#ACROSS THE GREEN GRASS FIELDS BY SEANAN MCGUIRE

[betterbooksandthings]

"Flip open the page. It’s time for you to be emotionally invested in the very normal life of a fantasy character. These fantasy coming-of-age stories have no big quest — it’s literally just a coming-of-age story that takes place in a fantasy setting.

Sometimes, we don’t want to read about someone defeating the fated dragon that has lurked on the western edge of the dark grove. We don’t want a chosen one to fulfill their destiny. We could even do without a bevy of hapless heroes who just had to set out on a quest. Instead, we would much rather prefer to read about someone growing up as best they can without too much fuss. These are those stories."

[queereads-bracket]

Queer Adult SFF Books Bracket: Round 2

Book summaries and submitted endorsements below:

Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire (Wayward Children series)

Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children No Solicitations No Visitors No Guests

Children have always disappeared under the right conditions; slipping through the shadows under a bed or at the back of a wardrobe, tumbling down rabbit holes and into old wells, and emerging somewhere... else.

But magical lands have little need for used-up miracle children.

Nancy tumbled once, but now she’s back. The things she’s experienced... they change a person. The children under Miss West’s care understand all too well. And each of them is seeking a way back to their own fantasy world.

But Nancy’s arrival marks a change at the Home. There’s a darkness just around each corner, and when tragedy strikes, it’s up to Nancy and her new-found schoolmates to get to the heart of the matter.

No matter the cost.

Fantasy, portal fantasy, mystery, magical realism, boarding school, novella, series, adult

Imperial Radch series (Ancillary Justice, Ancillary Sword, Ancillary Mercy, Provenance, Translation State, and other stories) by Ann Leckie

Endorsement from submitter: "Breq/Justice of Toren is a ship AI and doesn't have a gender. The Radchaai language only has one pronoun for people, so (almost) everyone in the empire is she/her, to the point that they're infamous for failing to correctly guess which pronoun to use with outsiders."

On a remote, icy planet, the soldier known as Breq is drawing closer to completing her quest.

Once, she was the Justice of Toren - a colossal starship with an artificial intelligence linking thousands of soldiers in the service of the Radch, the empire that conquered the galaxy.

Now, an act of treachery has ripped it all away, leaving her with one fragile human body, unanswered questions, and a burning desire for vengeance.

Science fiction, space opera, far future, series, adult

[godzilla-reads]

After finishing COME TUMBLING DOWN by Seanan McGuire, I’m so excited to read the sixth book in the Wayward Children Series- ACROSS THE GREEN GRASS FIELDS.

[sophiesbookishthings]

August Reads

Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson

This book reminded me a lot of Ella Enchanted for some reason. It had a very similar vibe with the love story and the adventure. Wit/Hoid was the narrator which was delightful. I always love a good immortal silly guy who's actually wise and powerful that shows up all the time. Also this book has pirates, so big selling point for me. And I thought the whole spore thing going on with Tress's planet was really cool. 12 moons is a bit excessive though lol. I really liked this book a lot, it was fun. Definitely a book I'll be rereading at some point I think.

5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Book of Bill by Bill Cipher Alex Hirsch

Oh Gravity Falls my beloved. This show is still like top 10 for me tbh. It just fits my brand of weird so well. And idk if I was always like this or if I'm like this because of Gravity Falls lol. I can't believe we got new content in 2024. Also, Ford and Bill are totally exes. Mabel's right.

5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Circe by Madeline Miller

I will always love a good greek mythology retelling. I was (and will always be) a Percy Jackson kid at heart. I will admit, though, I didn't know a ton about Circe going into this, as I often confused her and Calypso. But as per any mythology based book I read, there were a lot of ventures to wikipedia to learn a bit more about who's who and what else they were involved in. Oddly enough, though, I hated The Odyssey when i had to read it in high school. If there's 1000 Odysseus haters, I'm one of them, etc., etc. or whatever. But Penelope (my beloved) was done right in this book. I also liked that Circe is a morally grey protagonist in the story. She does a lot of stuff that is not really very good, but I support women's wrongs so I thought she was super interesting. And altogether i just really liked this book. There's something about the way Madeline Miller writes that hits just right for me.

4.5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨️

In an Absent Dream by Seanan McGuire

I love the Wayward Children series so much. I was a lot like Lundy as a kid. Very about rules and books and pretty alone. I really found the goblin market super intriguing and I think it's one of the worlds from the series I would do best in. It's all about fair deals so it can be harsh at times but it was always fair. I knew the end of the book was coming since Lundy was a character in previous books but it did still hit hard.

4/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Across the Green Grass Fields by Seanan McGuire

More Wayward Children! The main character of this book was intersex, which I didn't actually know going into it, but it was neat cause I don't think I've ever read a book with an intersex character before. I really liked the setting of this book. The Hooflands seem to be one of the least harrowing worlds in the series. I loved the centaurs that took care of Regan. They were fun.

Belladonna by Adalyn Grace

4/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Elantris by Brandon Sanderson

This one was really good. I've had this book for a while now and I just haven't got around to reading it until now and I'm so glad I finally picked it up. I really liked both the main character and the love interest, which is kinda rare for me. The whole concept of a girl that's quite literally followed by death was really cool and very well done. I'm excited to read the rest of the series, which I believe is recently completed.

5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I'm trying so hard not to finish all the Sanderson books (but mostly the stormlight archive) before Wind and Truth comes out in December. So I'm reading standalones and definitely not Rythm of War. Tell me why this book took me so long to finish though. I've read stormlight archive books in less time than this took me. It wasn't even that I disliked this book in any way I just don't think it grabbed me as much and I struggled to make myself sit down and read it. This book was super heavy on the politics and religious aspects of the plot and I think that may have been what caused it to drag for me since I tend to be a bit more interested in the magic aspect of fantasy books. But luckily that did pick up a bit more toward the end. But anyway! I loved Sarene in particular. I thought she was so cool. She was manipulating the hell out of people the whole book and I loved it. The end did make me interested see what Sanderson will do in the sequel.

3.75/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨️

[hahahahawk]

Someone is WRONG on the internet.

I finished Wayward Children #6 Across the Green Grass Fields then found my way to a 2 year old Reddit discussion about it.

To the prompt of “how did you feel about the ending?”, someone said that Regan rejected what the world asks of her. That read baffles me. I strongly interpreted it as Regan being the one human in the known chain to answer the call of the world correctly (assuming the world is neutral/benevolent).

Both the “queen” and the “king” before were miserable, isolated people clinging to a lie and wielding it with cruelty. Their aims were to perpetuate the traumas they experienced and the bigoted views they held.

The old man, specifically, had wanted to go back to the human world, and was bitter about being trapped. If he had, as Reagan did, given up the superiority, power, and control offered to him, he would’ve been back with his girlfriend! (Though probably better for her that he was trapped)

Regan’s options were to stay and be a tyrant, to or break the cycle of violence (and be ejected from the world). She probably knew that returning to the herd was not in her future, even if she didn’t consciously think through the possibilities.

I like to believe that Gristle, Zephyr, and the queen’s servants will accurately relay what they witnessed so that Daisy, Chicory, etc learn and understand what Regan did.

While this wasn’t my favorite Wayward Children story, it is the one that has me most tantalized to spend more time in its door-world. Probably because I like political stories, and that’s what’s set up to happen next in the Hooflands. They’ve lost their government, there’s a moderate amount of inter-species tension, but a whole lot of tension around who is and who isn’t a person.

Also, I spent a good chunk of this book distracted by trying to remember if Regan was a background character in Every Heart a Doorway or a new character. I’m still not sure, but leaning towards her being new. (Confirmed by reading the book’s description blurb. I’m in the middle of a series, I don’t need to know much before devoting 5 hours to a known author)

I definitely prefer the books that have multiple familiar characters doing a quest or adventure, rather than the ones that focus on the backstory of a single character. The Jack/Jill backstory is the exception. The Moors is a very grounded world, and the interplay of sisters made up for the lack of other students.

The more I think about it, the less I like Across the Green Grass Fields. It ended up being way more (forgive the pun) pastoral than most entries in this series. Hopefully the next one has more tension.

[ninsiana0]

Read ACROSS THE GREEN GRASS FIELDS by Seanan McGuire if you love horses, centaurs, satyrs, fauns, minotaurs, kelpies, unicorns & all manner of hoofed creatures; secrets, expectations, destinies, best friends, found family, ridiculously soft denim, breaking cycles & going to the fair.

[qbdatabase]

Daily Book - Across the Green Grass Fields

Across the Green Grass Fields Seanan McGuire YA Fantasy (Wayward Children #6), 2021, 174 pg intersex female MC

Regan loves, and is loved, though her school-friend situation has become complicated, of late.

When she suddenly finds herself thrust through a doorway that asks her to “Be Sure” before swallowing her whole, Regan must learn to live in a world filled with centaurs, kelpies, and other magical equines―a world that expects its human visitors to step up and be heroes.

But after embracing her time with the herd, Regan discovers that not all forms of heroism are equal, and not all quests are as they seem …

[izzzzzzieeeeeeeee]

This post got a lot of notes very fast and a lot of the tags are people similarly suffering, but I am also loving the additional verses and other carols people are offering.

Fleshy the flesh man

Is a man made out of flesh

With a corn cob pipe and a regular nose

And two eyes made out of eyes

[goodgrammaritan]

It was the sort of thought that benefitted no one.

Across the Green Grass Fields by Seanan McGuire

[dude1818]

Across the Green Grass Fields

I read Across the Green Grass Fields by Seanan McGuire today, the sixth book in the series. I do not care for horses, and tbh the whole thing fell pretty flat for that reason. It also felt more on the nose than previous entries; none of the characters would stop moralizing about destiny or choosing your friends/paths/presentation, etc

It was odd that apparently none of the kids who had come to this world managed to succeed on their personal journeys before. The plane seemed set up too easy, and people would finish their quest without having to grow enough, defeating the purpose. The weirdest thing though is that this book had zero connection to the actual school; but hey, at least Regan is back home just in time to start hormone therapy if she still wants it

[sheilajsn]

Serie Wayward Children de Seanan McGuire

La serie Wayward Children de Seanan McGuire es una serie que yo descubrí el año pasado e, inmediatamente, se convirtió en una de mis favoritas. La serie cuenta, hasta ahora, de ocho libros y un noveno que se va a publicar ahora en enero. Every Heart a Doorway Down Among the Sticks and Bones Beneath the Sugar Sky In an Absent Dream Come Tumbling Down Across the Green Grass Fields Where the…

[signourneybooks]

Across the Green Grass Fields | Wayward Children 6 | Book Review

  Book: Across the Green Grass Fields (Wayward Children 6) by Seanan McGuireRelease Date: January 12th 2021Tags: Fantasy | Young Adult | Centaurs | Kelpies | Magical Equines | Horse Fantasy | Portal Fantasy | Intersex MCTrigger/Content Warnings: Intersex Phobia | Bullying | KidnappingOther books in this series I reviewed Every Heart a Doorway | Down Among the Sticks and Bones | Beneath the Sugar…

[godzilla-reads]

🐴 Across the Green Grass Fields by Seanan McGuire (Wayward Children Series #6)

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

After a traumatic event, Regan runs away and through a door that leads her to the Hooflands, a place of centaurs and unicorns and the like, a place where she will learn of destiny and what heroism really means.

This book broke my heart (in a good way). Each character you meet is charming in their own way and I even loved Gristle the kelpie and Zephyr the Peryton even though they’re considered “monsters” by the other folk. Regan takes a large portion of this book to love the Hooflands, to learn about it and love it, and some would say the ending is anticlimactic since it happened in such few pages, but I think it was perfect. It was done as it should be, even if it broke me.

Seanan McGuire brought us a whole new cast of characters plus some intersex awareness that I thought added so much to the story. I haven’t read many books with an intersex MC so kudos to them!

[jinsai-ish]

Regan Tea

Made a new tea and edited Jack's to a blend I think suits her better.

I think either Antsy or Lundy next?

[meltotheany]

Mislaid in Parts Half-Known (Wayward Children, #9)by Seanan McGuire | ARC Review

Goodreads | Amazon US | B&N | Blackwell’s | Bookshop 1.) Every Heart a Doorway ★★★★★2.) Down Among the Sticks and Bones ★★★★★3.) Beneath the Sugar Sky ★★★★4.) In an Absent Dream ★★★★★5.) Come Tumbling Down ★★★6.) Across the Green Grass Fields ★★★★7.) Where the Drowned Girls Go ★★★8.) Lost in the Moment and Found ★★★★★ ARC provided by Tor – thank you so much !! “The door wasn’t there because…

[the-forest-library]

February 2024 Reads

Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands - Heather Fawcett

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes - Suzanne Collins

Mislaid in Parts Half Known - Seanan McGuire

Love at 350 - Lisa Peers

I Hope this Email Doesn't Find You - Ann Liang

The Lily of Legate Hill - Mimi Matthews

Set the Record Straight - Hannah Bonam-Young

At Her Service - Amy Spaulding

Don't Want You Like a Best Friend - Emma R. Alban

My Fair Brady - Brian D. Kennedy

Simon Sort of Says - Erin Bow

Paola Santiago and the River of Tears - Tehlor Kay Mejia

A Knot in the Grain - Robin McKinley

Freshman Year - Sarah Mai

When I Was Your Age - Kenan Thompson

I Survived Capitalism and All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt - Madeline Pendleton

White Supremacy is All Around - Akilah Cadet

Sex with a Brain Injury - Annie Liontas

All the Women in My Brain - Betty Gilpin

One in a Millennial - Kate Kennedy

I'll Be Just Five More Minutes - Emily Farris

Outofshapeworthlessloser - Gracie Gold

The Woman in Me - Britney Spears

The Year of Magical Thinking - Joan Didion

The Liars' Club - Mary Karr

Secure Love - Julie Menanno

The 5 Resets - Aditi Nerukar

Tiny Traumas - Meg Arrow

A Dirty Guide to a Clean Home - Melissa Dilkes Pateras

Gut Renovation - Roshini Raj

Veg-table - Nik Sharma

Soup Club - Caroline Wright

Soup Season - Shelly Westerhausen Worcel

Bold = Highly Recommend Italics = Worth It Crossed out = Nope

Thoughts: 

Emily Wilde II didn't disappoint, but Mislaid in Parts Half Known did. I was really hoping we'd be immersed in a world of dinosaurs similar to Across the Green Grass Fields, but we spent such little time there.

The non-fiction reads this month really outshone the fiction reads. I especially enjoyed Betty Gilpin's All the Women in My Brain. It was weird and wonderful.

Goodreads Goal: 76/200

2017 Reads | 2018 Reads | 2019 Reads | 2020 Reads | 2021 Reads | 

2022 Reads | 2023 Reads | 2024 Reads