Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Where the Drowned Girls Go by Seanan McGuire

4 reviews

madamenovelist's review

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5


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booksthatburn's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Cora can't stop hearing the Drowned Gods and wants to escape their oil-slick rainbows on her skin. She transfers to Whitethorn Academy in the hopes that it'll be better to forget, but it turns out conversion therapy for kids returned from portals doesn't work any better than the other kind.

Cora is a mermaid even if her scales aren't on the outside right now, but because of some previous events she's currently a mermaid who is having trouble being in the water. The stress of this drives her to think that being severed from both the Drowned Gods and from her Trenches-derived mermaid nature altogether might be better than having both and being haunted by nightmares. She's fat and comfortable in her own skin, the descriptions of fatphobia in the narrative are about how other people are seeing her and assuming things, and she's rejecting those assertions. Fatphobia is just one facet of the food control at Whitethorn, but it's the one she feels most keenly.

Cora doesn’t get to know the other girls very well and that feels purposeful in the narrative. No one at the school is there to bond, they’re there to forget and break in a way that fits the Academy’s version of the world. This gradually changes, especially once a new student appears and they both run into Regan (the protagonist of ACROSS THE GREEN GRASS FIELDS).

The world of Whitethorn Academy is at least partly modeled after “conversion therapy”, which is a euphemist term for the practice of emotionally and physically torturing people (usually children) until they stop exhibiting some “undesirable” behavior (specifically that of being queer). At Whitethorn, the undesirable behavior is anything having to do with the doors. There are a lot of little subtle things that I appreciate about this manner of worldbuilding, but due to what it’s copying a detailed description would likely be very triggering. The big one I will comment on is that Cora notices that almost all the faculty were former Whitethorn students, because the way in which the school breaks them makes them detached from their doors but also ill-suited for the normal world outside. There’s a lot of little things like that which make for a chilling read, forming a complete vision of a place which takes pleasure in breaking children, but told in a way that makes it clear at every moment that this is a horrible thing. 

This continues Cora’s story from her appearances in previous books, as well as showing Regan who was introduced in ACROSS THE GREEN GRASS FIELDS. There's a new storyline which revolves around the continuing effects on Cora from her time spent with the Drowned Gods, and her attempt to break their hold by going to Whitethorn. A big thing is introduced and resolved, but this was just the introduction for Whitethorn Academy and I’m sure we’ll get more in the future. It set up a lot of fascinating things about that school and the contrast between their mission and Eleanor’s. Cora is a new narrator in the series and her voice is distinct from the previous ones. This book is a turning point in the series and might be a bit much for someone to try and start here. It relies in a basic understanding of the doors and why someone might want to either return or forget, so it’s definitely better to start with the first book instead. The ending is well done, with a bittersweet mix of triumph and terror. I'm very excited for whatever's next, this introduced several new characters and I'd love to see their doors.

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megj23's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


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bluejayreads's review

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adventurous dark fast-paced
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Cora was in Beneath the Sugar Sky and Come Tumbling Down, but she hasn’t had her own story yet. This one is hers. 

But it’s quite a bit different from the previous books. It’s not about her adventures on the other side of her door and how she was spit back out into our world against her wishes, or about her adventures at Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children, but rather her attempts to escape from the trauma that those things gave her. It also introduces the Whitethorn Institute, which is an alternate school to Eleanor West’s, and it’s not nearly as nice. 

It turns out, though, than many of the worlds the door lead to are not as nice as the ones our previous protagonists have gone to (if places like the Moors can even be called “nice” – though some mentioned here are worse). The theme of trauma after the magical adventure runs throughout all the Wayward Children books, but it’s especially strong here. No doors are passed through in this book besides the ordinary type, and Cora has to reckon with what happened the last time she went through one. 

I found Cora mildly dislikeable in Come Tumbling Down, but she was very relatable and lovable in this one. I absolutely relate to her frustrations with being fat and other people’s insistence that she chose to be that way and therefore she is lazy/disgusting/morally reprehensible, developing an eating disorder over it and still not losing enough weight to be considered “not fat,” and her attempting to hunch down and be smaller because she feels like she takes up too much space. It’s only mentioned as backstory in a couple spots, but it was so completely relatable. Her attempts to escape from the symptoms of her trauma even if people around her think her solution will also be bad for her was also relatable. Basically if you’re fat and/or traumatized, you’ll probably relate to her. 

The Whitethorn Institute was also interesting, and the complete opposite of Eleanor West’s school. There were interesting characters there (including Regan from Across the Green Grass Fields), several twists about what’s actually going on here, trying to fix traumatized kids by traumatizing them in different ways, and a fascinating look at the more cruel, uncaring side of the doorways and the people that come back through them. It was very dark, it was full of trauma, but it was fascinating. 

The Wayward Children books are always so good. I can’t say this one is perfect, mainly because I think Cora’s trauma was managed a little too fast to be believable, but it’s an enjoyable story in a fascinating world (or rather, a world populated with people who have been to and returned from fascinating worlds). Since this book just came out, I have no idea when they next one will be released or who it will be about (if you’re reading this, Seanan, Kade needs his own book!), but I absolutely want to read it when it is. 

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