"I am all of the selves I've ever been, and all of the selves defined by others"
Author J.T.Ellison, with the help of sixteen other writers, has given us a clever concept book, an anthology of short stories, each of which gives an encapsulated glimpse into a different life. When Mia is stabbed to death by her husband, regretting her life and the choices she had made, she is gifted a glimpse into all of the might-have-beens if she had taken different pathways. Each of the alternate life stories is poignant, well written and satisfying in itself. Taken as a whole book, they come together like beads on a string, leading back to the original Mia.

Whilst each individual story is worth reading, this reader must give special credit to The Homeless Woman, by Kerry Lonsdale, a superbly imagined piece of empathic writing, so sad yet still touched with hope, and The Widow, by Kate Moreti, a sadly harrowing story of love and relationships so precariously held. But there are several others which were also outstanding, original, surprising and all were real little windows on the soul. It is a book to read one life at a time, to savour slowly, as each is touching in it's own way and needs to be tasted and absorbed before moving on to the next. Then, at the end, J.T.Ellison returns us to the life -and death - of the original Mia in the excellent conclusion, How it Ends.I

I received a complimentary copy of A Thousand Doors, at my request, from Bookgalley  Thank you. This book has a very special feel to it: it is an instance of the whole being greater than its parts and far more than a simple collection of themed short stories.
Recommended

Wow!   'What If''  has always been the question we ask ourselves most often.  This book answers those questions in an imaginative way and as it goes along you are able to reach conclusions about your own 'What Ifs".  I cannot recommend this book enough.  It is unique and clever and compulsively readable. As a huge fan of J.T. Ellison, this is another great one to add.  There are chapters by many favored authors and some new ones to investigate.

I devoured this book! 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 What a fantastic idea to create a compilation of the many possibilities of Mia’s life. All of these short stories are so unusual that you’ll never guess any of the ending.

# A Thousand Doors # NetGalley #

I am struggling to find the words to express my love of this book. It is like no other I have read before. It is a collaboration of various authors who put together the story of the character, Mia Jensen. The novellas all tell how her life could have gone if she had lived a full satisfying life. They are told as dreams of her as she lies in the hospital struggling for her life, but I didn’t get that at first. It took me several novellas to figure out why the main character in each was Mia. Each story was depicting various jobs, families, careers, husbands that were possible in a different life for Mia. It made me think how nice it would be if we could choose to live some of our dreams. I read this book in one sitting because I was eager to see how it was all going to pull together.  This is a new concept in writing, but one I think readers will like. I am rating it a solid 5 stars.

I was provided an advance copy of this book from NetGalley for a fair and honest review. Thank you NetGalley.

If J.T. Ellison were an inventor, she'd create an intricate key machine that unlocks the "thousand doors"; As Editor, and she also pens a few chapters about MIA (the protagonist), Ellison leads the way to unlocking the story of MIA, who is a complex character that fuels this tragic, and sometimes seriocomic tale.  Its underpinnings really take root in WALL STREET, as the financial conflict is the initial conflict between MIA and her soon-to-be ex husband, who has a twisted, criminal mind and is NO MATCH for MIA!  Ellison, who is a dedicated writer that is devoted to her craft, gives other creative authors a chance, because each chapter in the RISING ACTION is written by other authors.  Does this method round out the three-dimensional leading character Mia's compelling tale?  Ellison takes great care in choosing "roles" for Mia, which are chapters dedicated to each aspect of her hypothetical life (actually what her life "could have been" if she hadn't been murdered in the beginning of this tale).  As Mia sheds each of her lives, we become engrossed in Ellison's scheme for this formidable leading female character who has SPUNK.  I dare say as READERS approach the ending of Mia's life (or second life?), BEWARE, because Ellison a highly inventive gal, has conjured up a magical PLAN, and she's pulled readers into a magic SPELL as you reach the photo-finish ENDING of MIA's tale, or is it?

Review: A THOUSAND DOORS by JT Ellison. When a woman is dying she has regrets that she could have done many other things with her life so she is shown the lives she could have lived. JT Ellison, along with guest writers for all the separate lives do a fantastic job! ⭐⭐⭐⭐Four stars.

The day Mia Jensen died, she finally got to live. Mia has a terrible day so she goes home to have some wine and try and relax with a hot bath. She is brutally attacked and left for dead. As she lies there dying, she sees her life as different choices. I loved this book as it was different from anything I have read before. I wanted to read this book since so many authors I love contributed. This book did not disappoint! I received an advanced readers copy from NetGalley and Two Tales Press. All opinions are my own.

A THOUSAND DOORS: AN ANTHOLOGY OF MANY LIVES by J. T. Ellison and an all-star cast of award-winning and best-selling writers, is a brilliantly conceived and executed “what if” story of how one woman’s life might have changed if she made different choices along the way.  Each contributor envisions a different scenario for Mia Jensen’s life if she had taken a different path from the one that lands her in her present circumstances. Each story of Mia’s possible lives is compelling, suspenseful and emotionally-charged.  I thoroughly enjoyed this unique and thought-provoking book and highly recommend it! Thank you to the editor/authors, publisher and NetGalley for the chance to read an early copy.

The day Mia Jensen died is the day she began to live. 

Mia’s choices have often brought her to a place of disappointment; now Mia’s dying moments bring her the opportunity to examine the “what if” and the “what could have been” roads she’s never traveled. But has her new-found knowledge come too late to make a difference?

In this unique narrative, readers journey with Mia Jensen as her life, re-imagined by a select group of writers, unfolds in new and unexpected ways. Through each of these stories, readers see how the choices she makes lead Mia along the story-filled pathways of her life. But, after seeing the wide-ranging possibilities, would Mia choose to change the life she’s known? It’s an intriguing question, spectacularly answered in these glimpses into what might have been. 

The accounts of Mia’s possible lives fill the space between the first and last stories of the anthology, creating a satisfying whole that will cause readers to pause for reflection after they’ve turned the last page in this unputdownable tale.

Highly recommended.

I received a free copy of this Advance Review eBook from Two Tales Press and NetGalley 
#AThousandDoors #NetGalley

It’s been a bitch of a day for Mia Jensen,now she hears the sound of someone or something in her kitchen. Instead of going for help, she investigates and is attacked and left to die. As she lays dying, she sees not her actual life pass before her eyes, but the lives she might have led had she made better choices. Told in the voices of an assortment of authors, from Patti Callahan Henry to Kate Moretti, this is a somber glance at what might have been

A thousand doors by J.T Ellison is a what if type book. What if we had done things differently, where would we be at in our lives? As a 40 year old woman lies in her house, left for dead, she considers this and the what if lives start passing by her. Showing her all that could have been, for a steep dark price. 
Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for an arc copy of a thousand doors in exchange for an honest review.