Nadya never considered herself less than whole, not until her adoptive parents fitted her with a prosthetic arm against her will, seeking to replace the one she’d been missing from birth. It was cumbersome; it was uncomfortable; it was wrong. It wasn’t her. Frustrated and unable to express why, Nadya began to wander, until the day she fell through a door into Belyyreka, the Land Beneath the Lake–and found herself in a world of water, filled with child-eating amphibians, majestic giant turtles, and impossible ships that sailed as happily beneath the surface as on top. In Belyyreka, she found herself understood for who she was: a Drowned Girl, who had made her way to her real home, accepted by the river and its people.
Like most of the backstories for the Wayward Children’s series we are shown just how horrible these kids were treated by those around them who should love and care about them the most which is why these doors open for them. Nadya’s story wasn’t as harrowing as some of the other kids but I still can’t even imagine growing up the way she did. The abandonment from birth and then even though she is comfortable and happy with the body she was given having to try and please these ‘white saviors’.
I love when we get the chance to enter the worlds and experience them figuring out the rules and finding their place. Nadya’s experience out of everyone else I think was the most positive. Even though she has that scare right at the start with the frog, every else she encounted was very understanding of her situation and helped her out every step of the way. Her transition into Belyyreka was the least adventurous out of the rest. There wasn’t really any obstacles for her to overcome or mysteries to solve, she kind of just showed up and integrated herself into life there and lived happily until she fell back out.
So because there wasn’t really any real plots or mysteries to keep me in suspense I wasn’t all that invested in the storyline. I loved how we got to explore this new world but some of the descriptions made it hard to visualise in my head so it took me out of the story quite a bit as well.
⭐️3/5 could’ve packed more of a punch I feel!
