Thank you Two Tales Press for sending me A Thousand Doors for review.
A Thousand Doors is a short story collection edited by J.T. Ellison. They are all connected by one idea but they are all very unique. The first story sets up the whole collection, Mia is murdered in her kitchen and as she is dying, she see all the different lives she could have lived. All the different careers, personalities, experiences, etc. It is a great way to compile a short story collection by a wonderful compilation of writers.
Like all short story collections, some are more to my taste than others, but that is one of my favourite things about anthologies like these. There is something for everyone and it’s a quick fun way to try new authors and see how their style works for you.
I also love a short story collection like this for the quick little moments when you don’t have enough time to settle in to a bigger story. Some of these had a quick pace and I was able to squeeze most in between cooking for my son or waiting for him at school pickup.
Publishing November 5, 2018 this would be a wonderful book to keep stashed in your car or purse for those little moments in life.

This is a page turner of a book, it is different and kept my interest. I needed to know what the next chapter would hold. 
I have not read a book like this before and it has been refreshing  to read something different. 
Easy to read and I bought into the character of Mia, I laughed with her and cryed alongside her.

An interesting book: a collection of stories by several well known authors.

the premise is the story of Mia Jensen who is stabbed to death by her husband. who is facing criminal charges: he was running a Ponzi scheme inside his company.  Instead of helping him Mia is divorcing him.

Her days were filled with sameness and she was bored, dissatisfied and unhappy.

As she is dying she hears the a voice saying: you always wondered what might have been....

She is taken on a journey of other lives , a happily married mother ,a novelist a lawyer an archeologist , a homeless woman.  She is also a spy, an actress nominated for an academy award, a teenager contemplating suicide, a primatologist, a senator's wife,, a professor, a news  anchor, a woman betrayed by her husband and seeking peace at an ashram, a country music singer and songwriter and a widow.


Mia Jensen is with an angel after viewing all the other lives.  The angel tells her she must decide tonight when she dies whether to accept the life she had or to take on of the other paths: live a different life.


She is revived and lives again.

She chooses the life she had and is painting and dating the doctor who saved her life.


I liked some of the other lives Mia Jensen might have had except for one.  The one I didn't like were the one where she's living in an ashram.  I really liked the archeologist, the homeless woman, the teenager and a primatologist.

Mia Jensen files divorce papers and turns her husband in for embezzlement.  To pay her back, her husband stabs her and leaves her for dead.  Each of the following chapters show another version of Mia's life......one that she would have had if she had followed a different path.  It really made me think about what I would do differently if I could have had a different outcome.  It reminded me of those books I loved as a kid where you could pick a different ending each time.  It was both thought-provoking and enjoyable.

What a neat idea! This was such a great and unique book. I loved being able to read each story from different authors and getting a little taste of each of their writing styles. It was very cool to see what Mia's life could have been like if she had chosen different paths. A big thank you to Net Galley for letting me read this!

WOW
I got swept into a life ---the more I read, the deeper I was involved.

Opening is Mia is going about her day ...
she is interrupted by edge of knife.
She didn't finish to-do list.
The day she died, she finally got to live.

Her husband has been embezzling form company "Focus fir Friends"
leads her to be in the kitchen in the afternoon where she learns a lesson.

Leads to-
What Could Have Been
different authors - different views - different stories.

I enjoyed this book.

One of my top books of the season. Love how J.T. Ellison writes and the fact that it had a bunch of stories written by a lot of my favorite authors makes it even better. This books was nothing short of amazing.

Not my cup of tea. It started out great, then got boring. I understand the concept and thought it was unique, it just wasn't for me.

Fun read!  I really enjoyed the way it read like a novel.  It was really neat to see how many of my favorite writers would imagine Mia's life.  It was also thought provoking to think how many possible paths each of us could have gone down.  I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book!  I liked Kerry Lonsdale's short story the best.  Thanks for the ARC!

This is such an interesting concept. You start off with the main character, Mia Jensen dying. As she is left for dead she wonders what her life could have been like. We follow Mia on many different life choses, all written by different authors. While you can fell the different writing styles the over all storyline felt smooth for the most part. There was one "what if" that felt disjointed from the rest of the book. This could have been done on purpose but if felt weird to me. Some of the "what if" storylines could have been written into novels themselves. 

I am NOT a fan of anthologies so I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. I would definitely recommend this book.

I really wanted to love this book. I mean, its a bunch of different stories told by a lot of my favorite authors. What's not to love, right? Well, I wanted more. I got hooked into every different "door" that Mia could have chosen, and I wanted the whole story. I loved how each author had a different voice, but it all still flowed well together. The writing was awesome, the concept just wasn't my cup of tea. I'm sure this type of book is for a lot of people, but I'm one of those that just never wants each good story to end, and I always wants to know what happens next.

Readers who love short stories will want to read this newest release from JT Ellison.  It’s  a bit of a mix between Ground Hog Day and It’s a Wonderful Life. 

Mia Jensen is a 40 year old woman who finds herself literally at death’s door in the first story.  Each story that follows is written by a different author and gives a different version of her life, based on different choices she might have made in the past.

Having these short stories presented by different authors gave some very unique perspectives as to what Mia’s life could have been like.  It also gives readers a sample of each author’s writing.  I found myself turning back to the table of contents for a look at  the authors of the stories and made notes of those which I enjoyed the most for future reading.

I liked the way JT Ellison’s last story tied everything up for the ending.  This is a book that would be easy to read in one sitting or to spread out over a period of time, with one story a day.  I will admit, at times it was difficult to switch gears and move from one story to the next.  

Many thanks to NetGalley and Two Tales Press for allowing me to read an advance copy and give my honest review.

The What if's are going around for Mia is upset with life's choices to this point and needs a change.
Only in death can you see the light that's escaped her precious soul.
Life is a series of twists and turns, ups and downs, in which those hardships propel us forward in achieving our wildest dreams.
This is an analogy with many authors that I love including JT Ellison so it's hard for me to give a mediocre review. 
Perhaps I was having a lousy day as I'm extremely busy raising 3 teens solo below poverty so I suggest you grab this one and read it for yourself as we all have our days. I hope you enjoy this read.
Thank you to JT, the publisher, NetGalley, and Aldiko for this ARC in exchange for this honest review.

A Thousand Doors is such an interesting premise for a book. Mia Jenson is killed at the beginning of this story, and as she is dying, she has the opportunity to view several variations of how her life would have turned out if she had made different choices. Each of the scenarios is told by a different author in the form of a short story. I’m not generally a fan of short stories, but I enjoyed most of the short stories contained within A Thousand Doors. It was a good way to be introduced to some new authors and read new work from some authors I already enjoy. My favorite short stories would have to be The Lawyer, The Spy, and The Widow. 

Thank you to NetGalley and Two Tales Press for the opportunity to read an ARC of this book and provide an honest review.

This anthology tells the many lives Mia Jensen could have lived. If only. In my opinion there's not one bad story here. They're all strong, interesting and they all have the same flavour.. they all seemed like Mia. Contributors include Catherine McKenzie, Kaira Rouda, Kimberly Belle and Kate Moretti, but like I said every one of these stories is great. They felt complete. I know I've wondered "what would have happened if I did that?" and "if I hadn't of done that then this never would have happened." A unique and thought-provoking read that brought out a lot of emotions both for me and Mia Jensen.

I had the opportunity to review A Thousand Doors in exchange for an honest review.  All opinions are my own.

What an interesting concept...  A woman on death's door has the opportunity to see herself in different lives - all written by different top notch Female authors.  I was impressed by the different takes on Mia's life - none of which were perfect.  And the ending brought it all back together.

I don't typically read short stories, but the authors in this Anthology drew me to the book and I am glad I read this.  I would suggest to all my reading friends.

Well done!!

A Thousand Doors: An Anthology of Many Lives by J.T. Ellison and 15 bestselling contributing authors is the story of Mia Jensen and how her life might have changed based on decisions that she made. 

I loved the unique premise of this anthology. I really enjoyed Mia’s “lives” as a spy and a primatologist.

One of my favorite passages from the book because I feel like it’s a valuable lesson in life…”None of my lives are right. None are perfect. None are free of pain. No matter what choice I made, they all lead to the same place—some level of dissatisfaction. They all lead me back to me.”

Thank you to the author(s) and the publisher for an advanced copy; all opinions are my own.

I typically steer away from anthologies. Always feeling like I was getting pieces of books and always wanting more. With this having a continuous character throughout it it didn't feel like an anthology. You got to experience Mia ' s various lives, with full exposure, because of the various authors lending their style of writing giving her many, beautiful lives. Beautiful because beauty lies in love, loss, pain and glory which she seen in her lives because of her death. The ending was glorious and sheds light on the beauty of life and every choice that brings you to now.

This is an interesting book.   The first chapter Mia is murdered.  She has always thought her life was wasted.  She should have done something else and been someone else.
Each chapter is written by another writer.  And each chapter Mia is living a different life.  All have difficulties.  Some of the chapters were very good, some were not.    
I thought the idea was very interesting and I really enjoyed the book.   Good idea and glad I was chosen by Net Galley to read this book.  Thank you!

The day Mia Jansen died, she finally got to live.

I absolutely loved this anthology. Mia Jansen has made some bad choices in life and now, she's at the death's door. Her husband has stabbed her and has left her to die. She sees a bright white light and an angel takes Mia to see her other lives, had she made a different choice.

The story then proceeds to show the different lives of Mia. There's Mia the senator's wife and Mia the dejected teenager. Mia the happily married wife and mother and Mia the Lawyer. Actress, Primatologist, Professor, Archaeologist, Homeless Woman, Author, Singer and even Spy - Mia could have been any of these. Mia gets to see all the sides of her.

Some of these stories were heart-wrenching and some, inspiring. Some ended on a good note, with Mia getting a second chance to live. In some, Mia chooses what she always wanted to do over what she is doing right now; in other words, Mia lives the life of her dreams, leaving behind those who sought ill or underestimated her.

There are stories where Mia stands up to her abuser, as in the case of Archaeologist. Mia as a spy was an interesting story. Mia the Primatologist showed the caring side of Mia while Mia the singer showed her courageous side. There are many more such stories, each depicting Mia's choices and her strengths/weaknesses.

A Thousand Doors is a one-of-a-kind book that I have ever read. I loved the concept of Mia and her different lives. I haven't heard much about the other authors who contributed to this story but I must say that each of them has their own style of writing and each of their stories were equally good.


If you are looking for a unique story, then do not miss to read A Thousand Lives by J.T Elliot.