A review by kappareads
Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire
5.0
6/6/2022:
Nancy, Kade, Christopher, Jack, and Sumi are the best 5-man band that never was
So obviously I love this first book and my 4.5 star rating still holds, but this round I wanna comment on 1. How much I adore the possibilities of Kade/Nancy, queerplatonic or otherwise and legit have fan art ideas I’d be sketching rn if I could and 2. I kinda love that the students are terrible ppl? Like yes, you went to a land of rainbows and unicorns, but teens will still be terrible to those seen as “weird,” even if you’re all weird to the general populace
03/17/2020
I'm bumping up my rating to 4.5 stars. This book is just so much more wonderful than I remembered.
04/28/2017:
4 stars
This book was so beautiful and amazing I can't put it into words, but I'll try.
Every Heart a Doorway is about, what is essentially a therapy for kids who have come back from adventures, whether they wanted to leave or not. They all have their own "doors," places that are more home than where there parents are and if they are made to leave, they are heartbroken, and come to the school.
It's such a fascinating concept, I wanted to read a full novel of story-building, but at the same time, the book still was able to fulfill my need for lore in it's short page count. And considering it's size, the characters were all well-developed, and all unique with their own sense of being.
The conflict/climax shocked me and it was amazing and that;s all I want to say about it.
Have I not mentioned the queer shit? I'll mention the queer shit. BY CHAPTER 2 WE HAVE CONFIRMATION THAT 2 OF THE CHARACTERS IN THE MAIN GROUP ARE QUEER. The main character, Nancy, is asexual (and maybe aromantic? Personally, some of her discussion of relationships made her feel both ace and aro, but that's just me). Kade is a trans man. Again, it only takes two chapters for this to be apparent. It's not a plot twist, not the source of major angst (only a little as some of the other students are transphobic) but it's not the main plot point and I love that.
The one weakness this book has is it's shortness. I think it would've done far better as a longer book, as the last chapter or two felt a touch rushed? Not enough to put me off giving this book 4 stars, but enough i was like "woah."
I'd still recommend this book who wants something unique.
Nancy, Kade, Christopher, Jack, and Sumi are the best 5-man band that never was
So obviously I love this first book and my 4.5 star rating still holds, but this round I wanna comment on 1. How much I adore the possibilities of Kade/Nancy, queerplatonic or otherwise and legit have fan art ideas I’d be sketching rn if I could and 2. I kinda love that the students are terrible ppl? Like yes, you went to a land of rainbows and unicorns, but teens will still be terrible to those seen as “weird,” even if you’re all weird to the general populace
03/17/2020
I'm bumping up my rating to 4.5 stars. This book is just so much more wonderful than I remembered.
04/28/2017:
4 stars
This book was so beautiful and amazing I can't put it into words, but I'll try.
Every Heart a Doorway is about, what is essentially a therapy for kids who have come back from adventures, whether they wanted to leave or not. They all have their own "doors," places that are more home than where there parents are and if they are made to leave, they are heartbroken, and come to the school.
It's such a fascinating concept, I wanted to read a full novel of story-building, but at the same time, the book still was able to fulfill my need for lore in it's short page count. And considering it's size, the characters were all well-developed, and all unique with their own sense of being.
The conflict/climax shocked me and it was amazing and that;s all I want to say about it.
Have I not mentioned the queer shit? I'll mention the queer shit. BY CHAPTER 2 WE HAVE CONFIRMATION THAT 2 OF THE CHARACTERS IN THE MAIN GROUP ARE QUEER. The main character, Nancy, is asexual (and maybe aromantic? Personally, some of her discussion of relationships made her feel both ace and aro, but that's just me). Kade is a trans man. Again, it only takes two chapters for this to be apparent. It's not a plot twist, not the source of major angst (only a little as some of the other students are transphobic) but it's not the main plot point and I love that.
The one weakness this book has is it's shortness. I think it would've done far better as a longer book, as the last chapter or two felt a touch rushed? Not enough to put me off giving this book 4 stars, but enough i was like "woah."
I'd still recommend this book who wants something unique.