Reviews

A Wind in the Door by Madeleine L'Engle

abyers18's review against another edition

4.0

This is a different setting to see the characters from the first book and my second or third time attempting to read it. Now that I did I wished I would’ve pushed through before. I cannot wait to see what happens to Meg, Calvin and Charles Wallace

darla78's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-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

3.0

anabellaedpb's review against another edition

3.0

esperaba mas la verdad

glkrose's review against another edition

challenging emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I love how I decide to finally read more of this series in my 30s when I first read A Wrinkle in Time as a child. As an adult, rereading A Wrinkle in Time, I still enjoyed it but I definitely did not remember how religious it was. This one was interesting. Very scientific and a little religious, but it felt more subtle. I don't know how any young child reads this and understands it because even I struggled. I do really like Meg, Calvin, and Charles Wallace so next book I go.

jbmorgan86's review against another edition

5.0

I came into A Wind in the Door expecting it to continue the story of A Wrinkle in Time. I expected Charles Wallace, Meg, Calvin, and the three women to fight against "The Black Thing"for the soul of the cosmos. However, A Wind in the Door is nothing like that. Instead, Charles Wallace is deathly sick. Meg, Calvin, and her principal, Mr. Jenkins, must join a cherubim and fight against the Ecthroi in the mitochondria of Charles Wallace.

L'eagle does a great job of weaving together theology and science. Whereas AWT was about "the macro" (the cosmos), AWD is about "the micro" (the innards of mitochondria). All of these things sing the song of creation.

There are all kind of fun theological "easter eggs" here:
Cherubim - The cherubim in the story are mistaken for a drive of dragons. It/they are a mass of eyes, wings, fire, and smoke (hello, Rev. 4)
Proginoskes - The cherubim is named "Proginoskes," a Biblical Greek term for "forethought."
Ecthros/Ecthroi - The villains of the story are called "ecthros" (singular)/"ecthroi" (plural). This is literally the Greek word for "enemy."
Sporos - There is a mouse-shrimp like creature that must plant himself named "Sporos," the Biblical Greek word for "seed."
Yadah - The mitochondria is called "Yadah," which is the Biblical Hebrew word for "know."
Self-sacrifice - Someone may choose to "X" themselves in order to save others
Paraphrases of scripture - "Oh--you love your family. That's easy" (Mt 5:43-48).

rebeccatc's review against another edition

3.0

So I needed a book to read for the 2015 Reading Challenge that was published the year I was born. I saw A Wind in the Door on a list for 1974 and thought it would make a nice quick read to fill that category, since I had already read most of the other books that appealed to me (such as Stephen King's Carrie, John Jakes' The Bastard, Michael Shaara's The Killer Angels). Once I started reading it, I realized it was actually published in 1973. Doh! Anyway, I had read A Wrinkle in Time a few years ago for my book club and I will say the same thing about this book I said about that one: I would have loved it if I had read it when I was 12. Now, I will just say this: It is filled from beginning to end with the kind of trippy nonsense that appeals mainly to adolescents and, I assume, to people who are indulging in 1970's era recreational drugs. It also relies on the tired contrivance of Mysterious Characters In the Know, who refuse to share any real information with the Confused Protagonist Not in the Know, because there is never enough TIME and they have to fight off the end of the world NOW without any real instruction, because the Protagonist Not in the Know is somehow destined to do this! This of course excuses the author from actually explaining anything either, which fits in well with the denouement where some poetry is recited and then the Confused Protagonist Not in the Know wakes up from a faint to discover that everything is more or less okay, and that other characters didn't faint and can fill her in on what happened, sort of. More fantasy than science fiction.

starrymaze's review against another edition

3.0

After having read "A Wrinkle in Time," I felt this book was a slow read because the series of events took longer to unfold compared to the first in the series. There was a little more detail about what was going on behind the scenes which I found to be a little boring. But once you pass all that, the end of the book was more enjoyable in my opinion. Not a bad book, it was just okay for me.

carlybailey's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

parcoeur's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, and Violence

eliseanderson516's review against another edition

2.0

I was so obsessed with a wrinkle in time as a kid (probably read it 15 times), and was so hopefully for this one but I just did not find it as engaging & they completely don’t acknowledge any continuation from the first book which just made this feel like a different world (in a bad way)