If you haven’t already read EVERY HEART A DOORWAY or its followup DOWN AMONG THE STICKS AND BONES by Seanan McGuire, I plead with you. Stop what you’re doing and go read these books. Then come back and get excited about this third in the series, BENEATH THE SUGAR SKY. While both the first two books could stand on their own and be read in any order, this latest one really should be read only after you’ve consumed the first.

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.

I find when reading series, that there’s always one that falls short of the others (namely book two) but it never happened with these books. Also, as a rule, I don’t fall in love with novellas, which these arguably are. But it can’t be helped. From page one two page 150, these mini masterpieces drag you in and conjure memories of childhood and dreams where other worlds were still possible. Worlds, where children are saviors and magic, is real. Where the parts of you that don’t feel normal are exactly the parts others love. Seanan McGuire is a Goddess of storytelling.

The first book introduces us to the children at Eleanor West’s home for Wayward Children. We learn about the doors and the different worlds each of them come from. In book two, we get to visit one of the darker worlds. A stand-alone prequel to the first book. In this latest installment, we get to visit a couple of worlds, namely Confection, where the sea is made of strawberry soda and the world of gingerbread. The extent of Seanan’s magic knows no end.