LRRC Week 8

Wow, two months already! How is it that I'm doing this challenge, and yet I still feel horribly behind in terms of "books I want to read"? Is it the gigantic pile of paperbacks in my living room? It is, isn't it? Oh god, is it behind me??

#15: COME TUMBLING DOWN by Seanan McGuire

If you've spoken to me about books in the past couple of years, you've probably heard me gush about this series.

I LOVE the Wayward Children books, they fulfill some deep hole within me that I think I knew about but never quite explored until recently, the hole that had been carved by so many "children travel to fantasy worlds but then must come back" books (looking at you, C.S. Lewis). I always thought it was desperately unfair that they were just booted from the worlds that they wanted, from the worlds that wanted THEM.

The Wayward Children series takes all that and turns it into somethign truly beautiful, in my opinion. These children all have worlds that are perfect for them, but, for whatever reason, they end up back in our world. It tackles the unfairness of this, but also the sense of belonging and the hope for potentially going back. Nothing has struck me in quite the same place, where childhood dreams meet adult nostalgia.

This book is probably one of my favourites of the series: it deals with Jack and Jill, who are excellent characters, and takes place mostly on the Moors, which is such an amazing setting, all old-school horror movie. I loved the ways that the book both calls back beloved characters, but continues to explore and expand upon them.

I won't give any more spoilers, but I truly loved this book, and I think many will as well.

#16: THE WATER DANCER by Ta-Nehisi Coates

A bit of a different angle, history mixed with fantasy mixed with a deep dive into oppression and power, which is extremely my jam. I think it's probably more in the realm of Fabulism than out-and-out Fantasy, but I still thought it was interesting.

This book is about slavery in America, which means that it's extremely outside of my lane to really critique, but for what it's worth, I thought it was fascinating and extremely well-written; the prose is really lovely and simultaneously easy to read, so that the whole story seemed to flow over me (get it?)

Also, it's nice to see a main male character who still drinks his respect women juice. All the characters were well-established and their dynamics pretty engaging, and the way magic works into the established history is pretty interesting.

NEXT WEEK'S AGENDA
#17: The Affair of the Mysterious Letter by Alexis Hall
#18: Rosewater by Tade Thompson