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olivialandryxo 's review for:
Beneath the Sugar Sky
by Seanan McGuire
[ETA, February 2023: Rating lowered to 4.5 stars. I haven’t reread it, nor do I have anything against it, but I frequently forget this book/series even exists, and thus it doesn’t really feel like one of my favorites or deserving of a 5 star rating. It’s funny how, a few years ago, I said I love this series and could read 100 of these novellas, but now I have literally no recollection of even reading books five and six.]
"Adults can still tumble down rabbit holes and into enchanted wardrobes, but it happens less and less with every year they live. Maybe this is a natural consequence of living in a world where being careful is a necessary survival trait, where logic wears away the potential for something bigger and better than the obvious."
Every Heart a Doorway was good, Down Among the Sticks and Bones was great, and this book was amazing. With vivid imagery, fascinating worlds, bold humor, and a brilliant ensemble cast, it's without a doubt my favorite in the series so far.
I'm not going to lie: this story wasn't what I expected it to be. I thought it would be set prior to the first book, telling Sumi's story before she went to the Home for Wayward Children, like the second one did with Jack and Jill. Although I'm sure that would've been interesting, I wouldn't change a thing about the story we got instead.
In my opinion, the best part of this was the extensive world-building. It's all so intricate and whimsical, occasionally eerie. We learned so much about the different worlds that are out there, the logical and the nonsense and everything in between. We visited the underworld and Confection, which personally is my new favorite. (Although that might change if we ever see Cora's mermaid world.) I could imagine the grove of pomegranate trees and the statuesque people among them in the underworld, the sea of strawberry soda and the wedding cake dresses in Confection. Honestly, it's a lot of fun.
I can't really go into detail here as I don't share any of these identities, but I also wanted to mention the rep throughout the story. In the protagonist ensemble, there's a trans boy, a Latinx boy, a one-handed girl, and a fat girl; side characters include a Japanese girl and a hijabi woman, although neither one has much of a role until closer to the end. There's a lot of discussion about being fat, and society's treatment of fat people.
Also, I love these characters, especially Sumi, Rini, and Kade. That's all I've got to say about that.
One last thing, that admittedly has nothing to do with the story itself - this was the very first audiobook I've listened to, and it was very enjoyable! I worried that it would be too slow and/or monotonous, but both turned out to be false. I don't have anything to compare it to, but I'd recommend the audiobook nonetheless to those that can access it.
I fall more in love with this series with every novella that I read. I think I could read a hundred more in these worlds, with these characters. Although that's unfortunately unlikely, I cannot wait for the fourth book to be released in January!