The Wayward Children series has such an important place in my heart, and with this latest adventure, that fact only solidified. The consistent world-building and explorations of what makes each of us lost and found again in the right place is fascinating and melancholy. I loved the narrator too!

I am always, always going to love this series. In the 10th installment Seanan McGuire has done it again. These books are enchanting and thematically strong, and the narrator was fantastic. The one downside is I prefer the books focusing on the entire cast at the school instead of the origin stories for each character (that being said, Seanan McGuire. Drop Kade’s book and my life. Is. YOURS) . I never get tired of these books- I think I could read them forever.

Turtle-iffic!! 4.5 stars.

Had to say going into this book I had slight reservations. The last two books were some of my favorite in the series and we were going in to follow Nadya which we had not seen since book 3 who we only briefly knew.
But never a disappointment. Seanan McGuire's captivating world building is amazing as always.
A great addition to the the series.

The only thing I would have liked was an epilogue. It is no secret that Nadya re-finds her door in the halls of the dead. I would love to see her return. Who was still there? How had timed passed, if it had?

Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for an advanced audiobook for review.

I quickly fell in love with the magical otherwordly realm Nadia gets drawn into from the pond. Her story is sad but not necessarily helpless. I love her personality and outlook on life given that she isn't "whole" in the eyes of the world she's from. She gains strength and builds a life in the new world. Listening to this audiobook I was hopefully for a happy ending, but was absolutely devastated by the ending. I am not further intrigued by the author and may pick up other books in this series to see if they are written similarly. Overall I really enjoyed Adrift on Currents Clean and Clear.

When I first found out that we were getting Nadya's story I was a little confused. Nadya was a blip of a character at the beginning of the series, and we had spent so much time with Cora (who is also a Drowned Girl and comes from a water world) that I thought we would be getting her story. Nonetheless, I found Nadya's story to be an interesting one.

The only thing that I had remembered about Nadya was that she loved turtles and would always hang out by the turtle pond. So when I started this book I was surprised to see that she was born with half of her right arm. After being adopted by an American couple, Nadya is brought to Colorado from Russia to become the "perfect American daughter". As part of this process, Nadya is given a prosthetic arm. As someone who has loved her body, never felt insecure about her disability, and didn't understand how others couldn't see the same thing, Nadya was angry at the loss of autonomy over her own body (which I thought was a clever way to speak to what is currently happening to women's rights in our country). In trying to escape her situation, she finds the door Belyyreka and accidentally falls in.

Belyyreka is an entire world that is under a lake. The entire world is covered in water, but the water is of different weights (some water is so light that everyone can breathe normally without the need of gills) so some parts of the world feel more underwater than others. I had a very hard time trying to picture the actual world because the physics behind it was hard for me to understand (Nadya even claims that some of the adults might not understand it either but just go with it). We see giant turtles that become companions, we see ships that can travel above and below water, and there are talking animals. There was no real sense of danger or urgency that we've seen in some of the other worlds. Instead, this really just felt like a slice of life and we really got to see how everyone lives in this world. I think Belyyreka is one of my favorite worlds that we've seen so far.

Overall, I enjoyed this book but it didn't break into my top 3. I think it's a solid book in the series, but at the same time I kept thinking "Why are we getting this story?". There is no mention of the School for Wayward Children or any of the characters we've seen before so like "Along the Green Grass Fields" this book could be read as a standalone or a starting point to see if someone is interested in reading more in the series.

I really enjoyed reading about Nadya's story. Loved that we got to see her growing up and really get a feel for her character. Her origin in Russia, the harshness of her beginning with her mom giving her up for adoption because she was born with a missing arm, and living in an orphanage, which was tough because of the meager existence, but also clearly filled with mutual respect if not love. In contrast, her adoption and assimilation in the US, which was also tough in a different way, and her finding her door and her way into the magic and the World of Belyrreka. The World building was lush with detail - so much in such a short book. And like others have said - the ending gutted me too.

2 stars - and I want to give even less (but the audiobook is wonderfully recorded, so I am compromising).

Listen, I quite like this series, and Seanne McGuire's writing in general. But, I am also Ukrainian-Canadian, and there is absolutely ZERO excuse for any new fantasy books to be set in Russia. ZERO EXCUSES!

Writing or publishing books set in Russia, while it continues (for no reason other than Putin's greed and ambition) to invade and bomb the beautiful country of my ancestors. 42 million people are displaced or living in war-torn surroundings, 10's of thousands of children stolen to Russia and forced to live in a different language and told their culture is evil while they miss their real parents and families, entire cities bombed into ruins and dirt, pov's tortured to extremes, ... and you want to publish a book set in this dictator's land?!? That is paramount to agreeing with his politics and regime.

And no, I am not over exaggerating.

Had this audiobook been set in almost any other Slavic country, I would have given it 4-4.5 stars. This far into the unprovoked invasion, it is a choice to set it there, and deserves less than 1 star as a result. I am disgusted by this author and their original publishing firm to have breezed over the atrocities that Putin and Russia are currently committing and thinking it is okay to base a story (and later characters as having also come from) there.

And while I am absolutely grateful for my ongoing relationships with Netgalley and publishers like Macmillan Audio, I truly wish that this audiobook had come with a trigger warning. No profit is worth overlooking true evil, invasion upon a peaceful nation, and the justice owed all Ukrainian peoples everywhere. (I'm pretty sure that you can tell that this is my honest opinion).

I love all the Wayward Children series and this is the first time I have listened to one of the stories. The narrator really made all the characters come to life. I especially enjoyed how easily the narrator shifted between the Russian accent and the American Colorado accent. I’m ready to see if Barrie Kreinik has narrated any other of the books in this series. If so, I plan to listen to those as well. What a great experience and I recommend both the book and the audio version.

seanan mcguire is basically the goat at writing short novellas like this.

this installment introduces us to nadya, dumped at a russian orphanage by a mom who delivered her with one arm. after a few years of helping her fellow orphans spruce up and find homes to go to, nadya is adopted by one of those white, religious couples from america. this couple makes no true effort to know nadya, just mold her into their perfect child so that she can be shown off as a status symbol at their church.

at the orphanage, nadya found a turtle and nursed it back to health. perhaps that's why her door appears to her in the form of a turtle with 'be sure' carved into its shell.

nadya falls into a watery, swampy world. it's beautiful and liquid and replete with sentient turtles, some of home are partnered with the dozens of others who came into their world via doors. what we have here is a story about a girl who didn't ever really feel wanted, either because of her own identity or just because, finding a family and identity. it really dabbles in the short length of time that we're granted, the importance of doing what brings us joy. the ending was a big ouch.

anyway, i'll never not recommend this series. this wasn't my favorite book in the series, but a banger all the same.

You know how romances have a guaranteed HEA? The darkish novellas of the Wayward Children series are like the opposite of that: guaranteed anti-HEA. Neglected kid finds happiness in fantasy world, but by the end they're right back where they started...

This entry focuses on Nadya, 9-year-old abandoned child living in a state-run Russian orphanage. She's adopted by a godfearing American couple who seem most excited by the fact that she was born without a right arm and they can give her a "better life," including a prosthesis she hasn't asked for. One day she falls through a door in a pond into a fantasy world of water, where humans live with the assistance of their beloved turtle companions. Like most of the novellas in this series, we see the comparison between Nadya's mundane existence and the radical acceptance she finds in the fantasy world. For example, she's almost immediately adopted by a loving family, and it appears that the entire world will do whatever it takes to keep her around. Of course, this makes the ending just that much more gut wrenching.

If you're familiar with the series, you know what you're in for if you pick this one up! This is a solid entry in the series, and I'll be interested to see what happens to Nadya back in the "real world."

I listened to a complimentary copy of the audiobook, and while Barrie Kreinik does a nice job with the narration, she made the choice to read the full book in a light Russian accent, except for the dialogue from non-Russian characters. Maybe this was at production's direction - obviously I don't know! But, and this is probably a me-thing, but I have a pet peeve about certain accent choices in audiobooks. (Don't even talk to me about the audio of A Conspiracy of Kings or Butterfly Swords!) The accent didn't affect my understanding of the words, but I disliked the performance choice enough that I preferred reading with my eyes.

This objective review is based on a complimentary copy of the audiobook.

This was so lovely and made me audibly react when it ended, so I think I've gotta round up to 5 stars! 4.5/5

This follows the story of Nadya, a girl who loves turtles and tortoises who we last met in book 3, [book:Beneath the Sugar Sky|27366528]. I really loved this look into her story and the way she was so assured of herself, only taking issue with the world around her when it told her she was lesser and never once diminishing her own strengths.

The way I want to gift this series to a younger version of myself, for their strength and courage to have rubbed off on me when I was at my most insecure.

<b>Audiobook Notes:</b>
Barrie Kreinik does a perfect job bringing this book to life. Their Slavic accent and ability to instill emotion in the text were stunning. 10/10

A new year means another story with the Wayward Children and I have some to look forward to these so so much. McGuire's imagination and her ability to weave these incredible and sad and creative stories is unparalleled.

This particular one wasn't my favorite one and it felt extra sad in the end but the world of water, like all the others, was fascinating. I also loved her story about her homeland and how it felt to be there. Her adoptive parents and how it was more important for her to be who their image of her was vs who she actually was.

These girls are all so sad and yet they are also all so brave. I am grateful for every one of these stories and I hope she never stops writing them. They are also truly fantastic on audio, an immersive expeirence.

with gratitude to netgalley and Macmillan Audio for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review

An interesting story. Really made me think of the author’s other series. It was quick and interesting. Ending irked me a little because I wanted the main character to stay in the other world.

Adrift in Currents Clean and Clear by Seanan McGuire (audiobook)


I was already a big fan of Ms. McGuire’s when the first wayward children book, Every Heart a Doorway, came out, and I loved it! As a kid who grew up loving the Oz series and resenting the Christian imagery in Narnia, it was right up my alley. It is a wonderful book and this is an excellent series, definitely deserving of its Best Series Hugo win. In this series, the odd numbered books are the main timeline, and the even numbered books tell stories outside the main timeline - sometimes introducing us to new characters when they travel through their Doors, and other times showing up backstory of preexisting characters.

I was overjoyed when NetGalley awarded me an eARC of the audiobook of Adrift in Currents Clean and Clear!

This story is an even numbered book, so it is not advancing the main story forward - it more of a character study of Nadya. We met Nadya way back when the gang went on a journey to resurrect Sumi. We hadn’t learned that much of her story except that her Door led to a world of water with turtles in it, and that she eventually made it back there.

This story is heartbreaking - we learned that Nadya was abandoned at a Russian orphanage by a teenager who was planning on giving her up even before she saw that she was born with a missing arm. The orphanage part isn’t the heartbreaking part - it is the way Nadya is treated by the right wing religious couple who adopt her as an act of charity, not love. Nadya’s time in her world is wonderful but too brief, and I was so sad when she was ripped away at the end of the novella, heartened only by my memory of her ultimate happier ending.

I enjoyed this narrator a great deal.

I cannot wait to devour the next one!

This one feels a lot different than the other books in this series, but in a good way! In this book, Nadia is a Russian orphan that gets adopted by an American couple. She was born with one arm but doesn’t think there’s anything wrong with her. But her parents get her a prosthetic arm without really giving her a choice. So, that whole dynamic is really interesting.

She really likes turtles, so she visits turtles in a nearby pond. Then one day she falls into the river, but it’s just her door to another world.

I got the audiobook and I really love the narrator, who has a Russian accent, but I think it works really well for this.

This was an absolutely adorable addition to the Wayward Children series!

Book 10 of the Wayward Children series takes us to another new world behind a door, this time that of Nadya, Russian orphan born missing part of her arm. She loves Russia, as she's been taught, and loves the tortoise she raised there, and doesn't want to leave the orphanage, but must when she's adopted by a religious American couple. Her adoption feels loaded and uncomfortable, like she hasn't been asked much about her choices in life and no one would understand why she might be happier. (And her adoptive mother certainly doesn't understand why she likes turtles.) The day she finds her door, a drowned world is opened to her, one that relies on her hard-shelled friends.

A lot of Nadya's story is lovely - born without part of her arm, she's never felt unwhole until her American parents want to give her a prosthetic. She's unsure how to verbalize how uncomfortable her lack of choice is to her parents because they learned only enough Russian for basic phrases until Nadya's English is deemed competent. Her drowned world is one where she can thrive and she's accepted by everyone easily. Of course, since this is the Wayward Children series, you have a sense of impending doom because we know Nadya is bound for Eleanor West's Home for Wayward Children, and her happy life must come to an end....

The narration of this series is excellent, and a novella this time of the year is the small dose my brain can appreciate.

4 stars — Not my favourite of the series, but still definitely up there.

It seems so unusual not to have the author narrate this book as she usually does, but I understand the choice to have someone more “Russian-sounding” narrate the book since our MC, Nadya, is from Russia. Makes sense.

I can appreciate that this book wasn’t gore-ish like some of the others in the series. In fact, it was very mild, but it still kept my attention. Having a giant turtle be Nadya’s sort of familiar was a fun choice as well. Good supporting characters. True to the “Be Sure” of the series, even though the door was not your “typical” door.

Although the author claims that the Wayward Children series can all be read as standalones, I feel like readers who are not already familiar with the series might not want to start with this one.

All in all, “Adrift,” is a good addition to the Wayward Children series. This is #10 in the series. I certainly hope we get at least a couple more before McGuire shuts the door on this series permanently. Fingers crossed!

(I received this ALC via NetGalley in return for an honest review. Thank you!)

The tenth installment of Seanan McGuire’s wayward children series is just another example of how incredibly talented Seanan is at storytelling and world building. I have enjoyed each book in the series and I truly loved getting to know more about Nadya’s backstory. She played a big part in Beneath the Sugar Sky and had been mentioned in a few of the other stories. Nadya was just failed all around as far as parents go, until she fell through her door and became a drowned girl. Her mother literally walked out and left her at the hospital when she was born, unable to even consider keeping a child she viewed as incomplete. Her adoptive mother seemed more interested in the accolades associated with adopting a child from another country than actually getting to know Nadya and being a mother to her. The adoptive father was better, but not willing to stand up to his wife. Honestly, if I didn’t already know what happens to Nadya, ultimately, the ending of this one would have made me sad. I’m glad the wayward children have Eleanor’s school, where they can be understood. This is truly a series that I’d love to see continue for many more books. There are so many possibilities for worlds and doors for the children to go through and I’d love to see Christopher take over and Eleanor be able to go back through her door.

An absolutely fantastic read.

This series easily continues to be an all time favorite and this addition was no different.

Narration was absolutely fantastic and made the story even more engaging to read.

I have read all other nine books in the Wayward Children's series and this story does not disappoint. I think that you can read this without any issue, if you did not read the first nine books. This story is saddening and will tug at your heartstrings. I am so lucky to have received an advanced listening copy and can't wait to get my physical copy for my shelf.
4.5 star