I know you are never supposed to judge a book by its cover, but sometimes they're just so beautiful, I can't resist. This is one of those; a sturdy wooden door with a forest backdrop. A sunset. It gave me all the feels as soon as I picked it up.
Seanan McGuire's Every Heart a Doorway is the first in a series, but from what I've read on Goodreads, they each seem to be standalone (at least to some extent). the first book is focused on Nancy, the newest arrival at Miss Eleanor's home for Wayward Children. At first, I was hesitant to read this book. The name of the school sounded a bit too much like a Home for Peculiar Children rip-off but, while there are definitely similarities (supernatural elements, outcasts living under the roof of a loving, eccentric woman), that's not the case. The children at Miss Eleanor's are all united by a different quirky detail: they have all been kicked out of their magic
worlds (think Wonderland, Narnia) and have to acclimate to being back in the "real world."
Nancy is an outcast from the Land of the Dead and she is not into the brightness of the world around her. She's all about stillness, so the characters living around her are a bit much, particularly her roommate. It seems like Nancy is going to quietly bide her time until she can get home, but before that can happen, the borders start.
Part fantasy, part mystery, this book is ultimately a whodunit and why novel. The setting gives it a new depth and I found the idea behind it (what happens to kids who come back from fairyland) really fun and unique. All in all, great premise. The characters, too, were pretty cool: Kade, a trans boy who had to leave his land when he couldn’t be a princess, Jack and Jill, sisters, from some sort of war zone, and Nancy, who is asexual, all provided some diversity and I was about it. Nancy, though, was pretty flat and whole that’s part of her storyline, it felt lazy to me. Something could’ve made her a bit more dynamic. While I enjoyed the book, I was still glad her particular story was over. That said, the ending, too, was too easy. I won’t go into detail to avoid spoilers, but the ending felt too sudden and just wrapped things up too neatly. There were huge pacing issues. At just under 200 pages, there was definitely room to develop the ending a bit more and take some time to explore. As it stands now, it’s very abrupt.
All that said, I liked this book a lot more than I disliked it. The whimsical plot and lively cast of characters kept me entertained. I’ve already checked book four of the series out of the library (obviously I hate to read things out of order, but since they didn’t have the other two and these are standalone, I said what the heck) and I’m excited to read the therapist’s story. I’ll let you know what I think.
Happy reading!
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