Happy Pub Day to the Saint of Bright Doors!

I had the privilege of listening to The Saint of Bright Doors on audiobook and thoroughly enjoyed it!

About: “The Saint of Bright Doors sets the high drama of divine revolutionaries and transcendent cults against the mundane struggles of modern life, resulting in a novel that is revelatory and resonant."

The elements of urban fantasy, Queer narratives, and Sci-fi set a great mood for this audiobook. The world building is incredibly immerse with the entwinement of myth + modern living. Sid Sagar was the perfect choice for this story as he effortlessly switches between accents and brings the characters to life. I am here for the South Asian Queer Fantasy and Sci-Fi!

The first section of the story starts with a young boy getting his shadow torn off him and ends with prison. The second section is the young man trying to not kill his father.

The story is fantastical and lyrical, in the first section. The second feels darker and gritty, in a good way.

The plot builds nicely until the fantastical is explained, oh, that's why there's a story group for failed messiah's, I was a little impressed Chandrasekera managed to pull that off.

Overall, highly recommend.

The Saint of Bright Doors fits into a contemporary high fantasy genre. It follows Fetter who was raised by a cult to be an assassin but has taken a different journey amongst the mundane of society.

I had the ability to listen along as Sid Sagar brought Fetter and his excursions to life. Sagar has a wonderful narrative voice that took me through to the end of a book I don't believe I would've finished reading normally. This is one of those novels that has an unimaginable depth and takes a dedicated focus to find the beauty, heart and discovery in the pages. I was intrigued by the assassin aspects and the unique cultural elements but had a hard time following the plot. It's a mix of modern and magical with folkloric undertones of gods and demons which is intriguing but also made the world a little hard to appreciate in a fantasy context.

The theme I connected with the most was the relationship and queer representation. I felt this was the heart of this novel and where I felt the message excelled. It felt normalized and yet poignant in its realistic struggles and prejudices. I didn't want that portion to end. It's also what pushed my overall rating.

I highly recommend the audio version if this is a genre you enjoy. I personally wouldn't say this was for me but I can't deny that it's wholly unique in its character driven execution. I recommend readers check this one out along with other reviews; these are the books that hit each of us different in eye opening ways.

Thank you Macmillan audio for the gifted ALC! All thoughts are my own. True rating 2.5/5.

I wanted to love this book but constantly has wavering feelings throughout the story. Some parts were very intriguing and others were very slow and uninteresting to me.

This book took me a second to get into, but I ended up really enjoying it. Like the best fantasy books, this book was about more than just the plot and made me think about philosophical questions about religion, power structures, vengeance, shadow selves and the power of the stories we tell - but all the while telling a kick-ass story.
When we meet Fetter, he is being trained by his mother for one purpose - to kill his father. As Fetter grows up, he leaves his home and moves to the city where he meets a group of subversives who want to study the phenomena of strange “Bright Doors” which he feels some connection to. Eventually Fetter learns a different version of his and his people’s history and ends up in a Kafka-esque prison system as he comes closer to confronting the father he was raised to destroy.
Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for an advance listening copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book is incredibly intriguing. More than anything else, I loved the writing style and the inner voice of Fetter. The writing of Fetter’s inner voice, his actions, and plot elements are all blended together using a similar style. In many cases this could be frustrating, but it works wonderfully well here. It puts me in a sort of fugue state as I read. I very much plan to read this book again to experience it with more understanding. I do feel like I need a second reading to fully appreciate it.

The narrator is also fantastic - calm and excellent with different voices and characters.

I certainly recommend this book!! Thank you to NetGalley for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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*first impressions*
I just received this (audio) book yesterday from NetGalley. This is the first review I've ever given for NetGalley, so I'm posting this asap as a thank-you to them! I'll edit and update this review as I progress through the story.

So far, I'm finding this book wonderfully unique. The main character, Fetter, leads his life as an outcast. He grows up in a fantastical world where he must hide his abilities (such as floating).

Fetter grows up being trained as an assassin/all-around wrongdoer. While most of the population has a set of "unforgivable" acts in the culture, Fetter is trained to pursue specifically these acts (matricide, patricide, and other acts reminiscent of the ten commandments). Fetter starts off as an innocent young boy, so his character arc, pursuing the most horrific crimes, is fascinating.

Fetter is raised by his mother to assassinate his father. However, disabused with this violent lifestyle Fetter goes to the city to try a new life.

The world building and pacing was uneven which made it difficult to stay engaged.

I listened to the audiobook and believe that might’ve contributed to how much I understood about the book since the story bounces around.

ARC provided via NetGalley

I absolutely love the cover for this novel! It is so beautiful!! The novel’s premise is an interesting one. The main character, Fetter, has been trained his entire life (by his mother) to kill his cult-leader father. His life takes a few turns, and he escapes his mother’s grasp to a city with magical doors. Fetter becomes caught up with investigating the magical doors and plotting against an oppressive regime.
This novel is beautifully written. The way it’s written is almost poetic. The novel was a little bit more conceptual than I would normally read, but this read was so worth it! Looking forward to reading more work by Vajra Chandrasekera!

Loved the narrator for the audiobook!

First I’d like to point out that the narration for the audiobook is superb. I really wanted to love this book because it had so many elements that I normally enjoy. I loved that I was easily able to visualize the world and what was happening, however, I couldn’t really follow what was happening and why. I think there were a few too many elements to the story causing it to be confusing and boring in parts. I enjoyed the idea of the bright doors but they didn’t play as much of a role as I thought they would. I think perhaps the author was trying to comment on or incorporate too many ideas. I still enjoyed the parts I could follow.

The Saint of Bright Doors is a book that takes some time to get into and for me, it wasn’t where my mind was at when I encountered it. The drama and high stakes the author sets up, creates beautiful imagery in the mind, but it’s almost too dreamlike and I had a hard time finding firm ground to follow the story. I often like a book that allows me to follow along in what feels to be a dream come to life, but there seems to be so much going on in such a short period of time that I would have to reread pages over again in order to comprehend what was happening. I asked for the audiobook which made it marginally better which is why I can give this book the 4 stars I gave it. I wanted to be mesmerized and hypnotized by the world which was painted by Chandrasekera, however I was simply left a bit confused. I needed a bit more linear plot to follow in order to keep moving forward. I did find it very creative and would probably give more of his works another chance. I may even come back to this at another time when my head is in the right space for it. I think I need to be in a more contemplative mindset.

If you love complex urban fantasies drenched in culture, politics, and religion, you'll want to check this one out. There's a lot of world-building here. If you're looking for a light, easy story, I wouldn't recommend this - you really have to focus on this one because it's pretty dense. It's a little too slow-paced for my liking, but I could see a lot of others really loving it. The narrator did a good job in the audiobook, but because of how complex this one is, I think I'd prefer physically reading it rather than listening.

3.5/5

Thank you Netgalley for providing a digital ARC.

I had trouble following the storyline. I was constantly confused and couldn’t keep track of what was going on and who the characters were.

It just didn’t work for me.

This is a great example of a book I admire but didn't necessarily enjoy all that much. The Saint of Bright Doors is a very innovative work of South Asian fantasy about a man who was raised to assassinate his father and the city he finds brief refuge in. A city filled with mysterious doors that he wants to learn more about.

Stylistically this feels pretty unique. Moving between realism to almost dreamlike writing with transitions that don't always feel linear. It also feels very meta in a way that makes me feel like I'm missing a lot of the context. It feels inspired by the culture and politics of South Asia and blends the mystical and the modern in ways that can feel disorienting at times. I think a lot of it is intentional and there are a few bits of it where I think I know what the author is trying to get at.

As a reading experience, this was very much a mixed bag. There were moments where I was interested and engaged, but also large sections where I was kind of bored or unsure what was going on. I think this one will probably be polarizing, but I could see someone really loving it if it hits them the right way. The audio narration is good. I received an audio review copy of this book via NetGalley, all opinions are my own.

I thought the concept of this book was very interesting but it fell so short for me. I found myself so lost and bored at times. The narrator did a great job, but I found myself losing focus when a new aspect was added to the story. I found it to be too complicated, and wish it would've focused more on Fetter as he's trying to forge his own path away from the craziness of his mom/dad. I also wish we would've seen more of these amazing and colorful doors. Overall I think the story had potential, but it was too convoluted to be truly enjoyable.

***Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ALC in exchange for my honest review***

This was a promising book that simply didn't delivery. The premise was intriguing and I wanted to know more about the main character, Fetter, who is the son of a cult leader being raised by his mother to kill his father. However, the writing was clunky and disorienting. I think the author was trying to do too much. There is exploration of self acceptance, religion, homophobia, and family in addition to the unique worldbuilding and a somewhat convoluted plot. I would consider the book to be urban fantasy which is perhaps where I felt the book didn't hold together for me--it felt like the author wanted to mix a few different genres together, but it was like water and oil.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book!

I wasn't a fan of this book. It has some interesting ideas going on in it. But the world is not set up well in my opinion and therefore it's difficult to follow. I ended up not finishing it.

Audiobook received for free through NetGalley

Loved this audiobook. The story grabbed me immediately and I was caught in the fray and swept along. Glad I came across it.

DNF at 35%. It's an interesting idea, but much too slow and confusing at times. It's like Starless Sea in style, pretentiousness, and worlds within worlds concept, but I didn't like that book either. I wasn't interested in the romance.

I received an arc from netgalley and macmillan audio in exchange for an honest review.

OMG, OMG… What a great freaking book! Fettar is raised by his abusive mother who teaches him to be an assassin and after he kills his uncle who he really has no animosity towards and even has good memories from his childhood he knows this life isn’t sustainable. She also wants him to kill his dad who’s name is The Perfect And Kind a nice man but as soon as he is old enough he moves to the city I think it is called loose it is a rundown city and he attends a support group for the people called The Chosen he also starts studying the Saints in the secret doors that he learns or around this town and although they’re supposed to be cut off from everyone except the Saints he learns not all doors or is locked as they think they are and although does sometimes bring some trouble it also brings together a great book and it is where he will meet his dad he also has friends name ordinary and Leo and OMG I just love this book I wish I could wax lyrical about how great this book was really give a great summary but there is way too much is way too much plot subplot and hopefully there will be a next book I cannot believe this is a debut novel because OMG if this author is an awesome at what he does. He has definite talent the story flows and it is original just awesome! I know I keep saying that lol but it’s the word that keeps coming to my mind when I think how to describe this awesome awesome book! I thought the narrator did such a phenomenal job kudos to him he gave a five star performance and add that to a five star story and you definitely have an average of a five star listen. So freaking good! I received this book from NetGalley and the publisher but I am leaving this review voluntarily please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced reader audio copy in exchange for an honest review.

If I tried to describe this book to a friend, I am not sure that I could do it justice. This book is the epitome of what I consider "atmospheric fantasy". This world is visceral and delicious to the imagination as you read/listen, and I found myself picturing bright colors, strange sounds & textures, and characters that were almost androgynous in their vagueness. This atmosphere, to me, was the main strength of the book.

Where it lacked for me was the plot, or sometimes lack thereof. I am typically a high-fantasy, plot-driven reader. While I sometimes enjoy a book that is more meandering in its journey, the author really has to hit the right notes for my interest. Sadly, this didn't do it for me. Looking back on other books that feel very similar to this, I would suggest this book highly to readers who enjoy the works of authors like Mona Awad (Bunny), Neil Gaiman (The Graveyard Book, Neverwhere), and Amal El-Mohtar (This is How You Lose The Time War).

Initially, the plot reminded me a lot of Seanan McGuire's "Middle Game" - a "chosen one" is tried and tested - a deluge of confusing but intriguing timelines - a purposefully vague sense of how the magic or science of the world works. If you liked that book, which I did very much, I think it is worth it to give this book a try. This feels like the grown-up/ slightly higher-brow version of some of the same themes and techniques.