Ouch, this one definitely hurt my feelings. It was so great to see Nadya again and to get her whole story. While I remembered where we left her in Beneath the Sugar Sky, I couldn’t remember too much else about her or her door, except that she, like Cora, is a Drowned Girl as well but from somewhere else and it had something to do with turtles. So basically, I had my heart broken for Nadya by the end of this one (which, to be fair, is pretty standard with this series). Loved it, though - another excellent addition to a gorgeous series of novellas!! It was also just nice after the last few installments having plenty of connective tissue to come back to a character we haven't seen in a while. It keeps everything feeling fresh.

Thanks to NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group for letting me check this one out early in exchange for my honest feedback! Release date January 7 for those interested!

Rating: Really Enjoyed It, 4 stars

Adrift in Currents Clean and Clear is the 10th novella in Seanan McGuire's Wayward Children series, and the last entry to the best of my knowledge. I say to the best of my knowledge, because I am really hoping that they announce some more books in this world.

In this installment, we follow Nadya and get her full backstory - we meet her for the first time in Beneath the Sugar Sky. I really did love Nadya's story, and this was an excellent Wayward Children novella. Nadya was born in Russia and surrendered at birth to an orphanage. She spent her time there mothering the other children and doing her best to ensure that her brothers and sisters at the orphanage found their way to a good and loving home. All this changes when a group of Christian missionaries arrives with the goal of "saving" the "least" of the orphans. She is chosen, primarily it seems, because she was born with a limb difference, her right arm ending at or just above the elbow. This book grapples with the ideas of international adoption, disability, ableism, and children's lack of control over their lives. Like all Wayward Children, Nadya finds a door and makes her way through it to a world that is better suited to her.

I loved Belyrreka with the different weights of water, the impossible underwater city, talking animals, and giant river turtles. It was a fun, creative world, and I loved Nadya's growth into adulthood. In this installment, we get more of an overview of a lot of years passing rather than sitting with the characters in a more contained time period, so it didn't have the same tugs on the heartstrings as some of the installments. However, I feel like it still deals with important topics and was an excellent addition to the series.

The reason it is 4 stars rather than 5 is because I was expecting a little more. As far as I am aware, this is the conclusion to the series, but it doesn't feel like a wrapping-up point. We never even touch on Eleanor's home. So I am really hoping that this isn't the final installment, and that we can end the series with a bit more closure. I definitely think that I will rate this one higher on reread, but that element of slight disappointment did bring my overall enjoyment factor down a bit.

Overall, I highly recommend this series. It is one of my favorites, and one that I will be rereading for years to come. Thank you to Netgalley and Tordotcom for an eARC of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Adrift in Currents Clean and Clear releases on January 7, 2025.

Thank you to NetGalley & TorDotCom for an advance reader copy in exchange for my honest review!

The 10th installment in The Wayward Children Series, "Adrift in Currents Clean and Clear", focuses on Nadya and her journey to Belyrreka - The Land Beneath The Lake. We originally meet Nadya in the 3rd installment, "Beneath The Sugar Sky".

Nadya's story begins in Russia when her teenage mother gives her up for adoption immediately after she is born. Nadya is born with only one arm which she never views as an issue (even when others do). Nadya spends several years in the Russian orphanage but is eventually adopted by a Christian, American couple which does not go very well (as you can imagine!).
Nadya has a difficult time growing up in America, especially after her adoptive parents force her to wear a prosthetic arm that she does not want to wear. Nadya eventually falls into Belyrreka where adventures await!

Themes: adoption, sense of self, disability.

I gave this book 3.5 stars (rounded up to 4). It wasn't my favorite in the series but it also wasn't a bad read. It ranks closer to the middle for me but I would still recommend it!!
I think my issue is that the further along in the series I get, the more invested I am with the characters which always leaves me wanting more when I complete a novella.
With that being said, I am eagerly awaiting the next installment in this wonderful, whimsical series! 💛

Man... this book. As someone who adored Every Heart a Doorway, I was eager to return to McGuire’s enchanting world—even if I skipped a few installments in between. Thankfully, that didn’t matter. The first book gave me enough grounding to dive into Nadya’s story, which stands beautifully on its own while tying seamlessly into the larger tapestry.

Nadya is a Russian orphan, born without her right arm below the elbow, and her strength, compassion, and perseverance are awe-inspiring. Despite the grim realities of her orphanage life, she dedicates herself to helping other children—finding homes for her fellow orphans and even rehabilitating a sick turtle. But once she’s adopted into a life that feels foreign and forced, the cracks in her spirit begin to show. No one asks what she needs, just expects eternal gratitude for her “rescue.”

Everything changes when Nadya discovers a hidden door beneath a lake filled with turtles near her new home, leading to a magical underwater realm. The world-building here is stunning—lush, intricate, and effortlessly immersive. It’s not intimidating high fantasy; it feels accessible, heartfelt, and deeply connected to Nadya’s heritage and even has turtles as transportation.

This story is equal parts heartbreaking and hopeful, weaving themes of grief, love, and perseverance into a tale that’s both magical and profoundly human. While the ending mirrors the bittersweet inevitability of other Wayward Children books, it’s no less moving.

If you loved Every Heart a Doorway, Nadya’s story is worth exploring. It’s a poignant reminder to find strength in adversity and to embrace the parts of ourselves that make us unique. I can’t wait to read more from this series.

*Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an early readers copy in exchange for an honest review.*

Adrift in Currents Clean and Clear is yet another installment in the Wayward Children series. This book follows Nadia as we see her in childhood discovering her door.

I love that we get these vignettes into the "before" of all the children who attend the school that we're introduced to in book 1. Nadia's story makes me feel so terrible for her from page one. I loved the slow build up of us actually meeting Nadia on page and the way that her birth is literally this starting point for setting her on the path that inevitably leads her to her door.

Nadia's story just makes me feel for her through all of the beats of her story. I love how unique her world was to all the other worlds we have learned about so far. I love that we get to go into these worlds and discover them through the eyes of the characters and this is one world I would love to see again for sure.

This book was heartfelt and adventerous. A little sad and a little happy. There was wimsy and talking animals but there were also hardships. So much was packed into this novella and I cant wait to see more from Nadia again.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing an advance copy in exchange for honest feedback. I will truly keep reading this series as long as they continue to exist. Every world we're introduced to is unique and creative. Every character lovable in their own way.

Not my favorite book in the series. I would be interested to hear an opinion of it from someone adopted who had a safe but not particularly bonded relationship with adoptive parents. I didn’t really find it engaging. You’re going to get tossed out of your happy life. Maybe don’t focus your energies on ever returning to the place you came into this world where you were happier so you don’t fall back to the old world and leave your husband behind? Literally go anywhere else? It was still ok, interesting world. I’ll read the next book.

I'm a devoted fan of this whole series and "Adrift in Currents Clean & Clear" is a great addition. I love when we get to find out more about one of the Wayward Children's chosen worlds. We've already seen part of Nadya's story in one of the other books. As Nadya herself says though, this is the beginning of the story.

I’m bummed I didn’t like this one as much as the others in the series. Overall, I loved Nadya & was feeling for her soo hard. Even though we know where she ends up, since this is essentially a prequel, having to watch the journey just made it so much harder. The world she was in did not intrigue me though and that made it hard to fully connect with the story.

Also, this installment reminded me a lot of Across The Green Grass Fields (my least favorite of the series) with all the dang turtles!

instagram RTC.

Nadya is “rescued “ from a Russian orphanage by a religious couple at the urging of their priest. They immediately try to make Nadya into a perfect American child. Nadya was born with only one arm and her new parents want to fix that as well. When Nadya finds her door in the turtle pond- she is sent to a watery world of acceptance. How long will she be sure enough to stay?
Love this series. Thanks Netgalley for the ARC. My opinions are my own.

Fantastic addition to a wonderful ongoing series. This book can be read as a stand-alone, but it's a richer experience as part of the whole. The world of this story is beautifully described, and the story arc is moving and powerful.

Ahoy there me mateys! I say this every time I finish one of these novellas but I seriously could read dozens of books set in the various worlds.  This is the 10th book in the series and is the backstory of Nadya from book 3.  This can be read as a standalone though I suggest reading the series in order to get the full impact.

Nadya is born in Russia to a mother who doesn't want her and is raised in an orphanage.  She is missing an arm due to a birth defect but doesn't feel a loss for something she never had.  She is adopted by an American couple who want her to fit in and be a testament to their good parenting skills.  Nadya is not happy with being forced to wear a prosthetic.  Then a day comes where she falls into the pond and goes through a Door to Belyrreka.

This story is bittersweet.  Reading about her life in America was painful and made my heart ache..  However, I loved watching Nadya thrive in Belyrreka.  The world itself is a fascinating land of water.  There are giant talking turtles, massive frogs that eat anything that can fit into their mouths, and giant fishing vessels that sail on and under the water.  I did want more about life on top of the rivers and in the sky but it was mostly a story about Nadya living her best life in Belyrreka.  I was immersed (Arrr!) in watching her grow up in a place perfectly suited to her.  Even though the ending was anticipated, it still stung and made me immensely unhappy for Nadya.

I think this is one of the stronger entries in the series and recommend it wholeheartedly.  Arrrr!

4,5 rounded up

One of the highlights of my reading year always comes right on the heels of Christmas, when I snuggle in and read the newest Wayward Children novella right ahead of its release. Adrift in Currents Clean and Clear is the tenth installment in the series, and marks the seventh year of this tradition I always anticipate. The tone of McGuire’s writing always immediately draws me in. There’s something lovely and soothing and sad about her voice. This entire series is equal parts whimsical and maudlin.

While not my among my absolute favorites in the series, a title currently shared by Down Among the Sticks and Bones and In an Absent Dream, Adrift in Currents Clean and Clear is a solid installment. The portal world is enticing and unique. Our main character is wonderful, brimming with aggressive optimism and selflessness. She also offers beautiful disability representation. Hers is a story I deeply hope McGuire continues in the future.

I immediately fell in love with Nadya. Born in Russia to a young mother who immediately abandoned her, Nadya’s early years are spent in an orphanage. She thrives here, always arranging the other orphans to their best advantage whenever a perspective parent comes to peruse them. But Nadya never puts herself forward for adoption. For one, she’s happy at the orphanage. She was also born with one arm that ends above the elbow, though she has never seen herself as handicapped. But when well-meaning Americans come to the orphanage, intent on offering the most broken of the children a better life, they latch onto Nadya’s visible disability and determine to bring her back to America with them and “fix” her.

And then, Nadya discovers her door.

Nadya’s door is less a door than a threshold, a suggestion of a door in the shadows of a turtle pond, which is her favorite place in America. When Nadya tumbles into her door, she becomes a Drowned Girl, an adopted daughter of Belyyreka, the Land Beneath the Lake. The world is strange and lovely and populated with the great love of Nadya’s life: turtles. Here, she finds the home of her heart. She finds acceptance, and love, and adventures that let her own bravery shine. But as with all of the Wayward Children stories, this joyful existence doesn’t last.

I adore this series. I truly do. But my heart is beginning to feel the weight of so many happy endings thwarted. I read the last quarter of this little novella with dread in my heart, knowing that the fierce and wonderful life Nadya had built for herself in the Land Beneath the Lake would end in some way. That’s how the books in this series (almost) always end. And I’m reaching the point where those bitter endings are sitting heavy in my soul. I dearly hope that McGuire will tie these stories together, that wrongs will be made right and that the characters I’ve come to love will find the homes of their hearts once more. And that they’ll never part from that home again.

Adrift in Currents Clean and Clear is a lovely story, though I wasn’t a fan of the ending. I’m fatigued of the maudlin, and I’m hungry for the bright. But brightness is not the certain direction of the Wayward Children series. Neither are happy endings. I’ll continue to live in hope, though, that happy endings will come someday.

Nadya, born in Russia, adopted to Colorado, falls into a pond and discovers a city beneath The Lake, full of giant turtles, river songs, talking foxes, and love.

I haven‘t fallen in love with a character in this series this quickly since Lundy in book four! I loved Nadya‘s curiosity, her determination, her comfort in her own body even with the lack of an arm. Watching her transformation from the child in the orphanage forced to take care of the other children, to a strong young woman excited to travel and scout her new world was a joy.

And the world building! I wanted to sink down into this Drowned World. I could feel the dampness on my skin, and I just wanted to listen to every song that built this world. Finishing this made me immediately want to reread the whole series!

Many thanks to both NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group for the opportunity to review this arc!

After how much I did not enjoy the last book in this series, I admit to some trepidation at the start of this one. Was I over this series (which, to be fair, I had never really loved, only occasionally liked?) or would I find enough enjoyment to continue to push on?

Well, thankfully, I really enjoyed the beginning of this one. I thought maybe this would even be a new favourite. But strangely, the moment Nadya fell through her doorway and found herself in a place she might finally belong, I found myself checking out a little more with each chapter. So I guess I liked her storyline better when she was unhappy and gritting her teeth at her circumstances? Woof.

There is a lot of narrative about accessibility, acceptance, and more, which is no surprise from this author, particularly for this series, but this one felt a touch heavy handed with some of it -- especially when she's in her new world.

As always, there's enough here that I will continue reading on, but I do hope this has turned a corner and I'll enjoy the next one a little more and the next even more, and so on.

I’m a long time fan of the Wayward Children series, and this was one of my favourite backstories we’ve had for any of the characters so far.

The world was magical and beautifully imagined. The magic system (for lack of a better term) was different and I liked that even the inhabitants themselves don’t seem to clearly understand some aspects of their world.
The story of where Nadya came from and her struggles to acclimatise to her life in the US felt realistic and highlighted the discomfort of trying to fit into a culture that isn’t hers when those around her think she should be grateful for a change she never asked for.

I’m intrigued to see how this story will fit into the larger Wayward Children universe, and can’t wait for the next book!

This is, by far, my favorite installment in the Wayward Children series. Belyrreka is the first world we’ve visited in this series that I would actually love to visit and could see myself as a child opening a door to. The world building of The Land Beneath the Lake was captivating and expertly done. Maybe I was just so eager to buy in to the story, but the explanation of how humans can live underwater made perfect, magical sense to me.

The main reason why I loved this story in particular is the turtles. Talking turtles!! Lesson learned, talking turtles instantly elevate any book I read.

I loved Nadya and her turtle-steed, Burian. Seanan did a great job of convincing me quickly that they had a strong bond and friendship. I also liked all the other characters, or at least thought their characterizations were well done. Nadya’s adoptive parents were hard to read about, but in a realistic and believable way.

This brings me to my last point. I really appreciated the look this story takes at adoption, particularly adoption for the wrong reasons. Nadya’s adoptive parents didn’t adopt her because they wanted to help her have a better life, because they loved her or felt a connection with her. Instead it was done for appearances, and thus they then began trying to force Nadya into the role of their perfect adoptive daughter, without (particularly in the adoptive mother’s case) making any real effort to build a familial bond with her.

A note: Nadya is born missing the lower half of her right arm. The book makes it clear that Nadya does not view this as a problem nor does she yearn for a whole arm. I thought the way Seanan handled this topic was thoughtful. However, the story does introduce a magic-related solution to her disability, a trope that might be contentious for some readers. While I felt the reasoning behind this plot point was sound and respectful of Nadya’s agency, I acknowledge that, as someone without a physical disability, I am not an authority on whether it was handled in the most sensitive or empowering way.

Thank you to Seanan McGuire and Tor via Netgalley for an eARC of this book in exchange for my honest feedback.

As far as I'm concerned, Seanan McGuire can do no wrong. Adrift in Currents Clean and Clear was absolutely stunning. I actually read this slightly out of order, but it was still totally seamless. I was so thrilled to finally explore this characters story and it was done PERFECTLY amid an exploration of adoption, limb difference, and finding family.

Absolutely perfect. No Notes. I will be recommending the Wayward Children series for the rest of my life.

Last time we saw Nadya, she was staying behind in Nancy’s world so the gang can have Sumi’s soul to bring her back to life.

Based on the cover, I assumed this was her story going in. I enjoyed learning about her backstory and what lead her to her door.

Belyyreka is a drowned world full of turtles, foxes, and frogs. Oh my! It’s one of the most interesting worlds we’ve encountered. However, Nadya’s story itself is pretty tame.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tordotcom for letting me read an e-ARC of Adrift in Currents Clean and Clear by Seanan McGuire! While there’s no requirement to read the previous novellas (or read them in release order), I find this series is best enjoyed that way.

Readers follow Nadya’s story from the beginning. Born in Russia without one arm and surrendered to an orphanage, adopted by religious American parents and taken from her home country, raised to set aside her mother tongue and history, and eventually tumbling into one of the doors that leads her to a watery world beneath the pond where her beloved turtle companions roam. As always, the door only opens and consumes the child who is sure that they will leave nothing important behind in their own world. And, though she may not know it at first, she becomes sure that Belyrreka is a better place for her than her own world. She is quickly adopted by someone who comes from America (another drowned girl), finds a lifelong turtle companion, and lives out her life in a world that accepts her for the whole person that she’s always been.

While this isn’t my favorite installment (I wish it had been slightly longer – the woe of novellas), it’s still enjoyable and quick. I wanted to spend more time with Nadya and her friends in Belyrreka. As always, McGuire does an excellent job at forging stories that challenge readers’ preconceived notions about topics like grief, love, family, disability, and mental health. For a story about a child under 10, this packs a punch for adult audiences. I can’t wait to see what comes next for our Wayward Children.