Every Heart a Doorway

Hovering between 4 to 5 stars. This is a very nuanced exploration of what it means for some of us to navigate the very confusing threshold between childhood and adolescence, and having then to come to terms with a bewildering and often very frightening adult self-identity.

Nancy is sent by her parents to Eleanor West's Home for Wayward Children after she returns from a trip to a magical land altered in almost every way. At first she thinks it's just an ordinary boarding school until she realises that all the students there have been to a different magical land of their own, have come back to the “real” world, and somehow have found their way to the Home to reintegrate themselves.

In terms of plot, there is a mystery that pops up rather unexpectedly, and while it operates decently enough to drive the story and the characters along, my opinion is that the plot really takes a backseat to what I find is the main attraction here: the exploration of each character's growth and individuality.

It doesn't take much to realise that the magical lands these children and teenagers have been through is a thinly veiled analogy for the confusion of puberty and early adolescence. A wide variety of personalities, sexualities, and identities are explored here: our protagonist Nancy is asexual and also probably a bit of a goth, Sumi might have some form of ADD/ADHD, Kade is a trans man, Jack is grappling with gender stereotypes forced upon her by her parents and instead wanting to pursue the sciences, while Christopher is... well, I haven't figured that one out yet.

What the book does best is the way it explores, slowly and respectfully, how each of these individuals navigated their individual journeys, how they felt when they were shunted back into the “real” world, why they each wanted more than anything to go back “home” to the magical land from which they have been expelled, and how they handled interacting with all these other teens around them who have been through the same thing but yet still can be cruel and vicious towards those whom they perceived went through a “lesser” world than their own.

I've never read a book quite like this before and I really appreciated the journey that it brought me on. I'd recommend this wholeheartedly to just about anyone!