and would love to see it again, but maybe focused more on other characters and leave old ones be.