Every Heart a Doorway (Wayward Children #1) by Seanan McGuire
Synopsis
"Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children
No Solicitations
No Visitors
No Quests
Children have always disappeared under the right conditions; slipping through the shadows under a bed or at the back of a wardrobe, tumbling down rabbit holes and into old wells, and emerging somewhere... else.
But magical lands have little need for used-up miracle children.
Nancy tumbled once, but now she’s back. The things she’s experienced... they change a person. The children under Miss West’s care understand all too well. And each of them is seeking a way back to their own fantasy world.
But Nancy’s arrival marks a change at the Home. There’s a darkness just around each corner, and when tragedy strikes, it’s up to Nancy and her new-found schoolmates to get to the heart of the matter.
No matter the cost."
My Thoughts
This book is not at all what I expected from the first chapter. I've said it before, I go into books as blind as possible. This book started out with whimsical Alice in Wonderland vibes which I totally loved and then somewhere along the way it turned into a gothic horror story. I loved it, but it was unexpected.
Every Heart a Doorway takes place in Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children, and follows Nancy who has just come back from another world. All the kids and teens at the school have come back from doorways they once wandered through and have found it difficult to go back to living "normal" lives. They come from all kinds of worlds, some ruled by logic, others ruled by nonsense.
“You’re nobody’s doorway but your own, and the only one who gets to tell you how your story ends is you.”
― Seanan McGuire, Every Heart a Doorway
This book has a really intriguing concept that immediately pulled me in. The idea that there are just doorways around the world that people sometimes go through. Sometimes they come back, no one knows how many don't. I also really enjoyed the characters and the rep in this one. The main character, Nancy, is ace. She also explains it in a really great way. There's also a secondary main character, Kade, who is a trans man.
This was a really good, quick read. A bit gory at times, but at least to me, it never seemed gratuitous. Definitely recommend and I can't wait to read the next one!
Genre: fantasy, lgbtqia+
Representation: trans, ace
Content Warnings: kidnapping, character death, murder, gore, deadnaming, misgendering
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