Where the Drowned Girls Go

 Tell me a story... about finding your strength 

Where the Drowned Girls Go (Wayward Children #7) by Seanan McGuire

Publication date: January 4, 2022

Date read: January 17, 2022

Warning: minor spoilers to follow for previous books in the “Wayward Children” series. 

Cora is a mermaid. At least, she was, after she went through her door into the Trenches. Now she’s back in our world, and has always been keeping an eye out for her door back. But after a rescue mission to the Moors, and a close encounter with the Drowned Gods, Cora no longer feels safe in the water, and only wants to forget her time in either world. It’s for this reason that she requests a transfer from Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children, where you’re taught to accept, to the Whitethorn Institute, where you’re taught to forget. But promises are one thing, and Cora soon realizes that the promises that Whitethorn makes to its students might not represent the whole truth about what goes on behind their doors. 

Note: This is Book 7 in the Wayward Children series. While some of these books are standalone and can be read out of order, I highly recommend having read the previous books before starting this one. References are made to characters and events in previous books that will both serve as spoilers if you choose to go back and read them and leave you a bit confused when reading this one. 

I love the Wayward Children series. (Let me get that bias out of the way right now.) Most of these books are under 200 pages and are able to build whole imaginary worlds (sometimes more than one) in so few pages. And Cora is one of my favorite characters from the series, so I loved getting her as a lead in one of the books. 

This book is a little different from previous books in that were not thrown into a new world, but rather into a new school in the “real” world. This bleak place is at times worse than the “wicked” alternate worlds, because of the nature of it, trying to emotionally wear down its students enough that they eventually give in and admit that their magical worlds were just a dream. While I would have loved to read more about Cora’s mermaid life in the Trenches, I thought that this situation was a great place for her to shine. 

Also, when we first encountered Sumi in Book 1, I didn’t love her. But the more books she’s in, the more she has grown on me, to the point that I really enjoyed her presence here. 

In this whole series, McGuire does an impressive job of world-building, and each world is different. It’s hard enough creating one believable alternate world, but to go from death-obsessed worlds to goblin markets to worlds made of candy, and so many others, is just wonderful. And her teenage protagonists are all complex and interesting, but to a point where adult readers will also really enjoy their stories. 

Overall, I highly recommend this book for any fantasy fan, teenager or adult. And anyone who is just trying to get into fantasy or isn’t sure if they like it - Book 1 of the series (Every Heart a Doorway) is only 175 pages. A good place to start. And I do strongly recommend that if you are interested in this series, you read it in order. There is too much overlap between characters and worlds that skipping ahead would get confusing. One of my favorite series, and this book does not disappoint. 

Rating: 5/5 stars

Trigger warning: suicide attempt, forced institutionalization, body shaming, bullying

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book 

Funny, You Don’t Look Autistic

Tell me a story... of a childhood on the Spectrum 

 Funny, You Don't Look Autistic: A Comedian's Guide to Life on the Spectrum by Michael McCreary

Publishing date: March 12, 2019

Date read: November 21, 2021

Michael McCreary grew up “different” from his peers, but as he points out, Autism Spectrum Disorder looks different for everyone. McCreary loved performing from an early age, eventually deciding to use his own stories for stand-up comedy, performing his first gig at fourteen. In this memoir, geared towards a middle school to high school audience, McCreary tells about his childhood through his attempts in his twenties to travel for his stand-up and live on his own. 

I’ve seen reviews that complain that McCreary shouldn’t be writing a memoir yet, because he’s only in his twenties and doesn’t have enough life experience. While normally I might agree, this book isn’t written for that purpose. It’s a book written for teens and young adults, about what it’s like surviving school and starting out on your own when you’re neurodivergent. So for that purpose, I think he was a good choice to write this book. 

There is a lot of good content in this book for both children on the spectrum and for those who aren’t. As the parent of a neurodivergent child, I chose to read this book to gain some insight into what she might face growing up. There is also some good content just on how to interact with neurodivergent children and teens - proper terminology, expectations on areas where they might behave or understand differently. Because of this, I actually think this book would be a great resource for neurotypical kids as well. 

As far as negatives, they’re really only present as an adult reader. The writing style is fairly basic and unpolished, sometimes reminding me of a college entrance essay. And the humor and joking style can sometimes be a bit juvenile (but not in a “toilet humor” way, just in a “geared to teens” way.) But this book IS geared to teens. I don’t think most will be bothered by the writing style - I wasn’t even really bothered by it, but it is something that I took note of. 

Overall, I think this is actually a really good resource for teens and preteens, and I hope it gains some traction as a resource for this age group. I’d like to hear more from McCreary as he gets older as well. Highly recommended for this age group, both for the neurodivergent and neurotypical. 

Rating: 4/5 stars

Trigger warning: bullying, drowning (mentioned), loss of a sibling