Adrift in Currents Clean and Clear by Seanan McGuire is a portal fantasy novella and the tenth book in the Wayward Children series (4.25/5 stars)

Adrift in Currents Clean and Clear by Seanan McGuire is a portal fantasy novella and the tenth book in the Wayward Children series.

As an even-numbered book in this series, it is a stand-alone and does not progress the chronological plot line of the series forward. I listened to an audio review copy narrated by Barrie Kreinik.

In this installment, we follow Nadya. The disability rep here is great: Nadya was born with a limb difference: her right arm stops below the elbow. She grew up in a orphanage in Russia until she was adopted by an American couple via a Christian missionary program.

McGuire does a really great job with atmosphere and painting a picture with her words. I loved the aesthetics of Belyyreka, the Land Beneath the Lake, where there is water all around, of different densities. There are also sentient animals–including turtles who you can befriend until they grow to large enough sizes to carry you or a whole boat!

This whole series is pretty bittersweet ESPECIALLY the even-numbered installments that provide backstory. We know these kids got thrust back into the “real world,” and I thought the ending here was very well done.

CW: ableism

I received a complimentary review copy from Macmillan Audio. All opinions contained herein are my own.

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The Wayward Children series includes:

• Every Heart a Doorway
• Down Among the Sticks and Bones
• Beneath the Sugar Sky
• In an Absent Dream
• Come Tumbling Down
• Across the Green Grass Fields
• Where the Drowned Girls Go
• Lost in the Moment and Found
• Mislaid in Parts Half-Known
• Adrift in Currents Clean and Clear