Down Among the Sticks and Bones

Down Among the Sticks and Bones, while a sequel to Every Heart a Doorway, is set chronologically before it. This means that we get Jack and Jill's story, about how they reached the Moors, how they were changed there and what happened to make them come back. It explores gender roles in modern society, and how parental abuse can be insidious and invisible to others. Jacquelline & Jillian were born to a couple who had no interest in being parents aside from fitting it like a slot into their perfect lives - and they each see one of the girls as clay to fashion into what they want their child to be like. Jill is molded into the tomboy by her father, because he wanted a son, and Jack is brought up to behave like a princess, because that is what her mother wanted. Nobody asked what they wanted, and when they finally reach the horror-town of the Moors, where they are free to choose what lives they want to lead, they are happy. Jill gets to reclaim her femininity while Jack can be more than a pretty face - each of the girls is complex and even in the monster-ridden world of the Moors, they are able to carve out happiness for themselves. However, as the author warns us, they were creatures of their parents' desires, so wholly separated from each other, that tragedy was to befall them. Jill becomes a ward of the local vampire lord (trust me, not so humorous as it sounds) while Jack apprentices under the 'mad scientist'. Jack even finds love in the form of a resurrected girl, but we know that story was never going to end well - this was a 'before' story for a reason. I actually read this as an audiobook, in which the omniscient third person narrative and the author's lovely storytelling (she narrates it herself) combine to deliver a story that is delightfully morbid to hear

Jack & Jill + Chronicles of Narnia + Seanan McGuire Sorry, there were other combos, but I don’t want to spoil anything for y’all! Jacqueline and Jillian never got a choice in who they would be. Their parents saw to it that one was a pretty princess and the other would be a tomboy to make up for the shame of not having a boy AND a girl. When they find a staircase in their grandmother’s trunk, they have an opportunity to choose for the first time in their lives. To choose their master and to choose each other. Again, adored this and will be buying the third to read next month. While Jack & Jill were primary characters in Every Heart a Doorway, we get the whole heart-breaking story here. I have seen in other reviews that this book should be first and EHaD second, but I humbly disagree. If that were the case, there would me no shocking twist in EHaD. Just a gorgeous story. I was at first disconcerted that we weren’t in the school, but Seanan made me forget that very quickly. Besides the breathtaking character and world building, she has a language that can’t be replicated. Buy this for yourself and everyone you know, twisted or not!

This was a telling of the door that the twins opened, how society and environment can shape a person and create monsters and heroes. I love Seanen's style and loved this prequel for part of the wayward children series.