Reviews with content warning for Grief - Every Heart a Doorway

TL;DR: A murder mystery turns a boarding school into a dangerous place. A girl deals with the problem of returning to a place she doesn’t belong when people refuse to believe she is different.

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avisreadsandreads's review

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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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lsmith725's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

This is such a cute yet heavy fantasy about children who have gone through a different doorway or portal and wish to return. They are all thrown together to deal with their grief, of sorts, at Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children. As the tale unfolds, the children discover that even though they each desire nothing more than to go back to the world they discovered, some will go to greater lengths to get there. Soon enough, danger begins striking the home and it seems to be very unsafe.

This was an absolutely charming middle grade novel. There is magic and whimsy, but also plenty of discussion of belonging, friendship, changing identities. To me this felt like a mash up of (but not a knockoff to) Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and Miss Peregrine's Home for Wayward Children.

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keepingitread's review

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adventurous dark mysterious sad 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? Yes

3.5

The only thing I went into this book knowing was that it had to do with portal worlds. With that being said I had no clue want to expect. This first book gives you most of the world building/background knowledge you will need for the series and introduces you to some of the character you will follow in the other books. I enjoyed the book in finished it in about 3-4 reading sessions. I was unsure and reluctant starting the book as it is on the shorter side and was not sure how much could actually be done in 170 pages. However, I was pleasantly surprised and am interested enough to want to continue to learn about this world.

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lonelylooper's review against another edition

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adventurous dark lighthearted mysterious relaxing 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? It's complicated

4.75

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razorfangz's review

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dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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theaceofpages's review against another edition

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dark emotional medium-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? It's complicated

4.75

Have you ever wondered what happens when someone returns to the real world in a portal fantasy? What it's like to leave the world of wonder and return to our rather mundane reality? This book looks is set at a school for those who wish to return to the worlds that they have been ripped from and need to try to learn to let go of the lives that they have lost so that they can reintegrate into our world.

I have been aware of and interested in this book for a while (I will admit that the asexual representation is part of it!). I went in mostly blind since I wasn't aware of much (I knew there was an asexual character and there were portals to fantasy worlds). I finally got around to reading it and I accidentally finished it in a day (it is short, yes, but I wasn't expecting to rush through it quite this quickly). I had such a good time reading it. The writing was beautiful and I can definitely imagine the pain of being forced out of a fantasy world (look, I'm still homesick for a place I worked at last year and this wasn't even a completely different realm with magic!) The school seems like it would simultaneously be great (others get it and no one will stop you from going to what you now consider home if you get the chance) and awful (oops, you are stuck in the real world now and need to learn to deal with it). There's a bit of a murder mystery thrown in too and I enjoyed that, although I did guess who the killer was from one of the clues. That didn't take away from my enjoyment though!

I will definitely be continuing with the rest of the series. In fact, I'm already ready to dive into the next book! Unfortunately that will probably have to wait until next year since I have some other books I'd like to get through before the year ends. I'm very excited to get back into it soon and see where the other books go (at this point I have no idea and based off my enjoyment of this book, I think I'll be trying to go into the other books knowing as little as possible as well!)

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rosemaryandrue's review

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adventurous dark emotional 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

4.5

A lot of children go through portals into other worlds, and adjusting to coming back isn't exactly easy. Nancy is sent to Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children after returning from the Halls of the Dead, but when someone starts murdering students she ends up as one of the suspects.

I've had my eye on this book for a while. I read a lot of portal fantasies as a child, and the problem of Susan is one that's bugged me even since I finished The Last Battle. As such, I was very curious about how McGuire would tell the stories of these lost children who've had to return to a place that no longer fits them.

Short and fast-paced, this is a poignant book, full of beautiful imagery and the very real feeling of mourning for people and places that you can never return to. The glimpses we get into the interior lives of the children and the worlds they escaped into are fascinating. I did think the mystery was a little underbaked, but McGuire manages to capture the bittersweet feeling of looking back in your bygone childhood so indelibly that I still ended up enjoying myself thoroughly.

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