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A review by pastelkerstin
Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire
adventurous
dark
mysterious
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I feel like this story suffers from its short length, especially once shit gets serious and it seems like everyone is moving on way too fast.
Also, when this came out it was on every ace rep recommendation list. And I get it: The main character is ace and it's mentioned explicitly and this is (was?) a popular book.
But the ace rep in this seems contradictory at times? I don't really know what to make of it. One moment Nancy says it's important to draw a distinction between asexual and aromantic and that she has had boyfriends and has romantic feelings. But then in another scene she says she doesn't want to date anyone. The thing is, it's not like Nancy's experience couldn't be a real person's experience. Attraction is complex and confusing. To me, Nancy seems to be somewhere on the aromantic spectrum, but the narrative doesn't confirm that. It just feels underexplored and odd to me (as an asexual aro-spec person).
Also, when this came out it was on every ace rep recommendation list. And I get it: The main character is ace and it's mentioned explicitly and this is (was?) a popular book.
But the ace rep in this seems contradictory at times? I don't really know what to make of it. One moment Nancy says it's important to draw a distinction between asexual and aromantic and that she has had boyfriends and has romantic feelings. But then in another scene she says she doesn't want to date anyone. The thing is, it's not like Nancy's experience couldn't be a real person's experience. Attraction is complex and confusing. To me, Nancy seems to be somewhere on the aromantic spectrum, but the narrative doesn't confirm that. It just feels underexplored and odd to me (as an asexual aro-spec person).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, Murder, Animal cruelty, Gore, Animal death, Cursing, Death, Deadnaming, Child death, and Violence
Moderate: Eating disorder, Terminal illness, Grief, and Kidnapping
Minor: Acephobia/Arophobia
Eye trauma