Every Heart a Doorway
Ratings465
Average rating3.9
2023 reread. The first book isn't my favorite in this series but it's still a great place for a start.
I don't know why I put this off for so long. I really enjoyed this. Why does no one bring up the murder mystery plot?
4.5✨
This was very close to perfect! I enjoyed how it was a portal fantasy, one of my favourite tropes, but also not that much of a fantasy with barely any portals (that we get to see).
Nancy! The best aroace description ever! The closest I've ever felt represented in media.
The murder mystery was cool. I liked how it progressed and people became better friends. The ending was a surprise
This is a kind of weird book I can get behind. Normally if a book is too weird, I struggle to understand what is going on but that wasn't the case with this book. I followed along with the story easily. I loved all of the different characters some more than others of course. It was atmospheric and slightly disturbing, but I really enjoyed it and want to continue on with the series.
Review upon reread:
I read Every Heart a Doorway for the first time last year and I wrote a review for it which you can read here. I did a reread of it this year and read the rest of the books that are currently out including the short stories. I read them back to back so they kind of all got scrambled in my brain so I thought I would just write a review on the series as a whole. These books are weird but in the best way. You definitely have to suspend disbelief but if you can do that I guarantee you will have fun with this series. I love how many worlds we get to learn about in this series. Some sound delightful and some no so much. I loved the characters some more than others of course. These are all novella length. For the most part I felt like we got a full story and I wasn't left feeling like I was missing something but at the same time I wanted more from each of the stories. Not because I felt like I was missing something I just wanted to know more about the characters and what happened after the ending of the book. We do get that answer for some of the characters in proceeding books so that was good. I've enjoyed each of the stories equally. I don't think I could pick a favorite but I do have favorite characters some of which I am still waiting on stories for so I hope those are coming. Overall I had fun reading these with Destiny and I can't wait for the next release.
I'm mostly a mystery award winners reader and can never understand a fantasy book. I thought I would try again with this Novella which won many awards in 2016!
This is a good one! Easy to understand and author threw in a good murder mystery also. One of the best books I've read in 2022. I think this is the 1st book in a series and looking forward to #2!
David N.
Really enjoyed the first half...the world building... Second half I grew a little weary of some of the characters...Jack and Jill at that top of that list. Caveat - I listened to this one, and thought it was a good audiobook... But that format can add a layer that isn't present on the page. I probably won't go further into this series.
Even though the other book I tried by McGuire turned out terribly for me (to the tune of a quick DNF due to the writing style) this book was always at least a little on my radar because it seems like literally everyone has/is read/ing it. So I decided to give it ago.
Honestly, my overriding opinion on it - while reading it (actually, listening to the audio book) and now that I have finished - is ‘meh'. To me, this book is almost perfectly average with nothing to recommend or detract it.
But, I'll give you a quick overview of my personal pros and cons.
Pros
+ Decent ace rep - even if Nancy seems a little confused over the aro/ace thing. (She claims to be ace and not aro, but her words and actions make her sound both. I would be interested in this aspect of her being expounded on.)
+ I sort of like Jack and Kade. (And no one else.)
Cons
- Kind of shockingly graphically gory which was unexpected (and reduced my rating by about a half star).
- Inasmuch as this surprisingly short book can be said to have a plot, it's a mystery. A very obvious, not at all surprising mystery.
- Eleanor's idea to send students through her door was stupid and made no sense because the murderer could have been sent through without the only halfway adult halfway trying to protect them and she would have basically unleashed a killer on an unsuspecting world with no one to stop them. That definitely tried to lower my rating again, but I do not believe this was a one star book.
Over all, meh.
Good, I am glad this is a long series of short books (as far as I can tell).
Rating: 3.25 leaves out of 5
Characters: 3/5
Cover: 5/5
Story: 3/5
Writing: 2/5
Genre: Fantasy/Mystery/YA/LGBT
Type: Audiobook
Worth?: Eeehhh
Trying to find the right words for this is kind of hard. I liked it to a certain point. The mystery was nice, even if short lived. The characters were okay but I feel like there could have been more. It is a short read so I'm not shocked. Plus it doesn't help that that all the other books are stories about the other people. It is nice to have a backstory to them but it just feels... meh.
It is kind of a disappointment in a way. Maybe I will pick up the second book but it feels useless given on what happened in the book. I don't like reading something where I know how it will all end.
‘You're nobody's rainbow. You're nobody's princess. You're nobody's doorway but your own, and the only one who gets to tell you how your story ends is you.'
- Anonymous (Sumi)
I loved it. I have never been so excited about a book from the first 20 pages in my life. I even annotated it, which I never do. I saw someone say the ending was predictable but I didn't expect this at all. The only thing wrong is that it was so goddamn short. I need to read the second book immediately.
The way every kid is so totally mad in their own way because of their world is really interesting. Some sentences make no sense in the exact right ways for the right reasons. I really loved that about the writing style.
Interesting idea, beautiful writing, and interesting characters in the beginning.
Then, the main storyline and peripheral characters just lagged in comparison to the world building. I felt detatched from most characters except for Nancy and Jack. Towards the end the writing unexpectedly turns mechanical and procedural. The murder mystery lacked tension and its resolution was was anticlamactic at best. Nancy's resolution didn't feel emotional or earned.
Enjoyable read but I expected to rave about it with the way people talk about this book.
More of a 3.5.
This is one popular series that everyone among my mutuals seems to have read, and while it's always been on my radar and I knew I would eventually get to it, I just was never in a rush. But this August I found myself adding this book as part of the readathon tbr (believe me, it's not the first time) and surprisingly, I have gotten around to reading it.
I definitely picked it up while I was already in the middle of two more books because I wanted a quick read - and it delivered. I finished it in just a couple of hours and it was interesting enough that I didn't wanna put it down. I was fascinated by how much the author was able to incorporate in such a short novella - a world full of portals which lead to many more magical and dangerous worlds, special kids who are able to find these portals but are forever changed by their experiences, the joy of finding the one place where we belong and the trauma we suffer when we are ripped apart from that place, and the lengths to which some might go to find that home again. Add to all this, we also have a murder mystery and a whole host of eclectic characters who are suspicious of each other, and it makes for a compelling read. The author also tries to be inclusive and accepting, and it was nice to not only see asexual and trans protagonists but also understand their inner thoughts about themselves.
Overall, this was a fascinating little read and definitely for fans of portals as well as quirky ensemble characters. Ofcourse due to its length, it feels a bit simplistic and the resolutions are fairly quicker. But it has definitely piqued my interest. And who knows, I might pick up the rest of the series sooner rather than later.
Ik ben absoluut verliefd op het idee, de besproken thema's en de diversiteit in dit boek, maar het kon me toch niet helemaal betoveren. Nochtans is het geweldig origineel en heeft het de perfecte combinatie van onzin en duisternis waar ik steeds naar zoek in sprookjes. Misschien komt het doordat het zo'n kort boekje was? In ieder geval ben ik toch nog reuzebenieuwd naar de andere verhalen en werelden in deze serie.
I really enjoyed the world that is introduced. Children fall through doors to other worlds and then when they get back to the real world they miss the old world. They are put into a school that is supposed to help them readjust to regular life. Their parents don't know that the head mistress of the school understands them better than they think as she has done the same.
What a strange, esoteric little book. This was very imaginative, and a riff on the Alice in Wonderland/ Narnia style of books (both get mentioned in the text) but with a more mature theme/plot. My frequent problems with novellas arises here, I would have rathered this just be fleshed out more in a full book instead of a series of novellas. I also have never read a book with an asexual lead character before, something I didn't realize until it was mentioned, so I'm glad to see that getting some much needed representation in fiction.
I'll definitely be continuing on with this. It reminds me a lot of Neil Gaiman's The Ocean At the End of the Lane, which is amazing, even though both books are incredibly different. They have a similiar feel to me.
CAWPILE SCORE
C-6
A-8
W-8
P-7
I-7
L-8
E-8
TOTAL-7.43/10
CAWPILECharacters.Characters were great. sometimes felt a little one dimensional, but in a short story with th epurpose that it has, it was fine and didn't bother me. AtmosphereLoved the Wayward home, that everyone wants to go back to their "home". WritingThe writing was great. with alliteration when called for and perfectly succintPlotPlot was unexpected in this novella, but the plot fit the story well.Intrigue i guessed who was doing the killing with only a modicum of why but my knowing didn't change my enjoyment of the story. The intrigue of High Nonense vs Low Nonsense vs Logic vs Candy land was quite unique and funLogicLogic was consistent, and well thought out. nobody acted out of character. and they did what they wanted. EnjoymentGreatly enjoyed my time at Westwoods home for Wayward Children
Hovering between 4 to 5 stars. This is a very nuanced exploration of what it means for some of us to navigate the very confusing threshold between childhood and adolescence, and having then to come to terms with a bewildering and often very frightening adult self-identity.
Nancy is sent by her parents to Eleanor West's Home for Wayward Children after she returns from a trip to a magical land altered in almost every way. At first she thinks it's just an ordinary boarding school until she realises that all the students there have been to a different magical land of their own, have come back to the “real” world, and somehow have found their way to the Home to reintegrate themselves.
In terms of plot, there is a mystery that pops up rather unexpectedly, and while it operates decently enough to drive the story and the characters along, my opinion is that the plot really takes a backseat to what I find is the main attraction here: the exploration of each character's growth and individuality.
It doesn't take much to realise that the magical lands these children and teenagers have been through is a thinly veiled analogy for the confusion of puberty and early adolescence. A wide variety of personalities, sexualities, and identities are explored here: our protagonist Nancy is asexual and also probably a bit of a goth, Sumi might have some form of ADD/ADHD, Kade is a trans man, Jack is grappling with gender stereotypes forced upon her by her parents and instead wanting to pursue the sciences, while Christopher is... well, I haven't figured that one out yet.
What the book does best is the way it explores, slowly and respectfully, how each of these individuals navigated their individual journeys, how they felt when they were shunted back into the “real” world, why they each wanted more than anything to go back “home” to the magical land from which they have been expelled, and how they handled interacting with all these other teens around them who have been through the same thing but yet still can be cruel and vicious towards those whom they perceived went through a “lesser” world than their own.
I've never read a book quite like this before and I really appreciated the journey that it brought me on. I'd recommend this wholeheartedly to just about anyone!
2 1/2 stars for something that I really wanted to love, but it sadly fell short of my expectations.What happens when you mash together the whimsy of the coming-of-age theme in [b:Peter Pan 34268 Peter Pan J.M. Barrie https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1337714526l/34268.SX50.jpg 1358908], the magical world of Narnia in [b:The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe 100915 The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Chronicles of Narnia, #1) C.S. Lewis https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1353029077l/100915.SY75.jpg 4790821], and the nonsense-filled Wonderland of [b:Alice's Adventures in Wonderland / Through the Looking-Glass 24213 Alice's Adventures in Wonderland / Through the Looking-Glass Lewis Carroll https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327872220l/24213.SY75.jpg 2375385]? Well, you get this diluted, rehashing of beloved classics that don't hit home in quite the same way. The author's strange way of alluding to these classics by bashing them, especially when it comes to C.S. Lewis, was unnerving to say the least, and disappointing. It is a bit of an unspoken rule that one should not refer to a work in the same genre, especially not a defining one, in a negative, satirical way. While the idea of portals to other worlds in the fantasy genre is nothing new, to deny the influence of C.S. Lewis is just downright insulting, regardless if you agree or disagree with this Christian views. That would be like denying the fact that Tolkien is the father of high fantasy... plain ridiculous.I had wanted to read this book for the longest time, but I never seemed to be able to get to it. When I saw that it was finally available at my public library, I jumped on it and read voraciously, but I ended up being disappointed by my earlier high expectations. The premise sounded like a bit of a prequel (or maybe an alternate world) to [b:Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children 9460487 Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children, #1) Ransom Riggs https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1546430481l/9460487.SY75.jpg 14345371] (which I also wasn't a huge fan of), so maybe I should have expected things to be a bit lackluster. There's no denying that McGuire writes really well and effortlessly paints vivid scenes of faraway worlds, but the narrative itself is where this story suffered for me. I would have liked for Nancy (or any other child) to return to ‘their world' and get a better understanding of how the portals work, but instead I was given a slow slice-of-life story of a handful of jaded teens who complain about clothes or food. Typical. [note: maybe this happens in another book, I have no idea since I haven't read the rest of the series, but it doesn't happen in this one.]The attempt at diversity here was, whilst honourable, token at best. It felt like the characters had labels slapped onto them just for the sake of it without actually diving into what makes them stand apart, their difficulties, etc. This is something that seems to be recurring in lots of post-2010 publications wherein authors attempt to divesify without fully exploring these topics. Perhaps it is due to the current social climate we live in that authors feel the need to prove themselves as open and ‘woke' as possible, but it comes across as fake if the diverse characters are simply used as placeholders for diversity.Overall, while I did enjoy many aspects of the worldbuilding and the writing, this novella had too many pitfalls for my taste that discourage me from reading the next book in the series.
I have pretty mixed feelings about this one. It's built on an incredible idea, but the novella format isn't long enough to do it justice, and the execution is merely okay.
The setup is very strong. All of the Narnia and Alice in Wonderland type stories, those are all true and happened to different people in different worlds. (The nature of the worlds varies and can be extremely dark and not necessarily what you might think of as desirable, but they are all appealing to the personalities of the people who stumble into them.) But most people don't get to stay in their Wonderland, and they end up back in the “normal” world, wanting nothing more than to get back.
So what happens to you if you're a former Wonderlander and now you're back in this lame world, unable to return to the much better place in which you sojourned? Well, it's pretty hard to cope, and their families can't understand and think they've gone mad, so they get sent to, ostensibly, a school to help them get past their delusions. But actually all the students are former Wonderlanders, and the people who run it know they aren't delusional. A little over a third in, the story takes another, darker turn.
Neat premise, right? I absolutely love the kind of stories that make up the building blocks of this one – I loved Neverwhere, for example – and this was recommended to me on that basis. But it's not one of those stories, it's a meta-story about those stories. Unfortunately, there isn't all that much meat there past the premise.
The protagonist, Nancy, is a returnee from a world that just... doesn't offer much of interest to most people, I don't think. It's a bit difficult to relate to her in that way – why would she want to go back there so badly? But you can accept that she does and move on. Nancy's friends tend to be the other misfits, all of whom are a little too cool for school and a little too quick with the repartee. The ones who aren't Nancy's friends are pretty one-dimensional, because there's not enough time for any real character development. I think I can remember one of their names.
After the first third, the “main” plot begins, but it's over before it starts and there's never all that much mystery. You'll figure out a bunch of what's going on pretty quickly, and what you don't the characters will, and then you're at the climax, which goes awfully quickly and with minimal drama, and then you're at the end. The ending is rather too pat as well, and while I don't want to spoil anything, it's not well-supported by the text.
I debated between two and three stars, and for now I've settled on two, although I might change my mind and edit it back up later. If three stars is “I liked it” and two stars is “I didn't like it,” well, for once neither feels quite right. I liked the idea and I wish I liked the end result a bit more. But it's not bad, just... it's a pity it doesn't build more out of the building blocks it has. It's entertaining enough, but the wasted potential is a shame.
“Every Heart Is a Doorway” really has a great premise, but was lacking in execution.
As I am attempting to hit my target count of books read for 2020, I am focusing on works under 200 pages until I hit my goal. Using this criteria, the author's strengths really come through (or doesn't) with such a short medium.