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munsonsmith's review against another edition
4.0
Reminds me of a romanticized version of Stephen King's Dark Tower series.
cait_s's review against another edition
5.0
A perfectly bookish story to please a writer or reader's heart. January Scaller is trapped in the life of a "good girl," trying to be dutiful for her guardian while her father travels to find artifacts. It isn't easy for her, to fit the "proper" mold, and I quickly started rooting for her to break free.
The start is slow, but it picks up speed--and Doors. Magical, story woven into story, and packed full of worlds, friendships, promises, and love. A riveting read.
The start is slow, but it picks up speed--and Doors. Magical, story woven into story, and packed full of worlds, friendships, promises, and love. A riveting read.
c_mryn's review against another edition
5.0
"Because the place you are born isn't necessarily the place you belong." HOLY COW, this book stole my heart! Our main protagonist and narrator in this novel is January Scaller. When we first meet her, we quickly realize that she's an intelligent, insightful young woman, but much of her personality is repressed by her guardian, Mr. Locke. As she recounts some of her childhood memories at the beginning of the story, we begin to understand her circumstances a little better: Mr. Locke is a wealthy businessman who collects unique, exotic objects from around the world. When January was merely a baby, Mr. Locke employed her father to travel the world and find these unusual artifacts for him. January has only a distant relationship with her father, who is rarely home, and she knows nothing of her mother or her real origins in the world. She is Mr. Locke's ward, stowed away in his sprawling mansion in Vermont, being taught by various nursemaids how to be a "proper" young lady. January is adventurous at heart, but Mr. Locke entirely disapproves of such "inappropriate" behavior. From the get-go, this story is interesting from a psychological perspective: Mr. Locke treats January terribly, but she believes he really loves her. (The Stockholm syndrome is real!) On the eve of January's 17th birthday, she discovers an unusual book in Locke House titled "The Ten Thousand Doors." The book tells a magical story of romance and danger in other worlds, and the parallels January draws between her own life and the love story in a beautiful city by the sea propels her on a journey of self-discovery. I don't want to dive any further into the plot; there is something beautiful to be discovered on nearly every page, and I think it's best to go in a little blind. I wasn't quite sure what to expect when I picked this book up at a post-holiday sale, but it surprised me in so many ways and often left me breathless! In addition to being a fantastical adventure, this book also makes powerful statements about race, power, privilege, and the treatment of women in society that are just as relevant today as they were when the story takes place a century ago. The story isn't always a happy one, but it's written so *beautifully.* The lush imagery and the way in which the magical elements slowly creep into the story seem to make up for the depressing events that take place. And the ENDING! Oh my goodness, the last quarter of the book was not what I expected, and it left my heart throbbing! There are lines in this book that seemed to speak directly to my soul. I mean, c'mon: ". . . her eyes were wind-whipped and her smile at the night sky was sly, as if she and the stars were on familiar terms. . . . [She] failed to provide any clear explanation beyond a few senseless descriptions of high mountain peaks and black pine boughs and lights in the sky like pink silk pinned to the stars." It took me a while to read this book, but only because I wanted to take my time and relish every paragraph. This is a story that I won't be able to forget for a very long time, and I CAN. NOT. WAIT. to see where Alix E. Harrow's imagination takes us next. I've already got my eyes on her second novel, "The Once and Future Witches," coming out this fall!
bookmarksandbrews's review against another edition
5.0
I enjoyed every second I spent with January Scholar. I hope to meet her again in a future tale.
10 tattoos out of 10.
10 tattoos out of 10.
jpgapp's review against another edition
5.0
"That afternoon, sitting in that lonely field beside the Door that didn't lead anywhere, I wanted to write a different kind of story. A true kind of story, something I could crawl into if only I believed it hard enough."
This book was such a magical adventure. Harrow's writing style is so beautifully lyrical, I loved every minute of it and only hope she will write a sequel.
This book was such a magical adventure. Harrow's writing style is so beautifully lyrical, I loved every minute of it and only hope she will write a sequel.
mgmaliska's review against another edition
5.0
What a deliciously odd book with a sometimes fearless, sometimes pathetic, but endlessly interesting main character.
Shout out to Jane and Bad for being the best characters in the whole damn piece. I wish we had gotten to learn MUCH MORE about Jane, but I can remain content getting to know a bit of her powerful, brilliant, sharp, kind, and stoic self.
As for January, she twists herself unknowingly into realms of mystery, murder, and madness. What a tale of inequities, the true source of power (love & belief), and good overcoming evil.
Highly recommend if you read Piranesi. This was muchhhhhhh better.
Shout out to Jane and Bad for being the best characters in the whole damn piece. I wish we had gotten to learn MUCH MORE about Jane, but I can remain content getting to know a bit of her powerful, brilliant, sharp, kind, and stoic self.
As for January, she twists herself unknowingly into realms of mystery, murder, and madness. What a tale of inequities, the true source of power (love & belief), and good overcoming evil.
Highly recommend if you read Piranesi. This was muchhhhhhh better.
ewokmama's review against another edition
3.0
The narration of this book on audio was excellent! I enjoyed it mostly because of that, although the author definitely has a way with words, using rich and interesting turns of phrase.
Overall I wasn’t a fan of the helplessness of the main character (and I feel that, based on developments at the end, the author must have gotten that feedback along the way and attempted to address it). It felt like she was a person that things just happened to, rather than being an active participant in most of the story; she continually made poor choices and has so few wins that it was depressing.
Like other reviewers have mentioned, more time could have been spent in other worlds and less on the continual tragedies of this girl’s life.
Overall I wasn’t a fan of the helplessness of the main character (and I feel that, based on developments at the end, the author must have gotten that feedback along the way and attempted to address it). It felt like she was a person that things just happened to, rather than being an active participant in most of the story; she continually made poor choices and has so few wins that it was depressing.
Like other reviewers have mentioned, more time could have been spent in other worlds and less on the continual tragedies of this girl’s life.
carol_benson's review against another edition
4.0
Makes me wish these doors actually exist. There are villains, magic, parallel universes and the protagonist is a young girl whose parents are from different worlds. If you enjoyed Philp Pullman's Dark Materials trilogy you will like this.
missmallory's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-paced
4.25
I loved the mystery of this book. The beginning was a slow burn, not romantically but in the clues that kept being uncovered. The ending was a little disappointing, but I can’t exactly put my finger on why.
genabeckett's review against another edition
Not my usual choice of book - but, I did enjoy it. Some mystery, some fantasy, love, danger.