Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuireMy rating: 2 of 5 stars
This was ok. A home for wayward kids who have been to a mythical storybook world and can't cope because they want to go back sounded amazing. The idea behind the story was really intriguing, but I felt like the execution was lacking. This book got so much hype and so many good reviews, but I don't get it. I feel like the story was rushed and jumbled, which is unfortunate because this book had so much potential. I feel like had this been a full novel versus a novella it would have been everything I wanted. I think I wanted more, maybe because this has gotten such amazing reviews. I felt like this was more of a teaser or a prequel story.
The characters didn't have enough development and their stories weren't well explored, though they could have easily had a full chapter or even a full novella/novel explaining their experiences in their storybook world and their issues coping. The mention of asexual and transgender characters was a nice attempt at diversity but it added nothing to the story. I didn't feel that the characters were developed and what those terms mean were explored or explained enough to add anything to the story.
The main character Nancy's character was developed a little more than the other main character Kade, but honestly it was just glossed over. There were too many plot holes and the ending was just too convenient. The murder mystery just didn't fit, maybe because I rather would have heard about the worlds the kids went to than gruesome murder. Those scenes were pretty detailed and grotesque, I wanted that kind of detail in the characters and about the worlds. This just fell flat for me.
On to the actual story, the novella follows Nancy, a girl who has travelled to the Halls of the Dead. She has come back changed from her travels, and her parents want her back to the way she used to be. Nancy just wants to go back to the the land of the dead which to her felt like home, but she was sent back to reality to make sure the Halls of the Dead was where she wanted to make her permanent home. She is having a hard time adjusting to reality, and she ends up at Eleanor West's Home for Wayward Children. Ms. West boasts the ability to help kids like Nancy adjust while still getting the required education. They've all had similar experiences in life and they are all "troubled". Eleanor herself has been to a fantasy world, and unlike many of her wards can go back whenever she likes. Many of the kids at the school have been sent back for breaking some rule or another of their storybook world and can never go back. Shortly after Nancy's arrival at school, her roommate turns up dead and several other students are found quite gruesomely murdered as well. Nancy teams up with other students to find the culprit as she is quickly a suspect being the new girl and a lover of the world of the dead. They quickly realize who the killer and everything kind of ends pretty quickly.
I'm happy to see that there will be more books in the series, and those will perhaps explore the characters in more depth. From the bonus chapters included in the e-book it looks as if they will. As I've said earlier, I love the concept of the series but I wanted more world building and more character development. I hope to see that in the next book which comes out fairly soon.
This came highly recommended by several librarians and is my recommended by a librarian pick for my reading challenge. I hope to continue on with the series as the next book shows alot of promise from the excerpt I read. I would recommend this for a mature teenage audience as it was pretty grisly with the murder descriptions and discusses some more mature teen topics.
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