It's a dark and stormy night at Miss West's, at least inside Christopher's basement room, where lightning has just struck, creating a door through which Jack appears -- or is it Jill? In a way, it's both: Jill has forced Jack to switch bodies with her, so that Jill can become a vampire like she's always wanted. Being in Jill's tainted body is wreaking havoc on Jack's OCD, but even worse, Jill's actions have created an imbalance in the power structure of the Moors, which can't be allowed to continue. Jack is asking her friends at the school to help her with one more quest -- one which could put a permanent end to Jill's schemes and ambitions.

This book completes the Jack and Jill story arc within the Wayward Children series. It hasn't been my favorite part, but it's been an interesting ride. I didn't feel that the secondary characters got quite as much page time or character development in this book as they did in some of the other ensemble/quest stories, but they each had a part to play. Recommended for fans of the series, especially the Jack and Jill fans. ( )

I had some hemming and hawing about how much I enjoyed the first half of this book plot-wise simply because parts of it felt a little too recap-y for me. BUT I totally enjoy McGuire's writing and the Wayward characters, so I never was bored reading it! I loved seeing the power balances of the Moors and hearing about how this particular world is maintained, and I'm very happy with the ending (even if it was a tad bit rushed). It's a long wait for the 6th book, but I'm crossing my fingers and hoping for a Kade or Cora novel next! ( )

I found this book disappointing. There was no reason for Kade to tag along since he quite literally did nothing. I thought everyone was acting out of character. Sumi was annoying and downright mean. Jack lost her unique charm. We didn’t even learn anything more about the Moors. It felt like this book wasn’t needed and it didn’t add anything to the series. ( )

Sometimes, in an effort to do the conventionally right thing, we end up doing the universally wrong thing and try to tell ourselves pretty lies to feel better.

Once upon a time a practical monster killed her pretty monster sister to save everyone.

At the end of EVERY HEART A DOORWAY Jack stabbed her sister Jill, before fleeing through the Door to the place she gratefully called home. Unlike every other student at the school, Jack had not been exiled from her Door because whatever powers govern these things thought she was not CERTAIN enough (Jack is never not certain of her actions). Jack was exiled in a bid of familial love for her monstrous, murderous twin to keep her safe.

Three times Jack protected and saved her sister, and three times that LOVE proved fatal for others.

Along for this Quest that is not a Quest (just as before with Rini in BENEATH THE SUGAR SKY) are Christopher, Cora, Sumi and Kade.

However our intrepid Wayward Children have all, in some way or another, found themselves at crossroads they didn't wish to be at. Christopher who misses Mariposa more and more with every breath he takes, finds Jack's return disquieting for the new array of traits she kept buried before. Kade is afraid of the future, as his Aunt fades a little more each day and the responsibilities of helping other children with misplaced Doors falls on his uncertain shoulders. Cora finds everyone's easy acceptance of the horrors Jack brings to them unfathomable and longs for the Trenches she understands.

And Sumi is...Sumi. Practical in her own way and just as much a Monster as Jack, just in a cotton candy package wrapping.

We meet Alexis once more and she's as perfectly matched for Jack as she was before her second death in DOWN AMONG THE STICKS AND BONES. She's exactly what Jack needs, and shows her own fierceness when Kade asks one too many pointed questions he had no business asking.

Gideon is a new child who found his Door before Jack found her way to the Moors and who finds himself the object of Sumi's interest.

This is filled with romance and adventure and heart break and happy ends. Everyone finds themselves changed when they go to the Moors and only the Monsters are really able to survive. ( )

Jack & Jill, the Moors, Christopher, Kade, Cora, Sumi...what more could we want from a book? ( )