elm's review
5.0
This was one of the most whimsical and nightmarish books I've ever read and I LOVED EVERY SECOND OF IT
hemloc's review
5.0
Seven reasons to read Every Heart a Doorway:
1) The concept: a boarding school for kids who've travelled to magical realms, been spat out, and have to live with that disappointment.
2) The setting descriptions are detailed and lovely without ever distracting from the story.
3) Sumi's way of speaking is fun and rhythmic and does a huge deal of worldbuilding all by itself.
4) Fairyland respects trans identities! I love how seamlessly the matter of Kade's gender is dealt with. And the main character is asexual. And "Corpses are incapable of offering informed consent".
5) I appreciate the gentle mockery of certain YA tropes.
6) The magic doors (or mirrors or tornadoes) take these kids to the world that is perfect for them, the one where, for the first time in their lives, they don't need to pretend. I love that.
7) The story is basically a locked-room mystery and because we're only introduced to a handful of the characters, the murderer's identity is easily found out. I surprisingly didn't mind it not being a challenge.
Three drawbacks to Every Heart a Doorway:
1) Someone is violently murdered and the police aren't all over that place?
2) The story's short length means that emotions haven't the space to properly resonate. I should have been upset over some of the character deaths, especially the first one, but I wasn't because there wasn't time. The plot moved on too quickly.
3) Also because of length, the worldbuilding of the various not-here worlds is minimal. The plot and characters would have been a lot stronger if I could have longed for their worlds with them, especially Nancy.
1) The concept: a boarding school for kids who've travelled to magical realms, been spat out, and have to live with that disappointment.
2) The setting descriptions are detailed and lovely without ever distracting from the story.
3) Sumi's way of speaking is fun and rhythmic and does a huge deal of worldbuilding all by itself.
4) Fairyland respects trans identities! I love how seamlessly the matter of Kade's gender is dealt with. And the main character is asexual. And "Corpses are incapable of offering informed consent".
5) I appreciate the gentle mockery of certain YA tropes.
6) The magic doors (or mirrors or tornadoes) take these kids to the world that is perfect for them, the one where, for the first time in their lives, they don't need to pretend. I love that.
7) The story is basically a locked-room mystery and because we're only introduced to a handful of the characters, the murderer's identity is easily found out. I surprisingly didn't mind it not being a challenge.
Three drawbacks to Every Heart a Doorway:
1) Someone is violently murdered and the police aren't all over that place?
2) The story's short length means that emotions haven't the space to properly resonate. I should have been upset over some of the character deaths, especially the first one, but I wasn't because there wasn't time. The plot moved on too quickly.
3) Also because of length, the worldbuilding of the various not-here worlds is minimal. The plot and characters would have been a lot stronger if I could have longed for their worlds with them, especially Nancy.
liesle's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
Very similar to Netflix's Wednesday (or Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children), but I found the side characters to be much more interesting in Every Heart a Doorway. It's an interesting mix of fantastical and thought-provoking. Very fun read, though dark.
biglibraryenergy's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and Gore
bookiepanda's review
4.0
COVER: It’s a nice one. Not very pretty but not ugly too. The Bulgarian one is nicer tho. That’s rare.
PLOT: The plot is interesting. I haven’t met similar ideas before. I’m disappointed the main story was so short but for the pages we have, there’s enough information to build a pretty good story. I like that this book is like a base and with the next books you can discover more about every character and every world. The romance was just perfect. I love that. And the twist at the end was good enough. I didn’t expect it.
CHARACTERS: I love how different the characters are. There’s plenty of different personalities, sexualities, ages. We have, I thing, transgender character and if I remember right, the main character is ace. I love it.
OVERALL: It’s a nice and interesting short book with diverse characters that can be left as a stand alone but can also drown you in it’s world in you continue the series.
PLOT: The plot is interesting. I haven’t met similar ideas before. I’m disappointed the main story was so short but for the pages we have, there’s enough information to build a pretty good story. I like that this book is like a base and with the next books you can discover more about every character and every world. The romance was just perfect. I love that. And the twist at the end was good enough. I didn’t expect it.
CHARACTERS: I love how different the characters are. There’s plenty of different personalities, sexualities, ages. We have, I thing, transgender character and if I remember right, the main character is ace. I love it.
OVERALL: It’s a nice and interesting short book with diverse characters that can be left as a stand alone but can also drown you in it’s world in you continue the series.
laixmari's review
2.0
Não gostei. A premissa é interessante, mas parece que essa leitura não tem um ponto pra defender e é confusa demais pra ser prazerosa.
Fiquei pensando em Narnia o livro todo, essa referência é muito forte
Fiquei pensando em Narnia o livro todo, essa referência é muito forte
courtagonist's review against another edition
4.0
For such a short book, 187 pages, this book is filled with action, character growth, and will have you turning the pages quicker to figure out the mystery. I love the idea that we get to peak into the worlds of children who have come back from exceptional worlds and how they maneuver the world that lost them. I really enjoyed getting to know the new cardinal directions of Logic and Nonsense. I purchased the whole series, so far, for Christmas and am already starting the second one. I can't wait to dive in.
theschredder's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
jazznichole's review
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore and Death
Moderate: Transphobia