DNF 37% - I loved the concept of this book. And I love magical realism. But this book just did not grab me for some reason. I found it hard to get into. The characters were not as developed as I would have liked. I thought the pacing was a little off. I think the author was trying to accomplish too much by adding too many thing too fast. It might have worked better as a two volume series. Thanks Net Galley for this opportunity.

The Book of Doors is full of magical realism and charm and mystery. Cassie Andrews works at a book store in New York City. She receives a mysterious book from a favorite customer when he dies. The book allows Cassie to travel over time and space. She meets a dangerous woman who seeks the book for evil purposes. Fans of magical realism and time travel will really enjoy this book. Thank you to Netgalley and William Morrow for this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I truly enjoyed The Book of Doors. It isn't often that a book sits with me for a while, but this one certainly did. The magic and the idea of where that magic came from was unique, and made so much sense after everything that happens over the course of the novel. The characters were all incredible. I will say, I was not expecting the level of gore that came with this book, but it worked in a way that was a lot but it fit the plot of the story and wasn't entirely unnecessary. I will definitely be recommending to other sci-fi/fantasy lovers.

The Book of Doors by Gareth Brown opens up with the main character Cassie who works in a bookshop receiving a gift from a regular customer, a book that on the outside doesn’t look like much, but on the inside has the writing “This is the book of Doors. Hold it in your hand, and any door is every door”
So begins a great adventure, which honestly the less you know going in the more fun I think you’ll have. The pacing is non stop, there is actually a lot that happens, and there is a large cast of characters, all who are distinct and many who have my heart. This is my second magical books story I’ve read this year, and while this book does celebrate the magic of books and reading, the core themes have more to do with grief and finding your place in life. Pain and the power of healing, despair and the magic of joy. It made me cry, and made my heart race, had some great little twists and some brutal moments (so be ready, I did not expect this level of violence). It’s a great story about the power of great stories.
Also the audio book is amazing, the accents are great. I highly recommend.

Thank you Netgalley for giving me this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

5/5 ⭐️ - wow!

This was sold to me as being akin to the Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, The Night Circus, and Babel. These are three of my favorite books, so I was sold from the minute I received the description. I think this is a book you should go into blind. Not knowing what was going to come next made the book even more exciting, and I think that made my score even higher. I would recommend to anyone looking for a fun fantasy.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

The cover of this book is gorgeous and the premise was promising, but it was not for me. I found the characters to be one-dimensional and I did not connect with any of them. The writing style was one I don't enjoy, where the reader is told things about a setting or character, rather than being shown them through the events of the book. (Example: being told someone is clever vs. being able to discern that for yourself through the character's words or actions.) I found the descriptions of the different locations to be very surface-level and weren't realistic to me as someone who has frequented and lived in some of the places in the book. I got the impression that not enough research had been done on the nuances of the locations, which was disappointing for a book where travel and locations are so important and essential to the story. Overall, this book was not my cup of tea.

This book took a minute to warm up, but then after 25-30%, it was off to the races. I was unsure if the author would land the plane around 65%, but again, I got sucked right back in and the ending earned 4 stars for me. I can't wait to discuss with others- the more I think, the more the euphemism "turtles all the way down" is more apt to describe the book. Magical realism, travel, and the battle between good and evil makes for a great book.

After a long time customer passes away in the book store that she works and gives her a magical book " the book of doors" - Cassie is thrown into a world of magic books and danger. While the first 25% of this book is a little slow with the characters and world building it quickly picked up steam and I read the rest of the book in hours. I loved the ending and how the book showed what happened with the main villain (to cause her to be so evil). Overall I really enjoyed this book and would recommend to others.

3.5 rounding up to four. The multiple POV's made it a bit confusing instead of blending the story together. Around the 40ish percent mark things really began to come together and speed up.

I thought this book was going to be a bit different than what it turned out to be. It was decent, but it fell kind of flat for me. The MC definitely made decisions that got on my nerves, and I didn't really care about any of the characters too much. The story just kept going on and on and it could've been so much shorter. The way some of the characters were described by their race was off putting as well.

Overall I wouldn't read it again and it was underwhelming. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I’m of two minds about this book. One, the premise is fantastic,; magical books being sought by good and bad people and two young women caught in the crossfire. Loved this, loved the traveling to various points on the globe by just walking through a door. Fantastic, magical, full of wonder. Liked parts of the sinister mystery surrounding the books and the hidden Fox Library existing in the shadows to keep it safe from those seeking the books to inflict harm. All of this was good.
However, this is what dragged the story down for me. (Just my opinion- grain of salt and all that) Most of the characters felt dull as dishrags for most of the story. Every time I felt they were getting interesting, they just sort of fizzled out. You have people dealing with actual magic, and they behave as if it’s just another Tuesday afternoon! The story felt very disjointed at times and my mind would start to wander. Which made me keep checking to see if I was even close to the ending, which I never was. All of this said, I would recommend this to anyone who wanted something with some magic and a bit of mayhem.
**Thank you NetGalley for allowing me a chance to read this book.**

The Book of Doors introduces us to Cassie Andrews, a kind, but reserved, clerk as a bookstore in New York City. Cassie shares an apartment with Izzy who is delightfully commonsensical and tough. A favorite customer dies at a desk in the bookstore, leaving Cassie a book with strange scribblings and sketches. She discovers that it has the magic power of transporting her from door to door.

When Cassie and Izzy appear and disappear from the roof, Drummond Fox notices her and immediately knows what book she has because he is the heir to the Library of magical books, a library he has hidden away because wicked people seek the power of the books. The most coveted book, though, is the Book of Doors. Several malefactors are trying to capture it and they don’t much care what happens to people in their way.



The Book of Doors does an excellent job of creating a complex plot full of time travel. The intricacy of Cassie’s exploits with the Book of Doors to weave a clever plan in the past and present. Of course, the risk of changing the past is considered and then sort of solved in a not-quite-convincing way. I liked the characters and the plot, except for the malefactors who are one-dimensional and giving us insight into how they became one-dimensionally evil doesn’t really address the fact that they are one-dimensional.

This has the construction of a series introduction. We have met a cadre of friends who have a goal, a magical entity needing protection. There is a potential for quests, for more books, to find more people using books for ill. To be honest, I hope Gareth Brown resists the temptation. One of my personal peeves is a lot of meeting and greeting and catching folks up. There was already some in this book, I can’t imagine book five.

I received an e-galley of The Book of Doors from the publisher through NetGalley

The Book of Doors at William Morrow | Harper Collins
Gareth Brown author site

This is a story of a woman who loves books and through a series of events has to save herself and her friend. Though I loved parts of the story and was entertained, I didn't enjoy this novel as much as I had hoped. Lots of potential = just not written as well as it could have been/developed enough.

What a simply divine book of the living in a world with magical books. These books are wonderful in the right hands and can help one move into new places and have different skills. I love how some do not show themselves until the right person comes along and holds it. This book is refreshing and super fun to read. The characters were well developed and the settings were so fun to travel through especially the Fox home that is hitting.

I love Cassie, who was gifted the book of doors by a man who was a customer in the book shop she works in. She realizes this isn't an ordinary book at all. She thinks of a place and the book opens doors for her to go to and go on adventures. If only she had realized that there was a price to using this type of book. Her roommate, Izzy, tried to get Cassie to not use the book and then all of a sudden they were in a crazy world of magic.

This book travels through time, worlds and lives of many wonderful characters. in this book. The language was fun to read and I found myself wanting more and wishing the book was longer. I enjoyed how the characters moved through the shadows.. I think this would be a wonderful way to see the truth of things. The way these things happen in the shadows and how smart the characters were to bring it all together.

What a fun read that any bibliophile would enjoy. Super amazing characters, settings and plot. I wish I could read this again for the first time!! Bravo Gareth Brown on a book well done that I hope will have follow up books.

Thank you William Morrow, NetGalley and Gareth Brown for my ARC in return for my honest opinion. Keep reading and find your next adventure in black and white. momstr

Imagine you can open a door into France for breakfast croissants, open another door to a lazy afternoon in Venice, and then transport yourself home. Cassie finds herself in possession of a magical book that's capable of making any door a portal to any other door that has existed. She has fun exploring the possibilities with her BFF Izzy. They soon realize that such an extraordinary book may be more dangerous than they thought as other book collectors, with other unique books, come after them. Suddenly it's up to Cassie, Izzy, and a Scottish magical librarian to protect the world from evil.

I loved this book, it has such a unique concept! Books that possess magic and give the holders such a variety of powers was so fun to read about. Cassie was a wonderful and believable main character. We switch POVs a few times, but it was never confusing and introduced us to quite a few great characters. I really enjoyed the relationships that developed, not romantically, but the close friends-who-become-family friendships. The atmosphere in the book was so well-written, I wanted to cozy into a blanket with a book in the Fox Library myself. Some of the time travel got a bit confusing, as time travel is prone to do, but definitely worked out in the end in such a perfect way. Brown did a great job of creating an intricate storyline with some unexpected twists. The plot moved pretty quickly and kept me reading late into the night to find out what happened next.

If you're a fan of The Midnight Library, or other modern fantasy, you should definitely give this book a read. It does get a tad dark at times with a little violence if that's a trigger for you, but it's definitely not the main focus of the story. I look forward to reading more from Gareth Brown. I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley for my opinions. 4.5 stars, rounded up to 5.

“A good story is just as good the second time around.” ~Cassie, The Book of Doors

A magical book that can transport you around the world. Thank you @williammorrow for my early copy of this perplexing novel.

What a fascinating read, jumping back and forth between decades of time, the questionable characters, who is who, so many perplexing moments. I couldn’t stop reading, just trying to figure out WHAT THE HECK IS GOING TO HAPPEN?!

The story follows not only a Book of Doors, but also books of pain, illusions. All at the start of just a small gift to a bookseller, Cassie, from a dear old friend.

There were so many moments I sat there thinking, “wait did that really just happen or was it an illusion?” And I lost count of how many times I thought I had it all figured out, only to jump into the next plan and realize that I had it all wrong! Ha!

I really didn’t like the villainous character, which is to be expected, I suppose. He does have some very questionable statements throughout the novel, which left me wondering a big WHY… I still never answered that question.

Definitely read this one if you like mind-bending magical realism + time travel. If you liked the Invisible Life of Addie La Rue, then you may really enjoy this one as well. I still like Addie La Rue better, for those of you that asked! It also reminds me of The Ten Thousand Doors of January”...I think I liked this better than that one.

Brown's "Book of Doors" is a mesmerizing tale that effortlessly blends elements of fantasy and magic. Set against the backdrop of New York City, there is a secret world with magical books with powers unbeknownst to many. the story takes readers on an adventure through decades following protagonists Cassie and Drummond. However, amidst the adventure and magic, there lies a subtle undercurrent of romance that tantalizes readers' senses. The dynamic between Cassie and Drummond, a mysterious stranger she meets on her journey who has a secret about the magical books, is fraught with tension and longing, hinting at a deeper connection waiting to be explored. Yet, despite the palpable chemistry between them, the book never fully delves into the romantic aspect, leaving readers yearning for more. While the lack of explicit romance may leave some readers wanting, it does not detract from the overall allure of the story. Brown's vivid descriptions and masterful storytelling transport readers to a world where the boundaries between reality and fantasy blur, and where the possibility of love and adventure looms. .In conclusion, "Book of Doors" is a spellbinding tale that will captivate readers with its magical elements and tantalizing hints of romance and encounters with dark forces. While some may wish for a bit more spice in the romantic subplot, the book's enchanting narrative and richly imagined world more than make up for it. Gareth Brown has crafted a truly enchanting adventure that will leave readers eagerly anticipating what lies beyond the next door.

Wait, wow. I wasn't sure what to expect with this book, but I loved The Midnight Library and The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue so I thought I would give it a try. Cassie is a fun character to adventure with- she loves her people fiercely and will protect them at all costs. There were some moments when I had trouble understanding why she cared quite so much for her friend and roommate, but by the end I appreciated the way that this book looked at what it means to love people in a non-romantic or sexual way. It was lovely. The magic in this story was fun. Typically in a story with magic and time travel like this one, there are holes where the universe just doesn't quite make sense to me. This story fills them all and everything has closure by the end. It isn't the deepest story I've read this year, but it was entertaining and was a great escape. Do recommend! Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for this ARC in exchange for my review.

Most avid readers would say books are magical. There are some books, though, that are magical in more than just a metaphoric sense. Some would see the possibilities in these books and work to protect them. Others….well, they see power and want to use them for control.

This is a very character driven story. As the characters become mired in the fight to collect and protect the books, they go through periods of introspection. Some of those periods were a bit slow but they add context, provide some history and were often emotional; there were a lot of difficult good-byes, a lot of "we'll meet again". I found myself tearing up many times over the course of the story.

I was intrigued by the premise of this story, but it was different than I expected and it took some time to become immersed in the fantasy. Once I did, though, I had to keep going. I was never quite sure where the story was headed.

I have a hard time rating this, but I think I would give it 3.5 stars. It's one of those books that after closing the cover at the end, you need to sit a moment to let it all soak in.

I received a DIGITAL Advance Reader Copy of this book from #NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I wasn't expecting much from this book but I ended up loving it. The world that was created in this book was amazing. We already know that books have special powers just by taking us to a different world but I loved the idea of books actually being magical.

The villains in this book are truly terrible people. Like I haven't seen people this evil in a while. They actually felt terrifying.