Every Heart a Doorway cover art

Every Heart a Doorway

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Every Heart a Doorway

By: Seanan McGuire
Narrated by: Cynthia Hopkins
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About this listen

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 newfound schoolmates to get to the heart of things. No matter the cost.

©2016 Seanan McGuire (P)2016 Macmillan Audio Classics Dark Fantasy Fantasy Fiction Scary Heartfelt Middle Game

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Critic reviews

"Seanan McGuire has long been one of the smartest writers around, and with this novella we can easily see that her heart is as big as her brain. We know this story isn't true, but it is truth." [Charlaine Harris, New York Times best-selling author of the Sookie Stackhouse series (TV's True Blood)]
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A very intresting and original concept, beautifully written and narrated. I honestly don't have any complaints.

Short and sweet

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No seriously. I never knew I needed this gorgeous story, but I did. I was hooked from the word go. It's rich, bittersweet, just the right amount of whimsy, and gore. You need this story.

Where has this story been all my life?

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It's nice to see Seanan McGuire write a main character who isn't, you know, a Forceful Protagonist with Witty Banter in the way that make many of her other main characters seem a bit... samey. (Although in Into The Drowning Deep she also had a different type, but still. She's written like hella many books.) The concept seems kind of... It seems hard to make work in a way that is both indulgent and a good book, but she makes it feel pretty good.

Pretty cool, concept works better than expected

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I actually liked this book! Though didn't expect it would be that "dark"...the narrator was Brillient! For me it was an easy listen - though would log liked it to of been a longer story!

Not expected story

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The narrator was fine and easy to understand, but what stood out was the beautiful story and the effective writing style. I love this author and this book was so good - I listened to it all in one go. Plus the asexual protagonist and transboy main character helped a lot; good representation is always appreciated, and this was really good.

I really really loved this book

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This was fresh and absolutely stunning, I only wished it was much much longer, need to find out if this has a sequel.

Different and lovely

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Story:

I loved this so much, I just couldn’t put it down until it was done. It’s magical, charming and perfectly weird, but also very dark and has a surprising amount of grisly bits. It’s about loss and difference and identity and also a little bit about hope, about finding a new family, a new home and new purpose when yours rejects you. And it can also be read as a metaphor for growing up and dealing with parents or a world that tries to make you ‘fit’ in ways that aren’t you.

It’s also very clever in its use of certain fantasy tropes, with a lot to say about portal fantasies and the characters you tend to find in them. I’ve read stories before that feel like they are in conversation with the fantasy genre, but this one is particularly successful at also being an utterly compelling story in its own right, not to mention including a great, diverse set of characters that I had a genuine emotional connection with. Just brilliant.

Narrator:

Amazing! The narrator handles this story and the characters in it so well, it's a delight to listen to.

Beautiful and heart-breaking

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It’s not bad I suppose. It’s not great. It’s a book. It’s readable. I listened to the whole thing. It just didn’t touch me. At all. But who knows, maybe you’re close enough to the characters to find something for yourself here.

Not bad?

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I bought this on a real whim as I like Seanan McGuire, but I really had no idea what to expect. However, I was very pleasantly surprised. The story is unusual and quirky which I loved, and the characters - apart from Nancy who was really irritating - were well written and funny. It wasn't hard to work out what was going on and who was responsible, but that was fine as it was still enjoyable. Really glad I took a chance on this.

Pleasantly surprised.

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Enjoyable teen fiction, enough darkness and intrigue without collapsing into gory horror. I listened in two sittings over a gloomy weekend and it was the perfect story and mood.

Compelling and convincing

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