Every Heart a Doorway (Wayward Children, 1) Hardcover – April 5, 2016

I loved this novel even more than I thought I would. It feels like a modern fairytale, complete with a dark and gritty subplot that lingers in the background. It is a weird and unusual story—the perfect amount of weird and unusual in my opinion. It involves the types of worlds that we all grew up reading and daydreaming about, but the book centers around the aftermath of being in those places. It deals with the harsh contrast between reality and fantasy, and how difficult it can be to immerge from that perfectly constructed fantasy back into a rather unaccepting reality.The concept for this novel drew me in immediately, as it is by far the most unique take on fantasy and alternate worlds that I have ever heard of. Reading it felt like reading a fairytale retelling—even though it’s not—and it took me back to my childhood love of fantasy worlds in literature. The atmosphere and tone is a perfectly executed mix of eerie haunting, and whimsical whit and humor. In other words, this novel was totally written for me.In this novel, we follow a young girl named Nancy during her first days at Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children. It is a special school that works to help reintroduce children who have visited fantastical worlds back into the real one. Nancy has a tough time adjusting to her new life, constantly believing she will once again find the door to her beloved world—the world where she felt that she finally fit in.It is tough at first, but she realizes that the other students share many of her feelings, the only difference dividing them being their specific experiences and worlds. However, very soon after joining the school, a gruesome mystery begins to unfold—a darkness that has never fallen over this safe shelter. There is someone right under their noses with a malicious and twisted mind, carrying out horrifying acts, and Nancy and her friends are targeted as suspects by the other students. The group will have to work together to unravel this cryptic case before things get worse.In a way, this novel feels sort of like a broken fairytale. It feels as if it is trying to subtly portray that transition in all of our lives as we grow into young adulthood. We always remain enchanted by inventive and mystical stories, but our world view is much less sugar coated. We can’t get quite as lost in fantasy, and at first, all we want to do is run back to that period of time where we could. Yet, however bleak it seems, we do come to terms with it, and find new life in those fantastical worlds.I really liked the characters McGuire created for her story. Nancy had a solidly depicted personality right from the start, and she slowly evolved throughout the course of the novel, which is no simple task in a story this size. All of the personalities of the side characters were very well defined as well. They each reflected the world, the home, from which they had been pulled. It was a subtle detail that truly fleshed out the plot and made the story more tangible for the mind of the reader.There was also some great diversity in this novel. For example, the main character, Nancy, is asexual, and one of her friends is transgender. The characters all come from different backgrounds and heritages, all joined together by a common experience. This also added further dimension and complexity into the characters and their parts in the plot as a whole.McGuire’s writing style was very easy to read and flowed incredibly well throughout the entire narrative. Her words are deceptively simple. It was amazing how she managed to pack so much depth and feeling into such a small amount of pages. She delves into some important themes, like human behavior and how society deals with people they label as outsiders.When writing a story that has a shorter than average number of pages, it is incredibly easy for characters to come across as bland and one-dimensional, and for the narrative itself to feel quite rushed and overloaded. At no point was this the case in McGuire’s story, which is a testament to her great writing talent. The novel is a short and fast-paced read that leaves you partially satisfied, but also extremely eager to spend more time in the world that she has created.McGuire has produced a quirky, unique, and engrossing little story that is surprisingly captivating. It will come as no surprise that I highly recommend giving this novel a try. I don’t see how I will be able to stand the wait for the sequel, even though its release date is only a few months away.

As soon as I saw this book, I knew that I just had to read it. I really don't know why I was so eager to read this book. I have actually never read anything by Seanan McGuire so there isn't a lot of logic in my need to read this book. I think that the cover pulled me in but the description sealed the deal. I actually pre-ordered this book which I only do once or twice a year. I was really afraid when I finally had the book that my expectations were so high that I was in the perfect position to be let down. I am happy to report that I ended up liking this book a lot.This is a short book. Amazon lists the hardcover length at only 173 pages. Don't let the size of the book fool you because this is a big story. I was immediately pulled in by the characters. I love stories with interesting characters and this book was filled with them. There isn't a single average character in the story and I think that every one of them added something to the story. The premise of the book was amazing. It was just such an originally presented concept that I couldn't help but be captivated by it.The book takes place at a school for children who have spent time in other realms. They aren't traumatized by their experiences as one would expect. They are only traumatized by the fact that they can't get back. Every student at the school wants to go back to the magical worlds that they have spent time in. Every one of these worlds are unique and different and have a huge impact on who the student the become. When strange things start happening at the school, they must also start to deal with fearing for their safety.I really liked the mystery aspect of the story. I really had no idea what was going on but loved watching the group of kids work to make things right. I thought everything was just creepy enough to make this a very compelling read. This was a book that I didn't want to put down at all because the pacing was terrific. I thought the the overall writing was beautifully done.I would recommend this book to fans of books that are just a little bit different and out of the ordinary. This is a book that I am sure that I will pick up again in the future. I am incredibly excited to learn that this book is the beginning of a new series. I will definitely be continuing with the series. This is the first book by Seanan McGuire but I will be checking out some of her other works soon since I really enjoyed her writing style.

This book was just a set up for the rest of the series. It’s purpose was to set up the idea of many different children who traveled many different worlds and introduce the reader to some of the characters whose stories will be told in later books. The actual plot of this book was mediocre at best– a very predictable murder mystery. The murders are handled terribly, too. Children are being murdered in school and basically they just bury the evidence. No real investigations are happening and their only safety implementation is to have children walk around with buddies.In any case, what I definitely want is a book that features more about each of the children’s worlds. In a way I really related to the main character, Nancy, because all I wanted was to know about the world she came from; it sounded so interesting! Without any spoilers, it is just that it wasn’t a typical “fairytale” sort of world but more dark. Same with Jack and Jill’s world, which I believe will be featured in the next book (so definitely looking forward to that!). And again, I believe that is exactly what this book set out to do, I just wish the actual plot of this book was better.The cast of the characters are pretty diverse. There is a transgender character which I believe was done very well. I don’t read a lot of LGBTQ+ books, but generally I think that some of the diverse elements are forced in by authors to meet some sort of “quota”. In this book however, the transgender character flows in beautifully and I think creates a really interesting backstory to his current life. The main character is asexual which I think was explained well. There are also many people of color and Ms. McGuire just goes to show that otherworldly adventures can happen to just about anyone.