Seanan McGuire’s Where the Drowned Girls Go was another charming installment in the Wayward Children series

This book follows Cora, the returned mermaid, as she seeks refuge from the Drowned Gods that began haunting her after her last adventure to the Moors. She decides to go to Whitethorn Institute, the sister school that teaches returned children how to forget the doors. However, she finds that this school is not what it seemed, and adventure ensues.

There were a couple of things I particularly enjoyed in this book. I liked the introduction of Whitethorn. We have heard about it quite a bit throughout the other books, so I am glad that it was finally explored. I think Cora’s development was mostly well done, so I enjoyed following her story. Some parts of the story pulled at my heartstrings quite a bit.

However, there were also some things missing from this book. The end was incredibly rushed, which is pretty standard for this series. I was kind of confused by some of the facts that came to light toward the end as well. Furthermore, while new characters were introduced, they were not as sympathetic, interesting, or lively as the others in these books.

Overall, I still thought this book was a charming exploration of another part of the world in the wayward children series. While the lacking characters suppressed my rating, I still recommend it to readers of this series. I found it entertaining and a quick read.

This book is another solid entry into the Wayward Children series. Seanan adds a whole new dimension with the new school and while I, personally, was content with just the main school, it does add a huge new element and places to go within the series.

Thanks for this e-ARC, Tordotcom!

Where the Drowned Girls Go is now one of my favorite books in this series and I enjoyed the book getting deeper into Cora's journey and presenting the other school. The Whitethorn Institute gave me chills and is so interesting (in a dark way, obviously), and the clues to where this series is going made me very excited for future titles, in which I like to say I believe we're getting to the "Thanos moment" where we'll be getting an assemble for a common enemy.

Full review on: https://deiumjeito.blogspot.com/2021/11/review-where-drowned-girls-go-seanan.html

Another magical trip into the lives of the wayward children. Seanan McGuire does such a great job of creating an irresistible world with a wonderful story. I love all of the characters they each bring their own unique voice to the story. This one we follow Cora trying to navigate her way through the human world after spending time in a world with mermaids and I absolutely love mermaids so that extra bit of magic really hooked me. Overall it was a great story and I look forward to reading the next one!

Summary:
This is book number seven in the ‘Wayward Children’ series.

Characters:
This story follows Cora (she is in a few of the other ‘Wayward Children’ books, specifically “Come Tumbling Down” and “Beneath the Sugar Sky”) and for a few areas, Sumi (a repeat character, you can find her in “Beneath the Sugar Sky”), Reagan (yet one more repeat character; “Across the Green Grass Fields”), and one other girl.

Final Thoughts:
This book felt a lot different from the others. Instead of someone going through a door and exploring another portal world, you get to visit the sister school of NAME that teaches you to forget about your journey through the doors ever having existed. While I enjoyed the story it wasn’t a portal fantasy, instead focusing on the overarching plot of the entire series instead of individual mini plots of characters. I prefer the character-driven travels into far off random places.

Where the Drowned Girls Go by Seanan McGuire

Pros: thought provoking, plus sized protagonist, interesting story

Cons:

Cora Miller is still having nightmares months after returning from the Moors and no longer believes Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children can help her. So she transfers to the other school for children who have found doors to other worlds, Whitethorn. Upon arrival she realizes she’s made a terrible mistake. But while it’s easy to enter Whitethorn, it’s very hard to leave.

This is the 7th novella in the Wayward Children series and relies on knowledge of the prior books to really work. You find out what happened to Regan after the events of Across the Green Grass Fields as Cora deals with the trauma of visiting the Moors in Come Tumbling Down.

Cora is a fantastic character and though it’s not her origin story (so no mermaid adventures in the Trenches) it was wonderful watching her grow and realize that she doesn’t need to be in a portal world to be a hero. And that sometimes you just have to deal with your problems head on.

I found the book thought provoking as it pointed out some of the daily horrors humans inflict on each other, especially towards those with larger bodies.

The story is engaging and the perfect length.

I really love this series, although my ratings have varied over each book, I would say overall it's in my top 20 series of all time. I love the ideas and the descriptions behind the worlds, and I really enjoy the main cast of characters.

This book follows Cora, who has been throughout previous books, and I was really wondering how this would be different. I would say I think this series has gone on and should end soon, because the longer it's gone on the lower I've rated the books. However, I enjoyed this because it showed us a new setting - a new school. Well it's not exactly new, it was mentioned in a previous book but now it's being explored.

But with a new setting in the real world and not through the doors, comes a lack of some characters I love - which meant I didn't overly love the characters throughout the story.

Overall I'm really thankful I got to read this before it came out, this series is fun and different, a good mix of Magical Realism for me.

Where the Drowned Girls Go is a powerful and dark look at what it means to come back from a place that still has hooks embedded deep within the skin. Cora is tired. Tired of never getting a good night’s sleep, tired of being the odd one out, and tired of hearing the Drowned Gods whisper to her maliciously from every shadow. As long as they try to claim her, she can never return to her watery door, The Trenches. Cora knows there is a school that might be able to help her forget the world of doors and her adventures as a mermaid- Whitethorn Institute. Of course, not all is as it seems at this regimented and strange school.

I loved this installment into the Wayward Children series from the title alone! I was hoping we would see more from Cora! This was an interesting look into the menacing Whitethorn Institute and what happens to the children who return from worlds that are dangerous or they may be unable to return. I loved watching Cora journey through the stages of learning her own power and deciding what it means to be a hero (with help from Sumi!). Seanan McGuire has a haunting way with description, chilling and precise. I appreciate the thoughtful focus on mental health and caution readers to check the TWs relating to fatphobia, bullying, eating disorders, and mention of suicide attempt.

Having read Across the Green Grass Fields, I absolutely loved the cameo from Regan! Regan is one of my favorite characters in the series and it was great to see her again (while not in the best circumstances!). Where The Drowned Girls Go can be read as a standalone, I think readers will get the most out of this having read at least one other book in the series. Where The Drowned Girls Go releases on January 4, 2022. I already can’t wait to continue the adventure with the next book in the series! Thank you so much to Seanan McGuire, Macmillan-Tor/Forge, and Netgalley for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

For publisher: My review will be posted on the publication date and I will publish it on Instagram, Goodreads, Amazon, Storygraph, and Barnes & Noble etc

This series keeps getting better and better and more fleshed out with each new entry. This series is fascinating and I hope Seanan McGuire keeps writing them. Each world is so interesting and full of small, intricate details.

After her adventures in Confection and the Moors, Cora isn't doing well. Nightmares of the Drowned Gods won't let her sleep, and she's worried they could come for her at any moment. In an attempt to save herself, Cora requests a transfer from Eleanor West's Home for Wayward Children to Whitethorn Institute, the other school for people like Cora who have gone through portals. Cora knew Whitethorn was the exact opposite of Eleanor's school, but she didn't expect Whitethorn to be so cruel and unforgiving. By trying to save herself from one monster, she may have inadvertently put herself in the path of a monster must worse.

I really liked Cora when she was first introduced in BENEATH THE SUGAR SKY, and I'm so glad she got another story in WHERE THE DROWNED GIRLS GO. Since the first book, readers have known another school for wayward children existed, but WHERE THE DROWNED GIRLS GO shows just how devious and evil it is. While there, Cora has to not only confront what she's running from, but also to figure out what exactly makes someone a hero, and if heroes can become bad people if they're put in the right circumstances long enough. Cora's journey shows that being a hero isn't one choice, but many small ones, every day, and those choices aren't always (or even often) easy.

Seanan McGuire has a special talent for making you think you know where the story is going and then throwing in a jaw-dropping twist. I was fully along for the ride, thinking this would be all about Cora and the other characters' growth and less about advancing the series plot, and then I was shocked when a particularly chilling twist about Whitethorn came out. I don't think we've seen the last of those dangerous halls.

At its heart, WHERE THE DROWNED GIRLS GO is about fighting not just the outer demons, but the inner ones as well. It's about deciding your role each day and holding your friends close enough to share hardships together.

I received an advance copy of this book via NetGalley.

<i>Where the Drowned Girls Go</i> is the 7th novella in McGuire's incredible Wayward Children series about children who slip through portals to other worlds and return, to various consequences. I rate a couple of these novellas as among the best things I have ever read. This one falls into a middle ground. It's a good read, and features some incredibly profound moments, but can't match some of the other books.

Cora has suffered after the events of other novellas. She is haunted by other-worldly gods who will not let her go. Miss Eleanor and friends at the Home for Wayward Children try to help her, but she's only worsening. Therefore, she makes a drastic choice to switch to another school for children who have returned from other worlds. She finds a place that is disturbing, a place where everything is not what it seems.

This is a good read--good pace, good relatable characters (as someone who was obese in school, wow did I relate to Cora), good exploration of this fascinating world. I hope McGuire continues to write in this series, as I fully intend to read them all.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge for the digital advanced reader's copy.

I look forward to a new release in this series every year.

I wouldn't leap into this seventh book without having read the rest, as most of the characters and even some of the plot rely heavily on what has occurred previously.

Quick background: Doors to other worlds appear for children who need them. These worlds are heart and home for many of these children, although the worlds are wild and strange and rarely safe.

But what happens to these children when they are returned to the "real" world?

Some go to Eleanor West's Home for Wayward Children, where they can share about their doors and worlds, can learn, and can build friendships while they hope for their door to re-open.

But some go to the Whitethorn Institute where they try to forget the doors even exist, where the doors are considered evil influences, where the doors remain shut forever as these children learn to survive in the "real" world.

Cora has chosen to leave Eleanor's school and go to Whitethorn to escape the possibility of capture by the Drowned Gods, but has she traded her monsters for an even greater one? After all, monsters come in all shapes and sizes.

Soooo good.

Cora wasn't one of my favorite characters previously, but the setting at Whitethorn was fascinating and hellish as the matrons and the headmaster try to "help" the students "normalize" by denying who they are and what they have experienced. And, yes, there are a lot of real-world comparisons to be made here, but McGuire allows the reader to do that.

For such short books, McGuire packs a lot in - debates about how struggling, possibly traumatized people can and should be helped, a war of words about who's view of the world is the right one, the introduction of new characters with more captivating worlds plus the return of previous characters, and, of course, a pulse-pounding escape plot.

Two thumbs up, and I'm looking forward to the next entry into McGuire's world of wayward children.

I have my ups and downs with the Warward Children books, but Where the Drowned Girls Go is an excellent addition to the series. It pulls back from the worlds beyond the doors and instead investigates what happens to the children who don't attend Eleanor West's school -- the children who are told to forget, whether they want to or not.

I feel like Where the Drowned Girls Go is among the most realistic and relatable books in this series, both in terms of Cora's story and The Whitethorn Institute and their approach to dealing with the kids who return from their adventures beyond the doors. This book made my heart ache, especially as we see how stories from prior books tie into this one.

Cora was one of my favourite characters, and I was totally thrilled to see her story expanded on in this book. Her backstory is so tragic and all too familiar to so many kids. She was bullied terribly for her weight and spent her life dealing with the sneers and disgust of fellow students and even adults -- her unwilling return to the real world was so tragic. However, watching her strength grow over the course of this book was incredibly rewarding. The Whitethorn Institute is a house of horrors for any child who still believes in and yearns for the magic on other other side of the doors, and Cora's strength really shines in this setting (whether she likes it or not). She's been solidified as of the the best characters in the series.

This is a very short review, but I think it's best to dive into this book without knowing too much about where McGuire will take you. Where the Drowned Girls Go is less whimsical than the other books in this series, but provides a much-needed look at the world beyond the walls of Eleanor West's school and what is at stake for the wayward children.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Content warnings: fatphobia, bullying, suicide as backstory

This is one of my favorites in the Wayward Children series so far. I loved getting outside of the various worlds and exploring a more sinister possibility for how these children could be 'educated.'

This was an amazing book! I just love this series so much, and I love the format, of every odd book being in the present, and at least partially set in our world, with the even stories set in the world of one of these characters when they're having their original adventure.

This is Cora's story, Cora who helped with Jack in Come Tumbling Down, and it cost her. The Drowned Gods won't leave her alone, and she wants to get home to the Trenches, but doesn't want to bring them along with her. I felt so badly for her, because it's not fair that she has to deal with that. But she's a hero, so she did it, but now she's paying for it.

I loved what this book adds to the world with the Whitethorn Institute. I loved meeting these characters, boy did I love that, and seeing what it's like, going to a school that want's you to stay here in our world. I just absolutely hated the school, and just can't wait to see how they're going to take it down! Probably rebuild something better, because there are students who need to come back to belong to our world, but not run the way it is now!

The way that things ended? There's going to be consequences for that, and I'm not sure if it's going to be for the bad guys, the good guys, or both. But I can't wait to explore that, and see where the next odd book takes us-and whose story the next even book is going to be! I mean, Regan came out of left field last time...

This was another amazing book, and I need more!

Ever since I read Every Heart A Doorway, i fell in love with the Wayward Children series. This book is no exception. It was really fascinating to me that we got to see the other side of how people deal with the pain of being disconnected from their portal world and the horrifying lengths people will go through to make that pain go away so they can forget.
Ever since Cora was introduced as a character, I didn't always feel a connection to her but after reading this book, I enjoyed so much watching her grow into someone who is confident and brave and a natural leader. Her strength and resilience shines in this book.
My only gripe with this book is the lack of explanation for the antagonist motivations. I think I wanted a more in-depth conversation about that but it left me feeling very curious for more answers that I'm sure will come in later books.

The first thing to note is that I love this entire series enormously. I love the very idea of asking what happens to children if they come back from their fantasy land but they didn't want to, and then have to confront parents who want them to be 'normal'.

Pretty early on in the series we learned that there was an alternative school: that Eleanor West's school was for those biding their time, waiting to go back to their real home; the other place was for those who wanted to forget their adventures. It was obvious that eventually a story would be set there - but I didn't expect it to be Cora who went. And for this reason, I do think that the previous books need to be read first; you need to understand what Cora has gone through, the trauma she has experienced in helping her friends, before you can understand why she wants to do something to try and forget. So if you haven't read the others, you should go and do that first... don't worry, it's totally worth it, I promise.

So Cora goes the Whitethorn, and things are as opposite to Eleanor's school as it's possible to be, and completely dreadful. Unsurprisingly, it's all even more dreadful than it initially appears, and events unfold as Cora confronts both her own trauma and the school-wide problems. It's beautifully and devastatingly set up, and - as with all the Wayward Children stories - unfolds in complex, complicated, bittersweet ways.

McGuire continues to do wonderful things with her characters. Across the novellas she's presented humanity in all of its myriad shapes and colours. Cora being fat has always been a part of her character because it had such an influence on how people saw her, and therefore how she saw herself, and therefore all the choices and consequences from there. In some ways I feel that the deliberate and blunt way in which Cora's size is presented - and her implacable insistence that, of course, there is nothing WRONG with her - is perhaps more transgressive these days than discussing queer and trans folk. The world is coming to accept a gender and sexuality spectrum... but we've still got a lot of hang-ups about appearance. So I love that we have a fat hero, who hears and acknowledges the snark from her peers and it DOES get her down but also it doesn't destroy her. Cora is so very, very human (and a mermaid).

This is a marvellous addition to the series and my only regret is that I read it too quickly and now I've got too long to wait til the next one.

YES, I love this new direction of the macro plot for the series! Introducing the dark version of the Wayward Home is a great development and I loved getting more with Cora. This also touches on deeper themes with the characteristic thoughtfulness of the series: in this case, fatphobia and the concept of identity (the use of names in this one is particularly great and in the long line of fantasy using names as a part of a magic system). I'm still shipping Cora & Christopher, but I am still waiting for that to materialize

Be Sure - words that, if I had the audacity to do as much, tattoo on my body in flowing gothic calligraphy.

I'm never SURE about anything. Oh I can be certain, based on knowledge and experience. I can even know, based on the information in front of me.

But sure? No, that's a bone deep belief. Something central to who you are. A trust you follow because it feels right.

McGuire's Wayward Children books explore how being sure is both positive and negative. The consequences of trying to both be sure and not trust that surety. More then a promise, Be Sure is a warning because once you're are, there is no going back.

Cora is a different kind of student. She begins her entrance into this series like the others - struggling to find just what her Door wants from her to Be Sure, but after the events of COME TUMBLING DOWN (when our merry band of misfits break the one rule Eleanor hopes will protect them - that is, they go on a Quest), Cora hasn't been able to feel...safe.

The shadows haunt her, whispering and terrible. They seek to steal her and she is terrified she will bring ruin to the world beyond her door. So she chooses instead to let go. Unlike Kade who can't return, or Sumi who won't return until its time, or Jack who exiled herself to protect her sister, Cora decides it would be better if she forgot and never returned.

This, friends, is where the OTHER school that has been alluded to comes into play...and where Cora learns that "Be Sure" isn't just a promise or a warning, its a foundation to anchor yourself and find who you truly are.

Where the Drowned Girls Go was a fantastic continuation of this series! In this installment, we follow Cora, who has been hearing voices calling to her, voices she wants gone. To do this, she opts to transfer to a different school, a school where students must learn to be "normal" again after their trips through their doors. But Cora finds that this school is a lot more sinister than it seems, when she meets the other students and staff. What will she do? Will she have help? I loved this installment, and I am excited for the next one!