Every Heart a Doorway Review (spoiler-free)

 Every Heart a Doorway: My thoughts

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ / 5 stars

The Blurb

Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children
No Solicitations
No Visitors
No Quests

Children have always disappeared under the right conditions; slipping through the shadows under a bed or at the back of a wardrobe, tumbling down rabbit holes and into old wells, and emerging somewhere... else.

But magical lands have little need for used-up miracle children.

Nancy tumbled once, but now she’s back. The things she’s experienced... they change a person. The children under Miss West’s care understand all too well. And each of them is seeking a way back to their own fantasy world.

But Nancy’s arrival marks a change at the Home. There’s a darkness just around each corner, and when tragedy strikes, it’s up to Nancy and her new-found schoolmates to get to the heart of the matter.

No matter the cost.

The Plot

This book is about Nancy, who has come back from a magical world where she danced with the Lord of the Death and stood still in the dark for the Lady of the Death for days. Her parents send her to Eleanor West's Home for Wayward Children to "fix her" but when she gets there, people start getting murdered. Of course, because she is new and is okay with getting close to dead bodies, many suspect her and so it was a murder mystery as well.

My Thoughts

I absolutely loved this book! I know that it is super popular and hyped, but it was so worth it. The trans and asexual representation was good and we love to see it (I'm not either but I think so) and I also just loved all of the characters. From this book, I was not expecting a murder mystery because I thought it was just about children exploring worlds but it was a nice surprise.

The Characters

Nancy Whitman

Nancy is the protagonist of this story. I said most things about her in the plot section so I don't have much to say about her except that she is a great character. 

Jack and Jill Wolcott

Jaqueline and Jillian are twin sisters who are very different. I think I liked Jack better but that might just be because she got more page time. They are both strange, in different ways, for example Jack says some weird stuff about being a murderer and how she might become one and Jill walks around with a parasol talking about her vampire prince back in their world. I'm happy that they got a happy ending.

Kade Bronson

He is one of the characters in their squad and he really likes books (which is a bit icky but eh). I think he's a love interest for Nancy but I'm not completely sure and I don't really remember much about him except that.

Onishi Sumi

I also really liked Sumi. She's very bubbly and energetic. At the start she's climbing the trees and I just love that no-one finds it strange to find her coming in through the window. Also, now that I've read the book I want to know how old she is. Her story is sad but I liked her.

Christopher Flores

Christopher is a boy who can play this little flute and make the dead dance. It's a cool superpower. There is this funny scene where he says that on the first day he thought Jill was cute and so he said something to her and she said, 'You're a cute little boy.' I thought that was funny.

Eleanor West

Eleanor is the 97-year-old-but-immortal owner of Eleanor West's Home for Wayward Children. She's really kind and I wish that she was my teacher. All she wants is to help people and get back to childhood and to her own world.

Overall

I really enjoyed this book and all the characters and I'm excited to get to the sequel! I believe the next one follows Jack and Jill so that sounds great. 

Who I Would Recommend This To

I would recommend this if you like YA fantasy with good representation. I haven't read any books like this so I don't have anything for that category unfortunately. But there are sequels!

My Rating System

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ = Love 
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ = Almost Love
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ = Really Like
⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ = A Bit Better Than Like
⭐️⭐️⭐️ = Like
⭐️⭐️ = Meh
⭐️ = Dislike