A review by librarymouse
Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire

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

5.0

Jack is such a stoic character in Every Heart a Doorway. It was really interesting to see the childhood glimpsed in the first book, in vibrant detail. While the book is about both twins, it's pretty hard to care about Jill. At the same time, her anger is justified. Jack being encouraged to be pretty, quiet, and nonargumentative let it seem like she was on the side of her parents, even though both girls were trapped in the lives their parents designed. It was interesting to see Jack being deemed the pretty twin, and Jill the sporty one of the two in their youth, and to watch those roles melt away as they acclimated to their respectively chosen roles in the moors. Jack is taught to be an individual with a responsibility to the community and a community to be a part of. Jill is molded into a selfish child of a monster, getting everything she's ever wanted and only learning to crave more. Jack left and chose Dr. Bleak to save Jill, knowing she'd never be able to measure up to the level of decorum expected of them as Jack would be able to - at least not as they were when they were young. She left because she knew Jill would grow to resent her, even as Jill yearned for a relationship with her sister. Alexis's death at Jill's hands, as the person who loved Jack and taught her to love and be loved in return, was also the final blow through which Jack realized she couldn't completely give up on her sister and watch her be rightfully killed by the mob of townsfolk. Jill's delusion that killing Alexis would reconstitute her relationship with Jack shows how much of an influence the Master had on her, and how far she's gone from humanity. I hope we get to see them again, back in the Moors and Jill having to learn how to live like a person again, now that she's dead and cannot be loved by the Master. The possibility of Alexis's second resurrection is something I still haven't given up on yet.
I also really enjoyed Jack's explanation for her masculinized look, as not hiding or dismantling her femineity, but preserving it from the dangers of her work.
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