Member Reviews
The blurb under description says it all. Mia got to live when she died. Told by several authors, this book does not disappoint. Each writer tells of choices Mia could make and the outcome to those choices. We all want to make the right choices in life but sometimes we merely wait until it is our time to see what could be.
5 stars out 5
I loved this book! Thank you for the ARC. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize that I wasn’t leaving reviews on netgalley and was solely sharing on Instagram. My apologies. Huge fan of this author! I actually received the tangible copy. Trying to clean up my netgally account.
A delightful group of 16 short whodunit stories written by very talented mystery/thriller authors A great way to get a snippet from your favorite author or acquaint yourself with a new favorite author.
I love book's like this because you get to check out new author's and get your favorites all in one..I read this book on my breaks at work and have to admit, I clocked back into work late a few times because I couldn't stop reading it.
Since reading this book, I've found new author's and book's to love..
So if you want to enjoy new author's or get with your old favorites, then read this book at your own risk.
"A Thousand Doors" is certainly a book with an interesting premise. It's definitely interesting to see an anthology like this where "what ifs" are presented. It's definitely an enjoyable read with some stories more enjoyable than others.
A brilliant collection put together by one of my favorite authors. I love the "what if" of it all. How many times do we think about what could have been if we did one thing or another? This anthology explores that and in such a wonderfully unique way.
I received an advanced copy of this book through NetGalley. This book had me from the very beginning. I love that it kept me engaged the entire time. I couldn't wait to see how it ended. I would highly recommend to all my fellow readers. Thank you for the chance to review this book!
This is a neat premise, but I felt some of the stories fell flat. I found Mia incredibly unlikable in some of them. It was eye-opening though to think about what might have been if different choices had been made.
Thanks to the authors, the publisher, and NetGalley for a copy of the ARC.
Thank you Netgalley, the author and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.I
What an amazing concept for a book!
After a brutal attack, as Mia Jensen dies, she is shown several different ways her life could have been different.
Now, personally, I don't like "what ifs" I have what I have and I accept it. I've learned you can only be happy that way. But I did like the book, it's concept, and the way it was written. Going through the different chapters, it was almost like reading several short stories that all weaved together in the end. Well written and maintained my interest throughout the book.
This interesting story gets a 4 star rating. If your looking for something slightly different, this book is it!!
This book is a combination of short stories by different authors as visions for Mia as she is dying. How things could of, would of been different depending on her choices. I rather nice concept. I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of this book.
A Thousand Doors: An Anthology of Many Lives, edited by J.T. Ellison, is a fascinating study about both alternative life choices and, even more interesting, how those changes might affect who we would then be as a person.
The book blurb sums up the premise sufficiently, so I won't repeat it. I want to mention the two areas that the stories highlighted for me. First has to do with what choices we make that we would consider, in retrospect, to not have been the best choice. Second has to do with the person we would be as a result of any change in life that had a major effect.
As for what choices we might change, I started thinking about what constitutes a choice or decision I made (or failed to make) that I would like a re-do on. The interesting thing to me is that not all of them are the real big obvious ones. Different career choice? Different long term relationship? Move or no move? These are the types of choices that are easy to play what if... with since each would make for a drastic change in life trajectory and the resultant person. But so many are actually quite small and mundane but have a special hold on my mind and/or heart. It seems like these might cause even larger changes in who I ultimately have become (so far).
Then the issue of how much we would change. I know some dislike, and consider it a flaw, that Mia isn't the same (or closer to the same) person in each story. No doubt some part of this is the fact the stories are written by different authors. But I think that it is more realistic than having her be the same person but just living a different life. I think if I had made different choices in my life, particularly early in life, I would have been a different person. Significantly different if my choice had lead me down a drastically different path, meeting different types of people and having different life experiences, both good and bad. I know we all like to think that there is some core unchanging essence to ourselves that would be immediately noticeable and consistent no matter what paths we might have taken, but I think that is wishful thinking. Like the person who claims to "know" exactly what they would do in an emergency or catastrophic event, but without ever having experienced such an event. We can hope we would do certain things but it isn't until we are faced with it that we can know. So yes, Mia is different in each because she made choices that changed who she was. That makes more sense than her being the same person regardless of her life experiences. The differences might be a little more evident because each is by a different writer, but I didn't feel that it was beyond what one would think reasonable if one's life is completely, or mostly, different. And it was exactly these changes in who she would have been that made this particularly fascinating to me.
I would highly recommend this to readers who like to ponder "what if..." and like to do so with the understanding that when things change, just about everything changes. Changing a career, for example, doesn't mean you would be living in the same place with the same person and just working a different job. That is not only unrealistic but irrational as well. Also, any readers already familiar with the authors in this anthology will likely enjoy the stories.
Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.
This was SUCH an interesting take on the normal short story/anthology collection.
The story begins with a woman barely holding onto life after being stabbed in her own home.
As she lies on the floor she lives all the lives she could have had. She takes all the chances and does all the things that may have been.
I loved seeing how each author played with Mia's life choices and how we got to see where each life was completely different and then how it all wrapped up again at the end.
Thank you so much for the opportunity to review this book!
This book of short stories is unlike any other collection of short stories I’ve read. The way all the stories are linked by the main character makes it a unique and very interesting read. And it’s a great way to read some really great thriller authors! Some of the stories were so good, I wasn’t ready for them to end.
I really, really wanted to love this book, but there was just so much going on for me. I liked the idea of it, some of the stories were amazing while others weren't. Some were way too short and others too long. By the end I kind of forgot what actually happened in the beginning. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.
This was my first ever anthology I have read. All stories of Mia told about all the different choices she would have made up to the day she was murdered at age 40. All of these authors wrote Mia's stories wonderfully.
when your favorite authors join forces to write multiple stories in one book you are excited. when you read it and it surpasses your expectations you are blown away! Twisty, turny and unexpected. very enjoyable
What if...?? Who hasn't thought that question? Who hasn't lost sleep wondering, trying to piece together possible scenarios and outcomes? Mia Jensen wonders just that question, and it is in her death that she finds herself and gets to understand "what if?".
Writing a story is enough work. Trying to write this kind of book, where Mia is so many different versions of herself would be an enormous challenge to accurately give a unique voice to each version. In what I believe has proven to be a genius move to tell the story, J.T. Ellison reached out to many of her peers, writers she respects and enjoys reading. Each writer tells one version of Mia's "what-if" and the process works marvelously. Each story has a unique feel and voice to it, but it is seamless to feel that there is one Mia from page to page, chapter to chapter, story to story.
If there was one thing I would desire beyond all others when it comes to my own what ifs, it would be a Scrooge like vision where I could view the story as it plays out. There aren't many books where the lead character gets killed in the opening pages, but it is literally in the time between death and potentially being revived that she is shown the different versions of Mia. She finds herself in death, which is actually a tragic story of a life not lived in and of itself.
I found great enjoyment in the book and the process of meeting the different Mias. The collection of stories flowed exceptionally well and didn't feel disjointed or like a collection of short stories thrown together. I give this a solid 9 to 9.5 out of 10 for masterful story telling and the editing job needed to assemble everything so well.
<b>Short summary</b>
Unique and thrilling short stories that come together with the same main character. J.T. Ellison is Awesome!
<b>My thoughts</b>
This book of short stories is unlike any other collection of short stories I’ve read. The way all the stories are linked by the main character makes it a unique and very interesting read. And it’s a great way to read some really great thriller authors! Some of the stories were so good, I wasn’t ready for them to end.
<b>Published November 5th 2018 by Two Tales Press, 404 pages<b/>
<b>My Rating: </b>4 ⭐️’s
<b>Recommend:</b> YES!
Thank you to NetGalley / Two Tales Press / all the fantastic authors for this digital ARC, in exchange for my honest review!
#NetGalley #AThousandDoors
<b>Book Description</b>
WHAT IF…
We’ve all played the “what if” game. For Mia Jensen, “what if” is a fact of life. Dissatisfied with her choices, she often dreams about what could have been. Now she has the chance to know. But that knowledge is going to cost her dearly. Only through death can she fully realize the value of her life.
Forty-year-old Mia Jensen is home after a terrible day, trying to figure out how she’s come to this point in her life, when she hears a strange noise from the kitchen. She investigates, only to be brutally attacked and left for dead. As she dies, she experiences some of the lives that could have been hers had she only made a different choice.
Can one woman can find peace with the path she’s chosen before it slips through her fingers forever?
Through the unique voices of New York Times bestsellers and rising stars in women’s fiction, A THOUSAND DOORS examines how our smallest decisions can create lasting effects, and allows the thought—can we actually change our lives?
An interesting concept is used in this anthology. In the first story by J.T. Ellison, news reporter Mia Jensen is murdered in her temporary home by her soon-to-be ex-husband. Mia Jensen is alive and leading very different lives in each subsequent story written by a different author: a happily married wife and mother, an anthropologist, a spy, an actress etc. Some stories work better than others.
I received an eARC via Netgalley and Two Tale Press with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book and provided this review.
The first reason I chose this book is the first sentence in the synopsis: "The day Mia Jensen died, she finally got to live." It just sounded so intriguing.
The second reason I chose this book is because it's edited (and partially written) by an excellent author, J.T. Ellison.
I wasn't sure how I would feel about this book because I'm not a huge fan of anthologies. However, being an anthology totally worked for this book. Each chapter, written by a different author, is a different life that Mia Jensen could have had. Some are happy. Some are sad. But it was so interesting to think about how our life choices could totally change the life we live.
Because of this I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was fun to explore different writing styles and I ended up discovering a couple of authors that I can't wait to check out. I can't express how enjoyable this book was. Even if you're not a fan of anthologies I highly recommend you pick this one up. I promise it's not like the rest.