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A review by snukes
The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow
4.0
So much to love about this book: Doors that open between worlds. Young girl growing up in a rambly old house full of crazy artifacts. Strangers from strange lands. Words that become true when written by the right hand. A boy next door. Shadowy villains. Thrilling chases. Narrow escapes. A very good dog. Things that aren't what they seem.
I expected this book to be about the adventures had by a girl who discovers that she can open doors into other worlds. It turned out to be about that, but not at all in the way I'd imagined. Rather than focusing on the adventures and the new worlds themselves, the story focuses on the idea of doors to new places, about what it means for those who pass between them, how it changes those people, and whether or not such doors should be allowed to exist. There are subtexts (and some not-so-sub) about immigration, race, privilege, power, love and family, and the importance of promises.
The language is beautiful, the characters are believable and multidimensional (literally and figuratively - see what I did there?!) You know who to root for (or DO you?), and the tale was engaging from beginning to end.
My only complaint is that Harrow is a frequent perpetrator of one of my literary pet peeves, being the "if only I had known..." trick. "If only I had known then that my happiness wasn't destined to last." "How could I have known in that moment the huge role that dog would come to play in my life?" "If I had known what the morning would bring, I would have tried harder to make him stay." Etc. SO many times this happens. You don't NEED to tell us the story is about to get more complicated! We can see how many pages are left! We know you need to foil the protagonists several more times! Just do it and don't be all retrospectively sad about the decisions YOU'RE ABOUT TO MAKE YOUR CHARACTERS MAKE.
Eh hem. Sorry.
Good story. Enjoyed the read. Would recommend.
I expected this book to be about the adventures had by a girl who discovers that she can open doors into other worlds. It turned out to be about that, but not at all in the way I'd imagined. Rather than focusing on the adventures and the new worlds themselves, the story focuses on the idea of doors to new places, about what it means for those who pass between them, how it changes those people, and whether or not such doors should be allowed to exist. There are subtexts (and some not-so-sub) about immigration, race, privilege, power, love and family, and the importance of promises.
The language is beautiful, the characters are believable and multidimensional (literally and figuratively - see what I did there?!) You know who to root for (or DO you?), and the tale was engaging from beginning to end.
My only complaint is that Harrow is a frequent perpetrator of one of my literary pet peeves, being the "if only I had known..." trick. "If only I had known then that my happiness wasn't destined to last." "How could I have known in that moment the huge role that dog would come to play in my life?" "If I had known what the morning would bring, I would have tried harder to make him stay." Etc. SO many times this happens. You don't NEED to tell us the story is about to get more complicated! We can see how many pages are left! We know you need to foil the protagonists several more times! Just do it and don't be all retrospectively sad about the decisions YOU'RE ABOUT TO MAKE YOUR CHARACTERS MAKE.
Eh hem. Sorry.
Good story. Enjoyed the read. Would recommend.