Seanan McGuire has created such a fantastical world where we dive deeper into the worlds that other authors have created but haven't expounded on. I love this series and have all of them.

This is book 7 in the Wayward Children series.
I started reading this series last year and I have been enjoying it.

I loved this book. I loved seeing previous characters and I love the story.

I do recommend this series.

3.5 stars

Another solid installment in the series. I found that it was a very slow going plot at the start and didn't really start getting going until 70% of the way in. The ending felt rushed while the middle felt dragged out so I think this needed more work on the pacing. I did really like the concept of another school in this world and it had very interesting ideas on identity, what is real, and how the magic of this world works. I loved seeing characters from previous books in here.

This one didn't work for me, and I'm disappointed by that. The novellas in this series that take place at the school tend to be my favorites, but this one bucks that trend. It's a necessary expansion of the world, especially if the series wants to go on in perpetuity, but it leads to a tedious and unenjoyable adventure. I am happy to see that this one worked for others though, as this series is one of my favorites, and I look forward to the next adventure!

Thank you to Tor and Netgalley for providing me with an ARC.

I enjoyed I but I don't feel like I fell into the environment and believed it like I had with the previous books. The new school was a great way to expand the world but everything felt very surface level. I dont feel like I got any answers. And I dont think the two time jumps helped the story.

This very much felt like it existed to progress the series long arc instead of existing in the interest of Cora and her journey. I dont know if my expectations were to high but I didnt get as much out of it as I'd hoped. This mostly feels negative but its still worth reading and I'm definitely continuing with the series.

I received a copy of this book for review from NetGalley. It's the mark of a great author that I'm still worried about fictional characters after the end of the book. Where the Drowned Girls Go felt visceral, and uncannily real, especially for a book about a girl who spent time as a mermaid. Cora felt like a real person, and I wanted to hug her so bad. This is a story about finding the difference between a monster and a hero, and doing the right thing even when it may not be the right thing for you. It may be a novella, but this book will live on in my head for a long time. I highly recommend it, and I love this series.

I can’t tell you how much I adore this series. Every time I think I can rank them from fave to least, a new installment comes out and completely shifts them all. This book takes place at Whitethorn Institure, sister school to the Home of Wayward Children. We get mystery, friendship/found families, sadness, the importance of individuality, and talk of past traumas that are handled so well. Sumi plays a big part in this book with Cora and while she wasn’t my fave in previous stories, I loved her in this one. This series seriously is so much win no matter which books you start with. This has now been bumped up to my #2 spot.

This was not at all the book I expected when I picked it up, because I’ve read the previous books in this series. I expected to read about Cora’s time in the Trenches, or at least some other mermaid world. Instead, I got a story about a wholly different school for children who’ve walked through doors than this series has previously dealt with: one where the children are being made to forget their doors.

It wasn’t what I expected, but I really enjoyed it; I still want to see Cora’s world, but seeing a new approach to the doors within *this* world was good in its own way. It makes the whole series that much richer, and addresses the question I should’ve thought to ask—we’re always told that some doors lead to dangerous worlds, so what about the kids who are scared of what lies behind their doors?

Anyway, I highly recommend this.

OOO this one was definitely a thrill... actually pretty creepy at times so maybe try not to read it at night! Great writing and the characters were excellent.

I love seeing a plus size main character and I was hoping Cora would eventually become a main character and get her own book. I enjoyed seeing the darker version the Wayward House and seeing how the other children live their lives after coming back. I do need to re-read the entire series because there were some parts of previous stories I had forgotten completely. Overall, I really enjoyed this.

Cora, terrified that the Drowned Gods are coming for her, asks Eleanor to transfer her to Whitethorn Institute. But Whitethorn Institute is extremely different from Eleanor West's Home for Wayward Children — it was built to drain the magic out of children who come back through the doors. But there is something ever darker lurking under the surface of the school, and if Cora doesn't figure it out, she might never leave.

All of the Wayward Children books have been favorites of mine. This one did not disappoint. A perfect mixture of hopeful and heartbroken, tragic and triumphant, Where the Drowned Girls Go is a perfect exploration of the trauma that follows children who survive quests and the adults who will stop at nothing to stomp out their magic.

Where the Drowned Girls Go by Seanan McGuire
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Returning home to Wayward Children is never quite EASY, but it is always WONDERFUL. And in this case, Cora makes a serious decision that takes her to a hellish place.

Of course, in this case, it's not really an adventure to a difficult hell dimension, but it's close. It's the OTHER school. The one that denies other realities and forces the children to fit into its mold. In other words, it's either a school for recalcitrant children or a psycho ward or it's a boarding school. I think it's meant for us to figure out which it is.

I just call it a training ground for our modern reality.

So yeah, I guess it is an adventure to a difficult hell dimension.


The novella is hard, sweet, terrifying, and eventually quite cool. Those reveals...

The series is as strong as ever and a real treat to read.

Seanan McGuire has done it again. This is the seventh book in the Wayward Children series.
At the beginning of the book, we are back at Eleanor West's Home for Wayward Children. Cora is struggling with nightmares that stem from the group's trip to the Moors. Unable to cope and afraid of the Drowned Gods returning for her, Cora asks to be transferred to the Whitethorn School. Cora hopes that at Whitethorn, she can forget her door and be safe from the Drowned Gods.
McGuire does a fantastic job of weaving individual stories that always come back together. I loved that we got to meet students at the other school along with seeing the impact of Cora's journey on her.

In this addition to the Wayward Children series, we finally get to see the Whitethorn Institute, the sister school for those children who never want to return to their portal worlds. Only (brace yourselves...) all is Not As It Seems at the Whitethorn Institute. I enjoyed the way McGuire keeps weaving the various stories from the various books throughout the series, and it was good to see old friends and meet new characters alike.

I always love going back to the Wayward Children series, but this particular installment is my personal favorite so far.

Where the Drowned Girls Go is a change for the Wayward Children series. Instead of exploring a doorway, or spending time at Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children, the book takes place at Whitethorn Institute. The Whitethorn Institute takes a much different approach to children who come back from their doorways than Eleanor West's Home for Wayward Children.

This book features various characters from past books as well as new characters and their doorway stories. Like past books in the series, important topics are woven into the story. In the case of Where the Drowned Girls Go, fatphobia, identity, and making choices for oneself and situation are explored.

Every book in the Wayward Children series is good, but I really found this one to be exceptional. Seanan McGuire has already built a series with a great concept, a solid world, and fantastic characters. Where the Drowned Girls Go maintains these features and adds to the world by showing where else children who have been through doorways might go, if it’s not the Home for Wayward Children.

I highly recommend this series overall, and Where the Drowned Girls Go specifically. This series is always fun, and explores important topics in such a thoughtful and caring way.

These books are always so hard to review for two reasons. #1 – They’re really short. #2 – They’re sequels and not always related to the one published just before it! So this review won’t be all that long lol.

So here we have a book that mainly focuses on Cora. She was a mermaid in another land and lives in constant struggle. Here, in this world, she is too different to be accepted. She’s overweight and people have looked down on her for her whole life because of it. They fat shame her, consider her less worthy, and assume she is less capable. But she doesn’t let anyone get her down which is why she’s one of my favourite characters! She’s strong, pushes through the assumptions, and realizes that the only person who can save/help her is herself. Get it, girl! But now, on top of those struggles, she’s dealing with the loss of the water world that made her feel like she actually belonged. She belongs swimming in the sea with her mermaid tail, but her world cast her aside and now she’s back on land with legs. She wants to forget that land and move on to accepting the world she’s in now which brings her to the Whitethorn Institute.

The Whitethorn Institute has been mentioned many times throughout the series so we’ve always been aware of its existence, but had yet to see it for ourselves. This was the first time we’re getting the experience and it was mostly what I thought it would be – awful, institution’ish, and prison like. Where Eleanor is soft and gentle, Whitethorn is harsh and brutal. Both claim to want to help children accept their lives outside of their doorways, but Whitethorn’s intentions aren’t as clear. But it was really interesting reading how a different school handles “wayward children”.

We also got more of Regan, who was our protagonist in book #6! I think that book was probably my least favourite of them all. We didn’t know anything about how she fit into the story before that book so I had no emotional attachment to her to begin with. I also didn’t enjoy her as a character and I don’t enjoy horses so… I was doomed to not like it. Luckily, in this book, she comes back and integrates her into the series as a whole, and I liked her a little better… though not by much. I also love that this series comes full circle!!!

My main issue with this book – it just wasn’t long enough. I got to the end and there wasn’t the satisfaction of an “ending”. This was more like a beginning, setting the story up to be completed in later books. This has happened before in the series so I’m not too mad about it. I love being able to go back and reread them, connecting all the dots along the way. So I’ll love this one…. later on, when I know the whole story lol.

All in all, I still loved the story for what it was. It was definitely one of the more grounded of the series, focusing more on the here and now opposed to the many worlds beyond the doorways.

📖 Fantasy Book Review 📖

In the latest installment of The Wayward Children series, we follow Cora, a mermaid who decides to leave Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children and her friends to escape the whispers of the Drowned Gods. Whitethorn Institute is the opposite of the loving home Eleanor West offers. At Whitethorn, they are more interested in getting their students to forget their doors. Forget who they are.

I only started reading The Wayward Children series last year and I am in love with the characters and just the overall story. Some books are better than others, of course, and I was a little unsure how I would feel about a Cora led story. While I never disliked Cora, I have just been wanting stories from other characters first. This book made me realize how wrong I was and I am so happy that Cora was able to add to her story in this way.

This book touches on identity, acceptance, what is a hero, what is good, what is evil. There’s a lot packed into this novella and so much is added to the overall story. The last page made me cry, which made me realize I was caught up with these characters. A reread of the full series must happen soon.

The writing was wonderful, the pacing was great, and the characters that came back from previous books were also wonderful. I really enjoyed the new characters, too. With the previous books, we only met children who found their doors and liked the world on the other side. In this book, we are introduced to characters whose doors took them to worlds that were frightening, worlds that they don’t want to return to. With this opening into the overall lore, I’m even more excited to see where this series goes in the future.

WHERE THE DROWNED GIRLS GO is the seventh book in the Wayward Children series by Seanan McGuire and comes out TODAY! Thank you @netgalley and @tor for the eARC of this delightful book!

Have you read this series? I highly recommend it!

Another excellent instalment from Seanan McGuire’s Wayward Children series. This one follows the pattern of the even numbered stories taking place in the worlds beyond the doors introducing us to new children that have found their doors and their homes, while the odd numbered books in the series take us back to Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children and the lives of the children once they have returned from their adventures. This is is book seven in the series.
We are back with Cora after all the heartache and trouble of the events of Come Tumbling Down (book 5) and things are not ok. So much so, that she leaves Eleanor’s safe haven for the other school, Whitethorn. I loved getting to explore Whitethorn. It was completely and utterly different from West’s school and it made for a great background to meet new people, learn about their worlds, for Cora to recover and we also got to find out what happened to Regan, the protagonist of Across the Green Grass Fields (book 6).

This novella was again packed with emotion, dealing with body image issues and bullying in a concise and understanding way. It again like the rest of the series balances the serious and the whimsy perfectly and leaves you satisfied in both the stories underlying narrative and in the magic as well.

This book is very much a continuation of several other books in the series, especially books 3,5 and 6. So it’s hard to explain without spoilers. But primarily it follows Cora and her recovery after the events of previous books (Come Tumbling Down). We get some answers and a lot more questions that are unanswered and leave for some very intriguing ideas for following books. The more I read in this series the better it gets and I can’t wait for more. I’m so excited to see where Seanan McGuire takes us next.

5 Stars!

This book is an incredible addition to the Wayward Children series.

Cora is struggling with her experiences in the Moors, so she decides to leave for the sister school, the Whitethorn Institute. She hopes that the Institute will help her. But are things really as they seem?

Where the Drowned Girls Go deals with the theme of identity, and learning who you truly are. I can't really say more without spoilers, since it's such a short book, but this book adds a whole new cast of characters for McGuire to play with, and I can't wait to see if they return in a future book.

CN for fatphobia.

I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.