Where the Drowned Girls Go

Another great book in the Wayward Children series that I think took somewhat more of a darker turn then some of the previous books. I know that there have been dark stories up until this point, but this one felt particularly dark. Perhaps that was because it took place in our world instead of one of the world's of the doors.

Readers are finally introduced to the other school that exists alongside Eleanor West's and it's not a pretty sight. It's uncomfortable and disturbing and a lot of ways, but I really liked this edition.

This is especially true because I have found Cora extremely annoying since her introduction several books previous. I was very glad for her character to grow and for her to become more sure of herself in this volume. It's an easy recommendation and I can't wait to listen to the next book.

This novella is book 7 in the Wayward Children series. This book focuses on recurring character Cora (as well as Sumi and Regan, with some mentions of Eleanor and Kade). I wanted to like this book more, especially with how absolutely creepy the competing Whitethorn school is and how much it feels to me like a conversion therapy metaphor.

But, there's just a lot of things that don't work for me. There's so much retelling of who all of these characters are (and even when I agree with the politics it's a lot of telling instead of showing). It's way too much retread ground if you've read them all but also likely not enough for somebody who hasn't. Cora is clearly going through some trauma, but I don't feel like there's any growth for her or anybody else; by the end of the story, there's not any shift in what's causing her trauma either even though the events of the book are largely caused by her trying to alleviate her feelings. The final reveals also don't really play into the climax of the story; the final moments could have easily happened without knowing any of those things and so that knowledge felt like setting up some plot for three books in the future rather than creating a satisfying ending for this one.

I love the concept of this series dealing with the fallout of portal fantasies so much, but the execution overall has been mixed for me. I think my favorite is still In An Absent Dream (book 4), largely because it's the most solid standalone story.