Review: Come Tumbling Down by Seanan McGuire

Title: Come Tumbling Down
Series: Wayward Children series #5
Author: Seanan McGuire
Source/Format: Borrowed from the library; Hardback
More Details: Fantasy
Publisher/Publication Date: Tor.Com; January 7, 2020

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Synopsis from Goodreads...

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...

**There are possible spoilers for the first four books in the Wayward Children series in this review. You have been warned…. **

Come Tumbling Down is a slight departure from some of the more hopeful themes of the Wayward Children series. But then again, nothing about Jack and Jill’s story has been anything but a dark trek through the Moors. Even so, Come Tumbling Down was one of the darker installments of the series. It also featured my favorite group of characters and setting from this series, and the overall story was good.

Jack Wolcott has always been one of my favorite characters. With each of her appearances throughout this series, she has always stood out. Even after her appearances in Every Heart A Doorway and Down Among the Sticks and Bones, there was always one lingering question left: What happened to Jack and Jill once they returned to the Moors? Come Tumbling Down firmly answered that question.

As I mentioned above, I liked the story. It was as fast-paced as the others in the series, and the ending left Jack’s story in a much more satisfying—and bittersweet—place. I also enjoyed seeing more of the Moors again. The setting—which is a prominent part of Down Among the Sticks and Bones—was expanded beyond the windmill and the town, most prominently by a couple of new locations.

Come Tumbling Down is one of my favorite sequel stories from the Wayward Children series to date. I’m already looking forward to the next book, Across the Green Grass Fields.