A very fun romp of a novel that allows its threads of narrative to breathe as they come together and pace apart

This was more than I thought it would be. Part Literary Fiction, part thriller, part horror...if you like books (special books, lol) then you'll most likely enjoy this one. Some aspects were a little hard to follow, as is the case with most time travel books because you have to avoid the conundrum of changing what has already happened, but the story and characters were enjoyable and memorable.

A clever story with a unique twist on time travel. A tale of magical books attracting collectors and villains. I especially liked the descriptive settings of the Fox Library, Mr. Webber’s reading nook, the hotel and the cozy bookstore. Oh, how I would love to visit the Drummond mansion in the mountains. For the most part, I liked the characters and found the relationships our protagonist had with her grandfather and Mr. Webber heartwarming, yet the characters lacked dimension and the dialogue seemed designed more for young adults. More time/pages devoted to character development and some editing would make this a 5-star book. Keeping in mind this is a debut, overall. I enjoyed the book.

ARC was provided by NetGalley and William Morrow in exchange for an honest review.
#NetGalley #TheBookOfDoors

This was a fantastic story!!!! I know books are magical but it would be wonderful if there were these special books too. From the book of Luck, to the book of Illusions and of course the powerful book of Doors that shows up in Cassie's life after the death of Mr. Webber. This book had the right touch of magic and interesting characters and ways that the problems were solved (and how they were created in the first place). It also had the right amount of wistfulness with Cassie's grandfather and the time spent with Mr. Webber too, plus the strong friendship of Izzy. That book of Doors is really the book that can make anything possible. I would not mind borrowing it for a bit so I could visit my family without driving or flying cross country!

Cassie works in a book shop in New York and is given a gift one day by a favorite customer. An old book with mysterious writing on it and a message: This is the Book of Doors, and with it, any door is every door.

The gift lets Cassie and her roommate Izzy travel the world in an instant, but also leads them down a dark and dangerous path as they discover that the Book of Doors leads not just to new places, but to a world of other magical books, and to the sometimes quite deadly people who hunt them.

OK, my favorite part of this book is how it handles (spoiler!!) time-travel. You can't change the past - anything you do becomes a part of your existing past, so it has always happened for you. But that means that you get to see how everything that has happened in the past can be explained by things that take place in the future - and the reverse, so the story circles back on itself it ways that tie everything up neatly, and very satisfyingly!

The characters (there are many!) are well portrayed, and I did really feel the deep friendship between Cassie and Izzy. The writing occasionally gets a bit too flowery-Brown is clearly going for a literary angle here-and it was a shade to violent for my tastes (I am a scaredy-cat). But all in all an enjoyable read.

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow Publishing for a digital advanced copy of this e-book in exchange for my honest review.

3.5/rounded up:
One of my friends loved this book and her recommendation convinced me to get a NetGalley account to read and review this book!

This book had a lot of things going for it that I love: magical realism/magic, multiple POV, convergence, beautifully illustrative descriptions of places and things. I thought this book was 90% fast paced. Every chapter left you wanting to read onto the next chapter. It was a slow start and there were some shifts in plot or perspective that gave me some whiplash (the first chapter about The Woman, for example, I wasn't aware the book got so graphic and dark.) Later on there are some plot points that slow the plot down almost to a halt. I also liked how the author handled a particular sci-fi/fantasy plot mechanic: time travel.

However, there are things that left a bad taste in my mouth. While the description of places and things was beautiful and vivid, I found the description of people lacking. I felt like the characters were caricatures, especially the villains. To me they read almost like a cartoon villain, merely evil for the sake of evil-ness. Also, the way the author attempted to double down on one character's evil-ness was to ham-fist bigoted statements from this character. And its not just this character, later two characters, Izzy and Lottie, are describing other characters and many of the descriptions are racist and unnecessary. ("They look like a shampoo commercial for Nazis." The West African man who is a drug lord. The Chinese people who are rumored to work for the Communist party.) As other reviewers have also said, the women in the book often comment about their looks and food. Regarding the plot, I was annoyed at how there were gaping plot holes which mostly became plot armor or a means to forward the plot. However, it didn't make sense to me that the characters would miss these kinds of things. And the delivery of the plot twists therefore felt underwhelming.

Who it's for: entry level fantasy readers, someone who needs a fast-paced stand alone read, people who love books about people who love books.

Who it's NOT for: people who think too hard about what they read (e.g. me all the time), fantasy/sci-fi pros, people who are bothered by inflammatory characterizations and language, people who don't like meta and philosophical ideas in their books.
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This was one of my most anticipated reads for 2024 and sadly, I didn't enjoy it because of tiny thing that means a lot to me and many other female readers- negative body image comments. The FMCs inner monologue about how she saw her body, along with mentions of characters not being able to eat foods they enjoy because "it will go straight to my hips" felt incredibly out of place and just all around gross. As a plus size reader, I find comments like this to be incredibly offensive and just unnecessary.

"If you could open a door to anywhere, where would you go?"

In New York City, Cassie Andrews has a normal life working in a book store and sharing an apartment with her best friend Izzy. One day a regular customer who loves to chat with Cassie gifts her a book, The Book Of Doors. The message written in the book reads "any door is every door."

Back at her apartment with Izzy they discuss the odd book with it's writings and illustrations of doors until Cassie opens her hallway door and what lies on the other side is a street somewhere on the other side of the world. Impossible. Right?

As Cassie and Izzy explore this magical book they soon learn there are very dangerous people out there who would do anything for that book, and other magical books like it. With a random stranger, Drummond Fox, waking into their lives they are faced with the choice to trust him in order to save their lives and the books.

This was filled with magic, wonder, mystery, and a little heart break. What an absolutely beautiful and, at the same time, edge of your seat book. The writing was beautiful and clear. The story was woven so intricately it deserves a chef's kiss. I wanted to give this 5 stars *so* badly. I really did but there one one major plot point not explained at all, and another left open ended. If the author plans to make a second book then this makes sense. If that's the case I will come back and change my review to 5.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and William Morrow for the ARC!

This is a magical little book! Well, ok, lots of magical little books (: Brown did an *excellent* job building this world full of books with special powers, and the characters are rich and lovely. I want to live in this world and be friends with them, comfortable and cozy in the Fox Library. This story has drama and warmth, the stakes are high, violence never gratuitous, and it moves compellingly along, whichever timeline we’re in at the time. Altogether fantastic.

Cassie says goodbye to an old friend and receives a curious book. She discovers that when thinking about a place, she can walk through a door and be in that place she was thinking of. This isn’t the only book with special abilities and it’s up to Cassie and Drummond aka The Librarian to keep these special books out of evil hands.

This book was like Inception, the books can do so many things that I found myself thinking “What is reality?!” Some parts were a little slow, but overall, it was a clever idea and although disturbing at parts, it definitely kept me reading.

Character development was good, dialogue could have been better, was a bit boring. Action was good!

3.5 stars

The Book of Doors asks (and answers) the questions "What if the books we love contained even more magic than they already have? What if they had real magic?" This is a complex book of magical books, well-developed characters, and enough twists and turns to keep you on your toes up until the very last page. Lots of time is covered in the book, while also feeling like no time has passed. Cassie is a very compelling main character and possessor of the mythological Book of Doors. While the story does wrap up nicely, I think there is still space for future novels in the Book of Doors world and I hope the author chooses to expand upon it someday.
Overall, this was a very enjoyable read that was slightly outside of my usual, but I'm glad I picked it up.

Thank you to William Morrow and NetGalley for the ARC of this novel. It took me a bit of time to get started on this one and really get into the story but once I did, it was fun to see how well crafted the events are and how they link together. There is foreshadowing all over and the text twists in on itself to have the reader look deeper into what they read before. A well crafted mystery and fantasy novel that does not go where you think. The ending felt a bit abrupt as I did want just a touch more but still very enjoyable. 3.5 stars.

This one wasn't for me. I think this was very plot heavy and I just kept feeling like something was missing.

This grabbed my attention from page one. It’s a magical story about a book that opens doors to wherever you wish. It’s about time travel too which I always like.
It’s a good debut book and I can’t wait for the next one. At least I hope there’s more
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the early copy

THE BOOK OF DOORS was a unique story to get lost in. I found the premise to be so unique and know that other readers who enjoy books about books will be delighted. Debut author Gareth Brown plays with time in a clever way that I enjoyed. I think the pacing would have been better if the book was shorter and I also could have done without the author’s commentary on the female main character’s weight that didn’t further the story. Overall, this was an engaging story that felt like a mysterious escape.

Many thanks to the publisher for an electronic ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A interesting different mystery fantasy .
Cassie is gifted a book that lets her travel to different times and palaces. they are not always a good place.
Lots of drama,suspense mystery.
Voluntarily Reviewed.

Any door is every door! If you have The Book Of Doors, that is.

I loved the concept and the magic of this book! The twists were interesting, and there were some tender scenes that made my heart ache! I'm still thinking about it a week after I finished. I loved most of the characters, especially Drummond Fox and his Fox library 😍 new favourite book location, unlocked! I also absolutely and viscerally hated the villains, which is a positive in a book like this. Except I loathed them 😂

Dark and strangely violent for a fantasy book. It is an interesting concept though and I feel like it's a great love letter to books and libraries. Go into this one expecting violence and danger and I think you'll be okay, if you go into it expecting epic fantasy worlds, you'll be disappointed..

The Book of Doors wasn't really what I thought it was going to be good.
I was excited about this book, but the characters fell flat for me and the plot felt boring.

This book was just ok. Very inventive and I definitely give it points for being a book about libraries and books, but there wasnt enough magic in this book to really engage me. I wished there was a bit more.