Audiobook Review: Every Heart A Doorway by Seanan McGuire // The first half was iffy, but dammit, I’m a fan🎧

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 new-found schoolmates to get to the heart of the matter.

No matter the cost.

Author; Seanan McGuire

Publisher: Tor.com

Published: April 5th 2016

Narrated By: : Cynthia Hopkins

Wayward Children #1

*I’m a Book Depository Affiliate 🙂

*My actual rating is a 3.5, but for the sake of Goodreads (and half stars make me anxious) I’m rounding it up to a four.

I wanted something deep and philosophical and emotional. And it’s been on my TBR for ages. It also took me ages to read it a few days, if I’m honest, but I’ll talk about that in my audiobook section).

 “We notice the silence of men. We depend upon the silence of women.”

The story is about wayward children who have gone to other worlds (Neverland, Wonderland… there’s a lot of Lands) and come back. They go to Eleanor’s Home for Wayward Children to cope and maybe get back to their worlds. We focus on Nancy who has come from the Halls of the Dead. However, shortly after she gets to the house, a murder has ensued and people are looking at her.

I was expecting Nancy to be my favorite and though she is up there, Jack became my person as soon as she got her first soliloquy.  the diverse cast of characters that included an asexual protagonist and a boy who is transgender plus many more was a nice addition.

The deaths in the story made me more sad than I thought it would, though the whole murder mystery plot did seem random. I was expecting coping and at least a journey to find their doors, not people dying. Speaking on this, though authorities were mentioned, they weren’t involved? Kids still had classes and their only form of protection is the buddy system? When the big reveal happened, I did feel a bit dumb. ALL OF THE CLUES WERE THERE. HOW. DID I NOT. GET THIS?

The “romance” was annoying, though I wouldn’t call it a romance. I feel like Nancy’s attraction to Kade was used to explain asexuality to those who don’t know what it is? It felt awkward and though I appreciated the representation, it felt very dictionary definition, you know?

However, I did like their friendship. Kade grew on me and I see set up for him in the future books. Sumi also grew on me, she was abrupt and loud and rude, but she had a heart. Which I guess was the point of her character. Don’t judge a book by it’s cover and all that jazz 😉 .

I expected the narration to be darker. The narrator’s voice was soothing, but I expected a darker voice instead of a softer calming one. I did think about switching formats from audio to physical, but I paid for this, so I’m getting the most out of it. So since this was a personal issue and had nothing to do with the voice actress (again, I liked her), I’m not letting this affect my rating 🙂 . However, the reveal in the end would have been more shocking if the narrator was more animated. After the first death happened, I became more interested in listening and I started to like the way the narrator voiced Jack.

I genuinely enjoyed this (despite reading through a slump) and I’ll definitely be listening to the audiobooks for the rest of the series.