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Every Heart a Doorway (Wayward Children, #1)

Seanan McGuire

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Sep 02, 2016 Trin rated it did not like it

Shelves: fantasy, american-lit, 2010s

I love the concept of this book -- it's a concept close to my heart -- but I hated pretty much every moment of the execution.

Seanan McGuire/Mira Grant is an author I've bounced off of before. Some writers' styles just aren't for you, and that's the case for me here. But I read this anyway because "what happens after you come back from a portal fantasy" is a subject that has haunted me forever. I deeply disliked its treatment here.

First of all, McGuire's dialogue is so mannered; the way every cha I love the concept of this book -- it's a concept close to my heart -- but I hated pretty much every moment of the execution.

Seanan McGuire/Mira Grant is an author I've bounced off of before. Some writers' styles just aren't for you, and that's the case for me here. But I read this anyway because "what happens after you come back from a portal fantasy" is a subject that has haunted me forever. I deeply disliked its treatment here.

First of all, McGuire's dialogue is so mannered; the way every character speaks and behaves is dialed up to 11. There is no subtlety, and yet in spite -- or because -- of that, it all feels very shallow. Characterization is in bold strokes across the page, but to me it comes across as cartoonish.

The worlds characters have come back from are also very EXTREME!! -- bold strokes, bold strokes -- and I guess on one level McGuire should be lauded for not writing them all as vague versions of Narnia or Wonderland. But instead she makes them all sound deeply unpleasant. I would not want to visit a single one. To me, this strips the magic right out of this book. And it destroys the contrast she is trying to create between the "real world" the characters all came from, the fantasy worlds they visited, and the world of the school: they all seem to suck. I want to be elsewhere, in another book.

The murder mystery seemed like an attempt to add a plot to a great, but admittedly otherwise plotless, concept. Instead it just added more unpleasantness to an already unpleasant narrative. And not in a way that was interesting and revealing. This book is so squalid and grim, you guys -- it's like McGuire is saying, hey, magic exists! And everything is STILL TERRIBLE! woooo

This connects to McGuire's decision to include an asexual and a trans character -- awesome! Love it! Except she manages to make asexuality seem like a bigger pox on Nancy's life than her return from a death-based fantasy realm, and also seems to think that a bunch of girls who have visited other worlds both vast and strange would nevertheless be really transphobic. Because again: everything is terrible. Everything.

Then the ending invalidates pretty much the entire book. Awesome.

This was just a bad, bad marriage of concept and creator for me. The degree to which I love the former made the disappointment of the latter carry an even greater sting. I guess I'll have to wait for someone else to write this idea the way I want -- or do it myself. ...more

68 likes · Like · see review

May 14, 2017 Wealhtheow rated it it was ok

Shelves: fantasy, queer-characters

Years ago Eleanor West went through an unexpected doorway and found herself in a magical world. Since returning to our mundane world, she's made it her life's mission to create a healing haven for other children who have returned from magical worlds. Nancy was just pushed out of the Halls of the Dead, where she served gratefully and well for what seemed like years. Now that she's back, her parents don't understand her and she's miserable, surrounded by people who expect her to act like a living ...more

9 likes · Like · see review

Oct 18, 2019 Kate rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: age-ya, audiobooks, age-adult, fantasy, 2019

Nancy has just arrived at a special school, purporting to be a school for kids with mental health problems, but is really a school for wayward children - that is, children who have found doors to other worlds. Much like Alice's rabbit hole or the wardrobe to Narnia, Nancy had found a door to the Underworld, and all she wants is to return. All of the kids at the school want to go back - and soon, Nancy discovers, some want to go so badly that they are willing to kill.

Like The Tenth Girl I wasn't ...more

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Sep 11, 2017 Misha rated it it was amazing

Shelves: doorway-people, doorway-plot, female-protagonist, fantasy, doorway-place, lgbtqia, death, dark, great-ending, atmospheric

Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire is the first in the Wayward Children novella series that introduces a delectable and dark fantasy world where children find doorways into other worlds. But when they get spit back into the real world, these children need a place to go where they are understood--and where they might just find these doorways again. Eleanor West's School for Wayward Children takes in these kids who are forever altered from their time in other worlds, but what supposed to be a ...more

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Oct 23, 2017 Maria Elmvang rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: owned-ebook, 2019, 5-stars, fantasy, 2017

A 4.5 star review.

Sometimes I love starting a book without having any idea of what it's about. I hadn't read the back blurb, but just decided to read this because a friend of mine recommended it. And it didn't take long for me to be utterly charmed by it. It had just the right mix of whimsy and crazy for me and appealed to me so much. It had much the same atmosphere as "Miss Peregrine...", but I liked this one a lot more... in fact, I wish it had been longer, as I would have loved to hear about ...more

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Apr 26, 2017 Punk marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Shelves: queer, young-adult, fantasy, ebook

If you live in Canada or the US, Tor.com's ebook of the month club is giving away Seanan McGuire's Wayward Children series for free this week, one book a day through Friday. Just sign up for their newsletter.

Today's book is available until midnight on November 30th, 2020 and can be downloaded in DRM-free epub or mobi. ...more

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Jun 13, 2016 Sharon rated it really liked it

Shelves: novella

I had to read this again after Down Among the Sticks and Bones. I liked that one better--the entire cast was a bit passive for people trapped in a house with a murderer--but the characters and worldbuilding here are a real delight.

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