A review by theaceofpages
Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire

dark emotional medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

Have you ever wondered what happens when someone returns to the real world in a portal fantasy? What it's like to leave the world of wonder and return to our rather mundane reality? This book looks is set at a school for those who wish to return to the worlds that they have been ripped from and need to try to learn to let go of the lives that they have lost so that they can reintegrate into our world.

I have been aware of and interested in this book for a while (I will admit that the asexual representation is part of it!). I went in mostly blind since I wasn't aware of much (I knew there was an asexual character and there were portals to fantasy worlds). I finally got around to reading it and I accidentally finished it in a day (it is short, yes, but I wasn't expecting to rush through it quite this quickly). I had such a good time reading it. The writing was beautiful and I can definitely imagine the pain of being forced out of a fantasy world (look, I'm still homesick for a place I worked at last year and this wasn't even a completely different realm with magic!) The school seems like it would simultaneously be great (others get it and no one will stop you from going to what you now consider home if you get the chance) and awful (oops, you are stuck in the real world now and need to learn to deal with it). There's a bit of a murder mystery thrown in too and I enjoyed that, although I did guess who the killer was from one of the clues. That didn't take away from my enjoyment though!

I will definitely be continuing with the rest of the series. In fact, I'm already ready to dive into the next book! Unfortunately that will probably have to wait until next year since I have some other books I'd like to get through before the year ends. I'm very excited to get back into it soon and see where the other books go (at this point I have no idea and based off my enjoyment of this book, I think I'll be trying to go into the other books knowing as little as possible as well!)
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