Early Review – Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire (4/5 stars)

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Length: 176 pages
Publisher: Tor.com
Release Date: April 5, 2016
ISBN-13: 978-0765385505
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: ARC through Amazon Vine
Rating: 4/5 stars

I got a copy of this book to review through the Amazon Vine program. This was a good novella about a home for kids/teens after they leave their fairy tales.

Eleanor West runs a home for wayward children. However, it’s not for your every day wayward child. What happens to the children who fall down rabbit holes or into old wells or wander through mysterious doorways when they finally return home and their parents don’t believe their stories? Wow are these children supposed to adjust back to the “real” world. This is what Eleanor tries to help with since she herself wandered into one of the Nonsense worlds more than once.

Nancy has just returned from a world ruled by the Lord of the Underworld; a world where stillness and silence are desired over everything else. Her parents are concerned because Nancy is not adjusting well and bring her to Eleanor’s Home. However, upon Nancy’s arrival things take a turn to the dark side and people start dying. It is up to Nancy and her newfound friends to unravel this mystery and prove that Nancy isn’t the problem.

I really enjoyed all the quirky characters and the beginning of the book. This is a very creative concept and one that is fun to read about. The second half of the book is more of a mystery, as teens in the home are found murdered and the characters have to figure out who the criminal is. I thought the second half of the book was a bit too much; it was like the murder mystery was kind of crammed in there and it felt forced and rushed.

The story was well written and easy to read. It also has a very fairytale like feel to it.

Overall this was a well done novella with a creative concept and some interesting quirky characters. The first half of the novella is magnificent, the second half felt a bit clumsy and rushed to me. I would recommend to those who are interesting in fairy tale like stories in modern day settings.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
– You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge
– New Release Challenge
– Flights of Fantasy Reading Challenge