Beneath the Sugar Sky
Ratings173
Average rating3.9
Growing up fat had meant an endless succession of diets suggested by “helpful” relatives, and even more “helpful” suggestions from her classmates, ones that suggested starvation or learning to vomit on command.
This is my least favorite so far in the series though I loved some of the world descriptions in this.
This instalment wasn't quite as good as the first two however I still very much enjoyed it.
This one follows Sumi's daughter Rini in the world of Confection, so has a much more whimsical and comical feel. There were some laugh out loud moments as the dialogue between the characters is so much fun.
I listened to this one on audio again and the narrator is just wonderful, she really brings this story to life and I would recommend the audio books if you're unsure on whether you'll like them.
Based off of the fact that this was a story centered around Sumi, it is fitting that there was a lot of nonsense in this book. But nonsense that has some logic to it. This one was a little hard to wrap my head around with the time travel/timey wimey stuff. But it was good.
Yassss I love this series so much! I love the tone and the premise so much, and just the interrogation of the concept of portal fantasies and what they mean to individuals...so exactly my jam.
And then THIS one has a fat mermaid protagonist!!! Hell yeahhhhh, frosting on this delicious sugary confection
“Beneath the Sugar Sky” is the third novella in a series written by Seanan McGuire. The novella continues the story after “Every Heart a Doorway” after Sumi was killed in the first novella. The novella follows Rini, Sumi's daughter, but Rini is now fading after her mother died, before giving birth to her daughter. Now Rini needs to go on an adventure to try to bring, her mother back to life to keep the future from changing.
I really liked learning about the multiple worlds that we see throughout the novella, all the worlds were very interesting and cool, so I gave the novella a 4/5 Stars.
Wow. Just wow. This is the best of this series thus far. I'm honestly at a loss for words, I can't truly describe how much I loved this one. Suffice to say that in a series that has hit a lot of “yes” buttons for me, this one equipped a heavy mallet to smash on that “yes” button extra hard. I absolutely love to see a protagonist who is overweight and whose ONLY issues with being overweight are based in the fact that it makes other people treat her like crap. She isn't self-loathing, she isn't portrayed as having something wrong with her for being overweight, she just IS overweight, and it's just a part of who she is. It's not a flaw. It's not a weakness. Seanan McGuire is very quickly becoming an Author Who Can Do No Wrong in my eyes. It is so clear that she is an empathetic, thoughtful person, and it really shows in her writing that she has a beautiful heart.
This is definitely the most plot-heavy book of the series with an actual linear plot. This was not what I expected at all but I also adored it. I'm always shocked at how Seanan McGuire can conjure up new characters and make them so unique and also make me fall in love with them in such a short amount of pages. I'm obsessed with every character in this series and I love that each new book leaves the potential for 10 future stories. I adore this series so much.
I continue to really enjoy this series, due in large part to McGuire's amazing imagination and her ability to give all those who felt or feel ‘out of place' a voice through her stories. This third volume takes a 180 turn from the last darker volume to a world made entirely out of baked goods and candy, but still manages to maintain it's rather melancholy overtones. Being able to mix things in an adventure story like ghosts, time-travel, a land of the dead and a land of candy, with a spectrum of fascinating characters is truly and talent and a delight to read. In fact I think this volume really made me enjoy the characters much more for some reason I can't exactly pinpoint, but maybe because we're back with a group of characters we're mostly familiar with from the first volume, and the additional ones, namely Cora, that were a welcome addition. I also enjoyed the “quest” aspect of this volume, traveling through worlds and trying to save a friend is classic, but McGuire puts her own bizarre and strange spin on it. At this point you will definitely want to have read the previous volumes, as this one will make no sense without the previous stories under your belt. Highly recommended though, continuing to be a unique and enjoyable read.
I really love this series. This time we meet Cora and go on a quest to help out Rin, from a sugary Nonsense world. I love how these read like middle grade fiction but feel like adult books. I hope Mariposa is next! I also love the size of these stories, proving that a book does not have to be 700 pages to tell a great story.
