Rarely, children may find doorways that transport them to other worlds. As a child, Nancy found a doorway that led her to the land of the dead, based on the story of Persephone and Hades. When she is returned to the real world, her parents do not believe her story. Nancy is sent to a boarding school for children who have had similar experiences.
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. 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.
As Nancy is getting settled at the school, Sumi is found dead. The bodies of staff member Lundy and student Loriel are found soon afterwards. Sumi's hands were amputated, Loriel's eyes were removed, and Lundy's brain was extracted. Some students believe that Nancy might the killer, as she had been to the land of dead; Jack is also suspected because of her association with a mad scientist.
Nancy and her friends learn that Jill is the killer. She hopes to use their body parts in order to make a key which will reopen her own doorway. Jack kills Jill, then returns to her gothic world in the hope of resurrecting her sister. Nancy finds her doorway again and returns to the land of the dead.
Reception
Reviews
Every Heart a Doorway was well-received by critics, including starred reviews from Booklist[2] and Kirkus Reviews.[3]
Booklist's Erin Downey Howerton wrote, "This amazing fantasy pierces the shimmering veil of childhood imagination by reminding adult readers that their own doorways still exist deep in the chambers of their all-too-human hearts."[2]
Kirkus Reviews highlighted that "McGuire understands and has true compassion (never pity) for outcasts and outliers while also making it clear that being a misfit doesn’t mean you’ll necessarily get along with all the other misfits, who don’t fit for different reasons."[3]
Publishers Weekly similarly wrote, "This gothic charmer is a love letter to anyone who’s ever felt out of place". They noted that the "characters are strange and charming" and highlighted how "McGuire [...] puts her own inimitable spin on portal fantasy, adding horror elements to the mix".[4]
Likewise, School Library Journal's Gretchen Crowley noted that "the characters are well drawn, and their feelings about their impossible situation are believable. The alienation they experience and their struggles to find a way back will appeal to teens."[5]
