For anyone who loves reading and the ability of books to transport you to another world - The Book of Doors is probably for you. These books have incredible power and are able to transport you through any door in the world, past or present, to cause pain and sorrow, to bring joy, to warp reality, to change matter - the possibilities are endless. But they also put Cassie and others in incredible danger as they try to prevent the books from getting into the wrong people's hands in a long battle between good and evil that lasts decades. Gareth Brown's debut was a wild adventure that I wasn't expecting. The characters were so unique and had great depth. Full of mystery - The Book of Doors was a great read - looking forward to more from this new author. Thank you to William Morrow and NetGalley for the chance to read this novel.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me an advanced reader copy of The Book of Doors in exchange for my honest review.

Have you ever started a new book and felt instantly cozy, like you were automatically tucked into a large comfy chair with a perfectly soft blanket and a hot, steaming mug of tea (or coffee, hot chocolate, glass of wine - or even a whisky) - while in reality, you're reading your kindle at a noisy bar while your fiance is cheering for his Premiere League team? No? Just me? Well, that's exactly how I felt while being in that bar starting The Book of Doors. I was instantly transported, and this was all before I learned that this story was about an actual book that transported people to other places.

I don't want to reveal much more about this story but it was a fun adventure. This sprawled across continents and time, the magic of books, and relationships between people. Gareth Brown did a great job of giving you various questions through the story that all get answered at the end. Some of the plot went in directions that I wasn't expecting which was very nice to see. I highly recommend for fans of The Night Circus and The Midnight Library.
4.5

I wasn't too sure about this book when I started it. The description made it sound really interesting. While it started slow, it got better with every chapter. Cassie, Izzy and Drummond were such great characters you couldn't help rooting for them. What a great concept - a book that allows you to open any door to any time period you can picture in your mind. Would we go back and change our past with the knowledge we have in the present? This would be such a great book for a club to discuss. Highly recommend.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“This is the Book of Doors. Hold it in your hand, and any door is every door.”
If you liked the midnight library but wanted more fantasy to it, then pick this book up! This book was amazing and it’s a debut!! So cool!

A debut novel full of magic, adventure, and romance, The Book of Doors opens up a thrilling world of contemporary fantasy for readers of The Midnight Library, The Invisible Life of Addie Larue, The Night Circus, and any modern story that mixes the wonder of the unknown with just a tinge of darkness.

The fantasy aspect to this book was great! I loved the idea behind having books that have magical powers. The characters were well written and were written with a lot of depth. Gareth Brown did a great job with drawing the line between good and bad characters.
The use of time travel was *chefs kiss*
Overall would recommend this book :)

Thank you to NetGalley and Gareth Brown for sending me a copy early in exchange for an honest review

I was curious about this book based on the cover, title, and description, but I wasn't prepared for the way it moved me. It sets itself up like it could be a fun little premise but it has depth and heart and love in ways I wasn't expecting.

🍀 Mini Book/ARC Review #21 🍀

Title: The Book of Doors
Author: Gareth Brown
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Release: February 15th, 2024
Genre: Fantasy, Magical Realism
Format: Ebook | Audiobook
Length: 416 pages
Finished: March 3rd, 2024
Thoughts:

I love Magical Realism in books. It’s like someone peeping into your daydreams and putting them on paper. It romanticizes life. What if the impossible was actually possible? “The Book of Doors” is the daydream of your inner child. Where knowledge is power, the Librarian is one of the strongest heroes ever, and adventure literally lurks behind every door.

I really enjoyed this one! Cassie was a great FMC to follow this journey on. A quiet girl who enjoyed adventure but was stuck in one place. It’s relatable and the way Garth Brown writes her, you slowly start to imagine yourself in her shoes. Crazy things happen from the get go and you are thrown into your first door and the pacing really never stops.

There are multiple things I loved about this book. I loved how there are multiple books that did amazing things. I loved how time traveling works and the decisions the FMC had to make because of it (10 years! My goodness!). And most of all, I love how she included her best friend Izzy from the beginning instead of keeping the book of doors secret! I remember going “Wow! Now that’s a friend!”

I wasn’t too fond of the ending, though. Felt like there could have been more as there is a small little plot hole with the books and the Nothing. But I did appreciate the full circle moments and how those were completed.

A great debut by Gareth Brown and am looking forward to more of his books!

Rating 4.25/5 stars

Like most books I read, I went into this pretty blind. I skimmed the description and then promptly forgot what the book was about.

We follow Cassie, a young woman who works at a bookstore and ends up with a magical book in her possession called The Books of Doors. This book allows her to travel essentially anywhere as long as she can picture a door that exists in the place she wants to go. Of course, this isn't the only magical book in existence and we begin to meet more characters who have other books like the Book of Shadows or the Book of Joy or the Book of Pain. The books are powerful and as a result, draw people who want power to them.

This book was wild! Some time travel occurs, the magic system is so unusual and cool. I had such a good time reading this and I honestly couldn't have guessed any of the twists that occurred.

I will say it took a bit of time for me to get into it. I'd say around the 40% mark is where it picked up. While the pacing could have been better, the writing was incredible, the characters were interesting, and the story was unique.

If you like contemporary fantasy with twists and turns, I think you would absolutely love this debut by Gareth Brown!

Thank you to Netgalley and William Morrow for providing an ARC! All thoughts and opinions are wholly my own.

The Book of Doors by Gareth Brown tells the story of Cassie while working at a bookstore in NYC has a favorite customer pass away and leaves her the book of doors. Cassie is able to figure out how to use the book by going to different places and eventually time travel. The storyline is extremely creative. It includes fantasy, time travel and an epic good vs evil. Thank you to NetGallery and Transworld publishing for letting me read this book in exchange for an honest review.

DNF 25%.

I was looking forward to reading this book due to the premise. A young girl finds a key to any world imaginable: a literal book of doors. What does she do with this power and how does she protect it from those with nefarious ideas? I was excited to find out! However, not too far in, I was turned off by the way Cassie and her roommate Izzy were written. I think this is a part of a larger issue I had with the way the book was written, but the larger issue is more a personal preference, whereas the issue with Cassie and Izzy was more an "ick" issue, but I think the two are connected.

I had a really difficult time telling when this book was supposed to take place, which seems like it might have been on purpose. There was no mention of modern technology and any descriptions of surroundings were vague, like the mention of cars, but no descriptions. Because of this, I had a really hard time with Cassie and Izzy. Cassie and Izzy, who by my logic were at least 21 years old (most likely older), were written like 12 year old girls were written back in the 70s. They were written with this child like wonder and all these girl-like mannerisms. Modern 21-year-olds do not talk about how bread goes straight to their thighs, or use no slang at all, or treat every day like it's a sleepover with their roommate. They were written with this child-like wonder that reminded me of The Little Princess, Chronicles of Narnia, and A Wrinkle in Time, and how those female characters were written; and they were children! Again. not being able to tell the time period added to my frustration here because if it took place say in the 20s or 40s, I kind of get that, but if this is supposed to be modern times it makes no sense.

I found myself avoiding reading this book until I realized I just wasn't going to pick it back up again. I can't read about child-like grown women, especially when they're written by men. It feels weird, and it makes the story feel juvenile.

I found this twisty tale less than my interest. I am sure it has its appeal to the right kind of readers. That just wasn't me.

Normally I’m not a fan of time-travel stories but I think The Book of Door time-travel concept was executed well and I like the portal magic/urban fantasy setting.

I personally like how the story was set up in the first half of the book, the ending sort of lost some steam for me and some things were sort of left unexplained. Overall I really did enjoy this book, almost a 5-star read for me. The villain in the story was truly horrifying but I’m here for it lol

4 ⭐️

Thank you NetGalley and William Morrow for the e-arc in exchange for my honest review!

I am in love with this book! It's twisty, full of mystery and at times downright creepy. The story is so intricate and so smart. I love the world created in the story and all of the magical elements. There is amazing character development with villains you love to hate and characters you want to root for. My attention was grabbed from the very first page and I couldn't wait to get back to it every time life got in the way. I will be recommending this book far and wide.

thank you to netgalley for the advanced reading copy. I really enjoyed this and will be getting copies for my shop.

As soon as I heard about this book, I knew I had to have it. The title, the cover, and the book description were all calling my name. A book about magic books? Sign me up!

Overall, I thought this was a fine debut novel. The premise of this book was incredible, but the execution was a little lacking. My two biggest complaints were that 1. the two protagonists (Cassie and Izzy) lacked depth and it was difficult to be emotionally invested in them and 2. the plot was a little convoluted/hard to follow at times. 3 stars because although entertaining, I was expecting more.

Thank you Netgalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I’m not sure where to even start with this book. It was a wild ride of magic and discovery. I liked the premise but I found the female characters to be boring. Even the villain was kind of blandly evil. I was waiting for a bigger twist that didn’t come and one part left me wondering why the two main characters didn’t try harder to keep their precious books safe from a villain. It wouldn’t have helped the plot, that’s why. It was still a good read but I hope it has a sequel otherwise we were kind of put through the emotional ringer for nothing.

Marvelous, moving, wondrously adventurous, and beautiful. I LOVED the journey this took me on. I cried for the first time in years during one moving scene. A book of doors led to so much more than what I first imagined thanks to the skillful guidance of Gareth Brown. This book is what I had hoped the Midnight Library could’ve been. I highly recommend this book for anyone fascinated by the idea of time travel, those that love a found family story, and readers who love to take immersive trips in their fiction.

I was really excited to read this book because the cover and the title intrigued me. I am not sure if I am in a slump or if it’s just not the vibe for me right now but unfortunately I did not finish this book. Great context and story line but at this time I don’t find it interesting.

Cassie Andrews is an ordinary young woman in New York City, working at a bookstore and sharing a tiny flat with a roommate. But Cassie and her roommate Izzy are tossed into a exciting adventure when Cassie receives a gift from one of her favorite bookstore customers. This book, the Book of Doors, will open any door in the world and transport the user there. But there are many other magical books in the world– dangerous books– and dangerous people who collect them.

It’s rare that I cry in the middle of a book, but I cried reading this one. The set-up is simple but beautifully executed. It’s a book about books, of course, but also deep connections between people and moments in time you think you can never get back to.

My main qualm is the necessary suspension of disbelief for how Cassie passes a period of time during the book (which I won’t reveal for spoilers), but I otherwise LOVED it.

I really loved the premise of this story. Was really intrigued and pulled in for most of it. I did have some trouble with the pacing near the end, things felt a little abrupt. I enjoyed it enough that I would be interested in picking up more stories about the Fox Library and the different books in the collection.

I made my way through 45% of this book and am unable to connect with the characters or remain interested enough to see where the plot will go. While I enjoy the premise, and maybe it is a right book wrong time issue, I do not see myself being interested enough in where this story was going to pick it back up due to my inability to connect with a single character.

That being said, I think those that enjoy magical realism and are ok with what felt like pace shifting to me, will truly enjoy this book.