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Fantasy. Fiction. Mythology. HTML: In Where the Drowned Girls Go, the next addition to Seanan McGuire's beloved Wayward Children series, students at an anti-magical school rebel against the oppressive faculty "Welcome to the Whitethorn Institute. The first step is always admitting you need help, and you've already taken that step by requesting a transfer into our company." There is another school for children who fall through doors and fall back out again. It isn't as friendly as Eleanor West's Home for Wayward Children. And it isn't as safe. When Eleanor West decided to open her school, her sanctuary, her "Home for Wayward Children," she knew from the beginning that there would be children she couldn't save; when Cora decides she needs a different direction, a different fate, a different prophecy, Miss West reluctantly agrees to transfer her to the other school, where things are run very differently by Whitethorn, the Headmaster. She will soon discover that not all doors are welcoming... A Macmillan Audio production from Tordotcom.… (more)
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And everyone knew that things from the other side of the door could absolutely leak through into this reality. Her hair had been brown, not aquamarine, before she found her fins. Christopher would die without his flute—literally die.
WHAT'S WHERE THE DROWNED GIRLS GO ABOUT?
Things have gone poorly for Cora since her return from the Moors, and things are getting worse for her. She's now afraid of getting a door—because it might not lead to the world she wants. So now that "other school" starts to sound appealing to her. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to feel at home in this world—it's certainly better than one of the alternatives. There's no way that she'll get those tools at this school (as much as she likes/loves her friends).
So she talks West into transferring her—and regrets the decision before the ink is dried. Still, she sets out to make the best of a bad situation—it's still going to get her the results she's been desiring, just not in a pleasant way.
Cora tackles the situation in a "no pain, no gain" manner. West's school wasn't helping (at least not the way she wanted), the Whitethorn Institute isn't going to save her, it's up to Cora to save herself.
WHITEHORN INSTITUTE
"You've always said that there was a second school."
Eleanor pulled her hands away. “The Whitethorn Institute. Cora, you can’t intend—”
“You said they steal your students sometimes. That when you're not fast enough, or when the children are having a harder time adapting to life in this reality, that sometimes Whitethorn gets there first.” She sat up straight, giving Eleanor a challenging look. “You said it was where students go when they want to believe that everything that happened on the other side of the door was just a dream, or a delusion, and not a real thing at all.”
We've known about "the other school" for children who come back through their doors into our world—one for those who didn't want to see their doors again, one for those who want to feel at home in this world. But this is the first time we've seen it.
It is not a nice place to be.
That's about all I feel comfortable about saying—you'll need to read the book to see how it's not a nice place to be. I get that (especially as the series takes a pro-Eleanor West's Home for Wayward Children stance) it's not going to seem as nice, welcoming, and affirming as the school we're used to. I expected that this school would come across as wanting, not just in contrast, but objectively,
But I think McGuire approached that idea in a lazy manner. It's too obviously a bad environment. She had the chance to go subtle, and she didn't take it. I kept thinking, "Oh, she's making a commentary about X or Y" in the real world—but she was doing so with too broad a brush, and it'd end up applying to things she didn't mean to attack.
Still, if you're looking to make an establishment a villain, she did an effective job. I think it'd have been more interesting—and more fitting with the series—if there'd been more nuance to it. Give the readers a second school that has differing goals from the Home for Wayward Children, but let us respect them while disagreeing—then you've got something. Instead, we get an institution that might as well be twirling its mustache.
REAGAN
It's not just Cora that we see here, Regan's also came to this school after returning from the Hooflands. I appreciated that. I didn't think we had enough of Regan—but it didn't feel like the character would be showing up at West's.
SO, WHAT DID I THINK ABOUT WHERE THE DROWNED GIRLS GO?
McGuire is simply one of the best around—and this world she's created in this series is just wonderful and I really enjoy all the time I spend in it. But this book seemed to be missing something. The previous books in the series all left the possibility open to revisiting the world on the other side of the door, the POV character, and so on—while telling a complete story.
This novel is also a complete story—but it feels (at least to me) too much like a Part One of at least a two-parter (if not three). And I think the book suffered from it. When we get to that second part, I might change my mind about this book, but now it just feels incomplete. Add in my problems with the presentation of Whitethorn and it makes for a less-satisfying read than I'm used to for this series.
I still recommend it as a read—you're instantly sucked into this world, it's fantastic to get a look at Whitethorn (if nothing else); the story of Cora, Regan, and the others is well-worth telling and reading; and McGuire's language and imagination in this series are always fascinating. I just wanted more of this good thing.
Where the Drowned Girls Go is the 7th novella in McGuire's incredible Wayward Children series about children who slip through portals to other worlds and return, to various consequences. I rate a couple of these novellas as among the best things
Cora has suffered after the events of other novellas. She is haunted by other-worldly gods who will not let her go. Miss Eleanor and friends at the Home for Wayward Children try to help her, but she's only worsening. Therefore, she makes a drastic choice to switch to another school for children who have returned from other worlds. She finds a place that is disturbing, a place where everything is not what it seems.
This is a good read--good pace, good relatable characters (as someone who was obese in school, wow did I relate to Cora), good exploration of this fascinating world. I hope McGuire continues to write in this series, as I fully intend to read them all.
Cons:
Cora Miller is still having nightmares months after returning from the Moors and no longer believes Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children can help her. So she transfers to the other school for children who have found doors
This is the 7th novella in the Wayward Children series and relies on knowledge of the prior books to really work. You find out what happened to Regan after the events of Across the Green Grass Fields as Cora deals with the trauma of visiting the Moors in Come Tumbling Down.
Cora is a fantastic character and though it’s not her origin story (so no mermaid adventures in the Trenches) it was wonderful watching her grow and realize that she doesn’t need to be in a portal world to be a hero. And that sometimes you just have to deal with your problems head on.
I found the book thought provoking as it pointed out some of the daily horrors humans inflict on each other, especially towards those with larger bodies.
The story is engaging and the perfect length.
After her journey
McGuire gives us our first true villain in the “real” world, and I’m here for him. There is so much mystery surrounding Whitethorn and his institute and he’s so damned unnerving. An excellent, if not slightly terrifying, addition to the cast of characters for these books.
The Whitehorn Institute is a very different place, very strict, very disciplined, very inflexible, aimed at making the students forget their alternate worlds and the doors that took them there. It's not a kind place, or a safe one.
CW: Fatphobia, suicidal ideation, bullying, and ableism. Mental and emotional abuse from the Headmaster and the Matrons.
Cora initially finds herself being beaten down, and perhaps letting go of some of her grip on her memories. She also meets girls very different from herself, including the Nameless Girl, and some months in, is surprised by a very familiar face as another new student--but who has a very different goal than Cora.
This is a novella, and I can't say anything more that's specific. It's a story about Cora finding her own inner strength, and figuring out what's really going on at The Whitehorn Institute. It's emotionally complex and rewarding, and thoroughly enjoyable, I will say it's even more enjoyable if you've already read Beneath the Sugar Sky and Come Tumbling Down, because events in those novellas are the background for Cora's trauma. However, I think you can follow and enjoy this book on its own, too.
Highly recommended.
I bought this audiobook.
Advanced Reader's
Cora knows
I always look forward to these books. Where the Drowned Girls Go is like a converging of the storylines from [book:Come Tumbling Down|44804083] and [book:Across the Green Grass Fields|53205924]. Longtime readers will certainly recognize previous characters and will appreciate the pick-up of a previous storyline. I feel like the series, thus far, has kind of been divided up into multiple story arcs and I think this one could be the start of another one.
This one is definitely in my top favorites of this series. We've been to many fantastical places but I liked kind of seeing another side to the "real world". It definitely opens up other pathways for the series and I can even imagine this setup following the series until the end where I'm hoping a beloved character finally gets their story.
This series is always such a treasure in how it deals with traumas and friendships and all those difficult things that moving through life will bring. But most of all I love how it highlights heroes and strength and perseverance.
A worthy entry in the series.
The story loops back to Cora, who has been one of the ensemble in a previous story.
There are a lot of fascinating bits of world building, with the focus being on the common 'mundane' world that the children have all come from. Very interested in seeing how this adds together.
Up to now, I'd say that we have very much had a child/adolescent viewpoint on the doors, the alternate worlds, and the lives of the children who return. This one takes a step back, and while the story is still told from the younger viewpoint, the larger story it is telling is much more adult -- much more recognition of what is at stake beyond family, familiarity, and home
content warnings: emotional abuse, school based trauma, identity theft
This novella takes place mostly in a second institution for children who have visited alternate worlds. And I actually found it much more interesting (if far less pleasant) than
The best part about these books is the varied representation, and the concepts of the different worlds. However, I always feel like McGuire attempts to fit a novels worth of plot and character arc into less than 200 pages, and they always end up feeling too rushed and watery for me. I don't want watery, I want full bodied and rich.
This wasn't my favorite in the series, but it wasn't my least favorite either. The short length works in favor of these less than stellar installments, because at least they go by quickly.
Digital review copy provided by the publisher through Edelweiss
This had the potential to explore how different education environments suit different people, because people have different needs… but instead goes for something that's less subtle, less nuanced and more politically pointed. And I'm not really surprised.
Otherwise, it's a well-written and tense episode. I'll keep being selective about which ones in this series I read.
Sometimes she felt like the world where she’d been born was the most nonsensical of them all. Sure, gravity always worked and clouds didn’t talk, but people told lies big enough to block the sun, and everyone just let them, like it was nothing to revise the story of an entire world to make yourself feel better.
Oddly enough, this is the first one where I haven’t cried buckets of tears. But it is sooooooo good.
I'm never SURE about anything. Oh I can be certain, based on knowledge and experience. I can even know, based on the information in front of me.
But sure? No, that's a bone deep belief.
McGuire's Wayward Children books explore how being sure is both positive and negative. The consequences of trying to both be sure and not trust that surety. More then a promise, Be Sure is a warning because once you're are, there is no going back.
Cora is a different kind of student. She begins her entrance into this series like the others - struggling to find just what her Door wants from her to Be Sure, but after the events of COME TUMBLING DOWN (when our merry band of misfits break the one rule Eleanor hopes will protect them - that is, they go on a Quest), Cora hasn't been able to feel...safe.
The shadows haunt her, whispering and terrible. They seek to steal her and she is terrified she will bring ruin to the world beyond her door. So she chooses instead to let go. Unlike Kade who can't return, or Sumi who won't return until its time, or Jack who exiled herself to protect her sister, Cora decides it would be better if she forgot and never returned.
This, friends, is where the OTHER school that has been alluded to comes into play...and where Cora learns that "Be Sure" isn't just a promise or a warning, its a foundation to anchor yourself and find who you truly are.
Seeing Whitethorn Institute, the other home for Wayward Children, was interesting and revitalized the series in a way. Eleanor has been uninvolved and distant in the last few books and, honestly, she's beginning to annoy me as well.
Overall, I'm enjoying this series and am excited to read the next book.
Regan is also in this story and plays a pivotal role.
This series keeps getting darker but you can see themes stay the same. Personal choice and freedom of expression are at the heart of each of the stories and finding a place that allows you to be more wholly you being important for everyone.
I'm looking forward to the next book in the series.
This series just gets better and better. This is one of the books that relies on knowledge of what happened in previous books, particularly Come Tumbling Down, but it introduces a new setting and many new characters, and promises stories yet to come.