Book Review: Every Heart a Doorway

Title: Every Heart a Doorway

Author: Seanan McGuire

Publisher: Tor

Year: 2016

Pages: 173

Genre: Fantasy

Rating: 4.5 stars

One sentence summary: Children who have found doorways to other worlds return home and attend a school for wayward children.

A full synopsis of this book can be found on Goodreads.

Spoiler Level: None

This was wonderful, lovely, and magical. A story about children who have found doorways to worlds where they truly belong only to be ejected back to our world, Every Heart a Doorway is a fairytale-esque exploration of belonging and friendship. The writing was absolutely beautiful. The explanations of other worlds were clear, and the worlds themselves were vivid and extremely interesting. I only wish the book was longer because I absolutely loved learning about them and the small windows we saw, while satisfying and thorough, only intrigued me more. The whole book had a wistful tone that really appealed to me. The characters were very diverse and complex. There is asexual and transgender representation, Asian and Hispanic characters, and conversation around gender roles and identities. Each character felt very distinct, which is especially important when there is a large cast, and I began to really care about some of them. The story follows the wayward children's school's newest addition, Nancy, as she struggles with the reality that she may never return to her true home. The main plot delves into a mini murder mystery that, even though I really enjoyed it, felt underdeveloped. I think the book could have been written without it and still been great, but I also would have loved to see this mystery expanded and explored more in a longer work. I adored this book, but because it was so short I was left wanting just a tiny bit more.