The Ten Thousand Doors of January

Oh my goodness, this book!! I just loved everything about it. I have no complaints, only love. The characters were so well-built. January had such depth and strength to her. There were a few times in the book where I was like, “No January, that’s going to hurt” but she did what needed to be done. Always. The villains were true villains, making me hate them the more I got to know them. The supporting characters were wonderful. They all had their own story, and yet I didn’t feel like we spent much time on backstory. Alix Harrow just weaved their stories right in and never missed a beat. The narration is written with the main character, January writing her story down, so she is speaking directly to the reader. I really enjoyed this point of view. There were times where she had me smiling at the way she spoke directly to us, and other times where I felt her heart break. It was so well done. The story is just amazing. January is writing her story down and in her story, she finds a book, which she also writes down. So, there is a book within a book. The very first time we dropped into the first book I was a bit skeptical, but all of a sudden, I was invested in both stories. The writing did not disappoint. Speaking of the Writing, I was blown away by Alix Harrow’s descriptive story. Her words just draw you in like nothing I have read before. I have quotes sprinkled into this post to give you a feel for her writing. I found it utterly beautiful and meaningful to me. Overall, the entire book was wonderful. I am SURE this will end up on my 2020 Top Reads list, and it is only January. With powerful writing, strong characters, and a story that will knock your socks off, The Ten Thousand Doors of January is a wonderful read! Content Warnings: There is one small scene with animal harm in it. It’s brief, but here’s the warning. To Read or Not To Read: You will enjoy this book if you like fantasy built around the world as we know it. Historical fantasy lovers will be very happy to have read this book as well! What's This Book About Anyway? January Scaller lives with Mr. Locke, a guardian of sorts, while her father travels the world finding treasures. She is constantly missing her never-present father, and often looks to Mr. Locke as a secondary father. Thankful when given any praise or small gift, she finds herself craving a family with a mother and a father, together under one roof. January finds a book hidden away in one of the many rooms in Mr. Locke’s mansion. She is sure it is another gift from her guardian, but as she reads, she is whisked away into stories of fantastic proportions. Doors that open leading to new worlds are filled with exciting adventures and as she dives into this new book, she finds there may be more truth to it than she originally thought.

In a mansion in Vermont lives a young girl; she is being cared for by the wealthy Mr. Locke, who has employed her father, while her father travels around the research doing some sort of research. Unfortunately for the young girl, January, she feels forgotten and abandoned by her father, who rarely visits her, and when he does visit, they are short and unfulfilling. When January is 7, she discovers a door. No. Wait. She discovers a Door. It deserves to be capitalized because it is not just an ordinary door; it doesn't lead to another room. It does lead to another place; another world. When she tries to tell Mr. Locke about her discovery, he thinks she is overstimulated and has her bedroom stripped of everything stimulating, then locks her inside. Ten years later, she discovers a book that changes her life, having just learned that her father is missing and presumed dead. Unfortunately, there are those who don't want her to learn the information held in the book. To learn that the Door she discovered so many years before was not only real, it was just one of thousands. And through one of those doors is her mother. Her mother, who has been missing for years. The mother her father has been searching for, instead of raising January. But as January begins her own search, there are those who want to keep her from learning anything about the Doors. The prose of this novel was beautiful. It was flowery and poetic and wonderful for this story. Unfortunately, it wasn't wonderful for me. I don't know why it didn't seem to work for me, as I have read other books written in a similar style that I loved, but it didn't Instead of helping the story along, it seemed to slow it down, to weigh it down so that it dragged in places. I felt like the story needed a really good pruning. This is not to say that I didn't enjoy the book, because I did. It was an intriguing story and even when the pacing slowed, it kept my interest. It just felt like the prose was trying a little too hard and didn't quite live up to its promise. While the characters were well-described, they were still not easy to connect with. That, I have noticed, is something that I tend to experience with many historical novels, though I do not know why. It took a while, but by about halfway through the novel, I began to connect somewhat with January. The other characters, though, seemed a bit too one-dimensional for me, though I can't really explain why without giving away spoilers. I will say that of all the characters, my favorite was Bad, who was a very good dog. Though I felt like the characters fell a little short, the world-building was wonderful. The story takes place in the early 1900s in America, and the concept of the Doors and the other worlds to which they connect was interesting and well-developed. I also liked the way in which January's parents' story was revealed, piecemeal, as January reads the strange book she was given upon the news of her father's disappearance/death. For this novel, I listened to the audiobook, which was narrated by January LaVoy. I do admit that I chuckled a bit at the fact that the narrator shared her name with the main character, especially when the name is so unique. LaVoy did a great job with the narration, and her performance really helped hold my attention in the places where the prose was starting to lose me. Her performance is the reason that I gave a rating of 4 stars instead of 3 stars. Though it is unlikely that I will listen to this book again, I would definitely listen to another book narrated by LaVoy. I want to finish by saying that while I didn't enjoy this book as much as other books by this author, it's still a good book. If you are looking for a novel with very descriptive language, then give this one a shot. Though it didn't hit the right spot for me, that doesn't mean it won't hit the right spot for someone else. You take it on the good authority of all the 5-star reviews that it has received that it does hit the right spot for many readers.

An amazing, captivating story that pulls you in with sentences so beautiful. I couldn't put it down until I finished it and I will be thinking about it for a long time. Wonderful characters. I will now be reading everything this author has written. So powerful.

Las hojas no vienen bien cortadas y es mucho más notorio desde la parte de abajo. Aún no lo leo, pero esta edición me dejó decepcionada.

Great book

I'm 69 and a physical scientist and normally go for Jason Bourne / Jack Reacher class thrillers, but mainly Science Fiction. I also love Lord of the Rings! The BookBub blurb for '1000 Doors' caught my eye so I looked at the 3* reviews. These were intriguing enough to read the Kindle sample ... and I was hooked. Its a fantasy, but not the traditional elves/dwarves/GoT/LotR/Pern type. There is no magic per se - but the Doors (not doors) and the way they are manipulated to travel between worlds is definitely not Science but also not Magic. January's story is slowly but fully developed starting when she is 7 years old and discovers her ability to use 'Doors', jumping several years until she is old enough to break free and begin to control her own destiny. The development of the world(s) she lives in and explores is handled well with enough revealed to keep you hooked but neither overwhelmed nor bewildered nor feeling that the author is stuffing info down your throat. Character development is handles at an appropriate rate so that the characters' behaviours work for the worlds and stage of their journeys they find themselves in. The rate of the story development, similarly, makes sense - giving good hints about where we are being lead without spoiling the 'reveals' and twists and turns. The characters are accessible and though in no way perfect are worthy of your interest and support, Rarely seen in modern books, but welcome, is that the baddies are really bad, but believable within their own view of what they are doing. Though I couldn't empathise, nor agree, with their ethos and behaviour, I could see where they were coming from; a sign of a good Baddy is that you can see why they think that they are a Goody! The authors writing and craft skills are excellent, and somewhat to my surprise I quickly got caught up in January's and Samuel's and Adelaide's quests. Another nice thing nowadays is that the story is complete, and not the start of an interminable sequence of 'adventures' This is a story that is worth risking Much to my surprise

Ein Buch was überrascht. Die Geschichte ist durchgehend spannend und die Charaktere sehr lebhaft und glaubwürdig. Es ist ein schöner fließender und bildlicher Schreibstil. Egal, welches Genre man bevorzugt, ich würde dieses Buch jeden leidenschaftlichen Leser empfehlen. Eine Geschichte, die mich sehr berührt hat.

This is a beautifully written, wonderful book. A cornucopia of marvels. It is Beauty. It is Elegance. If Cate Blanchett were a book, this is the book it would be. Our heroine is January, her best friend is Bad.