Reviews tagging 'Forced institutionalization'

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow

147 reviews

ghostingarden's review against another edition

4.0

I am conflicted on this one. On one hand, I absolutely adore Alix Harrow's writing and find myself enamored by her ability to create beautiful and magical worlds within such mundane settings. I fell for the characters in this book and I think overall I enjoyed it. However, the pacing is a bit weird for me and I found that the weaving between point of views was harsh at first and I found myself skimming some of the first chapters. I also think I went in a little too excited after Starling House and was met with a story that wasn't as satisfying or compelling. I would read it again though!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Violence, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Racial slurs

merbears's review against another edition

adventurous inspiring mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Forced institutionalization, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Confinement, Death, Xenophobia, Blood, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Colonisation, and Classism

Minor: Misogyny, Sexism, Murder, and Pregnancy

sareidle's review against another edition

adventurous inspiring mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Blood, Cultural appropriation, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Racism, and Forced institutionalization

norspider's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

You can visit other worlds if you're very, very brave.

The Ten Thousand Doors of January mostly follows January Scaller, a young girl growing up as the ward of a wealthy and eccentric collector. Her days are spent in hazy boredom, missing her father while he works. Until one day, January stumbles upon a door that opens to another world. From then her life is a series of searches, upheavals, chases, and escapes. 

The first time I read Ten Thousand Doors I stopped after the first chapter. It was good, just not the story I was looking for at the time. Almost a year later I picked it up again and devoured it. The writing is beautifully imaginative and vivid (too much, at times). Each world you visit feels real and lived-in. The characters described with such depth you can almost touch them. The story could have been told in fewer words, but it is such a rich experience the way it is. 

I would have followed January and Bad through another 10,000 Doors. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Abandonment, and Classism

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Racism, Blood, and Death of parent

Minor: Violence

perifairy's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Racism, Self harm, Forced institutionalization, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Blood, Abandonment, Colonisation, and Classism

ambb's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

Well holy shit. This is one of those books that stays with you for a long time after reading it. From reading The Once and Future Witches I went in with high expectations, and Alix E. Harrow delivered. I love me a strong female lead, and I loved watching her grow and eventually rediscover herself. All the otherworldly aspects of the story were so well done and really sucked me in. I found myself leafing back to connect the dots often, because I really wanted to unravel the mystery. The ending was satisfying and not too “they lived happily ever after”. I do think January could’ve written “He remembers.” and made Samuel remember immediately, but oh well. 

I have to add I don’t think the use of the n-word was necessary, especially since the author is white. It was maybe a handful of times and they could’ve very easily been replaced with less harmful terms.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Racism

Minor: Murder

r_j_setser's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This book destroyed my emotions and then repaired them as easy as one opens a door.

The Ten Thousand Doors of January is a deeply emotional coming-of-age novel with a splash of fantasy. While I can't say that it's an "enjoyable" read, it is definitely one that can play your emotions effortlessly and I have no choice by to give it five stars. The writing style is absolutely breathtaking, January is a unique and lovable main character who will always have you rooting for her, and the double time-line makes the plot very engaging. 

I never grew tired of the story or lost interest, but there were a few scenes where I had to step away and take a breath just because of the emotional intensity. This book got the closest to making me cry as any book has in a very long time. I will recommend it to anyone looking for a low fantasy, historical novel with a healthy dose of heartbreak and healing. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Racism, Self harm, Forced institutionalization, Blood, and Classism

Minor: Cursing

Content warnings:

Mild cursing. No on-page spice (only a couple of kisses). There are heavy themes of racism and classism (true to historical records) and some mildly detailed self-harm scenes. The forced institutionalization scenes span through a couple chapters and can be difficult to read at times.

hwesta's review against another edition

adventurous dark

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I really enjoyed this. Doors to other worlds is always a fun concept. 

I figured several things out before the narrator, but I most cases it was plausible that she didn't because the world doesn't normally work on story logic. 

I was pretty frustrated with January for making an obviously terrible decision

to send a letter to Locke

partway through but I suppose she is young and can make poorly thought through decisions 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Racism, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Classism

Minor: Pregnancy

atlantisfrost's review against another edition

adventurous reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Very slow start, story doesn't pick up until after 30% in. Beautifully written, but also distractingly flowery. Intriguing concept, very reflective, but the plot was thin and stretched out, so I found it a bit boring. The main character was annoying to me, and the others didn't stand out.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Gun violence, Racism, Forced institutionalization, and Colonisation

asahome's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced

3.5

A young woman learns the story of her life isn't what she thought it was. In the end, she goes through one of the ten thousand Doors to find her Home.

There is a book within a book. It felt a little like two short stories brought together in one novel with large sections devoted to one story over the other.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Racism, Toxic relationship, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Confinement, Racism, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail