I didn’t know much about this book going in, but ended up really loving it!

Cassie, a lonely woman who works at a bookstore on the UES of Manhattan, befriends and older man who is a regular at the bookshop. One night, while he is telling her stories of his life, he slips her a small book and then promptly passes away. Learning this book can make any door into a portal to anywhere you want to go, Cassie is amazed at this newly found omnipotence. Her roommate, Izzy, warns her magic like this comes with a price, but Cassie has no idea what kind of price she’s going to pay to have this great power.

As I mentioned above, I ended up plowing through this as it was a fun adventure. I loved imagining a book that can take you anywhere and enjoyed the journey with all the characters. Definitely recommend if you like fantasy/magical realism and need a good escapist book!

This a unique book that has some great twists and is full of really wonderful ideas, but unfortunately it reads like a draft a lot of the time. The author had way too many characters and shifting POV which all detracted from the story and slowed down the pacing. I had to force myself to get through some parts of it but others were far more interesting. I don’t think the author, or unfortunately his editors, knew what this book wanted to be. Ironically in the acknowledgements the author said he was advised to put in more wonder and I think he should have. This book is at its best when we get the sense of wonder at what such amazing things can do and the author writes his best work about characters connecting but unfortunately that’s all dragged down with side characters and focus on a villain. I was hoping he’d be able to weave it all together better than he did because the beginning is a chore to get through with all the different characters introduced. Only Cassie and Drummond were fleshed out and interesting. This book should have focused more on them and on the magic. Despite all these flaws there are some wonderful elements here but I don’t know if I’d bother reading more by this author.

I adored the concept of this book, after reading the synopsis it became the top of my TBR. After reading I found myself hoping for more character development and I wasn't a huge fan of all the different POV's. I will recommend this book to anyone interested in magical realism.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I'm a total sucker for books about books, and magic books? Full stop. Needless to say, the concept of this book grabbed my attention immediately. Cassie works at a bookshop, and one of her favorite regular customers passes away during her late shift, leaving her a mysterious book with a note, "Any door is every door." Cassie and her friend soon figure out this is more than just a book. I loved how she embraced the magic, but after meeting The Librarian, she discovers that there are more possibilities than she could have imagined. Of course, there's always a Big Bad that wants to use magic for nefarious purposes. This is where we meet The Woman.

This book was a really interesting mix of fantasy, thriller, and a little sci-fi, and it was an incredibly ambitious storyline for a debut. I did find that some of the characters, mainly the women, felt very flat, and their dialogue was clunky. I wish there was a little more depth and backstory to some characters, but some of the descriptions of the natural world were almost poetic. There were several lines I reread just because they were beautiful. I also thought some of the timeline transitions to explain one part of the plot slowed the momentum of some of the subplots. I'm trying to do this without spoilers, so that's about all I can say. 😅 I reduced a star, but there were some major five star elements here. In the end, it really all comes together. There is one small blip that makes me wonder if there will be more to this story, though.

Kudos to the author for an amazing debut! Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an early ecopy of The Book of Doors in exchange for my honest review.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐


Overall Review (spoilers)

I have not cried from a book in forever. But I cried reading this one. Really hard.

On the surface, this is a beautiful fantasy book that makes you wonder if the author was inspired by movies or shows like The Librarian or Indiana Jones. It has everything but romance. A creepy woman set on capturing all magic and torturing people. A young woman who gets a wished granted. Time traveling. A hidden magic library. Honestly, sounds like a cozy book meant to give you a sense of whimsy.

Except it will make you cry every three chapters. This book is everything described above, but it is also a tale about the importance of processing grief, of finding joy, of learning to live in the moment, of friendships, and of doing the right thing even if it is the hard thing. The main characters story arc left me in tears, so much so I had to stop reading for a few days to process. I really recommend this book to anyone who has had a hard year recently, as it’ll help while also giving you an escapism.

Plot Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Spice Rating: 🌶️

Genre: fantasy, fiction, modern fantasy

Trigger Warnings: sexism, gore, graphic description of death

I had high hopes after reading the description but unfortunately they did not pan out. Very difficult to get into, many characters and a lot of jumping around.. Overall dare I say even very slow and somewhat boring. Overly descriptive at times when not really needed. Thumbs down for me.

DNF @ 20%.

I’m so upset I didn’t like this book. I’m not sure if it was the writing style, but it just wasn’t for me.

I had heard it compared to the Midnight Library & Addie LaRue, which are two of my favorites, but I didn’t feel that vibe here. I continued to see how much I had left to read and didn’t feel like I could continue on.

Just because this book wasn’t for me, doesn’t mean someone else may not like it!

Thank you to NetGalley & the author for the arc copy.

I really loved the idea of this book, but unfortunately it was a bit boring. I felt that it was lacking a lot of potential wonder and magic that could have been fleshed out a bit better. I kept finding myself stopping and starting the book which is not typical for me as a reader. It just didn't hold my attention. I will give it another go once it's published as I still hold out hope for this book as it reminds of the the Librarian movies series meets a myraid of characters.

The Book of Doors was phenomenal. I have been waiting for a book like this for a while. This book will start you on a string that twists and turns and winds around until you realize that there is no start or end to the string. This is a book of magic, mystery, loss, found family, and of course books.
I fell in love with the four main characters and I honestly hope that a sequel comes out of this. I was lucky enough to get an ARC of this book, but I am definitely going to be purchasing this when it comes out. I would recommend this to anyone.

For Cassie Andrews, life as she knows it will forever change the night a favored regular at the bookshop in which she works dies while she is closing shop. Heartbroken over his loss, Cassie takes the two books that were in his possession when he passed. One because it was his favorite, the other because the inscription inside left to her.

𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘋𝘰𝘰𝘳𝘴. 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳.

It doesn’t take long for Cassie and her best friend Izzy to realize the meaning of the cryptic inscription, and with the book of doors Cassie is able to travel to any door she envisions. A delighted Cassie is just beginning to explore the books potential when the gaunt and evasive Drummond Fox, the Librarian, storms into her life. He tells Cassie that she is in danger, for hers is not the only special book, but it is the most coveted. With sadistic book hunters appearing around every corner, Cassie must choose to work with Drummond to keep these books safe, or hope the book of doors can keep her one step ahead of danger.

The Book of Doors is very creative story, with an in-depth and detailed plot that went in a direction I really didn’t see coming. That being said, it is a very plot driven story. While some characters are rich and fully developed, most are one dimensional. The dialogue is a little bland, but again this isn’t a character driven story. What imagination is lacking in conversation is more than made up for in the scenes that are described.

There are two types of stories: stories about extraordinary people, and stories about ordinary people that extraordinary things happen to. This is definitely the latter. I got frustrated at times, wondering why characters didn’t take what seemed like a totally logical course of action. More often than not, there was a valid reason, the book just took its time getting there. Needless to say, I feel the pacing could’ve been a little better, but I’m also willing to admit that could be a me issue.

A friend recently reminded me that not all books are masterpieces, some are just good, and that’s ok. That was the Book of Doors for me. Overall, I was entertained. It left room for a sequel, and if the series continues, at the point I would continue reading

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins for this free copy in exchange for an honest review.

I hovered between a 3-5 rating for this book. It didn’t start off the strongest or hook me right away, and there were so many characters introduced at the beginning that it started to get a little confusing. But I’m so glad I stuck with it, because it finished off strong and just for the last third of the book I would have rated it a 5.
I liked all the characters in the book- maybe not quite loved, but I appreciated it wasn’t just all heroic types that can be kind of cliche. The beginning is more world building and introduction of all the characters, which made the pace kind of slow. But once the plot gets going, the book gets really good and the pace definitely picks up near the end.
One thing I really liked about this book, was how much a love for books really came through. And not just “special” books, but all books and a love of reading in general. I found myself highlighting so many sentences that were just odes bibliophiles like myself would resonate with about literature.
Overall, this was a fun fantasy read for me. I appreciated that it was a standalone, so there weren’t any cliffhanger endings. Definitely check out if you like fantasy and have a love of literature!

📖 Read if: 📖
✔️ You love magic-based fantasy genres
✔️ You’re looking for a standalone novel in that category
✔️ You have a special love of literature

This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
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WHAT'S THE BOOK OF DOORS ABOUT?
Cassie Andrews grew up in the Northwest and had what you'd call a typical, nice life (with a little tragedy, because we all do). She grew up, had one big adventure, and then settled into New York City, and is having a typical life—with enough fun and love to keep going, but nothing exciting happens to her. Then one day a regular customer that she'd befriended dies and leaves a book for her. It's a lovely little book, so she takes it home with her.

She quickly discovers that this isn't any ordinary book—in fact, it's called "The Book of Doors" and the inscription inside it tells her that every door is any door. An odd thing to say, but she discovers that it means she can open and step through any door with the book in her hand. Cassie and her roommate Izzy have some fun with the book, before Izzy starts to worry about the cost of this magic.

Cassie's undeterred, however, and keeps experimenting. It's not too long before a man called The Librarian (by some) finds them—warning Cassie that she's in danger because of this book. There are many "special books" like the Book of Doors (not all as powerful), and there are those who want to add her book to their collection and will stop at nothing to get it. As these people are equipped with their own special, magical books—the things they can do are pretty remarkable.

Can Cassie stay ahead of these people—or off of their radar entirely? Can she use her book to help the Librarian keep his collection of books safe from a mysterious woman determined to possess them all?

TIME TRAVEL
This is more of a Fantasy kind of Time Travel than a Hard Sci Fi Time Travel. That's really not a profound observation on my part, come to think of it—everything these books do is described as magical. So a lot of your typical rules when it comes to Time Travel are thrown out. You're not going to get a butterfly effect here, or see what happens if you go back and keep your dad and mom from going to the Enchantment Under the Sea dance together. It's more along the lines of what the Wyld Stallyns did (at least in the first movie, I can't speak to the others).

I mention this just so you know what you're getting into—I have friends who take a very purist approach to Time Travel, and want scientific explanations for everything (hopefully with a good amount of theorizing). They will probably not appreciate this book for that. On the other hand—I have friends who get tired of that kind of thing—they'll have a lot of fun with Brown's take. There are probably more people who won't care, and will just have fun with the wibbly wobbly of it all.

THE REST OF THE MAGIC
There are many more books than The Book of Doors running around (more than we're told specifically about), and all of them have applications you wouldn't immediately think about. What the Book of Illusion can do by someone who knows what they're doing? Awesome. The Book of Luck is pretty much what the tin says. The Book of Despair...it's worse than you think, at least when used by someone who knows what they're doing (and who should never be allowed to use it).

I'm tempted to keep listing the books, but that would get boring for you and me. The great thing about Brown's magic system is the wide diversity of magical abilities and the way they're used. I don't know how much time he spent coming up with the ideas behind them, or if he just had a handful and then created a new book when he wrote himself into a corner—but either way, a good deal of ingenuity is displayed here, and I want to see more of it. (honestly, I assume he did a thorough job of coming up with the books beforehand, but I just like the idea of him getting to the point where says..."I need a Book of Antigravity so Cassie can float away from a thrown knife."*)

* Not anything that actually appears in the book.

QUIBBLES
It's not a perfect book. Few are, so this isn't about me listing off reasons to avoid this book. I just want to be thorough as I talk about it.

First off, the book (particularly in the beginning) relies too much on the POV characters looking at reflections of themselves. This is a pretty common thing—some would call it a cliche (particularly as a woman character describes some of her physical attributes)—and the first time that someone did it, I rolled my eyes and moved on. But then it happened again, quickly after that, while it was still echoing in my ear. And then again. And it became a thing I paid too much attention to because it happened so much. If mirrors and reflections had become very important to the magic or plot as a whole—I might have spent a paragraph or two lauding this. But it didn't. It just distracted and kind of annoyed me.

The "Big Bad" doesn't have a name. She's simply, "the woman." If she was a character who showed up in other places, and we were supposed to figure out which of female characters she was—that'd be one thing. But there's never a doubt about that, she's simply "the woman." She doesn't even get a nickname like "She Who Must Not Be Named" or even "The Big Bad." Surely, at some point, the subculture surrounding these special books would've started referring to her as something along those lines. A name, a title (like The Bookseller did), something whispered in the shadows. Not just "the woman."

There are probably other flaws in the book—undoubtedly there are*—but these are the only two that jumped out at me (and kept doing so). In the end—both were easily overcome by the weight of all the good-to-great things about it. But I was irked enough that I had to talk about them a bit.

* Just before I hit "Publish," I remembered a chapter focused on "the woman" that made me briefly consider stopping entirely. I am so glad that I persevered, and it wasn't that difficult to.

Now, let's get back to the good stuff. I probably won't think about these issues again myself, when I think back on this book, I'm only going to think of what I say next.

SO, WHAT DID I THINK ABOUT THE BOOK OF DOORS?
If you took Peng Shepherd's The Cartographers and merged it with Robin Sloan's Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore, you'd get something sort of like this. The secret subculture that arose around these special books—subcultures, really—made me think of these books, as well as the devotion to something that's increasingly archaic—a typeface, paper maps, antique books, etc. There is great power, as well as great affection, in these artifacts of a former age. Sure, they're not magical or mystical like Shepherd, Sloane, or Brown say. But these novels resonate for the same/similar reasons, these things call to us.

Setting aside all the magic and plot and character—just focusing on what The Book of Doors says about books in general, is pretty special. This aspect alone is going to speak to a lot of readers (most people who'd call themselves "readers," in fact.). And you could spend time just flipping through those parts of the book.

On the whole, this novel was a slow burn for me—I was instantly drawn to the idea behind the books, I liked Cassie, and the way that Brown showed her reacting to the book. But then once we got into the story about "the woman" and the Librarian, my interest waned a lot. I'm not sure it should've, and many will likely have a different reaction, but it did. But as I kept reading, I got more and more invested and my inner-critic shut up because he was as interested in what was going to happen next as the rest of me was.

By the time you figure out what Brown's end-game was—and Cassie's, too—it's so satisfying to see it all play out. It's really a very tidy book and everything means something. But it's not just the plot that works so well, all the emotional beats are so well-executed that you will be tempted to go back through Brown's non-existent backlist to see where he figured out to write them so effectively.

If you like the idea of a kind of magic you've not seen before, magical time travel (among other things), an off-the-radar subculture devoted to this magic (or at least the idea behind it), and a quiet bookseller finding her inner strength and perseverance in the face of evil—you're going to want to check out The Book of Doors. I strongly recommend you do.

Disclaimer: I received this eARC from William Morrow & Company via NetGalley in exchange for this post—thanks to both for this.

My thanks for the ARC goes to NetGalley and William Morrow. I'm voluntarily leaving a review.

Genre: Fantasy, Speculative Fiction, Weird Fiction, Urban Fantasy, Time Travel, Magical Realism, Books about Books
Sub Genre: Romance (slow burn), Mystery
Language: Medium (some swearing)
Spice Level: Low (no sex on page)
Violence Level: Medium (on page)

This is a debut—*what???* It doesn't feel like a new author, but rather, someone who is well-practiced in writing novels. Brown guides the reader on a tale of wonder and weirdness. (Weird in the best sense of the word.) Have you ever read a middle grade book where the kids are saving the world and wished there was something like that for adults? I have! Look no further.

Anyone who loves mystical books about books is going to be hooked into this one.

The Book of Doors says that any door is every door. And let the mayhem enter. Sure, you can slip off to a foreign country for lunch, but what else can happen? Especially when there are more books with magic.

In the author notes, Brown says that his editor told him to put in more "wonder," and I'd like to say thank you! The wonder in the novel kept me going as much as the mystery. I also enjoyed the subtle slow burn romance. Toward the end, there was a moment when I went back and read a portion—I just wanted to make sure I didn't miss anything because there are so many moving pieces. I loved how it ended, mostly wrapped up, but with some elements to still wonder over.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and it will stay with me.

Yes! I recommend it!

Happy reading!

Cassie inherits a magical book that can take her anywhere in the world. She doesn’t want to stop using it, but her friend Izzy worries it could be dangerous. Drummond Fox, the Librarian, has been running for years and wants to help protect these young women before it’s too late. Hugo Barbary is greedy and wants more books of power. Lottie Moore, the Bookseller, wants Azaki, another book hunter, to retrieve the book, and something even more important. Lund, Azaki’s bodyguard has plans of his own. And there is one person all book hunters fear…

There were a lot of characters and POV shifts in this one, making it interesting but hard to get into a rhythm in the beginning.

The Book of Doors is a very cool magical artifact, with more power than Cassie understands at first.

I enjoyed the developing relationship between Cassie and Drummond.

The mini villain, Hugo, was a bit larger than life and his angry tirades rubbed me wrong often.

The big villain—called “the woman”—was pure evil. A quarter of the way in, we get some of her backstory, but her twisted and violent desires had unclear motivation (until the very end), making the whole section a bit of a turn off for me. The more we learn about her over the course of the book, the more abrupt and gruesome her violence gets. Some horror vibes here, and that’s not really my jam.

The tone and pace shifted a lot, so I struggled at times to sink into this book and keep reading.

The second half took an unexpected and interesting turn, and I enjoyed how the characters and details began to come together, but there were some distracting, rushed plot details and it unfortunately descended into gruesome violence for a bit.

Overall, this story had a really interesting magical concept, some good intense twists, and a well-plotted ending, but parts of it skewed too much toward the horror genre for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for the ARC.

Thank you so much to NetGalley for the opportunity to read The Book of Doors as an eARC for an honest review! The concept of this book had me hooked since I read the synopsis and I was so excited when I received the eARC for it. The execution of the concept of the book was overall okay I felt. The beginning of the book felt very rushed and the character development lacked for me. It wasn’t until more than halfway through the book I felt like the story became way more detailed and hooked me. I ended up enjoying the main character at this point. What I did not like about this book that really brought my rating down was the amount of racist language used. I feel like there are other ways to establish a character than use so much derogatory language. This felt really unneeded with the book. There are other ways to show a character is a bad man than this. This was an overall, okay book for me.

Such an incredibly interesting plot. You have Cassie who is lost and greatly mourning the loss of her grandfather and spends her days working in a bookstore. And tell a mysterious book The Book of Doors comes in and she realizes that this book has the ability to transport her into any world that she can visualize.

I loved the magic system that is developed around this book. It was fully fleshed out and very easy to understand.

And of course, this book is not without it drama and villainy because with any powerful item there are those who wish to control it for themselves. And that's what happens in this book. There are others that are after the book that Cassie now has.

I absolutely loved this book. I devoured it in one sitting.

A young woman named Cassie comes across a magical book called, The Book of Doors, promising that “any door is every door.” With this special book, ordinary doors become portals to any place, allowing Casie and her roommate to visit different cities. They soon discover that others are after The Book of Doors, including cold-blooded killers, and there are more magical books in the world.

I oscillated between a 3 and 4-star rating for this novel. In the beginning, it felt like a 3 then maybe 3.5. I was a bit iffy about certain aspects of the story like the dialogue and characters, some plot points (conveniently not ending or incapacitating the villain/s immediately when there was a chance), and pacing. Also, the origin of the books just came out of the blue with no set-up. So I agree with most of the 3-star reviews.

BUT the story grew on me, and I kind of enjoyed it towards the end, so I rounded up to 4 stars. There were some heartwarming moments, and I particularly enjoyed the time travel bits and how they fitted together like a puzzle. At times, the feel (the wonder?) of the portal adventures and the magical books reminded me of children’s books. But then the extreme scenes of violence, gore, and swearing made it feel more adult. Anyway, though I didn’t connect to the author’s style, overall the story got more interesting towards the end. Definitely for fans of portal fantasies. Thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow Books for the ARC.

Time travel, a battle between good and evil, and a belief in the power of books. The Book of Doors truly does have it all, and should shoot to favorite status with book lovers.
Our main character Cassie is put through it, let me tell you. There are moments where you think she can’t catch a break. But she remains incredibly resilient throughout, a heroine for the ages.
The supporting cast of characters-both heroes and villains-are extremely well written.
At the end of the day-even knowing all the trouble it might cause-who wouldn’t want to own The Book of Doors?
Thank you NetGalley and William Morrow for this adventure of a read!

This is The Book Of Doors. Hold it in your hand, and any door is every door.

Cassie and Izzy worked together at Kellner Books for more than a year and they had become fast friends. Izzy cautioned Cassie about using The Book Of Doors indiscriminately. They don’t know what dangers could be involved. What can be used for good can also be used for bad.

Drummond Fox was The Librarian, but because of the dangers involved, he has hidden his library in the Shadows. Even he can no longer access it.

Each book endows the beholder with a special power. Of course, there are those who are book hunters that want to make money, others want power, and others want to protect the books from the world.

A motley group of friends face unspeakable dangers, some will die…sorta…

Where did the books come from? That was a surprise, but in hindsight I see it.

I love books about books, magic and danger, quirky people who come together in the most unlikely ways, and surprises that pop up as we travel through the doors pages.

See more at http://www.fundinmental.com

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins for the ARC of the gem of a book!

This may go in my top 5 books of all time--right next to Babel, The Starless Sea, The Little Paris Bookshop, The Book of Longings, and Brida. It made me cry three separate time, two of which were happy tears, and I find is incredibly difficult to do in a book, rather than just sad/emotional tears. But this is truly a lovely urban fantasy for book lovers navigating the human experience. Also a big fan of found family/academic cohort tropes. This really just hit the marks of all the things I love, while doing it in a unique and fresh way.

As someone who was raised by a grandparents in many ways, and misses their absence in adulthood terribly, I can say this made my heart feel so seen and held. Cassie's relationship with her grandpa in the past, and Mr. Weber in the future(/past) are so special and really pull at the heartstrings, while grounding you in the humanity of "good" in good vs. evil.

Spoiler alert:
My only critique is that when Cassie falls into the nothing/nowhere and discovers that she is the one who created the books, it feels like there is only a page and a half at most explaining this in a very acid trip esque way, and then it is only briefly mentioned two other times whether she should tell her friends and Drummond or not, and in the end she doesn't because it would be "too much to take in." I mean...after all that they have seen and gone through together, how is that possibly why? I feel like this could have been because to open that can of worms amongst characters would have set it up for a second book, possibly with the bookseller trying to get her Book of Protection back but being corrupted buy the book of pain, and figuring out how/if Cassie could create other/new books...and on the saga would go...so maybe the author was trying to tie it up neatly with a bow to keep it as a stand alone novel (which I can also respect and appreciate).

Additionally, I did love that we found out how Rachel (The Woman) came to be corrupted and evil at the end, and it did match up with my suspicion in it being tired to Barbary but not quite the way I thought! On the note of her character: why couldn't Cassie just use a gun and shoot her at the end?! Did she not learn her lesson from the first time Barbary came back after she threw him into the past instead? Then what does she do with the woman at the end? Throw her through a door! I thought she would at least find a way to use the book of Pain and take away her pain and darkness first too and maybe it would be painful enough to kill her from the withdrawal of the evil, but no. Again, I understand the author's choice in why--probably to keep this to a single book rather than a series but those few things keep sticking with me as UGH moments. Still a book I will treasure and likely reread once its magic has faded from me in a few months to a year. Will be purchasing when it comes out, I loved it that much! Thank you Gareth!