A review by librarymouse
Across the Green Grass Fields by Seanan McGuire

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This addition to the Wayward Children series was different from what I've come to expect from what I've seen in the previous books. It's a great breaking away from the expectations of heroics in portal fantasy. Regan has a wonderful disbelief in destiny and fate that makes this such an intriguing story. Regan is a hero for the Hooflands because she loves its inhabitants - not because that's what humans in the Hooflands do. Heroism is not her story. Her story is being chosen and loved by her family. The people of the Hooflands are aware of the type of story they're living in, and thus it is the expectation that she must be a hero that forces her hand into becoming one. It's a cycle which Regan's dedication to the family that chose to love her breaks.
I really love the intersex representation! Regan is a girl through and through, and the repetition of the truth that "there is no wrong way to be a girl" was fantastic to see in a piece of media. The exploration of childhood friendships, comparing Regan's relationship with Laurel to her relationship with Chicory was really insightful. Watching Regan and Chicory grow up in parallel, changing how and who they are, and the shapes of their bodies diverging further from each other, but neither shape ever being wrong was such a beautiful exploration of a healthy girlhood.
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