Gareth Brown's "The Book of Doors" promised to be a whimsical romp akin to the Midnight Library and the Night Circus, and boy, did it deliver – with a twist! I was ready for whimsy, but I got a darker adventure.

Meet Cassie, who stumbles upon the titular Book of Doors – a magical passport to anywhere. Forget Narnia; this is a literary rollercoaster with cutthroat book hunters, magical tomes, and a cast of quirky characters.

But wait, there's more! Time travel crashes the party. I'm usually iffy about timey-wimey stuff, but Brown nailed it. The explanations of open and closed time travel aligned with how I think of traveling through time. And I think about it a lot. Kudos!

The third-person POV is like a game of literary musical chairs, jumping between characters. It is confusing at first, but Brown ties everything up with a bow so neat that even Marie Kondo would be proud. My only gripe? The pacing was a little rough! The first half had me slogging through, but the second half? I couldn't put it down. The pieces all started falling into place, and I needed to finish the puzzle.

Emotionally, "The Book of Doors" is a roller coaster, not just because of its magical premise. Brown takes you on a feels trip: sadness, happiness, anxiety – you name it. Beyond the page-turning narrative, Brown dives deep into life's big questions. Destiny, the power of choice, and the awe-inspiring magic of the mundane – it's like Hogwarts for the existential soul.

In the end, "The Book of Doors" challenges you to reconsider reality and embrace the limitless potential of the human spirit. If you're ready for a literary ride that's both fantastical and thought-provoking, strap in – this book is a must-read!

The Book of Doors by Gareth Brown
What a wild ride this book is! It centers on Cassie, an introverted bookstore employee, who is gifted the Book of Doors.
Thus begins a new life for Cassie and her best friend, Izzy. They are transported to wonderful places around the world that Cassie had visited before. To Cassie, it feels like she’s hit the lottery. Suddenly, though, life spins out of control. Drummond Fox enters their lives, and nothing is ever the same. They’re torn apart, but Cassie never gives up trying to get back to her old life and Izzy.
There’s so much more to this story, but it all involves spoilers. Suffice it to say, I highly recommend The Book of Doors. All that’s needed by the reader is to sit back and enjoy (endure?) the ride.

Thanks to the Publisher and Net galley for a chance to read this advance copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
This book has a unique premise- special books that enable the holder to impart special powers- the book of memories, the book of illusion, the book of joy. All can be used for good or evil purposes. Most special of all- the book of doors: it can make any door every door- eg a door in your apartment can open to the streets of Paris, or a rooftop bar in NYC. However it can also open up to 50 years, or any time or place in the past.
When book store worker Cassie befriends an older customer over their love of books- she never imagines what his last gift to her “ the book of doors” will do to her life. As she as her best friend Izzy begin to play with it, they attract the attention of a number of “book collectors” who wish to add this book to their collection- some of which are pure evil. The main villain “ the woman” makes Hanibal Lecter and Darth vader look like a delightful party guest. She is evil personified.
I enjoyed this book, but have to note that the middle bit dragged for me and I did a good bit of skimming, from when the characters separate until I reached the part where the characters join up again for the final battle. The ending was great, and I appreciate how the story tied up the loose ends of how the woman became evil, and how the book of doors came to Cassie.
Note though it is categorized as a “ Romantic Fantasy “- I don't see any romantic other than the affection of good friendship that “ might” blossom into something more sometime in the future.

4.25

okay first thing first, there is NO romance here! some places online say there's romance in here and there's just not, so don't go into this expecting a fantasy romance. instead, go into this expecting time travel, magical books as well as magical realism, and darker fantasy aspects.
definitely a solid stand-alone book with a lot more time travel than expected and i flew through this since it was very fast paced and you get multiple POV's!

i love a good fantasy/magical realism book with a unique premise, and this matched that for me. it's definitely darker than expected, and sometimes the main character made choices that were so obviously stupid which was aggravating.. but

my biggest bone to pick with this book is that there's a certain "villain" that says some things that were completely unnecessary and did nothing to further the plot, or give anything to the story/character. i understand that you're supposed to hate this man, but sometimes these things aren't necessary, and said one too many times. again i am all for making a bad guy seem like a horrible person, but there's a point where it can be too much. that's just my opinion, everyone may and can view it differently. i'm in no means an expert with these things :) besides that, really enjoyed my time reading this and was on the edge of my seat for a lot of the time!

I could see this book being a movie or tv show it had a lot of action straight from the start I’m newer to fantasy and I liked the magic realism in this

DNF I was not able to finish this book in the 72 hours allowed me to read thus I only got a tenth of the way through. I should have waited a day to accept it and will be mor careful next time. The premise is very engaging and the ideas are wonderful so I highly recommend thus book do 4 stars for the part I read!!! Thank you NetGalley for this read!

4.5 stars / This review will be posted on goodreads.com today.


When I first started this book I was filled with wonder. Then a certain character appeared and I wasn’t sure I wanted to continue reading. However, I did, and I am so so glad that I did. While that character certainly knows how to darken a mood, the overall feel of the book is enchanting and mysterious. It is definitely worth the dark pages.

Cassie lives in New York City. A simple life, she lives with her best friend Izzy in a small apartment and works in a bookstore. Kellner Books is her second home. It is where she met Izzy. It is also where she will come across The Book of Doors.

When Cassie receives The Book of Doors, she has no idea of its powers. Then she opens a door onto another place, where she can live out her fantasies! She has the power to open any door onto any place she can imagine. Travel to other places, all by just imagining being there.

But as Izzy soon realizes, this book doesn’t just bring happiness, it can bring pain. As there are those who know about the book and want its power for themselves. Evil people, decent people, but people who will go to great lengths to possess this particular book, putting Izzy and Cassie in danger.

It’s a good one. The writing is engaging and the concept amazing. There is darkness but there is also great light. Absolutely thrilled that I read this one.

I was surprised by the constant labeling of characters in this book only to pigeon hold them into tropes that are harmful and often not true. Why mention a character is a certain gender or ethnicity only to have them immediately be a ruthless murderer?

I really had high hopes for this book and was hoping to enjoy it more than I did, but I instead I could barely finish it.

The Book of Doors was an odd book for me to review. There were parts of the book that I found compelling and well thought out, while other points I found disheartening and even disturbing.

The concept of this book was extremely enchanting. I was captivated by the idea of magical books that can take you anywhere you want in the world, heal people, replay memories, build illusions, time-travel, etc. I fell in love with the sweet relationship between Cassie and Mr. Webber and how their relationship unfolded throughout the book. I cheered on Cassie as she thought of ways to out smart her opponents and protect her best friend while she was stuck elsewhere. I also sympathized and related to many of the decisions she made throughout the book. Delightfully, this book was FILLED with suspense and action.

Unfortunately, there were a few concepts in this book that I found troublesome. Mainly, obsession with food while also portraying negative body images placed on the main female characters, referenced domestic violence, and some extremely dark and disturbing scenes that seemed to drag on.

With that being said, I appreciate the hard work and dedication that the author put into this book regarding the lore of each and every book that he created and the wild and extremely well thought-out timeline. At times, I wished I had a white board so I could keep up with the time-traveling agenda that spanned multiple states, countries, and jumped from character to character (there were quite a few). While this book didn’t leave me feeling as fulfilled as I hoped it would, I am thankful and appreciative for the opportunity to have read this book as an ARC and the journey that it took me on.

If you love books that talk about books and build a wonderful world, then this is the book for you. This book starts slow but once you invest your time reading this book, you will not be disappointed. I will definitely read more from this author.

Oh my. I had high hopes for this book. I feel like the idea was original, but this just did not deliver for me. I expected a plot filled with mystery and more grasp and that’s not quite what this provides. The character development was lacking and parts of the book was too slow without being followed by something huge. I finished it, but was really forcing myself through the last half of the book.

The Book Of Doors sounds like a book with an interesting premise, a book that can open doors all over the world. A young woman encounters upon the book and is soon embroiled into a fantastical adventure. That was the premise that lured me. In reality this book may fulfil that promise, but it wont for me. I am DNF'ing this book at 20% in complete agreement with other reviews on NetGalley about how uncomfortable this book is. Even if I could disregard the incredibly clunky writing and dialogue I would still have issues with the early representation of the female characters in this book and what seems to be a grotesque point of view to other people.
I point to the fact that the male author goes out of his way within the first 20% of this book to have our two main female leads bemoan how unhappy they are with their bodies, one of them calls herself "disgusting" for eating pancakes. Not only this but the same two characters decide to reminisce briefly about a bus trip that they had taken in the past and the choice part of their remembrance is about a fellow passenger who smelled badly. He is described as if he had defecated himself on the bus. This is incredibly mean spirited and honestly a repulsive way to introduce these characters. Essentially these two are who we are to root for? Two young, single women in NYC who complain about their bodies and make fun of other people.
While I really appreciate the chance to read and review this book from NetGalley and William Morrow, I cannot make myself continue with a book that I am so uncomfortable and disgusted reading already. I will not be promoting this book on my social media and I am glad that this book is clearly finding a home with other readers as seen by the other reviews on NetGalley it is not finding one with me.

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for this DRC.
Any door is every door. Cassie picks up a magic book, left to her by a bookshop customer. It can open any door, but some should not be opened. After a few glorious experiences, the bad side rears it’s ugly head. There are more magic books and some people will do anything to get them.

It has books, bookshops, doors and magic. Those are the best things. It was book that at times I could not put down, but also felt very frustrated with. I did not connect with any characters, although I greatly wanted to with Drummond Fox. Cassie and Izzy I mixed up for the first half of the book. And it is dark. Just so dark.

#TheBookofDoors #NetGalley

I AM OBSESSED. I have never given a book 6 stars, this may just be my new favourite book!! I love this so much. The characters, the magic, the simplicity and the complexity. Its so beautifully done. I was simply not ready for it to end. I am wishing for a book two now!~
As an ARC reader im so happy I got a chance to read this masterpeice.
This has sprouted my love for time travel books, I am speechless. Its so well done and so easy to get lost into-
This is an asbsolute masterpiece and I insist you should read this atleast once in your lifetime.

The Book of Doors by Gareth Brown

Summary:
Cassie Andrews works in a New York City bookshop, shelving books, making coffee for customers, and living an unassuming, ordinary life. Until the day one of her favorite customers—a lonely yet charming old man—dies right in front of her. Cassie is devastated. She always loved his stories, and now she has nothing to remember him by. Nothing but the last book he was reading.
But this is no ordinary book…
It is the Book of Doors.
Inscribed with enigmatic words and mysterious drawings, it promises Cassie that any door is every door. You just need to know how to open them.
Then she’s approached by a gaunt stranger in a rumpled black suit with a Scottish brogue who calls himself Drummond Fox. He’s a librarian who keeps watch over a unique set of rare volumes. The tome now in Cassie’s possession is not the only book with great power, but it is the one most coveted by those who collect them.
Now Cassie is being hunted by those few who know of the Special Books. With only her roommate Izzy to confide in, she has to decide if she will help the mysterious and haunted Drummond protect the Book of Doors—and the other books in his secret library’s care—from those who will do evil. Because only Drummond knows where the unique library is and only Cassie’s book can get them there.
Review: 4-star
Wow, what a ride this book took me on. I so wish I could have given it a 5 star, but it was easy to put down and do other things and come back to it. To me, a 5-star read is one I can’t put down. It kept me on my toes as I couldn’t figure out what was going to happen and it kept me surprised and satisfied. As this a the first book from this author I will be looking out for more books written by him as I know it will be a journey well worth my time and money.

This book was a tough one for me. Every single aspect of the book was perfect conceptually, but the way it was put together really did not work for me. I found it so difficult to be invested until about 40-50% of the way through, at which point I did indeed become hooked.
I found while reading this that the only character I really cared about was Mr. Webber. There were lots of characters I would have liked to know more about, or probably did learn more about, but the sort of cyclical nature of the time travel in this book only had me realizing it towards the end. Cassie and Izzy were sweet, but they just felt like they were doing it for the plot rather than doing it for themselves (yes, I know they weren’t, but it still felt like it). However, the exploration of the nature of time travel is what I think this book did perfectly. It was fascinating to see how the boring or confusing moments in the past were created by key moments in the future, which we as readers had to wait to understand. It makes you really sit and think about the who, what, when, where, why HOW????
The book is great, but it felt like there was just so much unnecessary content, especially at the beginning - the slump that nearly had me DNF could have been totally avoidable.
If you like books about time travel, endearing old men, female friendships, and exploring what is completely unknown, I think you’d enjoy this. It’s one of those books I’ll be recommending to people with the stipulation that if they pick it up, they can’t put it down/give up until they’re at least 35% through.

3.5/5 stars. I have mixed feelings about this book. I love books about books, and this is definitely in that category. I didn’t mind the slow start and enjoyed how the plot built from simple and whimsical to dark and high-stakes. The themes of grief and regret were beautifully depicted.

However, the prose was quite uneven. Some passages were beautiful while others were clunky and strange. There was a lot of the author unnecessarily telling us something a character was thinking or feeling instead of allowing us to interpret it from the scene itself. I also found the character descriptions to be simplistic and awkward. For example, one character was repeatedly referred to as “the Black man" despite everyone knowing his name. Initial descriptions of two of the main characters seemed to be written by a man uncomfortable describing women (the food and weight comments were absolutely unnecessary). That being said, I really enjoyed the world he created. I would be interested in reading more of his books in the future.

Thoughts: This is an amazing book, made even more wonderful by the fact that it is a debut novel. I must admit, I am insanely jealous (but in a good way). The author draws you into Cassie’s world(s) and makes what is happening to her and her friends almost believable. She receives The Book of Doors from an old man who she befriended. She quickly realizes it’s a magic book—one that can take her anywhere in the world. Then she discovers that it can also take her “any-when”. Like back to when her grandfather was alive. And it’s not the only magic book there is. There are books of shadow, pain, joy, safety, despair, and more. All the emotions a person has.

The author gives the reader incredible imagery. For instance: the buildings across the street a crossword puzzle of lit and unlit windows. Can’t you just see windows in city buildings at night looking like this?
The situations caused by the people using (and misusing) the books are interesting. I was really pulled into the story. And the ending was well-done and tied up all the loose ends. I can see where there could be other books in a series, but this one is complete.

Recommendation: definitely recommended for those who want something a little different.
Disclaimer: Disclosure of Material: I received a final and/or advanced reader copy of this book with the hope that I will leave my unbiased opinion. I was not required to leave a review, positive or otherwise, and my opinions are just that… My Opinions. I am posting this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”

I enjoyed this story. it was intriguing and entertaining. I'm giving it 4 stars because I could not put it down. .

I loved this book. It was such a fun and entertaining read. This fantasy book was simply captivating, had lots of action, good vs. evil, time travel, engaging characters, and magic books! And we all love books, right? Especially when they’re magical.

This dark fantasy book is well written, the characters well developed and the magic system based on books, new and original to me. As I read further into this delightful book, the more I became engrossed and the more I enjoyed it. I was sad to read the end and can only hope the author chooses to explore more of this world and write some more of it for us.

I’m definitely looking forward to reading more of this author’s work. And for anyone who likes original fantasy books that don’t include dragons, I highly recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review.