Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire
Down Among the Sticks and Bones (Wayward Children #2) by Seanan McGuire
I read Seanan McGuire’s first book of this series, Every Heart a Doorway in two nights and immediately requested this second book from my library. Luckily, it was available in just a few days because I don’t think I could have waited much longer. And this second book did not disappoint. It is a separate story, so you don’t have to read Every Heart a Doorway first, but the events in Down Among the Sticks and Bones come before Every Heart and thus gives you this unsettling prequel story to enjoy.
This novel is about twin sisters Jacqueline and Jillian who have been brought up to fit a mold their parents created. Jacqueline - her mother’s princess who wears frilly dresses and is constantly warned not to get dirty. And Jillian - the short-haired tomboy to replace the boy her father wanted but didn’t receive.
This is what they’ve always known but as they get older, they ask: why? The girls begin to realize they may not be the perfect mold of what their parents created, in fact they may prefer what their twin sister has. This is the moment they find a staircase inside an old trunk, one with a door that disappears behind them and leads them into a different world of death and choice. This is where they become Jack and Jill and find two very different paths.
It is once again an eerie, dark fairy tale from McGuire. But this novel focuses on choices as well as breaking down ideas of what it means to be a girl. Because there is no one or two ways to be a girl. You may steer a girl to wear a dress, or play in the dirt, but that won’t change that girl where it matters.
It’s a short, quick read with beautiful writing and made me even more determined to read the author’s next book.
Synopsis: Twin sisters Jack and Jill were seventeen when they went 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.