Series: Wayward Children #2 (Read my review of book one here)
Release Date: June 13th 2017
Publisher: Tor Books
Pages: 190
Find it on: Goodreads. BookDepository. Waterstones.
Source: I listened to this on Scribd.
Rating: 5/5 stars

Synopsis

Twin sisters Jack and Jill were seventeen when they found their way home and were packed off to Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children.

This is the story of what happened first…

Jacqueline was her mother’s perfect daughter—polite and quiet, always dressed as a princess. If her mother was sometimes a little strict, it’s because crafting the perfect daughter takes discipline.

Jillian was her father’s perfect daughter—adventurous, thrill-seeking, and a bit of a tom-boy. He really would have preferred a son, but you work with what you’ve got.

They were five when they learned that grown-ups can’t be trusted.

They were twelve when they walked down the impossible staircase and discovered that the pretense of love can never be enough to prepare you a life filled with magic in a land filled with mad scientists and death and choices.

Review

Down Among the Sticks and Bones is the second instalment in the incredibly popular Wayward Children series by Seanan McGuire. This instalment follows two characters we met in book one – Jack and Jill – and gives the reader a chance to find out the story of the twin sisters and how they ended up at Eleanor West’s school. Travelling to the moors we see the sisters take extremely different paths, but the moors is a dangerous place and will they both survive?

Jack and Jill were the characters I was most intrigued by in Every Heart A Doorway so when I heard that book two was a prequel featuring them I immediately picked up book two. If possible I loved this book even more than the previous one, the moors is such a fascinating world and I didn’t want this stunning tale to end. Like the previous book the world building is excellent, giving the reader a chance to learn about the world as we delve further into the story.

I am in awe of how much McGuire manages to pack into such a small number of pages, and I found it difficult to put this one down. Jack and Jill are fascinating characters – twin sisters but different in so many ways. I also loved Doctor Bleak and the Master. McGuire is brilliant at creating complex characters you can’t help but adore.

Fast-paced and exciting, Down Among the Sticks and Bones was everything I wanted and more. It gives the reader a chance to get to see Jack and Jill before they go through their door, which I also really loved. I’m hopeful the sisters will return in later books. The Wayward Children series if fast becoming one of my favourites and I cannot wait to visit a nonsense world in Beneath the Sugar Sky!