My first 5 star read of the year and it will definitely be one of the best books I read in 2024. I am always interested in books-about-books or books about magical libraries, but I am often disappointed. This book, however, absolutely delivers.

The Book of Doors is delightful. The MC, Cassie, is likeable and real. Her friendship with Izzy is heartwarming without being overly saccharine. Drummond Fox is everything you would want for a librarian of a magical librarian. The villains of the story are terrifying.

I truly enjoyed every page of this debut. I know I will be buying a physical copy upon its release because it’s definitely library worthy. I eagerly await more books from Gareth Brown.

I am 11% into this book and it's a DNF for me. The concept is so cool like an adult Monsters Inc. world. Opening doors to your most beloved places and instantly transported to a place but then the nefarious sinister side where people use the door for evil instead of fun travels. I wanted to like the book so bad. But what is with the pour (pun intended) grammar in the 1st chapter? The girls are supposed to be in their thirties but yet refer to a man smelling like he used the toilet in the bus seat; then the next few pages they are dropping F-bombs back and forth. I don't get it. Such disconnect in the character. Also the incessant body shaming, just because it's a male author us Women don't constantly always put our bodies down every single second; calling ourselves mousey and thin and plain! All this and it's only page 43! The writing is poor and very direct almost like BOB books for adults. Mary walked home. It was snowing. (changed name not direct quote) I just can't I will be leaving a 2 star. The concept was great, the book cover shown on Netgalley was beautiful, execution was horrible. Not my cup of tea. I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This book immediately enticed me with its interesting and unique plot line. It was easy to follow along with the story and fast-paced, keeping me engaged from start to finish. It follows several characters in different timelines but brings the story together nicely. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoyed Dark Matter, it has a very similar feel while still being a totally unique story. The ending was very satisfying and I truly felt that the book came full circle. Overall I really enjoyed this and will definitely be re-reading it in the future!

Thank you NetGalley and William Morrow for the opportunity to read The Book of Doors as an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I enjoyed this book. Hard to define. Sometimes felt like cozy fantasy and at other points in the book, it was terrifying and gruesome. Friendships and found family were important elements to the story as well as twisty time travel.

This was one book that I will always definitely recommend!
The story was something that was so unique that wasn't so hard to comprehend and was something I hadn't ever seen before. The author took the idea of time travel and made it into something so much more.
There were a few lines written that made me feel...icky. One of the main female characters comments how horrible she's treating her body when shes having pancakes and bacon at midnight, and then mentions her "huge" aunts and how that "runs in her genes". It felt weird and negative in a way I didn't like. Or when one of the main villains called another character "that black bitch". I understand he's a villain, so of course he's going to be a horrible human being, but I feel like there are ways to represent him as such without using that kind of language.
All of that to say, I (as a reader) was able to get past some of that language and enjoy the overall book. I thought the story was executed beautifully and everything was wrapped up with a nice little bow. The writing style wasn't too choppy or wooden, and flowed nicely.

The Book of Doors is a well written fantasy book. The story moves fast and keeps you interested. Fantasy is not my usual go to genre but I did enjoy this one.

Well, this was a fun, adventure filled book!
The story centers around a group of books that give people certain powers. Our main character, Cassie, comes into the possession of the Book of Doors. The book allows to go through doorways to other places. However, possession of the book brings her into harm’s way.
There are many people looking for these rare books. Some want to use them for good and some want to use them for evil.
Danger is coming for Cassie and her friends.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and hope there will be more books set in this world.
Happy reading!

firstly, thank you to Netgalley & William Morrow for the eArc in exchange for a honest review.

The Book of Doors is a magical book involving different books that randomly appeared in the world & have different uses. (Pain, joy, illusions, etc.) Cassie is given the Book of Doors at the beginning of this novel which gives her the ability to walk through a door into any other door in any place in the world. But she doesn’t realize she is in danger and this book is going to set her on a path she never thought she would go on.

I’m giving this one 2 stars. I unfortunately stopped enjoying this book around the 50% mark. I didn’t connect to any of the characters (they were all bland with barely any backstory or development) the dialogue was very very clunky (too many “yep”, “okay”, and people nodding or just staring at each other!) and there was random offensive language that randomly started happening from the bad guys.

There was way too much emphasis on describing characters by their skin tone when it wasn’t even necessary- for example a character would call another character by their skin color to their face and it seemed very weird to emphasize over and over again. If it was for character development I would understand, but repeating it over and over was honestly really weird to me. There was also low-key racist things said by the bad character that I think could’ve been left out & he could’ve been shown as a bad person in a different way.

This book was also extremely gory which I don’t mind when I see it coming. I thought this was going to be a whimsical book about magical books but it turned dark and gory extremely quickly.

what I enjoyed: I think part of the magic system was interesting. Some things were written well and made sense later in the book and had little Easter eggs hidden without that I appreciated. But that’s about it. After the 70% mark I lost all enjoyment for this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for the opportunity to read The Book of Doors as an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was MAGICAL! I could not stop wondering what was to come while reading The Book of Doors, there were always layers that were being exposed all throughout the book up until the very last chapter! Every single character was well thought out and each had so much personality to give. There was never a dull moment when reading. The Book of Doors will be shelved as one of my favorite books I have read to date! Thank you Gareth Brown for creating such a magical and inviting world!

Any door is every door...

Wow. I was so enthralled with this magical world that I just walked into! Let me explain. Don't let the word "magical" deter you dear reader.

Cassie, is just your normal young adult living her best life in New York City. She lives with her best friend, Izzy and works the best job every (IMHO) at a local bookstore. There are a few regulars that visit that she has become close with over the years. One evening, Mr. Webber, her favorite patron arrives. They chat about his favorite book, The Count of Monte Cristo and other normal things. Then something happens. Mr. Webber leaves a special book for Cassie with a note saying it's for her. He gives her The Book of Doors.

It's a strange book. An abnormal book in the sense that when it's opened there are scribbles and odd pictures of doorways inside, It makes no sense. Cassie takes it home. She and Izzy begin trying to decipher what this book is meant to be, and then the magic begins. I will stop here because this is the best part of the book. The discovery.

This reminded me a bit of The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, I would guess if you liked that one, this will work well for you. I had a really hard time putting this one down. The plot was very well worked out with few holes. Many of my questions were answered in a way that made a lot of sense. You don't have to be a fan of magic to appreciate this book.

There is one caveat I have to share about this book though. There are multiple times that weight and fat shaming towards women arose, which annoys me especially because it was written by a male. I thought we were past this. Also, a few slight racial slurs were thrown in there. I just had to put this out there. This said, it did not stop my enjoyment. I debated if I should change my rating, but really, I just loved this story so much!

Read this book for a complete escape and thorough enjoyment. This is why I read, to find books like this!

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for the advance e-copy of this book.

Cassie is gifted an unusual book, which takes her on an unexpected journey. What I loved: Magic books of mysterious origins! A hidden library! Time travel! Murders! This book checked so many boxes for me, and I am so happy that it truly lived up to the description. I couldn’t put it down.

In addition to being a book about books, there was more gore than romance (nearly zero of that, thankfully) but also lots of sweet moments (I cried 3 or 4 separate times). Though the key storylines were resolved, there’s definitely room for a sequel and I’ll keep my fingers crossed for that. I would love to know more about the books and where they’ve been (and with who).

If you like any of these things, you might like The Book of Doors: American Gods, The Ten Thousand Doors of January, The Unmaking of June Farrow, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, the time travel aspect of the German series Dark, or Locke & Key (both on Netflix).

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy.

“The Book of Doors” begins with the death of an elderly gentleman in a bookstore. His last act is to bequeath his magical book to Cassie, the bookstore associate who is always kind to him. When Cassie brings it home and the book sends her and her roommate Izzy on a whirlwind trip through New York City, she wants to continue using its magical powers.
Truthfully, I found this book to be quite dry. Cassie and Izzy were both very one-dimensional, which is something I just don’t want to put up with from a narrator. Some of Izzy’s comments (“I don’t eat bread because it goes straight to my hips hahaha”) really grated on me. I don’t think this author really understands how women think and talk to one another.

3.5 stars. I was intrigued by the premise of this book, as it was definitely the kind of fantasy I am drawn to. Some of the dialogue was a bit clunky and awkward a times, and soem of the scenes were more gory than I expected. There are lot of charactrs to keep track of and a lot of things to wrapy your mind around (time travel, magic books, etc.) but overall it was an entertaining read., and the author wrapped it all up with a very satisfying ending. I hope to read more from this author in the future.

Thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for an advanced digital copy of the book!

Cassie works in a bookshop and one day is given a book that allows her to open any door in the world. She discovers that there are more 'special books' in the world along with a lot of danger from evil people wanting the books.

The premise of this book was fascinating, but the concept as a whole really fell flat. I've read all the books that this book is compared to (The Starless Sea, The Immortal Life of Addie LaRue, and The Midnight Library) and this book did not compare. It felt like this book was trying to do it all - fantasy, time travel, romance, mystery - without doing any of it well. The characters were underdeveloped and very one-note with no personality. The whole time travel feature was circular and had a weird element of mysticism that didn't make sense.

There were also several violent/gory scenes in the book that were hard to read with how descriptive they were and really turned my stomach.

After reading The Book of Doors, I can safely say that I am definitely in my fantasy era.

I enjoyed so much about this book - the time-traveling aspect, the parallel universe (??), the magical doors, the fight between good and inherently evil. There were times that I found myself comparing parts of the time-travel book to Doctor Who & Sally Sparrow in "Blink" - iykyk.

I really enjoyed the writing, the various POVs, and how time travel impacted the story in just the perfect ways - once you figured it out, it was like a lightbulb was going off above your head.

The Book of Doors is Gareth Brown's debut novel and it has me excited for future books - especially if there are as unusual and captivating as this was.

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I think the plot of this book, concerning magic books, one of which allows you to turn a regular door into a door to anywhere is really excellent. There are some really good twists that kept me interested and made me think. The characters, though, felt really flat to me. The bad guys were ridiculously bad and I wasn’t very invested in the main characters. I feel as if this will be a book that gets really good reviews, however, and it will end up one of those books that just wasn’t for me. I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.

Name of Book: The Book of Doors
Author: Gareth Brown – Debut Author
Genre: Mystery/ Thriller, Fantasy/Romance
Publisher: William Morrow
Pub Date: February 13, 2024
My Rating: 3 Stars
Pages: 412

When I read the blurb on this, it reminded me of "The Midnight Library" where the books contain a chance
to life a try another life that one could have lived.
One must first start with the book of regrets. Then may choose any book about a life that could have been!
The book was great and I wrote down a quote I liked~:
~~You don’t have to understand life ~ you just have to live it ~ I am Alive! ~

Cassie Andrews is a bookseller at Kellner Books on the Upper East Side of NYC. On a typical evening Cassie’s favorite customer John Webber would be at his usual table reading; however this evening turned out not to be typical although they chatted for a bit as they often do as it was near closing she looked over and saw Mr. Webber was still sitting at the table. She approached him and touched his shoulder she realized he was dead! She was so sadden by this death.
As she was putting away the book he had been reading she noticed another book - this book was his and it had a personal note to her in it.
~Cassie, This book is for you as a gift in thanks of your kindness.
May you enjoy the places it takes you and the friends you find there. ~ John Webber. ~

Cassie soon discovers that the Book of Doors bestows extraordinary powers on whoever possesses it. So Cassie and her best friend Izzy are exploring what the book can do.

When Cassie meets Drummond Fox, a Scottish man in his 40s, who inherited the Fox Library from his grandfather, Edmund; he warns her of danger she faces. He explains that there are numerous books in the world, each bestowing unique powers on its possessor.

I know I am in the minority but I wasn’t wowed by this story and I so wanted to like even love it.
I hung in there as I have read many books that I was ready to give up on but hate to be a quitter and sure enough they completed turned me around to likening it.
I I did like the last chapter ‘The Quiet Death of Me. Webber”; but I am going to let you read it for yourself.

Want to thank NetGalley and William Morrow Books for this early eGalley.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for February 13. 2024.

I have a serious love/hate relationship for this book! The amount of times that if I had the physical copy of this book, I would have ran it over with my car. However, I could not put it down! Does that make sense?

What I didn't like....
1. TOO MANY CHARACTERS (It was hard to keep track of who, and what)
2. In my opinion, this would have worked out better as a series. It felt like it was jammed together and rushed.
3. I was left with so many lingering questions at the end

There are a few more things that I didn't like but I will not post those because it involves specific things in the book and I don't want to ruin it for anyone!

Little rundown of the book:
Cassie works in a book store. She comes into possession of a book. However, it is just not an ordinary book. People will kill for this book. People are hunting for this book. Cassie now not only has to keep herself safe but the book as well.

The early chapters in this mesmerizing book kept me glued to the pages. I was fascinated by the concept of the books, especially the Book of Doors. However, I put the book down after the introduction of “the woman” and the subsequent chapters that described her sociopathic, cruel behavior. That introduction, particularly what she did with the Book of Despair, really turned me off and I needed a break.

When I came back, I waded through chapters that became increasingly challenging to keep straight. Make no mistake, this is a complex plot that requires close reading. The concept of the books was so intriguing that I was able to set aside several instances of irritating and insensitive dialog and description, which could be fixed with some editing.

There is some insight to the “why” of the cruelty and sociopathy at the end, but that part left me wondering if the final scene in NYC actually started the whole cycle all over again.

My prediction is that most readers will either love or hate this book. I’m in the middle - I am totally here for the Books, but less so for the humans.

I’ll start my review with the disclaimer that while I thought this book was just okay, others will probably love it! There are some things I didn’t like about the book that made me set it down a few times and take a while to get back to it, but I was ultimately invested enough in the plot to want to know how it ended.
First off, I felt like the book didn’t match the premise. The book sounded like the perfect book for me, about a bookseller who is given a magical book. It was likened to The Night Circus and The Invisible life of Addie LaRue but besides all three books containing magic, I didn’t see much similar between them. While Cassie uses the book at first to do some magical things, the plot quickly dives into the sinister world of evil people who will do whatever it takes to get their hands on the magical books. I wanted the plot to focus more on the books but instead we learn about a sociopath who does twisted things to get her hands on the books. The plot moves to revolve around her and another evil character. This book also makes many plot holes for itself that it doesn’t clear up due to the nature of the magic in the book.
The pacing of this book is also off. At one point years pass in a single chapter. At other points it takes multiple chapters to cover the same event. The beginning was slow while the ending felt very rushed.
One thing I did like was the “good” characters. I instantly liked Cassie and Izzy. It took me a bit to warm up to Drummond but that fit his character. I also really liked Lund. I hated the “evil” characters. I felt like they were over the top evil for no real reason besides to make the main characters not feel bad about their actions. I really hated reading their chapters. They also were racist which maybe was supposed to make them more evil but it felt weird to read. And because of the way the book is written, their motives aren’t entirely clear until the very end.
Overall, the plot and good characters were enticing enough to make me finish this book so I’ll give it 3 stars.