Every Heart a Doorway

Wayward Children, #1

by Seanan McGuire

176 pages

English language

Published Sept. 9, 2016 by Tom Doherty Associates.

ISBN:: 978-0-7653-8550-5
Goodreads:: 25526296

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(106 reviews)

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 the matter.

No matter the cost.

1 edition

Heather reviewed Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire (Wayward Children, #1)

Review of 'Every Heart a Doorway' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

What happens to kids who go on adventures to fantasy lands when they return home? Obviously, they tell people what happened to them and then they are treated as mentally ill or as the survivors of such horrific abuse that they made up stories to get themselves through their kidnappings. When they don't recant the stories they may end up in a boarding school for their own protection.

Eleanor West takes in these children. She was one of them too. She takes the children who are desperately looking for a way to return to their lands.
How do you come back from that?

As soon as Nancy arrives and starts to get acclimated to the strange people around her, there is a murder. Since she came from the Halls of the Dead, she's a suspect. When murders keep happening it is up to the students and staff to find out what is going on before the authorities find out and shut down their school.

Read this one for the wonderful language and characters. The students are diverse racially and in their gender expressions. The only thing they have in common is wanting to go back home to the magical worlds they miss.

I loved this book so much I read it once myself and then read it out loud to my husband.This review was originally posted on Based On A True Story

Old_Tim reviewed Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire (Wayward Children, #1)

Review of 'Every Heart a Doorway' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

This very well may be McGuire's most complete book to date. By that I mean that she manages to embrace the big concept and pair it with strong characterization and a deep emotional core. The plot itself is engaging, if a little light (as a mystery, it was a bit too easy to predict the outcome).

My only real complain is the occasional awkward explanatory passage. It felt as if beta readers gave feedback that requested clarification & that was quickly inserted into the text. It's only a sentence here & there, but did happen often enough for me to notice.

Looking forward to more stories in this world.

unicorndeburgh reviewed Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire (Wayward Children, #1)

Review of 'Every Heart a Doorway' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

I loved this novella. Have you wondered about what happened to the children after they came back from Narnia, through the looking glass, and those other portals into magical places? Seanan imagines them at a boarding school run by a woman who had that experience herself, and wants to help children cope.

Children end up here when parents are desperate with the child who ran away/was kidnapped returns home, won't talk about what happened, or tells ridiculous lies, and can't settle down happily to their old friends and school. The talk of therapy is perhaps vague, and parental visits are strictly forbidden, but children who go there tend to come home in better shape than they left.

The characters are well drawn, there's suspense, and it's a wonderful read. It is dark, but I didn't find it over-the-top (I'm not a Horror fan).