I've loved most of the books in this series (and the ones I didn't, I still enjoyed), and this one, Nadya's backstory, is no different. It's gorgeously tender and bittersweet, but also funny and whimsical. Having already known Nadya in previous installments, we know that she does eventually find her way back to Belyyreka (a very atmospheric place), so the ending to this story doesn't hurt as much, even though it is wrenching to read about. I'll read any number of new installments in these worlds, Seanan Mcguire I am a fan!

4.5 stars

First read of 2025 and it was a pretty quick read, finished in the first two hours of the new year. I love this series, and actually need to go back and just reread all of them because there are so many characters and worlds and connections between everything now, and I want to see what I notice now that I didn’t realize the first time around. The only real thing I’ll say about this one is that I’m actually sad it was only 160 pages long; I would have liked a little more time with Nadya and her found family.

That is what I wrote as my Goodreads review on January 1st, and that still stands as pretty accurate. I do really need to go back and do a re-read of this whole series because this is the 10th novella, but then there’s also a few short stories as well. What I have absolutely loved about them all is all the little details that connect them together, even if they take place at different times and we aren’t necessarily getting everything told to us in a linear fashion.

Also, this series has been fantastically diverse in so many ways. There has been so much representation of mental health, physical differences, various belief systems, different romantic and sexual preferences, and it all feels so earnest and honest and grounded. I have been a massive fan of Seanan McGuire for years (although I keep not picking up the October Daye or Incryptid series, despite owning many of them).

Oooh….I also once again am reminded that I do not have all the books in this series reviewed. Hmm…that might be another reason for a re-read.

Okay, wow this review has not really dived into any specifics about this particular installment in the series. Sorry, I am massively out of practice with writing these. I did like learning about the watery world of Belyrreka. Each of these worlds in these stories has been unique and fleshed out enough to seem like some place the characters have lived in and explored and loved.

This is definitely a portal fantasy series to check out if you haven’t yet already.

This is one of my favourite books in the series! I just love how Nadya was able to fit in this world, and I know! (in my heart) that she was able to come back.

hey, seanan, stop hurting me pls i love it

Another prequel! I love these but sometimes I want to pick out what the next books is about because I am dying to continue with the main storyline and what's going to come of it!!! This one was about Nadya and her story prior to ending up at the school. She was an orphan born in Russia and she was born without one of her hands and part of that arm. She is eventually adopted by a couple that takes her back to Colorado where she is forced to speak English and wear a prosthetic and forced to LIKE it by her adopted mother. And then she falls through a door...

This was a great sequel story with an almost punishing ending that makes me WANT TO GET BACK TO THE MAIN STORYLINE!!!!! I appreciated the disability rep and the storyline of being very comfortable with who you are and what you want for yourself. McGuire has some characters that are coming into their own, but the author also has a bunch that are so settled in who they are which I love since they're teenagers and I'm 28 and don't even know anything about myself personally.

This is my favorite start to every year, and I hop McGuire writes these little novellas full of big feelings forever (which seems very possible at this point when my fear was, they were going to stop at 10). Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC!!

I would recommend these to anyone that loves some cozy but also emotionally deep fantasy kind of in the vein of T. Kingfisher.

4.5 stars

First read of 2025 and it was a pretty quick read, finished in the first two hours of the new year. I love this series, and actually need to go back and just reread all of them because there are so many characters and worlds and connections between everything now, and I want to see what I notice now that I didn’t realize the first time around. The only real thing I’ll say about this one is that I’m actually sad it was only 160 pages long; I would have liked a little more time with Nadya and her found family.

That is what I wrote as my Goodreads review on January 1st, and that still stands as pretty accurate. I do really need to go back and do a re-read of this whole series because this is the 10th novella, but then there’s also a few short stories as well. What I have absolutely loved about them all is all the little details that connect them together, even if they take place at different times and we aren’t necessarily getting everything told to us in a linear fashion.

Also, this series has been fantastically diverse in so many ways. There has been so much representation of mental health, physical differences, various belief systems, different romantic and sexual preferences, and it all feels so earnest and honest and grounded. I have been a massive fan of Seanan McGuire for years (although I keep not picking up the October Daye or Incryptid series, despite owning many of them).

Oooh….I also once again am reminded that I do not have all the books in this series reviewed. Hmm…that might be another reason for a re-read.

Okay, wow this review has not really dived into any specifics about this particular installment in the series. Sorry, I am massively out of practice with writing these. I did like learning about the watery world of Belyrreka. Each of these worlds in these stories has been unique and fleshed out enough to seem like some place the characters have lived in and explored and loved.

This is definitely a portal fantasy series to check out if you haven’t yet already.

I loved this so much. Getting to see more of Nadya. She probably had one of the best families that we've seen so far. Unfortunately, her family still wasn't the greatest. Her family wanted to "make her better" when she didn't think there was anything wrong with her.
I loved her time in Belyyreka. The world was so interesting. It was so intriguing with the different levels of water. I really loved the turtles growing so big and talking. I really want to learn more about this world.
I really wanted more of this story but at the same time, this felt complete.

This is my favorite book series and I was SO excited to learn that it'd be about one of my favorite characters -- I feel like I've been waiting for this one since the first couple books!! I love the different worlds described in these books, and the water worlds specifically are SO cool and interesting. Loved this, it made me cry & I can't wait to add a hardcover copy to my shelves!!

This was an installment I was really looking forward to, I'm afraid of bodies of water but in a way that makes me love a fictional exploration of them! This was more of a love letter to turtles than I was expecting or desiring, and the absolutely nonsensical way that water functions in this world was not satisfying to me at all. I think I actually loved the ending just because something finally happened!!! I will keep reading this series for sure, this one was not the best but definitely not the worst. Please can we get another book for the bird girls?? are there really enough turtle girls out there to justify this book I just don't know. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, Tor Publishing Group, for sending me this book!

Seanan McGuire always manages to pack some really impactful conversations and themes into such short books. I can always appreciate what she is setting out to do. She sets such a scene of like adoption and the adopted mother that made me want to shake her even though she wasn't really doing anything wrong. I love the writing and it's so easy to be sucked in. However, as a fantasy reader and less of a literary reader, I always want more from these books. I want more time in the world, more world building, more magic etc. I think this one was actually better for me than some of the Wayward Children books, but I always find it so interesting! And I just want a longer novel to dig deeper. Overall, I would highly recommend this if you are a fan of the series. It was one of the stronger books for me.

Seanan McGuire's Wayward Children series continues to be one of my absolute favorites. The balance of magical realism and incredible world building creates the perfect background for the characters. McGuire never disappoints!

Thank you Tor for the finished copy of this book!

This was my first book by Seanan McGuire and I really enjoyed it. The story was unique and beautiful and the world-building was really well developed for such a short book. I also loved the main character and her strength. I can't wait to read more from this author!

The Wayward Children maintains its status as one of my favorite series of all time. This was a heavy, emotional read. McGuire handles themes of disability and otherness beautifully and her contribution to the our world and culture is unmatched. I hope this series continues for a long time.

I absolutely love this series so, so much and am convinced that there isn't an installment I won't absolutely love. Bravo, Seanan McGuire!

I loved the beginning of this story, because it pulled me in right away. Seanan McGuire has a gift for writing the quiet, emotional moments that stick with you. Adrift in Currents Clean and Clear explores the struggles of adoption in such a raw, honest way, and even though it’s a short piece, it packs a serious emotional punch. It’s a little haunting, very bittersweet, and beautifully written. Definitely one I’ll be thinking about for a long time, and now I really want to check out the other Wayward Children books!

Grateful for the opportunity to read and share my thoughts! Thank you to Tor and NetGalley for this chance, this book deserves a lot of attention!

Though Adrift in Currents Clean and Clear is one of the shorter books in the Wayward Children series, with the depth of the storytelling and the time traversed on the page, it felt much longer. It's easily one of my favorites in the series. As the story progresses and Nadya grows older and gets married, I began to question my understanding of her in Beneath the Sugar Sky. I wondered how I hadn't realized she was as old as she becomes in Belyyreka. Nadya has family in Belyyreka. She is loved and accepted as she is in Belyyreka - curious, loving, and wild. Her curiosity as a scout leading to her drowning once again and her being returned to Earth in the nearly eleven year old body she'd first drowned in are a tragedy lived in an instant and a lifetime. This explains a lot about her temperament earlier in the series and her willingness to stay behind in the halls of the dead.

I really appreciated how McGuire handled Nadya's limb difference as a part of her and her storytelling. To be born without something is to not know what it is to live with it, and therefore not to know what it is to miss it. Nadya's characterization, as both strong willed and obedient made for an intriguing character study in the face of her adoptive parents trying to force their idea of what it means to be whole and normal onto her, as she already believed herself to be such. The immediate acceptance and love she find in Belyyreka in opposition to the pressures to conform she faces in America, in particular, makes it feel like home in a way that is tangible and enviable for the reader.

It wasn't until after I finished the book and thought about it for a hot minute, that it clicked that Burian is also disabled. The two choose each other with the understanding that they can and will adapt and grow without the expectation of adherence to any sort of physical standard tied to morality. They grow together with the knowledge that they are just as whole and valuable as the rest of their community. The family Nadya finds in Belyyreka and the standard in that world for the drowned to be enveloped into a chosen family by choice is something beautiful. It's not perfect, as we're shown when Nadya meets Alexi, but it is a world where family is not defined by blood and love is freely given.

I loved reading Nadya's story. I knew what was coming in the end, and it still made me so sad. I keep wondering when Seanan McGuire will run out of ideas, but she hits it out of the park every time.

Adrift in Currents Clean and Clear by Seanan McGuire is Volume 10 in the Wayward Children series, a collection of short novels in which youths find mysterious doors and pass through them into worlds perfectly suited to each person. This story centers on Nadya, a cynical girl who in previous books desperately tried to return to her perfect watery world of Belyyreka. Adrift in Currents Clean and Clear tells the story of how a younger Nadya fell into a turtle pond and into Belyyreka, an aquatic world full of giant frogs, talking foxes, and turtle companions, along with found family of all kinds.

McGuire often chooses specific themes to focus on in each book in this series--here, she explores the themes of adoption and physical disability (Nadya is born with a partially missing limb). I appreciated that McGuire emphasizes that a missing limb is not a detriment; nor do adopted children necessarily owe their adoptive families a debt of gratitude. With limited page space, McGuire adds a lot of nuance.

In terms of characters, Burian (who is a disabled turtle) is 100% my favorite character. I loved his bond with Nadya, and hope he at least cameos in future books! That said, in some ways, it did feel a bit like McGuire was trapped by descriptions of Nadya's story hinted at in previous books; the worldbuilding felt a little weaker in this story compared to some others, such as Jack's or Sumi's. It does, however, feel like a stronger overall work compared to stories in the second 'arc' of this series, so perhaps McGuire has regained her stride and more exciting adventures are yet to come. I'll be waiting!

Readers who enjoy this book may also be interested in: Castle Swimmer by Wendy Lian Martin, The Moorings of Mackerel Sky by MZ, Whale Star: The Gyeongseong Mermaid by Na Yoonhee, Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant, Made in Abyss by Akihito Tsukushi, The Anti-Ableist Manifesto by Tiffany Yu, LoveBot by Chase Keels and Miranda Mundt, and Big Fish & Begonia (2016).

This was an amazing 10th book in the series. Seanan McGuide always manages to incorporate serious topics into these whimsical and magical stories. I get so entranced and lost in these books and they are such quick reads. I recommend this series and this book to everyone who loves a good story. The magical realism is captivating and the world building is top tier! I loved falling into this world with the main character and learning about this world. This book was fantastically done and I really enjoyed it. I will definitely be rereading it in the future and I wish this wasn’t the last book in the series.

I have not read any other books by this author yet, but my friends and sister strongly recommended them. I am not a huge turtle fan, so my sister's gushing praise of McGuire's inclusion of turtles didn't strike much of a chord for me, but I still really enjoyed the under-water world in this book. It reminded me a bit of the wood between the worlds in the Chronicles of Narnia, but taken in a really different direction. This is a quick, engaging read, and I will be looking for more books by McGuire this year.

This is one of my all time favorite series. I reread all of it at least once a year. I have dying to hear about Nadya's story. She is such a strong character that had been through so much at such a young age but was making the best of her situation. She was orphaned at birth then when she was finally adopted she was seen as something less because she was missing part of her arm. The family never thought about what she would want. Her door was so cool. I love the turtles. The ending was just heartbreaking. I need to find out more about her now. I cannot wait for the next story. Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group got allowing me to read the arc in exchange for my honest review.