I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Come Tumbling Down by Seanan McGuire Series: Wayward Children #5
Published by Tor.com on January 7 2020
Genres: Adult, Fantasy
Pages: 208
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
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The nitty-gritty: Fans of Down Among the Sticks and Bones will love this follow-up, as we get to go back “home” to the Moors, a world where death and murder are everyday occurrences.
“This is terrible,” said Sumi brightly. “I mean, we knew it was going to be terrible when we followed a mad scientist and her dead girlfriend to a horrifying murder world, but this is bonus terrible. This is the awful sprinkles on the sundae of doom.”
Seanan McGuire continues her magical portal series with this fifth novella which is more or less a direct sequel to Down Among the Sticks and Bones, so if you aren’t caught up with that book in particular, you should not dive into Come Tumbling Down first. Down Among the Sticks and Bones is still my very favorite of the five books, and I really enjoyed Come Tumbling Down, but for me, it didn’t have quite the focus or emotional impact that I was hoping for. Still, it’s a fantastic entry into the series and should not be missed if you’re a fan!
And please beware of spoilers if you are not reading this series yet, especially spoilers for Down Among the Sticks and Bones.
The story opens at Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children, the setting of this series where Eleanor has created a safe haven for children who have found doors to other worlds, but for whatever reason they have been kicked out of those worlds and now are between lives, so to speak. Christopher, a boy who can revive the skeletons of dead creatures by playing his bone flute, lives in the basement of the Home. One night he’s startled by a lightning storm that appears inside his room, and when the lightning stops, Christopher is amazed—but not completely surprised—to see a door in the middle of his room. A stranger emerges from the door carrying the limp body of someone very familiar. Christopher immediate recognizes Jill—or is it Jack?—one of the twin sisters who lived in the dark and dangerous land of the Moors. The last time anyone from the Home saw them, Jack had just killed her sister Jill and was taking her back to the Moors.
It doesn’t take long before Christopher and his friends Kade, Sumi and Cora figure out the identities of the two girls. Alexis is Jack’s girlfriend and she’s come back carrying Jack to ask for help. Jack, it turns out, isn’t….quite herself, and in order to restore balance to the Moors, Alexis needs help seeking revenge on The Master, a powerful vampire who has Jill in his thrall. Christopher, Kade, Cora and Sumi agree to go on a quest to the Moors—something that Eleanor strictly prohibits—in order to help their friends. But the Moors are a dangerous place, and getting back home alive will be more difficult than they could ever imagine.
The Moors is probably my favorite world in McGuire’s series, so it was lots of fun to go back. One of the reasons I loved Down Among the Sticks and Bones so much was the setting and the two sisters, Jack and Jill. The Moors are home to not only a vampire lord and a mad scientist, but the oceans are ruled by the Drowned Gods, and there are other creepy creatures who live there like werewolves and gargoyles. It’s a horrific place, but the fact that Jack and Jill both feel at home there makes the reader love its weirdness. When the gang decides to go through the door to help Jack, they encounter some of these monsters and must deal with some heavy consequences. Cora, for example, who is actually a mermaid and lived in a world called the Trenches (and I love that reference to Mira Grant’s Into the Drowning Deep!), hears the irresistible call of the Drowned Gods and cannot stop herself from running into the ocean.
I also loved revisiting some of the characters from previous books. Cora first appeared in Beneath the Sugar Sky, and although that was my least favorite book, I really love Cora’s character. We also get to spend time with Christopher and Kade, both characters I love, although I have to admit that Sumi really bugged me in this story. One of McGuire’s strengths is her characters and the way they interact with each other, and it’s fun to see how their relationships change over time.
McGuire also uses this series as a way to focus on certain themes, like identity and belonging and finding one’s place in the world. In this book, Jack’s OCD is explored, and even though I don’t want to give away one of the big story twists, I will say that Jack has a reason she’s having a lot of trouble with her illness. But in McGuire’s world, issues like mental illness and gender identity are simply a part of life, and I love the way she incorporates these elements so seamlessly into her stories.
But as much as I enjoyed this book, it didn’t quite have the emotional punch I was hoping for. The story itself is a bit scattered. There is a lot going on, with Cora and her adventure with the Drowned Gods (not to mention the way Kade is involved!) taking some of the focus off the main tale of Jack and Alexis. We also meet a new character in the Moors named Gideon, who I quite liked, but we don’t get to spend much time with him.
Then there is the fact that in the Moors, dying doesn’t really mean much, since Jack and her teacher Dr. Bleak are able to bring people back from the dead—think Frankenstein and his monster. Jill has already died and been resurrected twice, for example. This lowers the stakes a bit since the death of a character is more of an inconvenience than anything else.
But aside from a few snags, I really did enjoy Come Tumbling Down. This is one of those series where the possibilities are endless, and by the end of this book I was already speculating about where the author will go in the next installment. (I’m still holding out for a story revolving around Nadya and the Drowned World!) I believe there will be at least three more books in this series which is good news for us fans. But in the meantime, readers will love catching up with Jack and Jill in this book.
Big thanks to the publisher for supplying a review copy. Above quote was taken from an uncorrected proof and may differ in the final version of the book.
I love McGuire’s Wayward Children series. Good review!
Thanks Heather!
I’m not actually reading your review, because I don’t want to know a thing in advance — my book comes next week! I’m thrilled to see that you like it, though, and will come back and read this after I read the book. Can’t wait!!!
Enjoy, Lisa!
I’ll be working on my review of this one today! But it sounds like we had similar feelings. I liked revisiting characters and the Moors but it did seem a little busier than normal. Still excited for more books though 🙂 Thanks.
Me too! I’m always curious to see who she’s going to focus on next:-)
Beneath the Sugar Sky had probably my least favorite storyline as well, but I loved Cora enough to end up liking it in the end – I’m glad to hear there’s more of her in this book. Also, I really need to reread Down Among the Sticks and Bones. Great review!
Acqua recently posted…Monthly Try A Chapter #1
I adore Cora, and I wish she was featured more prominently, but her very brief storyline in this book is pretty cool:-)
One of these days I will finally try this author. This is a fantastic and well-balanced review, Tammy.
She’s well worth trying, really any of her books are so good!
Down Among the Sticks and Bones was my favorite novel in this series as well, so I’m beyond happy to learn that the story of Jack and Jill continues, even though the lack of “emotional punch”, as you define it, does worry me a little, because McGuire is always great with emotions. But I will not let that deter me in any way….
Thanks for sharing!!!
Maddalena@Spaceandsorcery recently posted…My 2019 in books
You will still enjoy it, I’m sure! It’s hard to complain about any of these books, really.
Interesting, didn’t realize that was a direct sequel to Bones. I think that one has been my favorite so far (not sure if it was because of the vampire, haha). Still excited for this one!
It’s weird the way she’s ordering these books, she’s skipping around chronologically. But I loved the vampire storyline as well, which you don’t really get with this book (the Master doesn’t appear at all)
I just got an arc today of this and hope to work it in this weekend. Down Among the Sticks and Bones was my favorite so I’m thrilled to be in the world again. However, hearing Sumi is somewhat annoying in this one worries me because she is one of my favorite characters besides Jack and Jill. Great review and hey, 4/5 is still great!
Oh cool! You will enjoy it, I’m sure. And maybe it was just me with Sumi. I honestly can’t remember much about her from that book so I could be way off base.
I really want to give this series a try one of these days. The longer I wait the further behind I get. 🙂
Ha ha, well at least the books are all novellas so catching up won’t be too hard:-)
Glad you are still thoroughly enjoying this series, Tammy. I need to progress with her Toby Daye series as I’m horribly behind!
And I need to START the Toby Daye series:-)
This author is my reading list for the new year! Can’t wait to start the series.
Laura Thomas recently posted…Books From The Back Log #28 ~ Gull Harbor
It’s really good, enjoy, Laura!
Good review. A few snags wouldn’t prevent me from enjoying an otherwise good book, either.
Priscilla Bettis recently posted…One Sentence Reviews: My 4th Quarter 2019 Reads
Thanks Priscilla, hey, it’s hard to find anything perfect, right?
I mean to read more backlist books this year. Maybe this is a series I can finally start!
These are all fairly short so you should have no problem catching up:-)
I have to admit I skimmed the review in fear of spoilers as I haven’t started the series yet, but I definitely do intend to start and read it at some point! I’m sorry this didn’t have the emotions you wanted in it for you, but glad you countinue to enjoy the series nonetheless!
Olivia Roach recently posted…2020 Resolutions!
I do love it, each book brings something new to the characters and story so overall it’s such a great series:-)
I just finished this one and wrote me review. I have a different perspective on Sumi which will be in me review on the 6th. I found this to be a bit more of an intellectual read then some of the others but I still loved it. Loved yer take on it too.
x The Captain
Can’t wait to read your review:-)
Love the themes focused in this one, and just the idea of how each book is meant to tackle certain themes! Lovely review as always, Tammy. I definitely need to pick up this series ASAP! 😀
Lashaan Balasingam recently posted…My Monthly Anticipation | January 2020
It’s such an unusual series, definitely worth picking up:-)
I just finished this one, so I had to come check out your review. 😉 Down Among the Sticks and Bones was my favorite of the series, too! So I was extra excited to see that this one picked up where that left off.
Oh my gosh, I’m so glad to hear that Sumi bugged you. I thought I was alone. T_T She just felt so … off to me. Like this was Jack’s book, but it was also largely about Sumi and her character was everything to the plot and that was probably the biggest thing I really didn’t like about this book.
I can’t wait to see what the next books will be, though. I’m still crossing my fingers for books about Kade and Christopher, because they’re probably two of my current favorite characters (after Jack, of course, but Jack had her story told multiple times, so I’m happy).
I think one reason I didn’t like Sumi is that she was the MC of my least favorite of the series, Beneath the Sugar Sky. And she was so mean in this book! I would love to see a story about Kade and Christopher too:-)
I wish I’d kept up with this series but I guess I can try and catch up at some point.
Lynn
She writes so many books! I haven’t read any yet, but I like the setting for this one!
I really need to start reading this series. Thanks.