Review: Down Among the Sticks and Bones (Wayward Children #2)

Down Among the Sticks and Bones, Book 2 in the Wayward Children series by Seanan McGuire

Published By: Tor
Publication Date: June 13, 2017
Date Read: June 13, 2025
Genre: YA – Magical Realism
Source: Bought
Format: Hardback
Pages: 187

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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.

“She had tried to make sure they knew that there were a hundred, a thousand, a million different ways to be a girl, and that all of them were valid, and that neither of them was doing anything wrong.”

As soon as I finished reading Every Heart A Doorway, I couldn’t wait to dive into the second novella in the Wayward Children series. I was a big fan of the creepy twins in the first novella and so I was really looking forward to seeing them more. I went into this one fully expecting it to be a continuation of their story, after the events of Every Heart A Doorway, but I was pleasantly surprised to see we had actually gone back in time and it was their origin story.

Now, I actually really enjoyed this novella, but personally I didn’t love it quite as much as Every Heart A Doorway. I really enjoyed seeing how Jack and Jill found their way to The Moors, and I really loved the creepy aesthetic of this world. It was really fun to see just how they went from pretty normal kids, to the creepy murderous beings that we now know. I will say that for me, this one dragged just a little bit. Despite the fact that Jack and Jill are some of my favourite characters, I grew a little bit bored in the middle. I did appreciate that we had a lot of years of development to go through with them, but at points it just felt a little tedious to me.

I did enjoy Down Among the Sticks and Bones and honestly I have theories!! So I really hope that we get to see Jack and Jill again in future novellas. I feel like they’re going to be a big part of any goings on, and I’m looking forward to seeing what happened to them after they went back to The Moors following Every Heart A Doorway. Despite me feeling the pacing issues with this one, I did really enjoy it and I cannot wait to dive into the third novella next.

“Some adventures require nothing more than a willing heart and the ability to trip over the cracks in the worlds.”