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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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder, Death, and Child death
Minor: Death of parent, Bullying, and Transphobia
loujanae's review against another edition
dark
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia and Murder
Minor: Animal death, Death, Death of parent, Eating disorder, and Child death
walkie_check's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Murder, Blood, Deadnaming, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Transphobia, Death, and Bullying
Minor: Transphobia, Blood, Kidnapping, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Bullying, Death of parent, Acephobia/Arophobia, Chronic illness, Eating disorder, Abandonment, Child abuse, Child death, Dementia, and Violence
belladsb's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
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? Yes
5.0
-January 2022-
C.A.W.P.I.L.E. : 9.14
If this is not an apropiate title, then i do not know what is, for it's true that every heart has a doorway, some just may find it more easily than others, but that's beside the point.
In this tale we encounter so many stories equal in thein uniqueness, united by the same feeling of yearning, by the screams of wanting to be heard and the whispers of wanting to be accepted.
It's wonderful in the way it explores how a lot of family units deal with trauma, by wanting to revert, the hardship of accepting that things will never be the same and not knowing how to mourn them, so maybe it's best to make them go away...
How telling can it be, when you think of the reticence of some parents to let go of their children, to let them find their own voices & paths, to let them be hurt.
How hard it has to be for a kid, growing up to "be sure" of who they are or who they want to be, to stand up to those who love us, to try find and forge our own way, our own story...
It's cruel to ask a kid to "be sure" of so much, yet it is the requirement for then, they have accepted the consequences, no refunds here (in this world or any).
And so they go head first, not knowing what it means to "be sure" finding a place fit for them, only to be thrown out later, back into a world that never spoke their language, that never saw them for who they were since it already had decided without them what their place was in it. They know now what is to be sure, for they are sure, that they don't belong here, in this roles planned for them, they're sure, they found their home and now they're lost.
Going more specifically into the story of this particular novella,
This is a beautiful introductory novel for the series, welcoming us to the diferent directions, the complexity of the world, and the musing tone of the tale overall.
We meet character form all over the compass, even if we only get a glimpse of most.
I'll go into Nancy, since she's the star of this particular number. The stillness, her world, her ways, I find so soothing, I connected with her in those way even if I could not in others, she was aproachable, and calming, observing. I loved her.
The plot was realy fun, as well as the resolution, but what gives the killing blow for me is the writing, simple and impactful, right to the core.
"You are nobody's rainbow"
In the end, there's only one thing I hope to gain from this book/series, and that is: If I am to be a Therapist, I hope I can channel all the Eleanor West energy I can manage both to the family as well as my patients. Both the soothe to the family for things will get better, even if they're different than from before ("Let me help, please, just let me help") and to the children, for them to feel understood in some capacity, help them find the similarities in their differences.
-May 2019-
Absolutely Beautiful, I loved loved loooved the complexity yet openended-ness of this book! I already want to re-read AND it’s the first book in a while that actually make me stay up until late at night bc I could not put it down and I didn’t wanted to come back from it
C.A.W.P.I.L.E. : 9.14
If this is not an apropiate title, then i do not know what is, for it's true that every heart has a doorway, some just may find it more easily than others, but that's beside the point.
In this tale we encounter so many stories equal in thein uniqueness, united by the same feeling of yearning, by the screams of wanting to be heard and the whispers of wanting to be accepted.
It's wonderful in the way it explores how a lot of family units deal with trauma, by wanting to revert, the hardship of accepting that things will never be the same and not knowing how to mourn them, so maybe it's best to make them go away...
How telling can it be, when you think of the reticence of some parents to let go of their children, to let them find their own voices & paths, to let them be hurt.
How hard it has to be for a kid, growing up to "be sure" of who they are or who they want to be, to stand up to those who love us, to try find and forge our own way, our own story...
It's cruel to ask a kid to "be sure" of so much, yet it is the requirement for then, they have accepted the consequences, no refunds here (in this world or any).
And so they go head first, not knowing what it means to "be sure" finding a place fit for them, only to be thrown out later, back into a world that never spoke their language, that never saw them for who they were since it already had decided without them what their place was in it. They know now what is to be sure, for they are sure, that they don't belong here, in this roles planned for them, they're sure, they found their home and now they're lost.
Going more specifically into the story of this particular novella,
This is a beautiful introductory novel for the series, welcoming us to the diferent directions, the complexity of the world, and the musing tone of the tale overall.
We meet character form all over the compass, even if we only get a glimpse of most.
I'll go into Nancy, since she's the star of this particular number. The stillness, her world, her ways, I find so soothing, I connected with her in those way even if I could not in others, she was aproachable, and calming, observing. I loved her.
The plot was realy fun, as well as the resolution, but what gives the killing blow for me is the writing, simple and impactful, right to the core.
"You are nobody's rainbow"
In the end, there's only one thing I hope to gain from this book/series, and that is: If I am to be a Therapist, I hope I can channel all the Eleanor West energy I can manage both to the family as well as my patients. Both the soothe to the family for things will get better, even if they're different than from before ("Let me help, please, just let me help") and to the children, for them to feel understood in some capacity, help them find the similarities in their differences.
-May 2019-
Absolutely Beautiful, I loved loved loooved the complexity yet openended-ness of this book! I already want to re-read AND it’s the first book in a while that actually make me stay up until late at night bc I could not put it down and I didn’t wanted to come back from it
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Murder, Body horror, Blood, and Violence
Moderate: Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, and Transphobia
Minor: Animal death
egernand's review
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
I feel like this story should have been more reflective, but wasn't given time to breathe due to the plot barging in. I don't feel that the plot added much, and prevented the character exploration or some of the setting exploration I wish would have taken place. Also, it was jarring and characters' roles/reactions to it damaged my suspension of disbelief. I liked the initial ideas of this story, but was unsatisfied by the direction it went.
The story is about children who had adventures in other worlds, and have now returned to the normal world and have to figure out how to cope. I thought that would be the focus of the book, and that it would explore things like the drastically different scope of what's important, coming from magical/extremely other worlds where you might die, or are saving the world, or are stuck as a servant, etc, returning to a world where you're just expected to do well in school, act nice to other children, behave for your family, etc. The plot overrode any deep exploration of that position these people find themselves in.
The story is about children who had adventures in other worlds, and have now returned to the normal world and have to figure out how to cope. I thought that would be the focus of the book, and that it would explore things like the drastically different scope of what's important, coming from magical/extremely other worlds where you might die, or are saving the world, or are stuck as a servant, etc, returning to a world where you're just expected to do well in school, act nice to other children, behave for your family, etc. The plot overrode any deep exploration of that position these people find themselves in.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, and Bullying
Moderate: Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Confinement, Eating disorder, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Violence, and Transphobia
Minor: Death of parent, Medical content, Terminal illness, and Toxic relationship
laurareads87's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Every Heart a Doorway follows Nancy, a teenage girl who has recently returned from the Halls of the Dead, a world through a magical door, and has since been sent to Eleanor West's Home for Wayward Children, a home for children who (for the most part) long to return to the portal worlds they've visited (or, at the very least, to remember these worlds into adulthood).
There was a lot I did like about this novella: McGuire's writing is poetic, the classification system of different types of fantasy/portal worlds is an interesting framework, and the atmosphere of the school building and grounds is well-developed. I appreciate the inclusion of diversity and especially of an ace protagonist.
I found the pacing a bit inconsistent -- with the mystery not really starting until maybe a third of the way into the book, it felt rushed. I also found that while the cast of characters is diverse in a number of respects, this story somehow feels really heteronormative, or at least heterocentric, at the same time. I felt like more character back story was needed to really understand the characters' motivations and behaviour, particularly theirtotal nonchalance at being asked to dispose of a body (but know this is a series so presume this happens over time). Finally -- and this isn't even a criticism, just an observation about my own reading preferences if anything -- I feel like given the subject matter, that a multi-POV approach and/or a less linear timeline would've really complimented the worldbuilding and made the mystery less predictable.
Overall, Every Heart a Doorway has piqued my interest with its worldbuilding and I intend to read further into the series.
There was a lot I did like about this novella: McGuire's writing is poetic, the classification system of different types of fantasy/portal worlds is an interesting framework, and the atmosphere of the school building and grounds is well-developed. I appreciate the inclusion of diversity and especially of an ace protagonist.
I found the pacing a bit inconsistent -- with the mystery not really starting until maybe a third of the way into the book, it felt rushed. I also found that while the cast of characters is diverse in a number of respects, this story somehow feels really heteronormative, or at least heterocentric, at the same time. I felt like more character back story was needed to really understand the characters' motivations and behaviour, particularly their
Overall, Every Heart a Doorway has piqued my interest with its worldbuilding and I intend to read further into the series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Transphobia and Eating disorder
Minor: Death of parent
crinspire's review
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Diverse, yes, but also very predictable, and very surface level. The writing, which I've seen described at beautiful, is filled with cringey metaphors that do not make sense.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Eating disorder, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Medical content, and Murder
Moderate: Transphobia
Minor: Animal death and Animal cruelty
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