As much as I adored the first book in this series, I wasn't expecting to like this one as much as I ended up! It's strange, and convoluted, and the last third of it makes you feel like you're stuck in Princess Bubblegum's Candy Kingdom, but it WORKS. McGuire's weird writing and insightful stories pull all the craziness together and it really makes for an exciting read. (Also I have my fingers crossed we get to see more of Cora's world at some point?!)
I know people say you can read this series in almost any order, but having read three now I would recommend the publication order at this point: "Every Heart a Doorway", then "Down Among the Sticks and Bones" and then this one. ( )

I thought this entry into the Wayward Children series was OK. I liked Cora, and it was great to spend more time with Christopher. I didn't like Rini. She acted like she was more important than everyone else and she was kinda a bitch. I actually hoped that they would fail at their quest and she would disappear. Nadya wasn't in the book for very long, but she was alright too. My only gripe with her part of the story was that because I know Russian Belyyreka doesn't make sense grammatically. Белый (white-masculine) Река (river-feminine). Adjectives have to agree with the gender of the noun that they are modifying. It should be Белая Река - Belyyareka. ( )

I want my door the way a fish wants water.

I want to believe that somewhere I could belong - a world with endless books to read and catalog and stroke and love. A world where a quiet girl with antiquated ideas about propriety and rules doesn't have to force herself to be somewhat "normal" for the sake of others.

The Wayward Children series has, in so many ways, improved my life. From Nancy's joy in the quiet to Kade's contentment being where can be himself, from Christopher's unabashed love of the dancing dead to Sumi's hyper Nonsense.

This book does not come out until January, so pray wait a little longer for a full review. Or, if you're in Confection, the journey is but a day's walk away.

----
These books aren't published linearly. DOWN AMONG THE STICKS AND STONES takes before EVERY HEART A DOORWAY while BENEATH THE SUGAR SKY is a direct continuation of EVERY HEART. I'm not convinced that you should read them linearly however.

Knowing how Jack & Jill wound up as they were in EVERY HEART does not change the fact EH was Nancy's book. Just as the reappearance of Kade, Christopher, Nancy and Sumi in SUGAR SKY doesn't make this any less Rini's book.

These aren't telling the story of how point A got to point B, they're telling the story of how these kids found where they belong.

Rini knew her place in the larger fabric of Time and Space. BtSS wasn't about her finding it - if was about her fighting to keep it in a way that others could not. They came from the real world, they had to justify to whatever power sent them in the first place why their birth world was not their home. All Rini had to do was bring her mom back the dead so she could marry her dad and have Rini.

That's hella lot simpler.

If the first book was a mystery wrapped up in a young girl's struggle to figure out what was right for her, and the second was a gothic wrapped up in two sisters separating their identity from each other and how how they were seen, this book is about the contradictory nature of "normal" being conflated with fact.

I was happy to see Nancy, to see she was happy and cherished. I was sad for Kade who was still rather in crush with her and maybe still felt left behind. I hope to see Chris find his way and for Kade to implement some of those ideas about the true intersection of Nonsense and Logic.

And way to go Rini, two out of two fictional Rini's have traveled back to help save their mother now. ( )

Journeying through three worlds, McGuire showcases her strength as a world-builder. Worlds that could seem silly or frivolous, like Confection, are still both part of a greater theme, and also thoughtfully depicted with internal consistency, backstory and a lush sense of place.

The characters continue to be flat, and the murder mystery of the first novel continues to diminish in importance with nonsensical resurrections, but this time I knew what I was in for, and just relaxed and had fun with it. ( )

Frighteningly good. So sumptuous and rich. Love these books. ( )