Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire

133 reviews

xxfirerainbowxx's review against another edition

adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Death, and Child death

Minor: Death of parent, Bullying, and Transphobia

angorarabbit's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.5

TLDR:  I really enjoyed this novella. It is so nice to see an ace character. 

 

In my meditations of what is a YA novel this is almost one. Most characters are children, but we start out with the pov of an adult. I wouldn’t have a problem with a tween reading the book, but it doesn’t have the heroic chosen one vibe that I associate with YA. So I don’t know. I liked the book though and in the end that’s all that matters, right? 

 

The plot moves quickly, not wasting time on too many descriptions. The dialogue is crisp and believable. One is given enough information regarding backgrounds for the main characters. The High Fantasy girls group could us a little more book time. I kept getting confused who was who and it didn’t really matter too much. 

 

The mystery was unexpected and fun though it did require a little suspension of disbelief. I did figure out who did it before the end of the book though. 

 

I want to know about Nancy’s new adventures.I really loved Kade’s character and would like to see his growing responsibilities at the school. I’m not sure I can stand reading about Jacqueline and Jillian’s parents though. They sound truly disturbing. 

 

I also hope that whoever makes a film or series for the telly of this does not make it into a children’s movie or dilute the themes of alienation and otherness of the novella. 

 

Like I say, it’s easier to write lots about the books you hate than the books you love.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Murder, Body horror, and Abandonment

Moderate: Bullying

Minor: Eating disorder, Transphobia, and Deadnaming

dreadspawn's review

adventurous dark mysterious 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Body horror, Murder, Gore, Blood, Child death, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Forced institutionalization and Transphobia

amy_in_the_city's review

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Murder, Violence, Death, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Forced institutionalization, Gore, and Blood

Moderate: Transphobia, Animal death, Eating disorder, and Kidnapping

Minor: Acephobia/Arophobia and Vomit

tisjenna's review

dark emotional mysterious sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Body horror, and Child death

Minor: Transphobia

annaavian's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-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? Yes

3.0

While I was drawn to the concept of this book, I found the writing to be lacking in depth and characterization. McGuire introduced an intriguing premise and crafted an impressive array of worlds, but I couldn't help but wonder what could have been achieved with more thorough editing and guidance. Although the potential for greatness is evident, the work never quite managed to surpass that threshold for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Gore, Child death, Body horror, Violence, and Death

Moderate: Transphobia, Bullying, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Eating disorder and Deadnaming

terratops's review

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Death, Murder, Blood, and Child death

Minor: Dysphoria and Dementia

erkoning's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring mysterious reflective 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? Yes

5.0

I found this to be a really beautiful story. I fell in love with the characters, and got very invested in their journeys.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Murder, Blood, Death, Child death, Transphobia, and Violence

Moderate: Gore and Bullying

Minor: Eating disorder, Kidnapping, Acephobia/Arophobia, Dysphoria, Dementia, and War

The book centers around

murders

. There are many things mentioned from the worlds that the children have gone to. The book clearly condemns the transphobia, but there is a "mean girl" type who intentionally and repeatedly calls a trans boy a girl. Past acephobia is mentioned by an ace character, from her own perspective. Dementia is mentioned, but not gone into depth.

avisreadsandreads's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Grief, Murder, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Transphobia, Self harm, Eating disorder, Panic attacks/disorders, Acephobia/Arophobia, Deadnaming, and Medical content

Minor: Dementia, Suicidal thoughts, and Cannibalism

blombern's review

dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

Very interesting concept. It's all about a boarding school for children who return from portal worlds and are not accepted by their parents who want them to get better. I personally did not like this book, as it turned into a murder mystery fairly quickly. I also didn't like the explanations of the portal worlds themselves as they were put into weird categories. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Medical content, Transphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, and Violence

Minor: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, Dysphoria, Deadnaming, Eating disorder, and Sexual content