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

Reviewed by GGGinny

Reviews for Book 1 | Book 3 | Book 4 | Book 5

What I drank: White wine. It’s been a long week and I just wanted something easy. So I drank white wine and started watching M.A.S.H. which I regret not having watched before.

Goodreads Overview:

A young girl discovers a portal to a land filled with centaurs and unicorns in Seanan McGuire’s Across the Green Grass Fields, a standalone tale in the Hugo and Nebula Award-wining Wayward Children series.

“Welcome to the Hooflands. We’re happy to have you, even if you being here means something’s coming.”

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…

Drunk Overview: Regan is a horse girl and happy that being in love with horses means she still fits the “typical” girl archetype. Because she also deals with a chromosonal abnormality, and shortly after she finds that out escapes to a world of centaurs, kelpies, and unicorns where she’s expected to save everyone.

Drunk Thoughts: Look, I’ll admit this isn’t my favorite of this series. First off, I was not and never have been a horse girl. I understand the appeal, but I was not about having a creature that could crush me without thinking anywhere near me. But that doesn’t change the way that McGuire can completley encapsulate a part of being a child that I had forgotten. The way this book talks about the cliques and the constant changes hit me in a way that I wouldn’t have expected.

• I think a lot of the disconnect for me is that this is the first world that I would have no interest living in.
• That being said, I loved that this whole book is about learning who you are and following through with that.
• I really did enjoy the cast of side characters. While the centaurs felt the most vibrant, I LOVED the Kelpie that showed up.
• And the lesson that you only hear everyone when you make the assumption that everything is worth hearing… it made me tear up a little bit.
• Now that I think about it, this book didn’t feel as character driven as some of the others. So many of the choices Regan made weren’t because she wanted to do something, but that the story required it of her (which kind of makes sense for the book).
• But in the rest of the series, it’s the characters that really seem to drive things on.
• I really enjoyed the ending of this book, the way Regan finally faces what she’s expected to was lovely in a slightly unexpected way.
• But it almost felt like it took too long to get there?
• Ugh, okay, let me get back to the things that I liked.
• I really enjoyed the way this book portrayed female friendships, especially at a young age. It’s easy to forget how all-encompasing they could be, but it really did feel like the be-all end-all.
• I really enjoyed Regan’s self-awareness, even at a young age. The way she thinks about her parents, has these realizations about the way she affects the herd, and then how she handles the end of the book were kind of enchanting.
• I wish I had more to say about the centaurs. As a group they felt a little bit nebulous, and other than one or two, just felt like they were waiting for the plot to catch up.
• This might sound bad, but I really want to see what Regan is like now that the book is over. I honestly think that would be a more interesting story.
• Don’t get me wrong, this series is still an auto-buy for me.
• I just have very high expectations.

What I’d Pair it With: apple-infused vodka. You’d need something that you could make without much fuss, a drink without much fuss, but still tasty.

Rating: 3.5/5… This might be the lowest I’ve ever rated one of McGuire’s books. It’s still a fun read (and if you happen to love horses might be more enjoyable) but didn’t grab me the same way this series usually does.