Super happy to find a standalone but sadly it just didn’t grab me and keep me focused. I couldn’t finish it next matter how many times I tried.

I have elected not to read and review this book due to time constraints. Thank you for the opportunity.

Clearly written for an audience new to YA. Thus, this is the primary audience I would recommend this story to. I was unable to finish it due to being jaded to basic YA fantasy cliches.

This. book. OMG.

🖤 has a demi-biromantic asexual main character

🖤 has trans and gay rep

🖤 is a dark fantasy

🖤 has a villain romance

I can honestly say I have never, ever read a book set in such an imaginative, dark, and intriguing setting and characters. I didn't know much going into this—other than that it was a YA fantasy with a magical asexual main character that can visit other people's souls when they sleep—but I knew enough to make me HAVE to read this.

I'm happy to say it exceeded my expectations. It's definitely one I'll read again.

Favorite quotes:

“Some secrets weren’t meant to be discovered. Some doors not meant to be opened. I’d already made that mistake once, and I shouldn’t be tempted to do it again.”

“Books were doors I was allowed to open with the flick of a wrist."

I enjoyed this book a lot more than I thought I would. I loved the concept of the soul walking and the non-romantic romance that was created by the characters. I enjoyed the plot development and learning the twists behind each character and how it all fit together.

Thank you so much for allowing me to read and review your titles.
I do appreciate it and continue to review books that I get the chance to read.
Thanks again!

This book was absolutely fantastic. I've already added it to our library collection on preorder and will recommend it to students.

Great story and loved the romance. Loved the cast of characters and how the story came to be. Great story and I would read this author again.

I will admit that I chose this book because of the cover. Gorgeous! But the story surprised me. I started reading it without knowing much about it and found myself sucked in. The world building was awesome, the characters were a treat, and the romance was sublime. I enjoyed this enough that I will seek out more books by this author.

I was really drawn in by the cover of this book. It's absolutely captivating. The story itself was pretty good at the start. Events take off rather quickly, and after an initial sequence of lots of danger and excitement, everything peters out and the rest of the story is told mostly in dialogue.

This was such a beautifully dark fantasy novel. I loved every moment of this book. The world building was so intriguing I couldn’t put this book down.

I liked that the book explored aro/ace characters and I did like the plot, though I felt it got a little sluggish here and there. Still it's something my teens will like so I've purchased it for the library.

Disclaimer: I received an Advance Reader Copy at no cost from the publisher/author. All opinions in my review are my own.

I am greatly impressed with this book. The young adult world needs more dark fantasy stories like this one.

The premise of this book was outstanding. I loved every single piece of this story. The whole idea of Soulwalkers excites me. I did feel that some areas of the book had more telling than showing, but the overall world-building for this book is fantastic. There are so many pieces that come togethe to create the whole of this world. I loved the mythology and the vivid descriptions. I thought that the houses that represent the souls was very creative.

I loved the the story represents an asexual protagonist. This is something that I haven't seen a whole lot in young adult fiction, but it always warms my heart and excites me when I see this kind of representation for young readers. There are also some other LGBT representation in the book that I loved.

The characters in the story were well developed. I felt such a connection with Kamai and I loved her journey. I really liked Vehyn's character as well. He was very convincing. I also loved all of the secondary characters in the story.

Overall, this is a dark fantasy story that you won't want to miss out on. The author weaves a bittersweet tale and the twists in the story will keep you hooked to the pages. I can't wait to read what's next from this author!

Another book I am kicking myself for not reading it sooner. It's a pretty unique dark fantasy with some great representation.

'Beyond the Black Door' is a dark and twisting young adult fantasy novel that will sweep readers off their feet. To be honest, I wasn't sure what to expect after reading the description. It sounded awesome and I was excited to see an asexual main character in the mix. After finishing the book though, I'm not exactly sure how I feel or where I stand. I definitely think it's going to need a re-read to help me really pin down my thoughts and feelings, but I'll try to write a somewhat coherent review now.

The characters were all very interesting and rounded, especially our main character, Kamai. She was a great protagonist for the book - easy to connect with and incredibly realistic. There were obviously some aspects of her character that I couldn't personally identify with, mainly the asexual aspect, but the way that it made her feel - broken, alone, hating herself, wondering what's wrong with her - those are things that everyone has experienced in their lives. The LGBT aspect of the novel was a big part of the story - almost overdone, in my personal opinion. Don't get me wrong, I love diverse characters and I'm all about giving everyone a voice - but sometimes it felt like that's all Kamai thought about. Granted, it's a big part of yourself and when you're trying to figure out who that is, it's going to be confusing enough. The author wrote the story in the first person point of view (which is by far my favorite), so we really get to now Kamai on a deeply personal level. We're inside her mind and are privy to her innermost thoughts and feelings, her hopes and dreams, fears and nightmares, memories, and everything in between. I loved getting to know her so well. By the end of the book it felt like I had been right beside Kamai throughout the entire book experiencing everything alongside her.

The world building was amazing, but did take quite a bit of time to accomplish. The setting is interesting, but what really fascinated me was the mythology, lore, and belief systems that these people integrated into their society. And the soulwalking! That had me hooked as soon as the author mentioned it. I loved learning everything about it - how Kamai was a soulwalker like her mother and could go into other people's souls while they're sleeping. I found it fascinating that each person's soul was like a house - it could be big or small, rich or poor - it varied from person to person. I loved walking around inside these other souls and exploring alongside Kamai. Another part of Kamai's world that I loved learning about was the whole court scene with all the secrets and political intrigue. I absolutely loved learning about all of these things but it did feel like it slowed the pace down a bit, at least in the beginning. I know the author is giving us a history and background, as well as setting up Kamai's world for us, but it felt really slow and nothing happened.

I don't do spoilers in my reviews, so I can't really go into the plot much more without giving anything away. I can say that there's lots of twists and turns, mysteries to be unraveled - mainly the black door! - and things you won't see coming. I thought that all the different elements of the book added up to an original story with diverse characters and one heck of a plot. I do want to mention that the author has trigger warnings up to give readers a heads up about what they might run across in the book, so please be aware of these if you're affected by certain topics. All in all, this wasn't really anything like I thought or hoped it would be - but it was beautiful in it's own way and an unique read for the genre.

Reviews are mediocre books are always the hardest to write. And this, of course, is one of those reviews. Beyond the Black Door was equally beautiful and boring. It had a complex magic system but lacked in the characters. I couldn't feel any connection or empathy to the world yet I was fascinated by the idea of it. It was vague at times and overly detailed at others. The story was mediocre at best and didn't hold my attention much.

Honestly, I think the only thing I actually enjoyed in this book was the magic. The system of sleepwalkers and Nyhm was fascinating and unique. I've never read any story with a world like this and I loved getting to explore a hidden sleep realm.

Otherwise, there wasn't much about this story I enjoyed. The characters and world lacked a depth of development that made it difficult to care about what was happening. It felt shallow and incomplete most of the time.

This story is the type of story that I'll forgot in time. The names, plots, and details will all eventually slip from my mind (as they already have begun to already) and I may even get to the point where I can't remember if I've even read the book. It was just mediocre and I am forever sad that this book wasn't as amazing as I expected it to be (really, my expectations were so high! Queer rep! interesting premise! but alas, I'm here and disappointed now).

I really wanted to love this book. I found my self not finishing it about 1/3 of the way through. I just wasn't interested in what was going on. I am going to try to pick it up at a later date to see if it was just timing or if I really just don't care for this book.

Gave this 4 stars
Thanks to the publisher for sending me this E-ARC.
I really enjoyed this story. This story is so fresh and original I can’t wait to see what Strickland will come out with next.
Can we make this into a movie lol I’m just saying it would be fantastic.

—☽.｡* Quick recap!
☆ Short synopsis: A girl with the ability to soul walking break her promise to her mother to not open a mysterious forbidden door.
☆ Read this book if you're: Fan of dark magic concept meets multidimensional characters.
☆ You might want to consider it because: A manipulative romantic relationship is the center of this book.

Beyond the Black Door is an evocative dark fantasy mix with a gripping mystery. The diversified characters, inclusive representation, and twisted plot will leave you craving for more.

—☽.｡* Full review!
The story started with Kamai, and the rare ability that she inherited from her mother to explore the souls of other people while they’re asleep, commonly known as “soulwalking”. The soul of each person takes a different shape of houses, ranging from a cold, dark, small shack to a grand, vibrant, warm palace. Despite these differences, one thing always remained the same when Kamai visited a soul. There was always a black door lurking on her as if it was a breathing and living creature. Although her mother keeps reminded her to not open the black door, after a life-changing incident, will Kamai be able to still resist the urge?

Don’t you just love it when you’re being able to read a story which exactly promised on its blurb, even better than what you’re expected in the first place? That’s exactly the case with this mesmerizing book of Strickland. Starting the book, I love how we are immediately thrown into the two main plots that built this story without getting overwhelmed about them. First, the magical yet dark concept of soulwalking, an ability that Kamai and her mother owned. I completely adore the explanation behind this concept and how it works. The reasoning behind why everyone has different soul houses called Nehym, the boundaries of what soulwalker can or can’t do when they’re exploring someone’s soul, and the description of how the souls should look like was incredibly vivid to me.

Second, the coming-of-age journey of Kamai ever since she was a child and how she tried to understand herself, and as she grew older, it evolved to an attempt to understand her sexuality. This second plot was extremely important and inclusive, and again, Strickland did a wonderful job at writing Kamai’s character arc and her struggles to fit in, especially by combining the mythology with gods based on the sun, the moon, and the earth as a metaphor to narrates the asexual spectrum. I truly appreciated this part of the book, especially since I’ve been trying to grasp the actual concept of asexuality and not just I’ve learn a lot from it, but I also managed to peek at Kamai’s feelings and study her internal monologues.

And while we’re still talking about the matter of representation within this book, how could I not mention Nikha? Her struggle as a female warrior described painfully real, but one moment that really stung my heart was when she finally came out as a gender that she always felt at heart, not a gender that she physically lived in. She reminded me of Brienne of Tarth from Game of Thrones ever since her first appearance in this story, both physical-wise and attitude-wise.

The other major plot that started to rise in once Kamai grew older, is how she fell into a romantic relationship. Not just any romantic relationship, but a manipulative one. I personally found the addition of the gray character in this story as Kamai’s partner and also a villain to be gripping. I kept guessing whether to trust this gray character or not as if I was there following Kamai’s journey for real. Obviously, this isn’t a light issue, and therefore, I appreciated the warnings that the author facilitated for her readers, and might I quoted her, “If this strikes you as too much, I understand; it’s not going to be for everyone. […] So, despite all the content warnings, I hope the book helps, not hurts—or at least entertains!—but first and foremost, please take care of yourselves.” proving her deep concern regarding the mental state of her readers.

Beyond the Black Door is an evocative dark fantasy mix with a gripping mystery. The diversified characters, inclusive representation, and twisted plot will leave you craving for more.

Thank you The FFBC and Imprint for providing me with an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book wasn't for me. The first couple chapters put me to sleep. I wasn't a fan of the authors writing style and the plot wasn't hooking me like I needed it to to continue.