Every Heart a Doorway (Wayward Children #1) – Seanan McGuire

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.

I had seen things about EVERY HEART A DOORWAY pretty much everywhere, seeing lots of praise and even receiving a free digital copy in a sweepstakes from Tor. I was definitely interested and also drawn in by the length, or lack there of, of this quick but pleasing book. I wasn’t sure what to expect except for a parallel universe concept and this was really interesting and pleasantly peculiar!

Essentially, the book is about a school for wayward children, those of which have been through doors to portals that transport them to magical parallel worlds and who have been kicked out, left, or were sent back and aren’t able to return to the world nor to their former lives. I haven’t read Miss Peregrine’s but I picture this book would be Miss Peregrine meets Narnia meets The Magicians. We spend most of the time in this book reading about the children back in the normal world after they’ve returned from their doors, hearing about the children’s experiences in the worlds that they can no longer access. It was really interesting to hear how the worlds differ and how they were so appropriate for each person. I loved the concept of all of these different portal worlds and each child finding the world meant exactly for them.

What I really wasn’t expecting was a murder mystery, and I wasn’t sure how to feel about it. I think I would have loved to just enjoy the world-building and have the conflict of the book focus more on the fact that these children weren’t able to get back to the worlds they so longed for, or how they got along with each other in the school/home. There were a lot of things going on with the mystery and it was interesting and I didn’t see some things coming, but it wasn’t where I thought the book was going to go. I loved the emotion and world-building side of this concept so much more, but having already read the other books in the series, I see how it connects to future books. I do think I would have enjoyed less of a mystery but I still appreciated it all!

Kept Me Hooked On: Portal worlds. I’ve been reading a lot of books involving portal worlds this year and last year and I’ve been absolutely loving them. I love the concept of alternate worlds and I loved this new take on a fantasy portal world.
Left Me Wanting More: World-Building. Don’t get me wrong, there was plenty! But I also wanted to spend soooo much more time in these worlds, exploring them, and less time with the mystery.

Addiction Rating
Read it!

I really enjoyed the concept, execution, and emotion involved in this book. I think this one doesn’t read as well as the next two do but I really enjoyed this a lot.