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A review by paragraphsandpages
Seasonal Fears by Seanan McGuire
5.0
Middlegame was one of those books that you put off just because you know you’ll be obsessed with it as soon as you read it, and it wasn’t until I was approved for this ARC that I finally pushed myself to read it (and I was right, I was and am and forever will be obsessed with Roger and Dodger).
And because I trust Seanan McGuire with my life, I just knew Seasonal Fears would further this obsession, even if I had to lose the cast I’d adored in the book before. Seasonal Fears feels both brand-new in its execution and like a variation of Middlegame in its core elements, making it the perfect follow-up. It can both entirely stand alone or be read after Middlegame, though there are a few cameos you’ll only truly enjoy if you’ve read the first book.
Seasonal magic has always been something I’ve loved in stories, with the latest favorite being The Nature of Witches, and seeing Seana McGuire build upon this base was fantastic. I love how she tied it into the world set up by Middlegame, and while there is a LOT of description therefore needed to make it all make sense, it worked for me. It also felt a bit more accessible in terms of understanding than Middlegame did, perhaps because I already had that base of knowledge of the story world, but I also just think it was a bit better described more quickly here, even if there were moments where we heard the same explanation multiple times that sometimes felt repetitive. However, I feel like this repetition was largely due to the main characters having a hard time accepting this drastic change to their world, rather than it being for the readers necessarily.
Seanan’s writing style is still one of my favorite aspects of her books (alongside these massive magic systems and worlds layered on top of our own), and this book was no different. The way the words were able to wrap around the sometimes heartbreaking truths of this story just made it hit all that much harder, while also making the book impossible to put down. And while I forced myself to just slow down and enjoy every letter of this story, I wanted nothing more than to simply devour it.
The only thing I wasn’t fully a fan of was the final ordering of the end, and I wasn’t really into the exact place where the story left off. It almost felt like we got the true ending first, a slow tapering off, and then it was followed up with a more abrupt ending, whereas often you get this the other way around. I don’t fully understand the choice to end it exactly this way, but it didn’t really hinder my enjoyment of the book overall. There were also some scenes and moments at the end that were heavily built up throughout the entire book only for them to transpire and end rather quickly, which was sometimes a bit of a let down even as I enjoyed the events themselves.
Overall though, I adored this book, though differently from Middlegame, and cannot wait to read the middle grade books that connect a bit to this world, and hopefully, more books come to this world as well too!
And because I trust Seanan McGuire with my life, I just knew Seasonal Fears would further this obsession, even if I had to lose the cast I’d adored in the book before. Seasonal Fears feels both brand-new in its execution and like a variation of Middlegame in its core elements, making it the perfect follow-up. It can both entirely stand alone or be read after Middlegame, though there are a few cameos you’ll only truly enjoy if you’ve read the first book.
Seasonal magic has always been something I’ve loved in stories, with the latest favorite being The Nature of Witches, and seeing Seana McGuire build upon this base was fantastic. I love how she tied it into the world set up by Middlegame, and while there is a LOT of description therefore needed to make it all make sense, it worked for me. It also felt a bit more accessible in terms of understanding than Middlegame did, perhaps because I already had that base of knowledge of the story world, but I also just think it was a bit better described more quickly here, even if there were moments where we heard the same explanation multiple times that sometimes felt repetitive. However, I feel like this repetition was largely due to the main characters having a hard time accepting this drastic change to their world, rather than it being for the readers necessarily.
Seanan’s writing style is still one of my favorite aspects of her books (alongside these massive magic systems and worlds layered on top of our own), and this book was no different. The way the words were able to wrap around the sometimes heartbreaking truths of this story just made it hit all that much harder, while also making the book impossible to put down. And while I forced myself to just slow down and enjoy every letter of this story, I wanted nothing more than to simply devour it.
The only thing I wasn’t fully a fan of was the final ordering of the end, and I wasn’t really into the exact place where the story left off. It almost felt like we got the true ending first, a slow tapering off, and then it was followed up with a more abrupt ending, whereas often you get this the other way around. I don’t fully understand the choice to end it exactly this way, but it didn’t really hinder my enjoyment of the book overall. There were also some scenes and moments at the end that were heavily built up throughout the entire book only for them to transpire and end rather quickly, which was sometimes a bit of a let down even as I enjoyed the events themselves.
Overall though, I adored this book, though differently from Middlegame, and cannot wait to read the middle grade books that connect a bit to this world, and hopefully, more books come to this world as well too!