Down Among Sticks and Bones

Author: Seanan McGuire 

Pages 187
Series: Wayward Children
Genre: YA Fantasy
Book Description (from Good Reads): Twin sisters Jack and Jill were seventeen when they found their way home and were packed off to Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children.
This is the story of what happened first…
Jacqueline was her mother’s perfect daughter—polite and quiet, always dressed as a princess. If her mother was sometimes a little strict, it’s because crafting the perfect daughter takes discipline.
Jillian was her father’s perfect daughter—adventurous, thrill-seeking, and a bit of a tom-boy. He really would have preferred a son, but you work with what you've got.
They were five when they learned that grown-ups can’t be trusted.
They were twelve when they walked down the impossible staircase and discovered that the pretense of love can never be enough to prepare you a life filled with magic in a land filled with mad scientists and death and choices.

Things to consider:

• Characters: 8.5
• Jack and Jill are very interesting.  They do not like each other very much but they could have been so close if only they had tried.
• The Master and the Dr with their world have their own rules but they show their care in their own different ways.
• Plot: 8.5
• There is very little plot development it is a more character-based storytelling of how the girls came to be. How their world worked and how they both choose the paths to take and the consequences of their actions. 
• Logic: 8.0
• The way Jack and Jill were raised gave the first few steps to their growing apart. But they also did not try very much and it is very logical the way they end up so apart especially based on their life choices after they ended up in their world. 
• What does not make so much sense is the way after losing her lover she can overcome it and yet still think about saving her sister and that surprisingly makes them grow closer. Or maybe not closer but they stick together because no one else would understand what they've lived through and what they miss. 
• Writing Style: 8.0
• The story is easy to read, fast-paced even if it feels very little is happening. 
• The audiobook is very good as well.
• Intrigue: 7.0
• There is nothing much of surprise, everything is easy to see coming but that does not stop you from enjoying it. 
• Intention: 8.5
• The main focus of this story is to explain the other worlds, and especially the way the twins shared and explain why they are the way they are in Every heart a doorway. 
• Enjoyment: 10.0

Total Score: 58.5
Average: 8.3
Star Rating: 4.0

Used to accomplish challenges:
Fall into Fantasy Readathon. #3 An LGBTQ Fantasy.