Down Among the Sticks and Bones

Surprisingly, NOT a continuation of the first book but a kind of prequel? Sidequel? Interesting but I don't know, I was surprised to see the focus move to Jack and Jill, who were not the most interesting characters in the first book. In fact, the concept of the 'school for portal kids' is entirely absent here, and it's just the portal origin story for these two kids. And their portal world is sort of interesting, but too Tim-Burton coded for it to feel anything but clay-mation.

Noted on October 16, 2025