"Before I went through that doorway, I knew there was no such thing as a portal to another world. Now I know that if you open the right door at the right time, you might finally find a place where you belong" 
 I imagine that most of us have read at least one story about children disappearing into other worlds, tumbling down rabbit holes or vanishing through wardrobes or escaping up faraway trees into magical lands and wild adventures. The idea of the portal fantasy, of opening a doorway to somewhere else - a place that feels like home - is hardly new. But this book, this delightfully diverse and beautifully enchanting book, is not about the disappearing at all. 
 This story is about the wayward children who return, transformed by their experiences, after their peculiar tales and incredible journeys are done. It is about finding a place that feels like home and then being forced to leave it behind, about coming back to the real world where you no longer belong. 
 And it may actually be my favourite book of the year. 
 It is simultaneously whimsical and strange, fantastical and dark, thoughtful and compelling. It is beautifully written, layered with gorgeous metaphors and powerful deeper messages about body positivity, female sexuality, acceptance, conformity, self-expression, mental illness, identity, growing up and finding who you are and where you belong in life, all woven into a creepy murder mystery plot. There is something so brilliantly creative and intriguing about this book, an almost dark fairy-tale aspect to the storytelling that is just so delightfully wicked, and yet it is infused with so much emotion and wit and warmth it completely and utterly captured my heart. 
 It is, at its core, a book about being who you are and finding the life you want to live. It is about how society doesn't always want the real you, but that doesn't meant that who you are is not valid and important. 
 I absolutely adored the premise; this idea that there are hidden doorways that can lead each person into their ideal fantasy world, into the story that best resonates with what an individual is seeking or needs most. The world-building was so elaborately detailed and meticulously thought-out, taking a familiar concept and re-imagining it into something wonderfully original. But the true brilliance of this book is in what it has to say, because it touches on so many diverse and important themes. It is insightful and challenging and altogether heart-warming, featuring an unforgettable cast of characters, who are almost entirely - and unapologetically - queer, each of whom was so interesting and richly developed. I honestly just wanted to spend more time with each of these children, to learn more about their stories and their lives and their portals (and if I had any criticism of this book it is that it was far, far too short). 
 I especially appreciated that the main character is asexual and that this is so sensitively handled throughout the text. It informs her character - her interactions and her relationships - but it is, delightfully, entirely irrelevant to the actual plot. It is a part of her, but it is not the point of the book. 
 In short; I loved it. It is weird and beautiful, poignant and magical, relatable and diverse. Highly recommend. 
 "You're nobody's doorway but your own, and the only one who gets to tell you how your story ends is you"