Looking For a Good Book

I’m a big fan of fairy tales, particularly the kind where you’re never quite sure whether the magical world you’ve discovered is going to be wonderful, dangerous, or both. And that’s definitely the sort of treasure you’ll find when you open a Seanan McGuire book. McGuire’s A Song of Sugar Sparrows happens to be part of the Wayward Children series – probably my favorite McGuire series – although when I started reading it I really wasn’t sure if it was. The tone is noticeably lighter and more playful than some of the other books in the series.

Sumiko is a twelve-year-old girl who has learned to be quiet, polite, and largely invisible, especially when compared with her older brother. Then, on her birthday, she encounters an impossible door and falls through it into Confection, a bizarre world made up of candy, sweets, and completely nonsensical rules. What initially looks like a wonderful escape turns out to have its own dangers, and Sumiko has to figure out where she belongs and what she is willing to do to survive.

The creative fairy-tale atmosphere is what really worked for me. McGuire has a lot of fun with the idea of a world built around sugar and nonsense, and there are some wonderfully imaginative touches throughout. At the same time, there is enough darkness underneath all that sweetness to keep the story from becoming simply cute. Confection may look like a child’s dream, but it isn’t necessarily a safe place.

I also liked the way Sumiko’s age changes the feel of the story. She is young enough that the experience has the quality of a classic children’s fairy tale—one of those stories where a child disappears into another world and has to find her way home—but the book still has some of McGuire’s familiar themes about family, belonging, and finding a place where you make sense.

My one hesitation is that, knowing this is connected to the Wayward Children books, I kept expecting something a little more in keeping with the darker and more complicated tone of some of the earlier stories. Instead, this feels more like a story that could be read aloud to an older child who enjoys fantasy and fairy tales. In fact, I could easily imagine reading this one at bedtime.

Looking for a good book? If you enjoy imaginative fantasy, fairy tales, and stories about children discovering worlds beyond the ordinary, A Song of Sugar Sparrows is a charming addition to Seanan McGuire’s Wayward Children universe and can definitely be read as a stand-alone story.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, though Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 stars

* * * * * *

A Song of Sugar Sparrows

author: Seanan McGuire

series: Wayward Children #12

publisher: Tordotcom

ISBN: 9781250339423

hardcover, 160 pages