This book confused me. Truly, honestly confused me. Not in terms of the plot - in terms of the tone. Was it a YA? I mean, it very much felt like YA, what with the young characters all attending a boarding school together, bonding over experiences astounding and magical. It's a quick, easy, fast paced read. It's also got a buttload of murder in it, some exceedingly questionable decisions by the school's headmistress, and a resolution so tidy I could have presented it to my grandmother with a bow on top and she would have commended it for its neatness. 
 First off, it was incredibly refreshing to read a (possibly) YA novel with: 
 a) No romance 
 b) Gender dysphoria 
 c) Asexuality 
 d) Discussion of mental illness 
 And best of all, all of these things are addressed with understanding and respect. 
 But. I had some problems. I wanted very much to love this book and I read it very, very quickly, almost by accident, which shows the skill of McGuire's writing. But I just couldn't get my head around the tone of this novel. 
 Like I said, on face value it's very much a YA novel. It follows Nancy, a new student at the school. The school is run for teenagers who have, at some point in their lives, found a magical doorway into another world - a world that seems specifically suited to their personalities, in which they thrive. But for one reason or another, were kicked out of their soul homes and back into reality. They attend Eleanor West's school to learn to move on from what they have lost. 
 Nancy arrives at the school and suddenly, there is a MURDER. It is reasonably clear who the murderer is. This was issue 1, for me. It was quickly followed by issue 2 - there was no jeopardy following this murder. Sure, the staff and students are afraid. But there is no investigation into the death - Eleanor says the murdered student had no family and thus they treat the death as a disappearance, and this is apparently all that needs to be done. I mean, wouldn't it have been so interesting and so suspenseful had the police become involved? And it gets worse. Behold, issue 3: 
 Later, Eleanor West, the guardian of these teenagers, some of which, to be fair, are older than they appear, tasks them with (view spoiler)[disposing of another student's body?!?! AND then allows them to apprehend the murderer by themselves?! 
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 It was a little too much for me. 
 Add to this the lack of surprises and the very almost deus ex machina ending and I felt I was reading something which could very fairly be described as the plot of a B Movie. There was over the top blood and gore and mad scientists and questionable decisions and kids wandering around with parasols, for goodness sake. I was so unsure about the tone. Was it purposefully drenched in black humour? Was it purposefully a B Movie? If it was, I commend it, but I don't feel that it was entirely purposeful. It's too clean and it has moments of beauty, and even the kids who are supposed to be older (having aged differently in their other worlds) still behave like kids. 
 Perhaps this novel was just too short. A longer time spent world and character building may have fleshed this out enough to have truly sucked me in, because, no bones about it, some of the places described sound truly, truly interesting. I would have loved to have learned more about the doorways and where they led in their seemingly infinite possibilities. And the characters, too, were not quite interesting enough. It's easy to spot the murderer because they are all so briefly sketched out. 
 However, despite my issues I will probably read the sequel. I'm interested in this world and I would like to know more about it and its inhabitants. I want to see if the tone remains the same, or evolves. I want to see if I can imagine watching it in one of my old film classes (1950s B Movies and their connotations). Take from that what you will.