Thank you to Macmillan-Tor/Forge for providing me an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I eagerly awaited this second book in the series. It was nothing like I expected out of a book in a series. I expected more of the same: a new character with a new story and new trauma to work through at Eleanor West's House for Wayward Children. What I got was a prequel: a thrilling glimpse into the backstory of Jack and Jill from the first book.

“Every Heart a Doorway” described a series of inexplicable murders that the reader struggles to relate to because the murders seem to have no logical explanation. “Down Among the Sticks and Bones” provides that logical explanation, or at least, an understanding of what may drive someone to murder. My only complaints are that I wish it were longer, and now I have to wait for the third!

This book is perfect for lovers of fantasy, especially those who wish they could crawl into the fantasy worlds between the pages of the books they read, and mystery readers, especially those who don’t mind a bit of paranormal in their mysteries.

This is a gorgeous follow up to Every Heart a Doorway. Her world building is beautiful, and I cannot wait for the next installment. (Do I really have to wait till next year?!?)

I was really looking forward to reading this, having loved the first novella, but I was a bit unsure about the fact that it focused on Jack and Jill. To me, their story was as important to Every Heart A Doorway as Nancy's, and it was more or less resolved as well -- not like, for example, Kade or, since Kade is so sure his story is over, Christopher. There was more to say about them, and I wasn't sure there was more to say about Jack and Jill. And... in the end, I don't think there was much more we couldn't have gleaned already from Every Heart. It's not a story that I felt cried out to be told: the contradictions of Jack and Jill's relationship were maybe better for not being elucidated.

That being said, Down Among the Sticks and Bones is still entertaining and does provide more detail on the twins' background and the world they visited. It's especially nice to see more of Jack and learn about her girlfriend -- and to wince along with her issues with germs and dirt, which hit home for me even though the origin of the phobia is different. It's lovely seeing the way Jack's girlfriend deals with the issues of dating someone with such intense phobias (even if part of me is shouting "but that's the way to make your phobia worse, not better!").

Again, the ending didn't particularly surprise me, even the aspect that wasn't explicitly referred to in Every Heart a Doorway. Overall, it's enjoyable, but I don't love it the way I do Every Heart.

[Review link live from 14th May 2017.]

I really enjoyed this short little book. It definitely makes me interested in going back and reading the first book in this series. Even though I haven't read that book though, I didn't feel like I was missing anything out of this book.

Last year's "Every Heart a Doorway" was filled with fascinating characters and this 2nd episode in the series gives background on 2 of them, the strange and ruthless twins Jack and Jill. This fairy tale is stylized and even a bit stilted, but the style is perfectly matched to the story of twin girls raised in a loveless and authoritarian home until at 12, they drop through a doorway into a new sort of horror.

A prequel to Every Heart a Doorway, giving Jack and Jill's backstory. For someone who has read the first book, there are not a lot of surprises here; the pleasure is in the details of their lives before and after finding their way to the Moors. In some ways, their parents were bigger monsters than the vampire and mad scientist they were apprenticed to on the other side of the portal.

This can be enjoyed on its own terms, without having read the other book, but Every Heart a Doorway will read quite differently to someone who starts with this one.

Effective and affecting. Recommended.

I wasn't expecting a continuation in this series, but I thought the story of Jack and Jill was great and brought fresh material to the world McGuire created. This story was very lyrical and feminist, and I really enjoyed it! Highly recommended!

This companion book to "Every Heart A Doorway" was well-written and gave a lot of insight into Jack & Jill's characters. I enjoyed this novella very much and am looking forward to the next!

"Down Among the Sticks and Bones" is a fantastic addition to Seanan McGuire's Wayward Children series of novellas. The story follows Jack and Jill (Jacqueline and Jillian to their parents), the twins who feature prominently in "Every Heart a Doorway", as they first stumble through their door and into the dark and dangerous land of the Moors. It is not necessary to have read "Every Heart a Doorway" to understand the story here, although I would still recommend it since knowing what ultimately happens to Jack and Jill adds a lot to the reading.

One of the best things about this series so far is McGuire's handling of gender and sexuality. Jack and Jill's parents, while not abusive in ways most would recognize, manage to do a lot of damage to the girls through forced gender expectations. The main reason that their new world seems so welcoming to the girls is that it offers them the chance to explore their true selves in a way that has never before been available.

The Wayward Children novellas are so far a wonderful interpretation of what might happen to the children of portal fantasies after the story ends and I can't wait to see what comes next.

Jack and Jill descended the staircase...and didn't come back.

Down Among the Sticks and Bones is a part of the Wayward Children series, and is a sequel to Every Heart a Doorway. It tells the story of Jacqueline and Jillian, the two sisters who went through a portal in a costume truck into a world called The Moors, where a ruthless vampire rules and a mad scientist brings people back to life with electricity.
The novella tells the background story of the girls, and we see how they got to where they were at Elanor West’s Home for Wayward Children. The two sisters are raised in very rigid roles by their parents, so when given the chance to go their own ways in a world free of their parents and teachers, they head in very opposite directions. One sister learns what it is to be ruthless and cruel, and the other learns how to work hard and feed her curiosity.
This is definitely one of my favorite series from McGuire so far. This particular installment has the quality of a gothic fairy tale, spinning the story with a turn of phrase familiar to any who have read fairy tales, but strange and dark enough to satisfy the ghoulish among us. Loved it. It's a must buy for your list.

You need not have read Every Heart a Doorway to understand McGuire’s follow-up, but why deny yourself the pleasure? This is a story of magic, of coming of age, of fairy tales so dark, they must be true. Sisters Jack and Jill were always different, Jack, a girly girl with an adoring mother, Jill a tomboy with a worshipful father. But sisters they are, and together they must negotiate a world of dark magic and painful illusion. Beautifully written, a book to savor