Adrift in Currents Clean and Clear

There’s this recurring theme in these books of unfairness, or obligations not disclosed, or dangers not warned of. THIS magic world takes years off your life and doesn’t tell you. Or THIS one expects you to save it, THIS one asks you to choose a path thru woods or river without telling you that the forest has bears and wolves. They all rip you away from your family and life and former identity.

The general sense the author communicates is: what injustice! It's wrong! The magic doors all say ‘BE SURE’, but this injunction in most cases is a mockery: in most cases all the child knows is they are sure they want to see what's on the other side of the door. They don't know the tradeoffs they are about to make, or even WHAT is on the other side of the door. How can a child be sure about the world they are going to, or giving up?

I think the author wants this to read as pathos, but to me strikes as fundamentally childish. Like: yeah? That’s how the world works. We operate with imperfect knowledge and must make the best of our choices and what life deals us. There’s no manual, no benevolent adult who can explain the pros and cons of every situation you face, before you make your choice.

And if there was, how could you have an adventure? How could you grow? My kids are approaching college age, which is a magic door itself: you pick a new place, you move there, you separate from your family, you select some desired pathway and forego so many others. And you can't know what the consequences are of that, until you experience them. And this is fine! It's the only way to grow up.

(even if you don't go to college, the metaphor stands, right?)

It seems like a different version of these books would do this very differently.

Noted on November 11, 2025

In this one: hey remember that side character who likes turtles? Here's her story! It's got some muddled metaphors about adoption!

Noted on November 11, 2025

These are not like, good enough to warrant reading ten of these books. Or at least, they are not-for-me-enough. BUT they are short novellas, the audiobooks were available at the library, and I had a lot of outdoor work with my hands to do, and thus I keep reaching for the next one. I mean they're fine! Just feel increasingly juvenile and I also feel increasingly conflicted with the promise vs the payoff of this series.

Noted on November 11, 2025