E-ARC, 160 Pages
Fantasy/ Novella/ YA
By: Seanan McGuire
Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟
“A jack-o’-lantern might be beautiful, but it was still something that had been cut open and hollowed out because someone wanted it to suit their idea of what a pumpkin ought to be. It wasn’t its own self anymore.”
Every Heart a Doorway ★★★ 1/2
Down Among the Sticks and Bones ★★★ 3/4
Beneath the Sugar Sky ★★★★
In an Absent Dream ★★★★
Come Tumbling Down ★★★ 1/2
Across the Green Grass Fields ★★★ 1/2
Where the Drowned Girls Go ★★★★
This last entry in the Wayward Children series raises the bar once again in this series. I felt the prior two books were a bit redundant and not as good as the rest of the series but this book restored my faith in the series.
The thing that I liked the most about the book is the prose, I read a lot of authors but few have writing styles that stick and McGuire is one of those. The prose is simply eloquent and the story is the right length. Novellas usually don’t satisfy me because of their length but I think it is one of the strong points here.
It is still the same concept, children trying to find their way in the world with magical doors but this book introduces a new school which is an awesome and very realistic concept. The Whitethorn institute is a weird place though specially with its headmaster. The story starts with the usual school and characters and even Eleanor West and then it transitions into the new school. We already know some of the characters but new ones are introduced too and they were well written as usual.
These books tackle important subjects and this book talks about wight, body image and standing up for oneself. I remember that it was done earlier in the series but I think an important subject like this can never be over-done! I think young readers should have the opportunity to read fun books like this one while gaining something out of it which McGuire has been doing in the last 7 books!
It would have been my favorite book in the series with the highest rating but the ending felt a bit rushed to me and incomplete. I think we will get answers in the rest of the series but I wanted from the ending.
Summary: I think fans of the series won’t be disappointed by this. It has the same magical writing, beloved old and new characters. The plot is interesting and the world-building is awesome as usual. This reignited my passion for the series again and I am looking forward to the next book in the series!
The book prescription 