Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire

I have seen Every Heart a Doorway around the internet countless times before deciding to pick it up, and I am so glad I did. I got so much more out of this book than I was expecting. It is a strange little tale about some strong kids who were put into some fantastical situations.

Also, hint, this is a perfect read for autumn! I featured it in my Cozy Reads for Cozy Season post as well!

Border of hand drawn pumpkins
Book cover of Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire

Title: Every Heart a Doorway

Author: Seanan McGuire

Genre: YA, fantasy, mystery

Published Date: April 5, 2016

Goodreads Page


4/5 Stars

Content Warnings: Murder, gore, slight latrophobia/iatrophobia

This book was short, but it was far from sweet. As many have said before, this book was much darker than I was expecting, and I loved it! There were elements of both fantasy and mystery, and they were woven together beautifully. This story follows a group of teenagers who live at a school for special students. This school is full of people that went to a myriad of dimensions. These ranged from one made of rainbows, one full of dead people, and everything in between. Oh, and there is murder. Fun!

The characters were so beautifully diverse and developed. Sumi was one of my favorite characters. She was full of so much spunk. It was also interesting following the story from Nancy’s perspective and learning about the world she went to. Each character was their own person, and even in the short amount of pages, the reader learns so much about each one. I also love who the characters interacted with each other because it felt natural and real.

I will say, my rating moved down to 4 stars because of the mystery. As I read, I started to suspect who the killer was, which may be a good thing because it didn’t come out of left field, like some mystery novels. However, it did dampen my excitement towards the end of the novel. Although, I adored

Overall, I loved this story. It felt like a Nancy Drew story, but with fantastical elements added in. This was a short review for an equally short book, but I am so excited to continue on with the series. The next book gives us a deeper look at two different characters.

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