“You’re nobody’s doorway but your own, and the only one who gets to tell you how your story ends is you. But when you find yourself wondering ‘is that a door?’, you’ll know. It will move you in ways you might not realise. Each and every word has earned its place in this novella.įans of fantasy should give this book a chance. It is tightly and taughtly told, sparing no room for frivolous feelings or backstories. I read them all in quick succession and each is as beautiful a tale as Nancy’s.Įvery Heart a Doorway is haunting and beautiful, melancholy and mysterious. I was delighted to discover this book is the first in a series which takes us behind the doors of the other Wayward Children. They are dealing with the grief of losing their true homes, but they alsoĭeal with very real issues of sexuality and belonging, something every teen can She makes friends of sorts at the Home but all she really wants is to return to the world. These are teenagers struggling to find a place they can fit In Every Heart a Doorway, Nancy comes back from the World of the Dead. Instead, as we watch the characters interact with one another to try and solve them, their voices and desolate stories carry the narrative. Though these murders are not particulary hard to solve they are not the point of the story. In July 2021, Paramount Pictures acquired the film rights to the Wayward Children series.The plot centres around the ritualistic murders of students.

The book is the first in an open sequence of novellas and short stories called the Wayward Children. Nancy finds her doorway again and returns to the land of the dead.Įvery Heart a Doorway was critically acclaimed upon release, and received the following accolades: Jack kills Jill and then returns to her gothic world. Nancy and her friends learn that Jill is killing students in order to make a key which will reopen her own doorway. Sumi is found dead, as are several other students. The students were all altered by their time in different worlds where they were able to be their true selves, and most long to return to them. The students include Kade, who spent time in a fantasy world with goblins and fairies, Jacqueline 'Jack' and Jillian 'Jill,' who spent time in a world of vampires and mad scientists, and Sumi, who spent time in a nonsense world full of candy and rainbows.

Nancy is sent to a boarding school for children who have had similar experiences. When she is returned to the real world, her parents do not believe her story. As a child, Nancy found a doorway that led her to the land of the dead, based on the story of Persephone and Hades. Rarely, children may find doorways that transport them to other worlds. It was first published in hardcover and ebook editions by Tor.com in April 2016. Every Heart a Doorway is a fantasy novella by American writer Seanan McGuire, the first in the Wayward Children series.

Every heart has a doorway