'Every Heart a Doorway' by Seanan McGuire is a fantasy novella set at Eleanor West's Home for Wayward Children, where children who have visited fantasy worlds and returned to the real world gather. The story follows Nancy and other misfit children as they navigate the challenges of adjusting to reality after experiencing magical realms. The writing style is described as beautiful, lyrical, and seamlessly weaving world-building and character development to explore themes of self-acceptance, fitting in, and longing for a place to call home.
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Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings
Content warnings include themes of mental health struggles, grief, murder, and some descriptions of violence.
From The Publisher:
Eleanor West's Home for Wayward Children
No Solicitations
No Visitors
No Quests
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 things.
No matter the cost.
Winner: 2017 Hugo Award
Winner: 2017 Alex Award
Winner: 2017 Locus Award
Winner: 2016 Nebula Award
Nominated: 2017 World Fantasy Award
Nominated: 2017 British Fantasy Award
2016 Tiptree Honor List
PRAISE FOR EVERY HEART A DOORWAY
"A mini-masterpiece of portal fantasy - a jewel of a book that deserves to be shelved with Lewis Carroll's and C. S. Lewis' classics" -NPR
"Seanan McGuire has long been one of the smartest writers around, and with this novella we can easily see that her heart is as big as her brain. We know this story isn't true, but it is truth." - Charlaine Harris, New York Times bestselling author of the Sookie Stackhouse series (TV's True Blood)
"Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire is one of the most extraordinary stories I've ever read." - V. E. Schwab, New York Times bestselling author of A Gathering of Shadows
"Seanan McGuire once again demonstrates her intimate knowledge of the human heart in a powerful fable of loss, yearning and damaged children." - Paul Cornell, author of London Falling and Witches of Lychford
"So mindblowingly good, it hurts." - io9
"With Every Heart a Doorway, McGuire has created her own mini-masterpiece of portal fantasy - a jewel of a book that deserves to be shelved with Lewis Carroll's and C. S. Lewis' classics, even as it carves its own precocious space between them." - NPR
Ratings (130)
Incredible (33) | |
Loved It (42) | |
Liked It (28) | |
It Was OK (17) | |
Did Not Like (8) | |
Hated It (2) |
Reader Stats (337):
Read It (136) | |
Currently Reading (2) | |
Want To Read (152) | |
Did Not Finish (7) | |
Not Interested (40) |
7 comment(s)
i didn't think i would like this at first, but it was fun, quirky, and i am now officially invested in these portal realms.
“Every heart a doorway” is the first novel in the "Wayward Children" book series by Seanan McGuire which explores how children who visited fantasy worlds through portals (called doors) acclimate upon returning to the real world.
The novel consists of two parts, eleven chapters and an epilogue. The novel begins with Eleanor West, owner of a school for wayward children. Early on, it is discovered that Eleanor’s motives for helping wayward children is a ruse meant to help her achieve her own personal goals. Eleanor's school aims to help students remember their fantasy world fondly while there is another unnamed school helps students forget fantasy worlds they visited in order to return to the "real" world.
When a new student named Nancy Whitman arrives, Eleanor is blunt with her and convinces her to get rid of the notion of what is “real” in the world. Eleanor questions Nancy on what fantasy world she went to to determine what room to put her in. After Nancy shares with Eleanor the fantasy world she went to and how she got there, Eleanor is able to help Nancy work through her issues.
Nancy is put in room with Sumi. Sumi misses her portal but can’t go back to so she permanently lives at the wayward school. Introduce Nancy to Kade who’s also been at the school for a long time-went to Fairyland. When a student us found murdered on the school grounds, Nancy is worried she’ll be thought of as a suspect but instead another student is viewed as the prime suspect. As more students are killed, suspicion among the remaining students grows. The identity of murderer is eventually discovered and the murderer’s mission is revealed.
This short novel was interesting in the variety of characters presented as well as the variety of portals they have been to. It was also intriguing to learn how the characters were cast out, and their shared desired to return back. I am glad I decided to read this book since this introduced me to a new book genre which is “portal fantasy.” Overall, this novel was a quick refreshing read and I definitely plan to read other books in the "Wayward Children" series.
¿Qué es lo que le pasaría a Alicia cuando salió del País de las Maravillas?
Pues seguramente un trauma de tamaño industrial.
De eso va este libro, de un refugio para niñas y niños (pocos) que han sobrevivido a un mundo de fantasía y salido de él, y de como adaptarse a una vida esperando poder volver allí.
Es muy muy corto, pero en lo poco que dura, da para poner pinceladas a distintos mundos fuera de lo típico, incluyendo carreras por arcoiris, imitaciones de estatua o resurrecciones a lo Frankestein.
Los personajes te los presenta rápido, y casi sin darte cuenta, te mete en la trama, de la que no voy a contar nada.
Recomendable para leer después de algún libro grande, y te dejará con ganas de más.
****4.5****
It's a portal fantasy set at a magical school which helps the children with special-eerie abilities to find the door to the right world where they actually belong.
“Because hope is a knife that can cut through the foundations of the world.”
Nancy is sent to this magical boarding school which is under the care of the headmistress, Eleanor West. With in days of Nancy's arrival a student is murdered. And Nancy becomes an object of suspicion. Soon the school becomes a murder spot with a string of murders which Nancy and her friends are determined to solve.
“This world is unforgiving and cruel to those it judges as even the slightest bit outside the norm.”
A very unique style of narration, with a diverse set of characters, this book is a bizarre.
Happy Reading!!!
I liked this book. I think it's a great book to start reading fantasy-thriller. The plot was enjoyable. This is also perfect for teenagers!
Not my jam.
Literally the beginning of my current favorite series! Read them all, find yourself!
What can you read after
Every Heart a Doorway?
About the Author:
Seanan McGuire is the author of the October Daye urban fantasy series, the InCryptid series, and several other works, both standalone and in trilogies. She also writes darker fiction as Mira Grant.
Seanan lives in a creaky old farmhouse in Northern California, which she shares with her cats, a vast collection of creepy dolls, and horror movies, and sufficient books to qualify her as a fire hazard.
She was the winner of the 2010 John W Campbell Award for Best New Writer, and in 2013 she became the first person ever to appear five times on the same Hugo ballot.
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