Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillian for giving me the opportunity to listen to the ARC of Adrift in Currents Clean and Clear.

Nayda’s life began from grim and bleak circumstances. Abandoned, placed in an orphanage and then adopted. Her new parents were contrast in various ways. One of which in regard to her emotions and perspective as a child. Much less a child from another country that would be considered handicap.

This story is my favorite from this author. I felt submerged in Nayda’s world. I could visualize her environment and understood her emotions. The detailed descriptions of different situations and how Nayda described her thoughts and emotions was heartfelt.

I enjoyed this audio book. The narrator did a great job voicing the different characters. I felt I was listening to conversations by different people. The emotions matched, as well as the accents.

I give this 4 out 5 stars. Ihighly recommend listening and or reading this book.

McGuire delivers once again on a wild and whimsical world that works both as a stand alone and within the greater world that she is building.

Reading anything within this series feels like coming home. The style of story is whimsical enough to capture one's attention while being rooted enough in the real world that readers can't help seeing the magic in the mundane, too.

This will be an easy win for readers who are already captivated by the series.

Every single book in the Wayward Children series will never disappoint. I want, no NEED, this series to go on forever.

Thank you always Netgalley and Macmillan for blessing me with this!!

This is the next installment of the wayward children series. In this one we learn about Nadya and her door. I thought that her world was very interesting being a world under the lake where you can breathe water as if it was air but some you can't. There are turtles that you can befriend and they can basically swim through the "air". It was a really interesting concept. I also loved that the story centered around a girl with a disability, which was that Nadya was missing part of her arm. She did not let this stop her in the slightest. I loved that body positivity aspect. Overall another great addition to the series and I can't wait to see what happens next. So be sure to check it out tomorrow!

Audiobook specific: the narrator was very good. I liked the voice and the pacing. I thought it fit the character.

Content warning: ableism, minor/quick mention of animal cruelty (turtle), minor mention (not depicted) of animal death (fox)

I have really enjoying the Wayward Children series, some more than others. This is one of my favorites.

I admire Seanan McGuire's ability to create such different worlds for each of her books. I also love how she tells the stories of the children in such a non-linear fashion. We meet Nadya in a previous book, and are told her portal story in this one. It's an excellent way to get readers hooked on the story before it's even published.

However, you don't need to have read the previous book to love this one. I should know, because I just had a vague recollection of Nadya. I was not even sure about it until I did some investigating after finishing the book. I loved her, and really felt for her and all the hardships she went through in her early life. In her new world, she was able to be true to herself and grew to be a very strong person. In addition, the portal world was fascinating and well-crafted. And the turtles! I feel like everyone will love the turtles.

The ending made sense, but I did feel like it was a bit manipulated. In my opinion, Nadya made decisions that did not fit her inner fears, but did make for a more shocking ending. Don't let this sway you from reading this book, however. It is fantastic.

I listened to the audiobook, which was expertly narrated by Barrie Kreinik.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the audiobook ARC.

I loved Nadya backstory. Watching where she started,her jounrey of being adopted, life in America, how she felt about her arm and how the world treated her about it. But finding her door was when the story lost me. I was honestly bored with it. Nadya is now my 3rd favorite character in this series.

Once again I’m sucked deep into the unique universes Seanan creates within this series! I loved the disability representation on both sides of Nadya’s door and her relationship with the turtles. I think that this one would have benefitted from a LITTLE more at the ending but I always appreciate the short length of these books.

I do feel that this one feels a little disconnected from the series in the sense that it felt like a stand alone, which is fine and kind of how the series started out, but we’re on book ten and after the last few books that connected to each other I was just surprised not to see any familiar characters. This does however make me excited for the next one which WILL no doubtedly connect based off of how this one ended. I can’t wait to hopefully binge more of these books!!

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced audio copy

4.5 stars rounded up to 5

I always appreciate the audiobooks for these stories, as the narrators tend to add so much to the characters and this was no exception.

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!

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for letting me listen to a ALC of Adrift in Currents Clean and Clear by Seanan McGuire, narrated by Barrie Kreinik! While there's no requirement to read the previous novellas (or read the series 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. Our narrator, Barrie, does an artful job at bringing Nadya's inner thoughts and feelings to life (with an absolutely gorgeous accent that feels PERFECT for Nadya). 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.

For me this series has been really up and down in terms of quality of story, but this is a really good one, even if it has a bit of a fatal flaw.

This is such a beautifully imagined world, and McGuire does such a wonderful job of creating atmosphere, especially given how short these novellas are. I loved the underwater world she created, and the way she integrates the animal characters into the heroine’s story.

I did *not* love the ending, unfortunately. I had forgotten how this series sometimes gives you an ending you won’t care for, and I definitely didn’t care for this one. That cost a star from what was otherwise a five-star read, but I still enjoyed this and loved spending time in this world.

I was provided an ALC of this book via Netgalley, all opinions are my own.

This follows Nadya, whom we've met before at Eleanor West's Home for Wayward Children, but this is the story of her door and her own hero's journey. Nadya was born in Russia and was given up for adoption at birth. She was eventually adopted by a picture perfect American couple. Nadya never felt less than or unhappy, until her new parents brought up what she was lacking and what would make her happy. They never asked her what would make her happy, they only ever told her, and she never felt comfortable about it nor was she comfortable expressing how she felt. She did however feel comfortable at the local turtle pond watching the turtles bask in sun and swim. When a strange door appears in the water, she finds herself falling through to a new world where no on finds her lacking and she finds the most wonderful turtles and people and gets to go on the most exciting adventures.

This was a bit different than some of the other books in the series, as none of it is set at Eleanor's home, and there are no appearances of the other characters we've met previously. This is solely Nadya's storyline. If you have read the other books, you know that the timeline of the series isn't linear, and they can all be read as standalones for the most part. This is a fairly emotional tale, even if you know how it is going to end. I feel like I needed more time with Nadya and her world, it was so enchanting and I loved how independent and self-sufficient she was. McGuire always does a wonderful job with the worldbuilding and I loved Nadya's character. This was such a great depiction of agency, the power of choice, and empowerment.

The narration was really well done. The narrator does a Russian accent for Nadya for much of the book and differentiates the other characters throughout.

This is one of my favorite science fiction series. I really loved this novella especially since we learn about Nadya in a previous book. "Adrift" provides her backstory and shows how much the character lost when we meet her in Beneath the Sugar Sky. The only thing I didn't love about the audiobook was the narrator's choice to use a Russian accent for the narration. Since this isn't her natural voice and she has narrated other books in the series, it felt false.

Oh wow this book hurt. These books in the series where we get one of the kids' origin stories always get me because you know how it is going to end even as you are enjoying the magic of discovering a new world. My heart was in my throat for the last couple chapters, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

I really loved Nadya and her world and the way this installment touches on adoption, family, disability. Nadya is born in Russia without a hand on one arm, and I loved her attitude about how she didn't feel like anything was missing because she is able to do everything she needs to do. She is adopted by an American couple who get her a prosthetic and believe they are doing something incredible for her, when actually it becomes more of an inconvenience compared to how she lived her life before. Regan's book was for horse girls, but this one is definitely for the turtle girls and I loved it. The way water works in Nadya's world was so interesting and I wanted to learn more as she was exploring. Because the people of Belyrreka know about the doors (and many have come through them), we also get some more interesting tidbits about the ways the doors work and what is means to be sure as a child.

I really enjoyed the audiobook listening experience and how the narrator brought the story to life. I think this book also works well as a standalone: Since there are a lot of side characters in this series as a whole, that it's become hard to keep track of them all and I didn't fully remember what we knew already about Nadya, so I kind of felt like I was reading a standalone with all that I had forgotten. But this book definitely made me want to go reread the series to revisit what has happened to Nadya since! This was another great installment in the Wayward Children series and I already can't wait for the next one.

I REALLY love this series, just like many others do. This book was no exception to that. Seanan McGuire just somehow knows exactly how to write a book that's going to pull out every emotion that I've ever felt. I found myself being sad, angry, disappointed, happy, proud. I was just somehow feeling all of the feelings throughout this book.

As this one was one of the books that was telling the story of a character from the "main" story, I knew how it was going to end and I still found myself hoping that it didn't.

I will say that an issue that I have in general (which I know is mostly a me thing) is that I find myself not remembering who each of these characters are from the main story. I couldn't remember who this character was and even after having finished this book, I'm not entirely sure what role they played in it. But even despite that, I still felt such a connection to this character's story and I still was feeling extra emotional reading it.

I adore this series with every fiber in my being. I am due for a re-read of the whole series but I think I'm going to wait until the next book is announced before!!

The books like this one where we get to explore the new worlds behind each doors are my favorite. I love learning about our characters origin stories. This world was just as full of wonder as the others and I really really loved it.

Even with it being so short there is just so much packed within these books!

10/10 now to wait for the next one!

Thank you to NetGalley for the Audio ARC in exchange for a review. This was another beautiful installment of an incredible series. We follow Nadya through some hardships and big feelings before finding her door. I loved the representation and the feeling that Nadya was just right as she was, but it was the outside world that thought something was wrong with her.
It’s hard reading about these whimsical worlds where the children are happy because it ends, but you really hoped it wouldn’t this time. It wasn’t the most exciting or dangerous world, but leaving was, as always, a little heartbreaking.

If no one is reading the new books of this series than I am dead (and many of my friends who I have converted into its amazing worlds).

This one we are following Nadia, 'the turtle girl', who we have seen in previous books. Its a prequel to her life before her turtle world and during her discovery of her new turtle based society.

This one was good, I liked the magical world and Nadia was a very likeable main character with an interesting back story. It was not my favorite of the set, but the beauty of these stories is that each one kind of connects with different people in different ways. This one will find its turtle girls and that's beautiful.

Thank you to Netgalley for a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review. The book I listened to was narrated by Barrie Kreinik who did a great job.

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.

The narration, as always, was beautiful. And I thought the code switching in both the written and spoken language with our main character was done perfectly.

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

***4.0 Stars***

Overall,
I have enjoyed this series immensely, short sweet/dark tale with children opening doorways into fantastical new worlds. I was surprised by this book because it is the story of a character whos end we already know. This is her beginning and her life. The heartbreakingly joyful story, which will keep you engaged all the way through. I think that where it loses a star for me is the ending. There were some loose ends which are going to be maddening if I do not know what happens!.... so thats a me problem. As always I will continue with these stories as long as Seanan keeps writing them.

3.25

Adrift in Currents Clean and Clear gives us Nadya’s backstory and like many of the entries in this series it tackles some hard topics. Nadya is a Russian orphan who has a missing limb and gets adopted by a Christian couple in the United States, and I think McGuire does a great job of discussing adoption and disability with nuance and care. I enjoyed this book while I read it, but I don’t think it’s one that will stick with me. Maybe that’s because I found it too short but I also don’t think we need more pages to get Nadya’s backstory because we’ve met her before.

Overall, I think this was a solid entry in the series and I think it’s a good example of what the series is doing so I do recommend it if you’ve enjoyed in the past, or it could be a good starting point as the series order isn’t necessarily linear.

I tend to read the series via audiobook, and noticed that this narrator (Barrie Kreinik) is new to the series, but I have heard her narration in the past and I found her to be quite competent here.