Reviews with content warning for Violence - Across the Green Grass Fields

Across the Green Grass Fields is yet another beautiful installment of Seanan McGuire's Wayward Children Series, reminding us yet again that there's no right way to be a girl (or a boy or an enby).

Book six revolves around Regan, a young intersex girl who loves horses with all her heart. As a former horse girl myself, I can relate to Regan. Horses are awesome. She is also struggling with toxic friendships, bullying, and shame. Also exceedingly relatable. Growing up is rough.

When Regan finds her door she walks into a magical land full of horse-like creatures and learns that the best way for her to fit in is to be her truest self.

I thought this book was lovely. It read a bit younger than some of the other books in this series, and didn't pack quite the emotional punch of my favourites, but it was still enjoyable and deeply meaningful.

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mxrumphius's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful reflective

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readandfindout's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

Style/writing: 5 stars
Themes: 4.5 stars
Characters: 4 stars
Plot: 3.5 stars
Worldbuilding: 4.5 stars

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booksthatburn's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful lighthearted reflective

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

ACROSS THE GREEN GRASS FIELDS is the balm to my horse-kid soul, a caring story of wildness, hoofbeats, and the importance we place on something as fickle and illusory as destiny.

I love how the possible quest is secondary to the important task of helping the MC feel safe and watching her grow up. She's a human in the Hooflands and that means Important Things Must Someday Happen, but they don't have to happen today. In a series that has had many more straight-forward quests and presumably will have many more, this is a mostly calm break, a landing place after a lot of very intense events in the previous entry, COME TUMBLING DOWN. As one of the self-contained entries it doesn't try to comment on the universe which makes this story possible, but lets it exist unto itself while still being consistent with the broader narrative with which returning readers will be familiar.

Now for my regular sequel check. This is part of the Wayward Children Series, but, just like its fellow even-numbered books, it can be read as a stand-alone. This one in particular has a MC who is either completely new or who I just don't remember from the previous books; I'm pretty sure she's a new character and this is her introduction. As a self-contained book with a completely new MC, it doesn't wrap up anything left hanging from previous books, its entire storyline begins in this book and wasn't present in the previous book. It definitely leaves things to be addressed, like, what will the MC do in any future installments in the series? This series has a strained relationship with linearity and a very specific premise tying everything together, so it doesn't actually spoil anything to say I hope I see her again. The MC is distinct from previous characters, but the omniscient narrator is a soothing, knowing voice I recognize from other books by this author, it's in keeping with the narrator's style in the previous installments in this particular series. That narrator remembers being a kid and conveys beautiful how the particular kids in the story think about the adults around them, all without ever diminishing their experiences as children. This would absolutely make sense if someone started with this book and didn't know about the series. They might wonder what's going on with the doors, but the MC doesn't know either and so someone could happily read this and then, energized and intrigued and even more in love with horse-creatures, go back for the previous entries (rest assured that they have just as much heart but sadly fewer horses).

I was pulled in by the centaurs and the unicorns, but what absolutely made my day were the twin delights of the kelpie (my favorite murderous water horse in any fae-adjacent story) and the peryton (new to me and oh so welcome). I didn't know I needed a scavenging sky-deer in my life but now I don't know what ever I did without it. The social dynamics of centaurs was a treat I won't soon forget. Seanan is the author I read when I want to feel better without pretending not to be sad, and this was a great entry in a fantastic series.

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bookwyrmknits's review against another edition

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adventurous reflective medium-paced

Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

First of all, I love this world. I am not—and never have been—as horse-mad as Regan is, but I still love the idea of the Hooflands. And McGuire did a great job of making this world seem real to me. My only real sadness (not really even a complaint) about this book is that we didn't have more time to see more of the other equine species. I loved the centaur herd that Regan came to think of as family, but I so wanted to see more of the other species as well.

I also love that so much of this story was about an internal conflict and growth. I love the nods toward the end of the book that Regan grew and changed and that the girl who had first arrived was not the same as the girl who was setting off to save the world. I love the way perception of who or what someone is was so integral to the whole story, and the way the main conflict was resolved at the end. While I would love for more set in this world later, especially more featuring Chicory, I don't think that story is something I'm likely to get. That's just proof, though, of how good a job McGuire did in crafting this story: while the main story arc is resolved, there is still more story to be told. In a good story, there should always be more that could be told.

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lilymurph's review

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adventurous lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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