Part of Wayward Children
First published 2020
Jack arrives at Eleanor West's School for Wayward Children with her sister's corpse in tow. She had killed her deranged sibling in what felt like justified revenge before fleeing their gothic home on the Moors. But death works differently in that twisted realm than it does in our world. When Jack herself gets dragged back to the school, her friends realize something has gone catastrophically wrong. Her sister's death wasn't permanent, and whatever happened next has left Jack fundamentally changed. The transformation bears the hallmarks of mad science, the kind of experiment that could only emerge from a brilliant and unhinged mind. Jack's friends face an impossible choice. Eleanor West has always forbidden quests, but Jack needs help that can only come from returning to the dangerous world she just escaped. Her companions must decide whether to break the school's cardinal rule to save someone they care about. The fifth book in McGuire's Wayward Children series returns to the dark fairy tale logic where murder and resurrection intertwine.
Genres: mystery, fantasy, horror, young-adult, dark-fantasy
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, emotionally-intense, gothic, suspenseful
Tropes: dark-secrets, found-family, resurrection, rule-breaking
Setting: Eleanor West's School for Wayward Children, the Moors
Period: contemporary
206 pages · Hardcover · Tordotcom
Content warnings: body-horror, death, murder