Wednesday 27 February 2019

Beneath the Sugar Sky - by Seanan McGuire




Title: Beneath the sugar Sky
Author: Seanan McGuire
Published: 9 Jan 2018
Series: Wayward Children #3
Rating: 3 stars
Synopsis:
Beneath the Sugar Sky returns to Eleanor West's Home for Wayward Children. At this magical boarding school, children who have experienced fantasy adventures are reintroduced to the "real" world.
Sumi died years before her prophesied daughter Rini could be born. Rini was born anyway, and now she’s trying to bring her mother back from a world without magic.




Sometimes that's all you can do. Just keep getting through until you don't have to do it anymore, however much time it takes, however difficult it is.

I listened to this as an audiobook.

In this book, we learn that in an alternate universe Sumi did have a child - but that child is slowly disappearing. In this book, if feels as if Rumi is definitely is Sumi's daughter and it's amusing - just how they're both so innocent and the way everyone reacts to the things they say (like when Rumi is in the duck pond!).

At the start, it is confusing to figure out what character the book is talking about as quite a few are mentioned, unlike the past books in the series. I think I finally decided that it's from the perspective of a girl named Cora, but about Sumi's daughter Rumi.

I kind of love Cora though. Like when she runs into Christopher on the porch and she stammers and blurts and seems nervous etc. It's a natural human reaction. I also loved that Kade simply looked up direction on Google Maps.

Cora: Why are you so happy? Everything here is dead people.
Christopher: That's why I'm so happy. Everything here is dead people.

My favourite thing about this book is probably that the kids at the school learned to be a little kinder to one another, or at least more careful about what they judge people on. I also like that it shows that fatter people can like to exercise and may just have health problems causing it, and that not every thin, lean person likes to exercise. Lots of learning in this book!

I still don't like Kade's parents from the previous books though. Simply because he wanted to change pronouns because he has gender dysmorphia (he was born a girl but he felt as if he was a boy) and his parents stopped wanting him because of that.

Worlds too and from info was vague, interesting but also confusing. However, I did like that the doors open for the utter need inter bones trying to get out. It's interesting that the only thing that they can bring back from their door world is something that has come out of their bodies like tears or bone or blood if you wanted some magic in the real world.

I did notice something though that I'm guessing was on purpose. The words that were on Jack and Jill's door from the previous book appears in this book too.

All she had to do was be sure.

Spoilers!

I was shocked when we found out that Sumi supposedly had a daughter. Especially after the previous book where she died!

I have questions about Kade driving though: How and why can he drive? When did he learn? Why is this the first time that we're hearing about the bus?

One downside of this book was that I basically forgot that Nadia only had one hand as it was only mentioned at the start of the book and at the very end.

End Spoilers!

__________________________________________________

All books in this series:

    1 | Every Heart a Doorway
    2 | Down Among the Sticks and Bones
    3 | Beneath the Sugar Sky
    4 | In an Absent Dream
4.5 | Juice Like Wounds
    5 | Come Tumbling Down
    6 | Across the Green Grass Fields
    7 | Where the Drowned Girls Go

Wednesday 13 February 2019

Don't You Cry - by Mary Kubica

Title: Don't You Cry
Author: Mary Kubica
Published: 17 May 2016
Series: -
Rating: 2 stars
Synopsis:
In downtown Chicago, Esther Vaughan disappears from her apartment without a trace. A haunting letter addressed to My Dearest is found among her possessions, leaving her roommate Quinn Collins to question how well she really knew her friend. Meanwhile, in a small town an hour outside Chicago, a mysterious woman appears in the quiet coffee shop where eighteen-year-old Alex Gallo works as a dishwasher. He is immediately drawn to her, but what starts as an innocent crush quickly spirals into something far more sinister.
As Quinn searches for answers about Esther, and Alex is drawn further under the stranger's spell, master of suspense Mary Kubica takes readers on a taut and twisted thrill ride that builds to a stunning conclusion and shows that no matter how fast and far we run, the past always catches up with us.


I listened to this as an audiobook.

The narrator's tone of voice changes when she changes which character is speaking which is good.

I did have one theory that was neither proven nor disproven, but that was that maybe Esther was Alex's first kiss and she was just going by the name of Lee when they met? One question I have that I may have simply missed the answer to - why was Alex practically stalking the woman he called Pearl?

At times, I did find that some things were a little too descriptive.

I liked the premise of the story - roommate goes missing and remaining roommate has to try and piece together what happened from what's in the missing person's room. I'm not entirely sure why I didn't love this one as much as I could have.

Unfortunately, I only understood the title reference at the end when the lullaby was sung. Not a major issue though, just something I noticed.

Spoilers!

So many theories! Prepare yourself:

- I did guess that Esther abandoned the house on Alex's street, and I was half right by that as it was actually her family that did.

- I also wasn't too far off with my guess that Genevive was alive and had changed her name to Esther - they're just sisters and not the same person. My guess that Pearl was Genevieve's sister was almost right in the opposite way - they're the same person and not sisters.

- I did wonder if the EV that was signed in letters was Alex's mother, but it turns out I was wrong.

End Spoilers!