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Wayward Children, Book 1
Seanan McGuire
4 of 5 Stars
A fast read with an intriguing concept that reverses multiple YA fantasy tropes: It's a non-magical boarding school for teens who have experienced magic. And it's not about the adventures they have going through the portal to a fantasy world, but about how they handle the trauma of coming back to the mundane one. The characters are interesting, and I'd like to read more about them, but halfway through it turns into a murder mystery. That gives it a plot, but it comes at the expense of the characterization. (And some of the characters.) It was entertaining, though, and it does make me want to check out the second book.
Side note: In a case of weird timing, the day I finished reading it, I also stumbled on a discussion about the Canadian boarding schools for indigenous children that quietly disposed of dead students in unmarked graves. Seeing the reminder of that added a disturbing layer of reality to some aspects of the story. And not just the murder mystery.
— Kelson Vibber, 2022-07-01