Where the Drowned Girls Go is another solid instalment in the Wayward Children series wherein we finally get to delve into the Whitethorn Institute. We follow Cora, learning more about her story, hardships, and relationships with her fellow pupils and teachers of the Institute. We also reunite with one of my favourite characters from the series!

This instalment gives a bit of a darker tone, which I must say I really enjoy, although I do tend to prefer the books that are set predominantly through the doors. The contrast between the Institute and Eleanor West's Home was so interesting. The story does leave some unresolved questions, so I’m looking forward to seeing more of the Institute in the future!

McGuire packs so much character nuance, emotion, and depth into her stories that I can’t help but love them. This is one of my favourite series, and I’ll continue to read every instalment as soon as they release!

I now work at this publisher, so my review is biased. The Wayward Children series continues to be marvelous. I love each new addition to Seanan's series of worlds-within-worlds.

Though it’s the 7th novella in Seanan McGuire’s Wayward Children series, Where the Drowned Girls Go can also be read on its own. An alternative to the Home for Wayward Children, the Whitethorn Institute, is clearly run by bad people for malevolent purposes. Luckily Cora & friends are going to find a way out.

Like all the Wayward Children books, McGuire gives us an inclusive cast and a hopeful message about heroism and teamwork. YA fantasy gets a much needed bit of fat positivity in our mermaid Cora. Also like the other books in this series, McGuire hints at a lot of much more interesting events that take place off screen or between books.

I enjoyed seeing Regan and Sumi again - the cameos and ties to past books in the series are fun bonuses without alienating new readers.

Gosh this series just gets better and better. It was fascinating to step outside of the (relative) safety and (relative) containment of Eleanor’s school and experience an expansion of this world. It’s very much a glimpse at the darker side, as the rival school is a completely different ballgame than anything we’ve played before. I loved it a lot. I loved that Cora took control of the reins of her own life, and owned her actions when they turned out to be not so great. I loved meeting Regan again, even though it also broke my heart a little bit. I hope she pops up in the next book too. I’m also very curious about The Headmaster and I think perhaps we aren’t quite done with him or his school just yet. Almost every time I think this series is going to get a little tired, a little same-same, it instead just absolutely smacks me across the face with an incredible, unpredictable ride during which all I can do is hold on and enjoy the experience.

Sincere thanks to Tor for the early copy!

This expanded the universe of the wayward children in a way I never expected, and I absolutely loved every second of it.

This book was different than the others in the series as it takes place NOT at Eleanor's but at her "rival" school which attempts to make kids forget their adventures rather than embrace them. It was unbearably stressful. I would cringe at all the horrible things happening at that school, and the fact that the main characters couldn't do anything about it. I hated seeing that Reagan ended up at that place, too. That being said, the fact that I hated that school so much meant that it was written well. Some of the characters we know and love are in it (Suki!!!). It wasn't bad, just stressful and not as great as some of the others.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a free advanced copy of this book to read and enjoy.

Seanan McGuire returns with another Wayward Children novella, this time following the story of Cora. I have been very excited for this book, ever since Cora was introduced as a character. It felt expected. McGuire proves again that she has made a beautiful, heart-filled series with the Wayward Children.

This one's not the best in the Wayward Children series, but it's still plenty good enough. The tale deals with Cora, who's back at Eleanor West's and still troubled by the Drowned Gods. She wrangles a transfer to Whitethorn, a competing school for door-finders, one that tries to normalize them. It was a little different then her other books in this series. It was a nice change.
Full review on my YouTube channel.

Incredibly written. With a plot that is gripping, the author manages to engage the reader and keep them hooked for what comes next.

I love how with each series we get an expansion of Seanan McGuire's world, this time it's not through a door, but another School for Wayward children. Personally, I'm a simp for Cora, so spending a lot of time with her in this book really suited my own tastes. This book will make you sympathize for her, it sure did that for me. I am excited to jump back into another portal fantasy story after this!

Not gonna lie I really thought we were going to visit the drowned world but alas, we were in the 'real world'. This book explored the oppression of self when our main character transfers to a school that gets rid of the memories and time spent in the 'other worlds'. It was really sad to see the children struggling in the new school but I appreciate the character interactions and the Regan cameo who starred in the 6th book. Overall, I enjoyed this installment but I usually love the books that take place in the 'other world'.

Holy crap the sister school who kept hearing about since the first book is finally here! And it comes straight out of a HORROR FILM, where children are sent to forget about their portal door and fantasy World instead of trying to find their door again at Eleanor's Academy. The goal of this school is run by a monster who is basically keeping the children in a prison until they "graduate" and we don't find out what happened to the children who never "graduate" until pretty later on and it is HORRIFYING. This book gets very dark and is probably the most terrifying in concept than any other book in the Wayward Children series, and I say this including Down Among the Sticks and Bones and In an Absent Dream.

Also Sumi is the absolute best. She's so chaotic and wise and like always spilling out the truth in the most absurd and nonsensical way. She's probably my favorite character in this series aside from Jack.

Cora the mermaid is near and dear to my heart since her first appearance in this series, and I was happy to get a book where she is the main character this time (although Sumi also makes an appearance later). She's been haunted since her last quest, and hopes a drastic change will help her get over that, but changing schools turns out to be more than she bargained for.

This was very intense at times, but fantastic like all the books in the series. There's hardly any book I look forward to more than the next one. I'm hoping we'll finally learn more about Eleanor and Kade.

I think this is my favourite in the series so far, but I am in the minority that prefer the books set in this world as opposed to the books sets in portal worlds.
With the book before this centring a completely new character I was a little apprehensive that the series would continue that way and we wouldn’t see the original group but I was, thankfully, wrong and this book perfectly combined new characters with the existing ones and the worlds we’ve already explored.
There’s a part of me that wants to say this book is a little more hard hitting than the others but I’m not sure that’s true, it’s just more transparent with it. It’s not just Cora’s struggles with her trauma and self image/identity but the majority of the students at the Whitethorn Institute and there’s a real emphasis on the students struggles shown with the contrast of how each school is run. The Whitethorn Institute is cold and regulated, overall a stark contrast to Eleanor’s home. This instalment is very clever and does what I love most in the “real” world books, it shows how our characters are growing and learning to accept their differences, and begin understanding why their doors showed up for them.

I don't think it's possible for Seanan McGuire to write a book that I wouldn't enjoy. I love books set in a school kind of setting and it was so much fun seeing a counterpart to Eleanor West's home that fans of the series already know and love. From the rest of the Wayward Children series, we are used to reading about the kids wanting their doors. It hadn't even crossed my mind that there would be some doors that would not be wanted, until this book and I loved it!

Every Heart a Doorway introduced a delighted readership to Eleanor West's Home for Wayward Children, a school for children who fall through doors to imaginary worlds and then fall back out again. Such children often cannot adapt to the normal world again, they are so changed—for good or ill—by their time in other worlds. Many are tormented by nightmares or dreams of longing. The Home for Wayward Children offers them a place of understanding where they can slowly reconcile with what has happened to them and what they have lost.
But it cannot help all of them.

Cora is one such child. She’s spent too much time as a mermaid, a hero, to be able to accept a world in which her physical body makes her a target for unending teasing. When she hears about The Whitethorn School, she jumps at the chance to transfer. From the moment she enters the new premises, she realizes how different this new school is. The barred windows. The terrified, pathologically obedient students. The autocratic matrons. The Stepford teachers. The sinister headmaster. She finds herself a prisoner, subjected to daily brainwashing, with no hope of escape.

Until one of her friends from the Home for Wayward Children comes to rescue her and becomes the Whitethorn’s latest victim.

Like its predecessors, Where the Drowned Girls Go is filled with glorious inventions, friendships, compassion, and page-turning action.

OMG, do I love this series. I love how it's atmospheric, melancholic, and hopeful. The fairytale/folktale nature of the stories is so much fun. This story had a Twilight Zone feel to it. I love learning about the characters and the door/worlds that they've been to. This story about Cora is definitely melancholic, but there's definitely some hope. I enjoyed watching her journey of ups and downs that came with her trying to figure out what she wanted. Again, love this series. Amazing writing, amazing characters, such interesting plots. Can't wait to read more.

McGuire is a fantastic author, and this series of interconnected novellas gets better and better. This time we're faced with a very different approach to the children who have traveled through the doors, and it is a tense ride.

I really enjoy this series. I love seeing the different stories of all the characters, and the underlying story of the doors and what they do to these children always keeps me so interested. I can't wait to read further in the series.