In a time that isn’t so far away and events that feel most surreal, this story was captivating. I really enjoy a magical element in a story and love it even more when it seems plausible.

Kristin Cashore is such a fantastic writer that she can make me read and appreciate a book with a subject that I really, really didn't want to read about. This book is set during COVID in the lead-up to the 2020 election. There's more politics than I like in my fiction, and I don't particularly enjoy reliving the lockdown time period, but Cashore can apparently spin a compelling story in any context, and I'll be there for it. Wilhelmina should be starting college, but instead she's sharing her small house with her parents, two younger siblings, and two elderly aunts during the COVID lockdown. She's grieving the loss of a third aunt, Frankie, and the physical separation from her two best friends, who are in a bubble together. This book is tinged with fantastical elements in a really lovely way, and Cashore alternates the present with stories from Wil's past, giving her character depth and context. I think, because of the subject matter, that this won't be a book for everyone, but I found myself really enjoying it almost in spite of myself. Thank you to NetGalley, Penguin Young Readers Group, and Dutton Books for Young Readers for a digital review copy.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the arc of this book. all opinions are my own.

This was fantastic. I really enjoyed it! I'd recommend it.

Wilhelmina faces a multitude of challenges: mourning the loss of a beloved aunt, the looming election's potential to reshape the nation, and being excluded from her two closest friends' quarantine pod during the early COVID-19 restrictions. With college on hold, she navigates the cramped quarters of an overcrowded apartment, dealing with distracted parents, younger siblings, and great-aunts, all while anxiously awaiting the 2020 election results.

For readers who grew up with online schooling, social distancing, and pandemic precautions, Wilhelmina's struggles may strike a chord. She wrestles with the claustrophobic nature of home life and a deepening sense of isolation. Amidst this, Cashore weaves hints of magic into her story, through visions, avian messengers, and mysterious messages from the sky. These mystical elements guide her towards an unexpected connection with a kind stranger at a local donut shop, sparking a fragile hope for resilience and the possibility of finding her place in the world.

Despite her heavy burdens, the enchanting memories of summers spent with her three aunts linger, suggesting a path forward illuminated by new light and potential for Wilhelmina's journey ahead.

There Is a Door in this Darkness made me understand why the Graceling realm books hit me so hard: Kristin Cashore is a complete master of human emotion and experiences.

I cannot begin to describe the ways this book touched on my own personal experiences and struggles of the pandemic era. There are too many ways to count. It perfectly captures the isolating loneliness, the family tension, and the terrifying political climate of the time. It also manages to talk about the quiet grief that follows loss far longer than you think it should. At the same time, it highlights the simple magic in everyday life and relationships.

A female main character experiencing all these things while also dealing with chronic pain and an unexplained magic is compelling. I feel like the power of this book is in the experiences that parallel so many of our own rather than in a huge plot conflict.

I felt seen, understood, and validated by an author who doesn’t even know I exist. That is powerful writing.

Thank you so much to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this advance title. All opinions contained in this review are my own.

I like Kristin Cashore's writing and I enjoyed this one too. I liked the story and the characters and had a hard time putting it down.

I have enjoyed Cashore's books in the past, but this one was not for me. It seemed to be an attempt to write out the trauma of the 2016 election and ensuing pandemic in fictional form, but the magical realism felt contrived rather than charmingly quirky, and I could not warm to the characters.

This was a great coming of age story set during the 2016 presidency, 2020 covid pandemic and 2020 election. While very enjoyable, I feel as if this book was just a bit too political. While I don’t disagree with the political viewpoints in the book, it was just too much. I guess I just didn’t want to have to relive it all again, especially with the next election about to be a repeat of that one.

But aside from that, I really did enjoy the story. The relationship Wil has with her great aunts was so sweet and lovely. The sadness she goes through after losing one, and the desolation she feels being separated from her dearest friends because of the pandemic made you feel for her, as we all suffered through the same. But woven through all that was the joy she was finding getting to know James.

This book has a few fantasy elements, despite being a contemporary story. An enjoyable and easy to read YA book.

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

Thank you NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group for the ARC copy of There Is a Door in This Darkness by Kristin Cashore.

This one fell a little flat for me - however it was a heartwarming story that reminds readers that even in the darkest of times, there is still room for joy and light. It is a poignant reminder that, despite the challenges we face, there is always a door waiting to be opened.

Overall, "There is a Door in this Darkness" offers a thoughtful and imaginative exploration of grief, resilience, and the power of hope.

Thank you NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group,Dutton Books for Young Readers for the copy of There Is a Door in This Darkness by Kristin Cashor. It took a little time to get into the rhythm of the book, but when I did I started to enjoy Wilhelmina and her story. I could feel the love between Wilhelmina and her aunts. I liked how the nail-biting realism of the 2020 election and the dark days of the pandemic were lightened up by the magic Wilhelmina and James experienced. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

I wanted to love this cause a magical coming of age during the height of covid? Yes please!

However the reality of this book fell short.

While I like the characters, so many of the flashback scenes had unnecessary details that lost me as they were so unimportant to the story. I found myself not wanting to pick this book up to read just for that.

So premise, overall idea = great. Execution = could be better edited.

This was way different than I thought it would be. I appreciate what the author was going for, but it was a miss for me. I hope others have better luck with it.

Thank you for the ARC.

I don't object to the politics in this book. I do object to the fact that the many pages of Trying to Make a Political Point in this book are boring, lacking stakes, and don't tie in well with the rest of the plot. Every few pages there's a surprise paragraph about the 2020 USA election, or covid lockdown protocols. It rarely works well with the rest of the book, and feels out of place. This feels less like a story, and more like the author had many rants and emotions during 2020 that she wanted to share with a weak framing device.

The one Very-2020 part of this book that I feel DID WORK is the ruminations on isolation. This ties in with one of the major conflicts of the book; the protagonist is cut off from her friends and adrift from regular life. I just wish the other points of this book also tied in with the plot and internal conflict.

A video review including this book with be on my Youtube channel in the coming weeks, @ChloeFrizzle

Thanks to Netgalley and Dutton Books for Young Readers for a copy to review. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

“There is a Door in this Darkness” is a touching, heartfelt, and hopeful book about grief, and hope when the world feels hopeless. As someone who can relate to being a young person feeling depression and overwhelm due to COVID and political unrest, I related to MC Wilhelmina’s feelings here. I felt that Cashore’s use of magical realism was perfect for what she was trying to say about grief and hope. There is no clear “explanation” to the magic as some negative reviews have pointed out, but I don’t think it needs a clear explanation.

The back-and-forth format between past and present times was effective in allowing the reader to understand the context Wilhelmina’s story. Slowly these glimpses into the past helped me understand the magical things she was experiencing.

One big aspect that was a hangup for me was that this book felt very slow paced. However I liked it overall and I would recommend for anyone needing a book about grief.

This book had so many emotions, with held and running over. The clarity with which the young people could express themselves brought me to tears. Working their way through the grief and relief of death, the struggles and love of family and friends, the beauty of gardens and birds and magic and hope kept me feel engaged and soothed and loved. A background of fraught politics beats throughout the book. My daughter was also the class of 2020. This book will be a touchstone for me to remember those years.
Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group for this DRC.
#ThereIsaDoorinthisDarkness #NetGalley

This really hit society on the nose. A clever and funny story set in one of the most ridiculously upside times in our lives. Definitely an interesting read for anyone right now.

Mild spoilers. I got a copy of this book from NetGalley. I really loved the writing. And I have been thinking what to write because not sure how I feel about the whole book. Especially the ending. I really liked the parts of Wilhelmina visiting the aunts in Pennsylvania every summer of her childhood. And her friendships with Bee and Julia were well done. The parts of the book that take place in Oct-Nov of 2020 were hard. I don’t think I’m ready to go back to that time. The characters are well written. If you like Kristin Cashore’s books you will probably like this. Though not a fantasy book like Graceling it does have some supernatural elements. Which brings me to Jack. I liked him, not sure I liked how he fit into the book. The ending was a bit unsatisfying, it seemed too romancy for my tastes. It seemed like everything should have led to a bigger conclusion. I do recommend reading it but maybe not if you voted for that one guy for president. #penguinteen

Consider for a moment the Class of 2020: the country churning with anxiety, racism, and uncertainty during your high school years, and then you get walloped by the Covid Pandemic.

Like many of her peers, Wilhelmina Hart is taking a gap year: her father is vulnerable to the Pandemic as he has asthma, while her therapist mother has her hands full with patients. Wilhelmina stays at home to care for her siblings and her trio of beloved aunts -- minus the central member, Aunt Frankie, who has just died of cancer. Meanwhile, her best friends are likewise grappling with the reality of isolation bubbles, mandatory maskings, remote schooling, and the escalating stress of the Trump-Biden presidential contest. Wilhelmina is struggling with depression at the loss of Aunt Frankie, a chronic pain condition, and generalized existential dread at what the future of the country will bring.

This novel, tracking the first week of November, 2020, as well as scenes from Wilhelmina's past, brings that mercifully short period of time back in vivid, painful detail. Things are reaching a breaking point, and Wilhelmina begins having weird visions –– shared, as it turns out, by handsome James Wang. Can she and James make sense of these visions? Is it a message from Aunt Frankie? Can she work through her complicated feelings of jealousy of her two best friends in a bubble without her?

Cashore is one of my favorite YA fantasy novelists, so it was a delight to dive into a thoughtful, imaginative, contemporary story that is -- among other honors! –– sure to make the banned books list for certain pearl-clutching audiences. The aunts are not quite aunts, for instance, but an eccentric, loving, and diverse throuple. Wilhelmina's friends –– one biracial, the other a gay survivor of childhood abuse –– are unapologetically enlightened, politically active, and willing to talk about getting therapy.

Wilhelmina is a strong, bright character who reminds me of a contemporary Meg (A Wrinkle in Time) Murry, fully involved in the moral struggles of her time. The magical realism strikes just the right note in counterpoint to the overwrought reality of that time.

Ultimately both hopeful and heart-warming, this is a novel that captures a tumultuous time with grace, reminding readers that there is joy and light to be found even when things look grim. That there is, after all, a door in this darkness.

Thanks Netgalley and Dutton Books for the e-arc in exchange for my unfettered opinion.

Such an interesting book! It was so neat to read the current and then the earlier timelines, and gradually put things together. I do think that a year or two ago, I wouldn’t have been able to read about this time period, with first the political upheaval and then the pandemic, but at this point, though certain things made me wince in vivid memory, I was able to focus on Wilhelmina and what growing up in this time had done to her and those around her. (I wonder how readers will feel about it in 10 or 20 years?)
I liked the touch of the inexplicable—is it magic? How else to explain it?—while still feeling fully real-world. And how people you love can drive you crazy—a theme that still resonates in my life! After I finished reading this, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Definitely recommend.

Great writing and intriguing character development set in 2020 and the senior high school class most impacted. I think the reception of this book will hinge on whether 2024 audiences are ready to journey back to 2020 or whether it is too soon.