Thanks so much to NetGalley for this review copy of the new Wayward Children book from my favorite author Seanan McGuire! I have loved all of these books, so it's no surprise that I also loved this installment of the story of Jack and Jill. Again, great characters, terrific imagined world, will read again, and again! More!

In the fifth installment of the Wayward Children series we get to see Jack and Jill again and travel back to the Moors. I absolutely love this dark vampire world! This story discusses ocd, anxiety, and depression in the most beautiful ways. I suggest not reading this unless you’ve read the rest of the series, as things that are spoilers for other books are talked about in this book. This has been a favorite series of mine since the beginning, and if you haven’t ventured into this magical world you definitely should. ARC provided by NetGalley and Tor in exchange for honest review. Thank you!

★★★✰✰ 3 stars

“No one should have to sit and suffer and pretend to be someone they're not because it's easier, or because no one wants to help them fix it.”


Although occasionally entertaining, Come Tumbling Down struck me as an unnecessary addition to the Wayward Children series.

“Once a wayward child, always a wayward child.”


Seanan McGuire's writing style is as lush as ever. Her prose has that fairy-tale rhythm which makes her narrative all the more alluring. As with the previous instalments McGuire deftly weaves real issues into a fantastical setting (body dysmorphia, gender dysphoria, anxiety, OCD, trauma).

“Hope is a vicious beast. It sinks in its claws and it doesn't let go.”


The story sadly feels like a rehash of the previous volumes. Part of me doesn't think that we needed another story focused on Jack and Jill...the dynamics between Jack and Miss West’s students weren't all that compelling (especially . I wish we could have had more of Christopher or Kade instead.
The humour felt a bit forced. Sumi was very much the 'clown' character who eases the tension of a scene by saying something silly. The quest itself felt unfocused and made Jill into a rather one-sided character.
On the one hand I really love McGuire's writing...but here her storyline and characters lacked depth. There were some clever phrases or character descriptions but they never amounted to anything truly substantial. Pretty words aside, Come Tumbling Down doesn't really offer anything new in this series.

“Her mind—brilliant, traitorous, prone to devouring itself—did not stop fretting, but at least she was in control again. ”

A worthwhile new addition to the world Seanan McGuire has created. I was excited to see a number of familiar faces in the latest addition to the Wayward Children, including a return of some whose fate was left up in the air after a previous book. As usual her writing and characters are on point and I thoroughly enjoyed this from start to finish.

There is one editing issue where Chapter 15 is named Chapter 13, but other than that I did not find any issues.

Highly recommended.

Seanan McGuire consistently delivers with her books. She's an author whose books I buy before I even know what they're about. I see her name and click "order" at once. This installment in her Wayward Children series gives us more with Jack and Jill, who appeared in Every Heart a Doorway and Down Among the Sticks and Bones. Jack returns to school in a flash of lightning with a big problem and her friends decide to break the "No Quests" rule to help her.

I adore everything about this series and the only thing I want is more. More world's more stories, just more and Come Tumbling Down was a fantastic re-entry into the world of Jack and Jill and I was so happy to see them again. Worthy addition to the series.

Thank you to the publisher, via NetGalley, for providing me with a copy for review. This has in no way influenced my opinion.
In this installment of the Wayward Children series we are reunited with Jack and Jill from books 1 and 2 of the series. I am not entirely certain that we needed more of these characters - I felt that their arc was complete after Down Among the Sticks and Bones, myself.
This was an interesting take on body dysphoria through the eyes of an OCD character, but actual plot pacing was all over the map for me. We are also faced with the return of my least favourite character Sumi - because of her nonsense world speech patterns, although her brief period of acting as translator for Cora was well done and made me enjoy Sumi's character a bit more.
I will continue to read and recommend the series, but this was a bit of a comedown from the perfection of In An Absent Dream.

Yet another unforgettable installment. I read this in one sitting - the pacing was so compelling and the story just drew me in to the point where I couldn't put it down. Jack and Sumi were an unexpectedly delightful duo! Even though this was a particularly dark story, Sumi's personality kept me from drowning in sorrow. I cannot wait for the next installment - and I truly hope this series goes on for many more years.

I received this eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review.
First, a quick primer for those of you unfamiliar with this series. The first book in this series is Every Heart a Doorway (EHAD). In EHAD we are introduced to Eleanor West's School for Wayward Children, where the students enrolled have returned from portal worlds and have trouble adjusting to the "real world." Most of the student body wishes to return to the homes they made on other worlds. Unfortunately, most of the student body will never get a chance to do so. The odd numbered books in this series are present day books featuring a large portion of the student body. The even numbered books are flashbacks to particular students and their worlds. Come Tumbling Down is book five, therefore updating the current plot.
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In Come Tumbling Down, Jack, a character who had gone back to her adopted world, returns to Eleanor West's School for Wayward Children after something terrible has happened. Her friends (to clarify which ones would be somewhat of a spoiler for book 3) are determined to help her, and they have to go back to Jack's dark and terrible world to do so. Jack is determined to get her world back, whatever the cost.

I adore this series, and this installment is no exception. It's really well written, and particularly inventive. McGuire makes a point of featuring characters from demographics often unseen, and whenever fat mermaid Cora shows up, my long-gone teenage self feels at least a little bit seen. I hope McGuire keeps writing these until the plot runs out (if it could ever)

Come Tumbling down is the 5th installment of the Wayward Children series. This is a series I picked up on a whim last month and positively devoured the first 4 books in a matter of 2 days. I knew I had to get my hands on the 5th immediately.

These books just get better and better, the world expanding and evolving with the children themselves. In this book we go back to the Moors and revist Jack and Jill’s story and I couldn’t be happier about that, I very much enjoy the dark, gothic world that the Moors brings to us.

These books also continue to talk about real, important issues in a way that feels very natural and in a way that normalizes the way things should be, rather than preaching about them. Showing, rather than telling. I can’t stress how much I love reading those stories, and how much these books have made me feel seen because of it. This book really focuses on balance, sacrifice and in a way, showing when self care and preservation has to be a priority despite it feeling selfish.

I loved this book, I love this series, I am already eagerly awaiting the next book!


Thanks so much to Netgalley and Macmillian/Tor for this advance copy!

Vampires, mad scientists, and Old Ones, oh my! The fifth book of Seanan McGuire's Wayward Children series, Come Tumbling Down, finishes the story of Jack and Jill Wolcott in a lovely, understated way (well, as understated as a world where lightning is magic and resurrections are common can be). Readers of the series will be enthralled by the Moors and the unbreakable bonds of friendship and love, while newcomers will need to read the earlier volumes for context.

I will state it here and now, that the Wayward Children series is by far one of my favorite novella series that has happened for the last, I don't know how long. Maybe my lifetime. McGuire has such a way of writing children's fantasy and fairy tale, in this dark twisted gothic type of fashion, that I really have come to love. It reminds me so much of the original Grimm's fairy tales. It's got that dark edge that's wrapped up in all kinds of candy loss and other delicious treats.

This installment, the fifth installment, 'Come Tumbling Down', is a continuation of Jack and Jill's story. We get to go back to the Moors. Jill has managed to switch bodies with Jack and Jack is not having it.

I loved getting back into this world. I loved seeing this darkness and this innocence wrapped up together. I don't know how McGuire does it, but she has a way of putting both of those together and playing off of how children grow up, how they perceive themselves, the lessons they learn and how they learn it. It makes me feel so much like a kid again. I understand the desire these children have to go back through the doors that they've been kicked out of. This whole series plays off of growing up and how, when we are little, we have these great big huge imaginations and we see ourselves going through these worlds. But then as we grow older, that disappears a little bit and we have that strong desire to go back.

But there's also littered throughout all of these novellas, this very harsh reality of just wanting to be who you feel you are. 'Come Tumbling Down' very much plays with that, with Jack not being in the body that she feels is her own. Even though, she and her sister Jill are identical twins. The body just isn' right. Something is off and it needs to be fixed.

And it doesn't hurt that all of this is set in this very gothic, film noir style, Frankenstein, Dracula setting.

The only gripe I really have is because it is a novella, there's so much more I want to delve into with these children and what's going on in their mind. it just feels like it flies by way too fast. But at the same time, because it
is so short and it flies, it still feels like a children's book. A very, very dark children's book.

This novella has installed in me, this deep love for Sumi. Something hasn't happened in the past. She has this nonsense, but it's such a knowledgeable nonsense, that she is the one, throughout this whole book that had those one-liners that just hit you in the gut. Maybe the world needs to listen to this girl way more often than it does

I think most of all I really want to get more of Christopher's story. Meeting his world would be fascinating. I get this Tim Burton like feel from him and to see that played out with Seanan McGuire's words, I think we truly, truly epic.

This is probably my favorite addition to the series since Down Among the Sticks and Bones and my heart is SO FULL. I love these characters so much and it was especially gratifying to spend more time with Jack and the gang from the first book. I now DESPERATELY need Christopher's story and I really, really hope that his is next to come!

I've loved every book in this series, even if I have a preference for the slightly darker toned episodes. <i>In an Absent Dream</i> is my current favourite but <i>Come Tumbling Down</i> runs a very close second and <i>Down Among the Sticks and Bones</i> is not far behind at all. In this instalment we return to the tale of Jack and Jill. No spoilers for previous books, but the pair were originally let into a world that was predicated on monstrosity and the gothic genre in general. This led Jill to commit acts of remorseless violence in an attempt to get back there in the first book in the series. Having found out what the twins' back story was in book two, we were left wondering how Jack was getting on and here we have the answer.



Eleanor's West's school for Wayward children is about to be disrupted by the sudden appearance of a former pupil and her rule against quests and adventures will be thoroughly broken. The Wayward Children rush to Jack's aid as battle breaks out on the Moors. I honestly don't want to say any more than that about the plot because it's best enjoyed without knowing what's coming.



All of these stories have strong themes and a lot to say about contemporary issues. (Without ever being preachy.) While <i>Down Among the Sticks and Bones</i> talked about gender roles and expectations, and how they remove personal choices and freedoms, and <i>In an Absent Dream</i> talked about fair value, poverty vs wealth, fair trade and the prison debt can make for someone, <i>Come Tumbling Down</i> talks about family, identity and self value. There is a strong comparison here between found family - the people you choose for yourself - and the family you're born into. Sometimes the people you are genetically related to are not your real family. The events which shaped you, the difficulties you overcame, affected them in a different way. Sometimes a siblings can undergo the same trials and take very different directions processing trauma.



This is a story about saying <i>enough</i> when a family member keeps hurting you and refuses to stop. There's no need to make excuses for their behaviour based on their childhood: not because you turned out better but because they are an adult now and when you're an adult you pick up your own burdens and carry them. You take responsibility for your own actions and stop expecting the world to bend over backwards for you just because your origin story was unhappy. This is a really hard thing to do, especially if it's a family member you love. It's incredibly difficult to say 'I'm cutting you out of my life because you won't stop' when you understand why they have grown the way they have.



McGuire does a deft, intelligent job of speaking this truth via the medium of a monstrous alternate world where balance between cruel light and vicious darkness is the law. This is a little note saying 'hey, it's ok to be occasionally selfish when you need to. You're important too.' And beneath the notion of balance is the idea of harm. Logically you cannot exist without doing harm to something else but you also have as much right to exist. Balance is doing as little harm as you can manage within the confines of living the best life you can whilst being the most true version of yourself. There's a lot to unpack here and I'll probably be thinking about it for days. Suffice to say that I loved this book and Jack is still one of my favourite characters. Highly recommend this whole series. (Plus F/F romance that is sweet, believable and just a bit Hammer Horror - how can you go wrong?)

A return to form in this series, methinks, or perhaps I'm just biased because my favs were all back and getting up to just the kind of adventure I like to see in this story. There are some beautiful metaphors here (particularly around the experience of dysphoria in your body), but the real star here are the characters. Jack, Alexis, Kade, Christopher, Cora... I just love them. And Dr. Bleak! Ack, yes, this made me so happy to see them back in the Moors when Jill gets back on her bullshit once again. For how dark this series gets, I think it manages to be a remarkably cozy read on top of that. All this to say-- this is my favorite entry in the series since EVERY HEART A DOORWAY

Another book in the Wayward Children series and it left me happy and sad. Happy because it was such a good conclusion to the Jack and Jill story line. A story that ended too soon in the first book. Sad because when I was getting to the ending, I didn't want it to end. I would love to have a novel length book in this series.

I received a copy of this from Netgalley and the Publisher in exchange for my open and honest review.

Come Tumbling Down, Seanan Mcguire's fifth installment in the Wayward Children series follows the adventures of the delightfully macabre and grisly Wolcott twins. Jack, the mad scientist, sufferer of OCD, and generally quirky misanthrope and Jill, jacks twin, cruel, beautiful, and wants nothing more than to become a vampire. Jack returns to the school via a door made of lightning, literally carrying her love in her arms. Jack is trapped in the body of Jill, and although Jill is virtually identical to Jack physically, Jill has done horrible things that have soiled her very essence. Jack is a sufferer of OCD and desperately needs her body back to salvage her sanity.   She requests the aid of former classmates in a quest, disobeying the no quest rule, to get her body back from Jill and save Jill, even if it means saving her from herself.

The Moors, the twin's world they have come to love, is a place of darkness, monsters, mad science, and unforgiving fierce creatures.  It is a place where gods are drowned, the moon has power, and lightning fuels the world, and it is a place where Jack feels most like herself and a home where she wants to stay. But first, Jack and friends Kade, Sumi, Cristopher, and Cora must help Jack stay sane and save this dark and macabre world. But, who knows who the monsters are? The line between good and evil or Monster and savior can be blurry. It depends entirely on which side you are standing.

“The world doesn't stop spinning because you're sad, and that's good; if it did, people would go around breaking hearts like they were sheets of maple sugar, just to keep the world exactly where it is. They'd make it out like it was a good thing, a few crying children in exchange for a peace that never falters or fades. We can be sad and we can be hurt and we can even be killed, but the world keeps turning, and the things we're supposed to do keep needing to be done.”
― Seanan McGuire, Come Tumbling Down

Again, McGuire delights and intrigues with the darkly rich world she has created in the Wayward Children series. Each installment has a message or a sort of idea that can be gleaned from the pages without it coming off as preachy. In this installment, McGuire touches on the sense of self and not being at home in one's own body. Where your body on the outside does not necessarily match who you are on the inside. It is an important message, and McGuire treats the subject delicately and with immense care.

McGuire has written another beautiful and meaningful story with Come Tumbling Down. It will delight, and maybe shock a bit. And, when you get done reading it, you might think twice about who is a monster, and who is not.

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I received an ARC of this book thanks to Net Galley and publisher Macmillan-Tor/Forge in exchange for an honest review.

VERY LIGHT SPOILERS FOR EVERY HEART A DOORWAY & BENEATH THE SUGAR SKY.

I am unbelievably happy I got an ARC of this book. I love this series with every fiber of my being and so far, I have yet to be disappointed by a single book. Come Tumbling Down picks up a little while after Beneath the Sugar Sky with the return of my personal favourite character, Jack. She has come back to the school to seek help because her sister has stolen her body and the very existence of her own doorway world is in danger.

There isn't much else I can say about the plot without spoilers but this book brings back a lot of characters I had missed and with them, all that fantastic representation. It makes me so happy reading about everyone in this series because every single bit of representation seems so well-handled (obviously I cannot comment on the groups I am not part of but there are no obvious red flags to me) and every character is so fully-fleshed out and interesting in their own way. The storyline continues to be creative and just a joy to read about. As much as I enjoy the one-off explorations of the doorway worlds, every new book seems to add to the growing overall storyline and this is just the perfect way to continue on with Jack in her world. The only potential downside is some people might be sad that their other favourites aren't in the spotlight but I'm sure future books will address this and give them their turn.

Honestly, there's not much more to say. If you're a fan of this series, this next installment will not disappoint. If you've not started this series yet, I highly recommend it. McGuire creates a magical world with magical characters and who could ask for more?

Overall Rating: 4.5/5 stars

If you follow this series then you probably thought we had heard the last of twins Jack and Jill but thankfully the author had yet another magical, imaginative and terrible story to tell. This time Jack needs help. because she's now in Jills body ! I will divulge no more because this as usual is a warped joy to read and I'm only rating this a four because I wanted it to be longer. Characters who will surprise and delight you. A story that for some ends happily and I cannot praise this fabulous series enough.
This voluntary take is of a copy I requested from Netgalley and my thoughts and comments are honest and I believe fair

I had a difficult time connecting with this story from the outset and unfortunately had to DNF around halfway through. I've enjoyed this series for the most part, but I found it a chore to keep reading this once. I may circle back once the 6th novella is released, but I will have to set the series aside for now. It was trending towards a 2-star review so I will rate it as such.