How do I put into words this book. I've had an advanced reader copy of this book since A Witch’s Guide to Escape: A Practical Compendium of Portal Fantasies won in the Hugo's 2019. Then picked up a second kindle copy & an audible, because I wanted to author to get the proceeds from it, as well.

How do I talk about this book. If A Witch’s Guide to Escape: A Practical Compendium of Portal Fantasies is a love letter to books, then Ten Thousand Doors is a love letter to stories themselves. Harrow's writing continues to be magical, and her prose is nothing short of heartrending at most turns. This was such a good tale of universally crossed lovers and learning about portals, what makes a home a home and a person a person.

I ended up very happy and very sad in different places. Harrow's works always have a handful of moments where I nearly start tearing up because the feelings being experienced by her protagonists or shared in the prose are simply that poignant.

I was quite late to reading this book as much of 2020 really got away from me. I think I may not be the only one on that front. I started it as an audio hoping that would help but ended up sitting down and reading it one evening. This is story of a young teenager without a family who is trying to navigate the wider world and her own family history, as well as magic doors. I really liked the magic doors and wished that more time was spent behind them as well as the bad guys were a little obvious and I spent much of the book wishing January would figure it out. In that way, this feels like a very young YA book as the protagonist is very naive. However, this is not to say that I did not enjoy it and gave it four stars, as it was very well written. I will happily read more by the author though I am hoping for a slightly older point of view next time as a personal preference.

3.5 stars, especially for the fact that it does come together in an interesting way. I think the author did a clever job with the lore and the unveiling of the actual story, but I must admit that the writing style was too dry for me.

I really enjoyed the beginning of this, where we were introduced to the Larson's story. Ade was an interesting story to follow once she found the strange boy in the sheets. But, in the next chapter it flipped to January's story and I sort of....lost interest. I tried to read into it as much as I could but I feel as though maybe I just wasn't in the mood to read the story. Or maybe the story just wasn't for me. I think this author has a ton of talent but the story lost it's grip on me unfortunately.

I adored this book so much. It was so unique and the plot was done expertly. Also it was so intense and sad at some points. I loved January as a character so much. Also Bad was the best and I love him. The writing was wonderful and felt so real. I will definably be reading more by Alix E. Harrow.

'The Ten Thousand Doors of January' by Alix E. Harrow is a fantasy novel about doors to strange places.

January Scaller grows up in a sprawling mansion with a dead mother and a father who is always traveling. She is raised by Mr. Locke who seems to care for her, and she has a favorite book called 'The Ten Thousand Doors.' One day things change and the world she though she knew changes, and the book she has carried takes on new meaning.

I loved this story of books and mysterious portals. The characters are written well. The world (or worlds) is one I want to visit again and the prose is simply beautiful

I received a review copy of this ebook from Redhook Books and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.

I put off reading this book because I saw so many bad reviews on it, but now I wish I wouldn't have done it. I was pleasantly surprised by this book. The beginning was confusing, but the story was really interesting! The characters were all so different and they really made the book for me. The ending was really cool. Overall I really enjoyed this book.

Love this book! Harrow captures the voice of Victorian novels perfectly, and the book within a book aspect feels natural for this story rather than gimmicky.

A very unique fantasy that is worth a read. Good character development with an interesting storyline. Reminded me a little of an old movie called Time Bandits.

While the main character was a bit frustrating at times (like girl who trips when being chased by a murderer in every horror film) there was definitely an interesting arc to her development. The other characters were all very tangible and there were several that I fell in strong like with by the end of the book. (Sin)Bad being, of course, my favorite!

Another great book that could easily be made in to a wonderful movie!

Thank you to #NetGalley for offering this book in exchange for an honest review.

I want to thank NetGalley for an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

I wanted to review this book because I adore the cover. It's absolutely gorgeous!
I really enoj9yed this book and even though I didn't fully grasp the traveling it was still a pleasant read. . The writing style was great and love the MC January. I haven't read anything by Alix Harrow before and this did not disappoint. I highly recommend! .

This book defeated me. I tried to start reading it four times, and finally made it past the first chapter on my final attempt. I got 20% into the book and a book within a book started. I just couldn't. I was struggling to care what happened within the MAIN story and then another story was placed on top of the first one. Maybe I will come back to it. Maybe I won't. I wanted to love this book, and it has such great reviews. I am the outlier. Perhaps it is one of those that you get to a certain point and then becomes amazing. I just didn't ever reach that point.

I honestly wanted to like this book a lot more especially because I liked the idea of it being written like an academic text. But I had to DNF it simply because I could not get past the casual racist names that the protagonist was called. Unfortunately it made me a little too uncomfortable.

Beautiful writing, and I love a story within a story. I do wish the fantasy/portal element had been a little more involved. I will definitely read Once and Future Witches.

In 1901, seven-year-old January Scaller found a Door. Not a usual door, the kind anyone can see every day, but a Door, one that open to another world – a world that smelled of sea and salt. It was a memory she kept close to herself.

January was the ward of Mr. Cornelius Locke and she lived with him in Vermont where she waited for the infrequent visits of her father, Julian Scudder, who worked for Mr. Locke finding things for him. However, Locke House was large and filled with treasures that were labeled and divided up into the appropriate rooms. Her life was regimented and controlled and she often felt like one of his exhibits as if she was herself an oddity.

The Ten Thousand Doors of January is a story within a story. January finds a book written by the scholar Yule Ian which appears to be his research on the appearance of Doors following the life of Adelaide Lee Larson. We learn that Doors let things in and always bring change. Much of the book is the story of January's life alternating with sections of the mysterious book by written by Yule Ian.

I loved the voice of January from the first chapter. The use of language, illusions, observations of life, society, etiquette, fiction, and nature just flows so naturally and with such vividness that sometimes I found myself rereading passages over and over – not because they didn't make sense or further the narrative but because they were beautiful. If you love the rich use of language, you'll fall in love with this book.

The story is also about love. Love of a man for a woman, a parent for a child, family members for each other, friends for a kindred spirit. There's also those who love power and control of others and the lengths they'll go to keep that power. There's so much rolled up in this story that depending on what kind of book you want to find, you'll probably find it in The Ten Thousand Doors of January. There's new worlds, romance, danger, explosions, exploration, evil people, cruelty, and sacrifice. I look forward to reading what the author writes next.

3.5 stars rounded up!

This was a beautifully written book and I'm excited to read more from this author. Historical fantasy isn't usually my genre of choice, but it was beautiful and was surprising! I really enjoyed the social commentary that the author put into the book as well.

My favorite book of 2019! Loved the storyline as we follow January from a little girl to adulthood. Just the right amount of romance and suspense!

I had a really hard time getting into this book. The premise sounded amazing and just like a book I should enjoy. I felt like the plot got lost in the writing and lengthy descriptions. I need more world building in a book and less flowery prose.

Rating: 3.5

The writing of this novel is beautiful and wonderful and I will now read anything that Alix. E. Harrow writes and you should too. She is one of those authors who write magic, who transports you to other worlds where all your senses are engaged and I loved reading her words.

That said, I didn't fully love this book.

My issue with this book is that despite the beauty of it's writing, I was never fully drawn to it. I would stop reading and not feel any need to pick it back up. But, then I would start reading and be suddenly thrown back into the story as though I never left. Still, putting it down came too easy for me. Picking it back up took too much effort. Then again, I think this was more to do with my state of mind while reading than it was to do with the quality of the novel.

Another issue is that the book felt like an encyclopedia at times. Again, the writing is beautiful, but the story would go constantly deviate from the main plot to give descriptions of distant worlds that we would never visit. For many of you, this won't be a problem. I personally like it when all exploration in a novel is relevant to pushing the plot and character development forward.

Overall, I liked this book. I enjoyed the characters and the general plot, and I absolutely loved the writing. And yet, I didn't love the novel as a whole. I've seen a lot of people compare this novel to the Wayward Children series by and other portal fantasy novels. Unfortunately, portal fantasy is hit or miss for me (mostly miss in the past) and I just couldn't dive into this story the way I wanted.

This book's biggest downfall is that despite what it promised it was so very boring. This should have been right up my alley but I felt nothing for the characters and ultimately found the writing tedious, mostly from boredom.

Requested it from all the hype I seen on booktube. The premise itself was super interesting but it seemed kind of aloof. Being a and avid AFF reader I think I just needed more backstories on the worlds and the doors, which is what I found most fascinating.