Author: Seanan McGuire
Publisher: Tordotcom
The Wayward Children books have never disappointed me before, this volume is no exception. Down Among the Sticks and Bones is the third installment in the series, which you can read in any order you like. However, the reading experience is better if you follow the order of publication. The Wayward series features children who have found doors leading to magical worlds tailored to their personalities. Each of those worlds has its rules, technology (or lack thereof), clothing, and general aesthetic. McGuire crafted them beautifully, to a point where I find the world to be a character in the story (and a highly influential one).
This installment covers the story of how Jack and Jill found their door and where it led them. The twins are introduced in the first Wayward Children’s book (Every Heart a Doorway) after they’ve returned to their original world. Through Down Among the Sticks and Bones, McGuire takes us back to Jack and Jill’s childhood, how they found their door to The Moors, and what their life was like there. Although I wasn’t that much of a fan of the twins during the first book, I enjoyed discovering their world and how they became the individuals depicted in Every Heart a Doorway. The themes of this novel were how our upbringing affects our personalities, how our choices shape our future, and the intricate emotional connections between people.
The author constantly breaks the fourth wall by addressing the reader, recognizing that they’re narrating a story. They comment on what’s happening in the story, highlight the characteristics of The Moors, criticize how adults treat children, and hint that they’re aware of how it’ll end. This adds to the fairytale atmosphere that encompasses all of McGuire’s stories, almost as if the author is telling us a bedtime story. All the books in the Wayward Children series can be considered modern fairy tales: magical worlds with rules different than our own, children protagonists going on adventures, and moral lessons. The differences between McGuire’s novel and the fairy tales we read as kids are that their characters are diverse, most of them being queer, and the type of morals depicted in the stories. The author makes it clear in every book in this series that children are independent beings deserving of respect, that they’re not their parent’s plaything and shouldn’t be forced into roles they do not want.
As for the language, although McGuire’s descriptions are very poetic, the book is still accessible, and I believe young readers wouldn’t have any trouble understanding it. There are a handful of gorgeous illustrations, made to look like pencil sketches and depicting certain scenes/characters scattered throughout the book. I dream of McGuire releasing an art book with illustrations of all the worlds and characters they’ve created. I’ve read the first six books in this series (which consists of eight volumes as of August 2022), and they always surpass my expectations. You can’t go wrong with any Wayward Children book, they’re a ticket to a different fairy tale land filled with remarkable characters and (mostly) lovable protagonists. I cannot recommend this book and this series enough.
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