1. So... I'm very fond of Seanan McGuire books in general, but the prose she uses the Wayward Children books is not really to my taste. There's a lot 1. So... I'm very fond of Seanan McGuire books in general, but the prose she uses the Wayward Children books is not really to my taste. There's a lot of lyricism and not much in the way of humor, which means that I'm generally less engaged than I am when reading say- her Velveteen or Incryptid books. The series also packs in many characters over the course of relatively few pages, which means there's less time for extensive development.
2. What the Wayward Children books do have, are (a) an amazing concept and (b) some really fucking incredible worldbuilding. I have read and liked the previous books on the strength of that alone.
3. Come Tumbling Down revisits a world which has been already been extensively explored in Down Among the Sticks and Bones, and adds very little to the worldbuilding lore. There are a few hints and offhand comments about an aspect of the moors not previously discussed, but most of the exploration of that (ie, whatever it is that involved Cora and Kade) takes place offscreen so it feels somewhat... not enough.
4. The pacing was also... eh. The book is ostensibly about the final confrontation between the Wolcott twins, but (a) the first third was devoted entirely to exposition, (b) the second third was devoted mostly to a sidequest with very little thematic impact on the main conflict (as well as not much practical impact on the climax) and (c) while I did like the last section, it felt a little too rushed, and IMO may not have adequately capitalized on the sheer drama that is the relationship between the twins.
5. There were definitely things I liked a lot about the books because IDEAS. The horses were the bestest. Jack is wonderful, as always. I was also really happy to learn that Alexis survived to live another day. But these were little moments, and the overall story mostly just made me feel like there could have been more.
6. I would like to reiterate that the structure and prose not being to my taste heavily influences my opinion here. Not to my taste =/= bad, and the fact that I'm still happily picking up her books anyway should tell you what I think of Mcguire's writing in general....more
1. I started reading this soon after it came out last year, but gave up after a few chapters because I was not in the mood. I picked it up again after1. I started reading this soon after it came out last year, but gave up after a few chapters because I was not in the mood. I picked it up again after having a couple of disappointing encounters with Agatha Christie books and raced through the story in the course of a few hours because this was a story with all the things I liked about an Agatha Christie novel without any of the stuff that made me wince. I then checked out the author's webpage to see if the similarities were all in my head and was vindicated when I saw that it was at least in part a deliberate Christie homage.
2. You can tell it's a homage because the setting is small town rural England with all the inhabitants always being aware of everyone's business and the conflict is people getting murdered under mysterious circumstances. And you can tell it's not exactly a Christie ripoff because (a) the murder mystery is by far the least developed part of the story, (b) characters get characterizations beyond whatever it is that ties them to the murder, which usually is not the case with Christie novels and (c) it's really gay. There is a lot of gay.
3. It felt a lot like a Christie book (Christie being a very plot-focused writer) being written by a characterization-focused author. I can see why this might not be to everyone's taste, because the murder mystery cannot hold a candle to most of the Christie plots. However, as a person who reads Christie not because of the deluge of suspects and suspicious motivations but despite them, it fell squarely in my area of interest. It has the old timey drawing room mystery that I crave, without all the mess of the gazillion suspects with very little characterization beyond being red herrings. I cared for the characters. I laughed at their wtf expressions. I wanted them to be okay very badly, and all the post-war technically-not-illegal bartering stuff was hilarious. You have no idea how happy I was to hear this was going to be a series because I badly want to see more of the old lesbian ladies. Also, I am in absolute love with Wendy. She is my favorite and I adore her. She deserves everything good in the world.
4. There are things about this book that do feel unfinished- (view spoiler)[the Edward Norris storyline, for example. Cat Sebastian, you really need to give that poor man an ending that isn't him trying to blow his brains out. (hide spoiler)] Also the mystery is, honestly, more of a plot hook than a plot conflict.
5. I suspect part of how much I liked this book had to do with me into a gay post WWII story after Nemesis, which was ah- decidedly not pro-homosexuality. Something with a similar setting but a very different treatment oft he subject matter felt a lot like balm to my mildly singed soul. It turns out I ended up saving this book for when I needed it the most so yay?...more
1. There were two scenes in this that made me cringe with so much secondhand embarrassment that I had to skip reading them because I couldn04 Apr 2021
1. There were two scenes in this that made me cringe with so much secondhand embarrassment that I had to skip reading them because I couldn't bear how bad it was for the characters. Since I am usually kinda heartless about character, I take it as proof of how invested I was in wanting to see both of these people happy.
2. There are a lot of things I liked about this book, and it starts with the tropes. We have older woman/younger man. Financially successful woman/struggling man. A male escort. An autistic female. All the really good stuff.
3. The thing with romance is that unlike other genres, the core is so emotional that you can't float by on plots and themes alone. You absolutely need to show characters having chemistry, and you definitely need to show how they serve as emotional support for each other. Helen Hoang, thankfully, does this. And it's not one of those all the financial stuff goes in one direction and the emotions in the other arrangements. Both characters talk to each other like adults, think the best of each other, and generally do a very good job of making me believe they would be good for each other, and happy with each other.
4. It's also frequently funny as well as emotional, and there are a lot of platonic relationships. I'd say one thing I was sad about was the relative overabundance of Michaels' relationships to Stellas'. I know it's waved off (if not explicitly) partially as a result of her autism, which rubs me wrong a little. It would be nice to have Stella share her world and friends with Micheal, you know- to reciprocate.
5. Anyway, definitely an author I should read more of. That was a very strong first book....more
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