Seanan McGuire

The fifth installment in Seanan McGuire's award-winning, bestselling Wayward Children series, Come Tumbling Down picks up the threads left dangling by Every Heart a Doorway and Down Among the Sticks and Bones When Jack left Eleanor West's School for Wayward Children she was carrying the body of her deliciously deranged sister—whom she had recently murdered in a fit of righteous justice—back to their home on the Moors. But death in their adopted world isn't always as permanent as it is here, and when Jack is herself carried back into the school, it becomes clear that something has happened to her. Something terrible. Something of which only the maddest of scientists could conceive. Something only her friends are equipped to help her overcome. Eleanor West's "No Quests" rule is about to be broken. Again. The Wayward Children Series Book 1: Every Heart a Doorway Book 2: Down Among the Sticks and Bones Book 3: Beneath the Sugar Sky Book 4: In an Absent Dream Book 5: Come Tumbling Down

Come Tumbling Down

zilver 

Sarah Sammis

In Down Among the Sticks and Bones the Moors are kept to two counterpoint areas: the windmill which is similar to the world of Frankenstein, and the castle which is equivalent to Dracula. This time the world expands to the sea and it's right out of Lovecraft's version of Rhode Island.

336666 - family home offroad

http://pussreboots.com/blog/2020/comm...

Definitely my favourite so far, and I've missed this specific cast. Love Jack and Sumi and I could follow Jack forever tbh

The fifth installment in New York Times bestselling author Seanan McGuire's award-winning Wayward Children series, Come Tumbling Down picks up the threads left dangling by Every Heart a Doorway and Down Among the Sticks and Bones When Jack left Eleanor West's School for Wayward Children she was carrying the body of her deliciously deranged sister—whom she had recently murdered in a fit of righteous justice—back to their home on the Moors. But death in their adopted world isn't always as permanent as it is here, and when Jack is herself carried back into the school, it becomes clear that something has happened to her. Something terrible. Something of which only the maddest of scientists could conceive. Something only her friends are equipped to help her overcome. Eleanor West's "No Quests" rule is about to be broken. Again. The Wayward Children Series Book 1: Every Heart a Doorway Book 2: Down Among the Sticks and Bones Book 3: Beneath the Sugar Sky Book 4: In an Absent Dream Book 5: Come Tumbling Down At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

fatru tamzil

Deliciously dark and unmercifully, brutally honest.

Denaiir

I was so happy to go back to The Moors since Down Among the Sticks and Bones is my favorite book of the series, but unfortunately this one didn't hit the mark. Maybe I had too big expectations. 

It was full of action, but I think I just wanted the story to be more thrilling. Maybe it's because we went back to a world that had been explored before, but it didn't have that marvelous discovery feeling that the previous books had. I really enjoyed the new locations that we explored in the Moors and the Drowned Gods, but even though I loved Jack in the other books, in this one she was not as compelling a character. 

It's also to be expected from a novella but everything was resolved way too fast in the end and thus the stakes didn't seem that high. Plus, the book keeps telling us they won't all be saved in the end, so I expected more damage. And getting the whole group together didn't really feel necessary, I don't know what use they had in the end. 

It's still beautifully written and I'm glad I read it, but it took me 4 months and that speaks volume. I hope we get to go to a new world next time.

Nessa Luna

The Wayward Children books have always been nice ‘in-between’ books for when I don’t know what to read and I don’t want to pick up something I already have on my shelves. This fifth novella continues the story of Jack and Jill. I think their first novella was my favourite in the whole Wayward Children series, but I, unfortunately, didn’t love this one as much. There were some additions to the Moors world that I didn’t like and it all just felt a bit too fast-moving for me (I mean sure it’s a novella, but still idk). I will definitely continue this series for as long as the audiobooks appear on Scribd because I am just a huge fan of this world!

CAWPILE: 7 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 7 (Avg: 6.43)

Krystyna 

Digital ARC provided by Tor.com & NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Characters

This fifth installment is about characters that I already knew and loved. There were a few new characters introduced, which I also really enjoyed reading about. I loved the two horses, Pony and Bones, one has been pieced together and the other is a skeleton. I enjoyed being introduced to Alexis and her relationship with Jack. I really love Kade's character and I really feel for him in this book. Sumi is full of nonsensical ramblings and I really enjoyed her in this book too. I love their friendship and how they band together to support and help each other.

Story

I thoroughly enjoyed this next installment. The story was great, but I didn't love it as much as others. I think maybe it's because there was a lot of back and forth and the reader goes back to the Moors, which I love, but I wanted something new. I wanted to learn about a new world. I also felt like the other books in this series could stand on their own, and this one I think is too dependent on the others to be able to do that. Maybe that's why I felt this story was lacking a little something that I couldn't quite pinpoint. On the other hand, I really enjoyed how all the stories weave together. 

Writing

The writing in this book, as always, is great. I love reading each one of these books and always jot down quotes as I'm reading them. Seanan McGuire has a way with words, for sure. She can capture so much in such a short span of a book. She evokes so many emotions with such few words. I don't even read the synopsis of these books anymore because I trust McGuire to deliver. Her ability to create these fantastical worlds and describe them so vividly is amazing to me.

Overall

I really enjoyed this book. As I mentioned earlier, it felt like it was too dependent on the other stories. So, maybe it's setting up for another book on down the line or it was the end of Jack's story, I'm not sure. But, it was still a really enjoyable read for me. I absolutely adore this series and I will be continuing on until it's finished. This was my most anticipated release of 2020 and it didn't disappoint. This book was also my very first pre-order, and I'm so happy to have it in my collection. I really love this world and these characters and I can't wait for the next one.

expected more from being back in the moors but was disappointed :[

menna

I’m not sure how these books just get better and better every time but I hope they never stop being written. There’s so many endless possibilities with these world and I never want to leave any of them. My sweet Jack and Jill, I loved this one so much!

dija

I WANT A BOOK ABOUT KADE!!!!! HE IS MY BABY

Jamieson

I read this is an afternoon so that was fun. this felt like it needed to be more epic and then start was too lengthy compared to the middle and end but what the heck it was a pleasant few hours

brianna

Carah Gedeon

This was the weakest one in my opinion. I’m not sure I’m going to continue with this series. The banter in this wasn’t good but rather a little annoying. The third one was my favorite so that’s why I kept pushing but I haven’t liked the last two so :/

Izza

Another adventure in the monstrous world of the Moors. Jack arrives back at the school and something terrible has happened. Jack asks for help from her friends and it is time for another quest. I love the atmosphere of the moors. The descriptions and prose are, as always, on point. Jack and Jill's twisted sibling bond is compelling to me. The ending was over in a flash and I wish we got to learn a little more of the details of what happened after the action. I have a feeling that was purposely vague to leave room for future storylines. There are themes of mental health (OCD and dysphoria). I enjoyed Bones and Pony.

Cheryl Hedlund

marilynn

jack and jill my fav toxic siblings <3333

Didi Chanoch

At book #5, you're probably either in or out. For readers of the series, I will say that this is another strong entry in a very strong series. Jack's back, and we get a lot of Jack and Sumi interacting, which is everything. This is creepy and spooky and very good.

Leonor Ribeiro 

Connor 

4.5? I think this was my favorite one so far.

Ella

I truly love this series and ‘Down Among the Sticks & Bones ‘ has been my favourite so far. The primary character of ‘Come Tumbling Down’ is Jack so I had super high expectations but for me it just sort of fell flat.. idk. The fact that I read the audiobook in very short bursts probably didn’t help since I couldn’t fully immerse myself in the story

Regardless, I will continue to read this series as long as new books are released because they’re always an interesting twist on traditional fairytales and the themes that they explore are so well executed.

Savannah Winchell

1) I really do love the moors
2) I want jill’s childhood POV
3) I want more of the Master obvs
4)Sumi and Gideon! Pls god make this a thing
5) give my boi Christopher his skeli- girl 
6) Cora and Kade 5 ever

Livia

I'm utterly in love with the worlds Seanan McGuire created. Even though I love the "prequel" books more, following Jack and the others in the Moors is fascinating.

I do admit that I still want to read more of the others' backstory in their own world.

Shelby

Celeste Richardson

I received a copy of this book from the publisher (Tor.com) in exchange for an honest review.

Seanan McGuire’s Wayward Children novellas have quickly become one of my yearly highlights. I love having them to look forward to. I’ve been eagerly anticipating Come Tumbling Down since I read the final page of In An Absent Dream this past January. While I didn’t adore it as much as I have some of the previous installments, Come Tumbling Down is a fast-paced return adventure spanning two of McGuire’s worlds that I’ve come to love in recent years. It was an action-packed read that had me flying through its pages in one sitting.
“…the fact that I’ve been damaged doesn’t make me broken…”
I strongly suggest rereading not only Every Heart A Doorway and Down Among the Sticks and Bones before picking up this book, but Beneath the Sugar Sky as well, as characters introduced in that book are key characters in Come Tumbling Down. Due to the fact that so much of this ensemble is comprised of returning characters, some of whom have departed the worlds of the living only to return again, I don’t really feel like I can discuss characters without inadvertently spoiling preceding volumes of the series. So instead, I’ll talk about the worlds.
“A tool is only a weapon when it’s held by people who want to use it the wrong way.”
We venture to two main locales here: our world, via Eleanor West’s School for Wayward Children, which has been the hub shared by all of the stories; and the Moors, the land found by Jack and Jill in the novella dedicated to their adventure, Down Among the Sticks and Bones. We get to see more of this brutally beautiful world that is populated by monsters. Those monsters include those who find their doors in our world and stumble into the Moors, and find themselves finally at home. While Down Among the Sticks and Bones focused mainly on the land grudgingly shared between the vampiric Master and the mad scientist Dr. Bleak, we get to explore more of the Moors in Come Tumbling Down. We are shown the realm of the Drowned Gods, and spend some time in the village populated by their worshippers, as well as meeting the priests and acolytes who live lives consumed by the task of worshiping their cruel deities. We also hear a bit more about the realms of goblins and werewolves and others on the Moors. 
“The world doesn’t stop spinning because you’re sad, and that’s good; if it did, people would go around breaking hearts like they were sheets of maple sugar, just to keep the world exactly where it is…We can be sad and we can be hurt and we can even be killed, but the world keeps turning, and the things we’re supposed to do keep needing to be done.”
What I found the most fascinating was a breakdown of how each monster is balanced by another in their realm. For instance, every vampiric Master or Mistress is balanced in power by a resident Mad Scientist, and if that balance is broken then the entirety of the Moors is in danger of consuming itself. The thought of maintaining balance being such a crucial piece of the puzzle that is this realm of monsters is kind of baffling. Seriously, can you imagine creatures who inspired the horror stories of our world, Dracula and Victor Frankenstein and the Wolfman and Chulthu, all carefully keeping a series of checks and balances so they don’t overextend their malice and wreck their home? The Moon keeps all of them under her watchful, imposing eye, and ensures that none rise above their place without being pulled back down. We also learn what makes a monster, and what makes a hero, and how closely the two can resemble one another to someone on the other side of things.
“Sometimes, after all, that’s what must be said to make a hero: the willingness to keep running even after it becomes clear that the entire exercise is doomed to failure. Sometimes heroism is pressing on when the ending is already preordained.”
Come Tumbling Down, like Beneath the Sugar Sky, is more of an adventure narrative than the other three novellas published thus far in the series. While there is character development and loads of depth regarding identity and struggles with conditions that are often written off by those who don’t suffer from them, these tales of adventure don’t have as much room for beautiful, nearly poetic prose as their slower-paced counterparts. The writing is still absolutely lovely and often profound, but it didn’t resonate quite as strongly with me as Every Heart A Doorway, Down Among the Sticks and Bones, and In An Absent Dream. That’s an incredibly subjective opinion, I know, but it’s what’s true for me.
“No one should have to sit and suffer and pretend to be someone they’re not because it’s easier, or because no one wants to help them fix it.”
As always, the idea of doors leading misfit children to realms that are their true homes, despite not being the world of their birth, is endlessly enchanting. Coming to understand why beautiful blond twin girls could call a world populated by monsters “home,” because they themselves are monstrous on the inside, is merely the tip of the iceberg when it comes to insights gained into their children throughout the course of the series. McGuire has also excelled in not only ensuring representation for those who feel like they don’t fit in, but in presenting an incredibly varied cast who demonstrate a plethora of both identities and conditions without allowing those things to be all that defines them. Finding yourself and your place are the most important quests any person can undertake, and that is shown on such a large scale in the Wayward Children novellas. The series is beautifully done, and I will be eagerly awaiting the sixth installment.

All quotations were taken from an uncorrected proof and are subject to change upon publication.

You can find  this review and more at Novel Notions.

you can tell that those are mcguire's favourite characters. and honesty? fair.

i liked it. i probably wish that jack and jill's story was a full novel series on its own, as it would be right up my alley and, as i have previously said, i think mcguire executes sibling dynamics excellently. (but i guess i will always have the 'prophecy of the sisters' trilogy)

Come Tumbling Down

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