I love when I can finally cross off a book I’ve had on my TBR for years!

In Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire, Nancy is struggling with living in the real world. You see, she recently tumbled into another world of magic and darkness, death and drama, and she wants to go back. Her parents, very concerned, seek help in the form of Eleanor West, the head of a school for “wayward children” like Nancy. Once there, Nancy finds an assortment of unusual kids like her, all of whom tumbled into other magical worlds. She makes friends, but soon after her arrival, a tragedy occurs. Nancy and her new allies are determined to get to the bottom of what happened, even if they have to risk their own lives.

I’ve been meaning to start this series for ages, and finally decided to check it out from the library. It’s a series of novellas, so getting through this first installment only took me an afternoon. And it was a pretty enjoyable afternoon!

First off, this book has an excellent atmosphere, slightly eerie and slightly whimsical. You get a very good sense of how Nancy feels adrift and unmoored after returning to the real world, how she’s slightly detached from so-called reality. And once we arrive at Eleanor West’s home, it’s cool to see the different experiences of all these children. I enjoyed the parts about the other worlds, and the various categories under which they can fall, such as Logic or Whimsy. I’d love to learn more about that, though I’m sure I will in later installments.

I also liked the characters. Nancy was a decent protagonist, odd and a little troubled, but understandably so. I think her explanation about her asexuality was a little clumsily worked in, slightly jarring in the way it was presented, but I was still pleased to see the representation of a less-discussed identity nonetheless. Eleanor was also an intriguing character, a little mysterious and very layered; I would love to know more about her. My favorite character, however, was definitely Kade. He’s very charming and sweet, and someone I’d like to befriend if he were real. However, if he really were from Oklahoma (as McQuire mentions a couple of times), I feel like he should have said “y’all” at some point! But that’s just a minor quibble.

On another note, this story was definitely darker than I thought it was going to be. The mysterious thing that serves as the inciting incident is actually a murder, and the subsequent events are a little on the violent side. Nothing overly graphic, but probably not suitable for younger readers (this is commonly shelved in adult fantasy, so it’s not really an issue, but often there’s confusion about how to categorize something when the main characters are kids). Despite the dark aspects of this, though, I was very invested in solving the mystery. And overall, that didn’t disappoint.

In the end, Every Heart a Doorway was a gripping and intriguing start to this series. Several characters are great, the setting is vivid, the lore is fascinating. I don’t know that I loved the slightly open ending, as it felt a bit abrupt, but I still enjoyed the book as a whole. It feels like a combination of Coraline and Gallant, with a touch of The Starless Sea and Under the Whispering Door thrown in for good measure. It’s thoughtful and intense, and I look forward to reading the second book soon!