Group Reads Discussion - Every Heart a Doorway

[TraceyL]

This book has a great concept but was super disappointing for me. I mainly just hated the writing style. The dialogue felt awkward. It's great that this book has a lot of LGBT representation but when we are introduced to Kade, the story grinds to a halt as the author gives an unnecessary explanation on what transgender means. I would've preferred it being mentioned more casually so it wasn't such a big deal and didn't define Kade's entire personality. Show me this stuff, don't tell me.

I won't be continuing the series. I had actually tried reading this book back in April, but DNF'd it. At least it was a quick read.

[Cathy]

This book didn't really pull me in. It lacked any character development and so I didn't care what happened to them. It might have been better if I had read it, instead of listening to the audio, but I doubt I will give it another chance.

[Rhonda]

I found this to be a creepy and atmospheric read. I love portal fantasies, and enjoyed the descriptions of all the different worlds. The mystery was not that impressive. Despite that, and its short length, I found it to really pack a punch. I'm still thinking about a month later.

[Midu]

While I gave this book 3 stars, it was a 2 star read for me. The last star was for the writing style, which I liked, and the LGBT representation -- even if it felt like a token in the case of some characters.

I wasn't crazy about this book because it felt incomplete and tried to achieve too much for a novella. Even though, the story's premise was a good one, the identity of the killer was no mystery. It felt as if the author didn't put enough hard work in deciding who the killer would be.

Hope the second one is better!

[Stacey]

I have to agree with quite a few of the others here with my rating. I would say it was a 3 star read for me, mostly because of the ideas of the doors and the interesting characters. What was frustrating was that I felt like each character had so much potential but there just wasn't enough time in the story to really get into them. It looks like maybe a lot of that development will take place in the subsequent books.

I will also admit that I found the categorization of the worlds very confusing -- logical, nonsense, etc. And the subcategories, oy! I would have loved to have had a more thorough explanation of that as the compass visual did not really work for me.

[Dana]

READ60

Still not sure how I feel about the book. I like the idea of doors that are available to you if you look hard enough . The book was easy to read but a little harder to really understand.

[Ed]

This fantasy novel is clearly targeted toward young teens. All the characters, beyond the headmistress, are young people at a boarding school for "wayward children". In this case, wayward refers to the fact that each child has slipped through a mysterious portal to another world. Some nonsensical, others morbid...all different with their own casts of vampires, ghouls, unicorns, etc. Each of the children have been cast out of their found world and have returned to our world...only to be misunderstood. A series of murders occur...and must be solved.
Not my sort of book by any means... but I'm sure some teen readers would appreciate the message that castaways and misfits are unique and to be valued for who they are. Two stars.

[Cordelia]

Cordelia

This book was a nice little story, but somehow I could not really connect to it. I liked the idea of different doors for different people. It made a lot of sense. But it was very sad that they were not welcome back with their families. The whole mystery side of things was a bit simplistic. On the whole it seemed to lack any depth - seemed more like a children's book to me.

I have reserved the next one from the library - will see what I think of that.

[Sally]

I've enjoyed reading through everyone else's thoughts about this book!

For my part, I didn't expect much from it and was pleasantly surprised. I had actually planned on reading The Huntress, but this became available first so I went with it. I'm glad I did!

I enjoyed the LGBT representation here, and I liked the writing style quite a bit. I didn't mind that it was surface-level in terms of character development and even story development - sometimes that's just what you need, and I guess that's what I needed. It was a quick, easy read, and it intrigued me enough to want to check out the rest of the series.

[Aprilleigh]

Sally wrote: "I've enjoyed reading through everyone else's thoughts about this book!

For my part, I didn't expect much from it and was pleasantly surprised. I had actually planned on reading The Huntress, but t..."

The surface development of the characters worked well in context of the rest of the series because she develops many of the characters there.

[Sally]

Aprilleigh wrote: "Sally wrote: "I've enjoyed reading through everyone else's thoughts about this book!

For my part, I didn't expect much from it and was pleasantly surprised. I had actually planned on reading The H..."

Ooh! That's good to know! Definitely want to keep reading, in that case.

[Rina]

I liked the concept of this book, but the book was too short to connect with the characters or to have any character development. The mystery part was okay, though it wasn't the most important part of the book in my opinion.

I am not sure, if I will continue with this series, the second book about Jack and Jill sounds interesting though.

[Joanne]

Rina wrote: "I liked the concept of this book, but the book was too short to connect with the characters or to have any character development. The mystery part was okay, though it wasn't the most important part..."

The second book really develops those characters, Rina. From what I understand, all the books going forward do this. I have read the second and liked it

[Dee]

Joanne wrote: "Rina wrote: "I liked the concept of this book, but the book was too short to connect with the characters or to have any character development. The mystery part was okay, though it wasn't the most i..."

yep they all do - although i think my favorite is the 4th one

[Rina]

Dee wrote: "Joanne wrote: "Rina wrote: "I liked the concept of this book, but the book was too short to connect with the characters or to have any character development. The mystery part was okay, though it wa..."

Joanne wrote: "Rina wrote: "I liked the concept of this book, but the book was too short to connect with the characters or to have any character development. The mystery part was okay, though it wasn't the most i..."

Thank you! I will try the next books then - it would be not the first series that starts slowly and then gets better and better with each book :-)

[Dee]

the stories don't really build on each other right now - they are separate storylines that are supported by the first book (although i think book 5 that is due out next year continues on the jack/jill storyline)

[Sarah]

I listened to the audio, and for me the narrator was excellent and really added to the creepy atmosphere. It was a great concept and also refreshing that it wasn't just secondary characters who died.

I probably will listen to the rest of the series in due course.

[Rebecca NJ]

Readerboard Name - Rebecca NJ

I finished this book earlier this month and have had a very hard time putting my thoughts together. I really enjoyed the story line and the concept about doors (reminds me of another series about dream doors)m but like most of the other readers here, I felt like the character development wasn't there.

Since some have said the characters are defined throughout the rest of the series, I may try to read the next book to see if my interest is there. This was a 3 star read for me.

[Nicola]

I listened to this via audiobook which was great because it slowed down my reading speed and meant I had more time to savour it. My only complaint is that it was over too fast :-(