Down Among the Sticks and Bones

There are worlds built on rainbows and worlds built on rain. There are worlds of pure mathematics, where every number chimes like crystal as it rolls into reality. There are worlds of light and worlds of darkness, worlds of rhyme and worlds of reason, and worlds where the only thing that matters is the goodness in a hero???s heart. The Moors are none of those things.

We are the children of our parents, even if who become is a result of rebelling against who they are, their choices and teachings shape us.

Jacqueline and Jillian are twin sisters who we are first to in [b:Every Heart a Doorway|25526296|Every Heart a Doorway (Wayward Children, #1)|Seanan McGuire|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1431438555s/25526296.jpg|45313140]. The premise of the series is that children sometimes, if things are aligned just right, find doorways to other worlds. Sometimes they find their ways home, and sometimes this is a blessing, and sometimes it's a curse because the stumbled upon place is where they truly feel they belong.

You don't have to read Every Heart a Doorway first, but if you read Down Among the Sticks and Stones, then Every Heart a Doorway will explain what happened next. Even though it was written first.

Anyhow, Jacqueline and Jillian are born to really bad parents who believe they are really good parents. Each one molds one of the daughters into what they want them to be, with no regard to who they are, and in doing so drive a wedge between the sisters.

They find a door/stairway to a place that includes an area called The Moors. If you're a fan of novels like Bram Stoker's [b:Dracula|17245|Dracula|Bram Stoker|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1387151694s/17245.jpg|3165724], Mary Shelley's [b:Frankenstein|18490|Frankenstein|Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1381512375s/18490.jpg|4836639], Emily Bronte's [b:Wuthering Heights|6185|Wuthering Heights|Emily Bront??|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388212715s/6185.jpg|1565818], Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu's [b:Carmilla|48037|Carmilla|J. Sheridan Le Fanu|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1386923594s/48037.jpg|47015], and seen the old, really atmospheric movie adaptions of these works, you should have an idea about the mood and nature of The Moors. It's England, but it's also Carpathia. It's untamed wilderness as a metaphor for the human heart. It's young love. It's the death of youth. It's peasant fearing and being reliant on the mysterious brutal man in the castle, knowing who and what he is, but not daring to speak of it. It's the mad scientist playing God. It's sad ballads about tragic love stories. It's a bad moon on the rise. It's villagers with torches and pitchforks.

Jack and Jill, as they're eventually known, have a choice between 2 guardians/foster fathers. One is a very pale man known as The Master, with, ahem, a fondness for blood, the other is a doctor with an ability to resurrect the dead. Which they choose shapes who they become. (Again, parents shaping children.)

Someone with sharp enough eyes might see the instant where one wounded heart begins to rot while the other starts to heal. Time marches on.