The Book of Doors is Gareth Brown's debut time travel fantasy novel.

I want to preface my review with a slight disclaimer. I neither loved nor hated this book. However, I would like to say that I don't believe I was the target reader for this particular story. When I read the description, it seemed like an interesting fantasy, but it's actually more of a speculative fiction novel. The foundation of the story is based in the real world, with elements of magic and time travel, which isn't generally the type of plots that I enjoy. If that's something that YOU enjoy, then I believe you will like this novel. Having said that, on to the review.

Cassie has always loved books, and works in the Kellner Books shop. One night, a regular patron of the store passes and Cassie finds a special book that he left for her. Unbeknownst to her, it's a magical Book of Doors that can take you to any door, any where. When she realizes this, she starts to use it against her best friend Izzy's better judgment. This begins a journey for both of them that they could never have imagined. There are a lot of people interested in this Book, and it's hard to tell who to trust. Separated by time and space, Cassie and Izzy have to keep their wits about them to be able to survive The Woman, Hugo Barbary, and everyone else out to get them.

The plot for me was slow throughout the entire book, although the writing itself isn't bad. Both Cassie and Izzy are likeable, well-developed characters who are relatable in certain ways. They have a strong friendship bond, and everything they do is to try to get back to each other. The rest of the cast of characters (Drummond Fox, Lund, Azaki, etc.) are complicated in their own ways, but will always step up and do the right thing when it matters.

All in all, this is a pretty good debut of magic, heroes, villains, time travel, and loyalty. If you like an eclectic cast of characters, tales of friendship, or speculative fiction, then this novel is definitely in your wheelhouse, give it a try!

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for a digital copy for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.

Thank for the opportunity to read this book early! I was very interested to read this magical debut after reading the synopsis! The book follows a girl Cassie working in a bookstore and stumbles upon a magical book after a man passes away at her book store she works at. From there she discovers the magic of the book with her best friend Izzy. They don’t realize they are being watched in the shadows by others that are after this book, unaware she is in danger. The book changes POVS which i was not expecting and confused me at first, but it happened to be a pleasant surprise. You get time travel, and the magical realism was great! I loved the concept of this book.

Wow. Ok, I'm not sure exactly what I was expecting with this book. It could have so easily been several different things. A whimsical journey as Cassie found a magic book that allowed her to travel anywhere. It would have worked as a story of just that - Cassie's adventures, traveling the world.

Instead, what we find is so much more. Yes, Cassie does find a magical book, The Book Of Doors, that allows her to travel to any place she can imagine - as long as she can see the door, the place, then all she needs is a hand on the book, and a door. While at first Cassie uses the book - despite caution from her friend, Izzy - to travel to places she'd been before in Europe, she doesn't have grander plans for it. However, the Book of Doors is something people have been searching for, and not all of them are willing to pay to get it.

Cassie finds herself thrown into a world of magic books that can do wonderous and horrible things, depending on the user. While there are some who value the books for the wonder they can bring, there are others who want them for the power they can give them. Or simply to possess them, to keep others from having them.

As different parties seek these magic books and are brought together, we're taken through the history of these books and how they came to be. How they can change the world, and the lives they touch.

This books gives a whole new meaning to book lovers, and fictional libraries you want to visit!

I liked this book. There was a lot that happened in a short timeline without a ton of interaction with characters or explanation. It was interesting and a compelling story but it did feel a little rushed at times. I wanted more character to character interaction/deeper relationships. But overall it was an enjoyable read. 3.5/3.75 rounded up for Goodreads.

Cassie is working at a bookstore in NYC when a favorite customer leaves her with an unbelievable gift - a strange book of scribbles and drawings with a handwritten note inside explaining that this is the Book of Doors, and every door is any door. Cassie and her best friend, Izzy, begin exploring all the possibilities that come with traveling anywhere at a moment’s notice. But this is not the only magical door that exists. Powerful people all over the world have been collecting them for some time, and can do wonderful and horrible things with them. The only person who may be able to help them is Drummond Fox, otherwise known as the Librarian, who has his own secret collection, but who has been running for the last ten years from the evil they all must eventually face.

I’m not quite a full fledged fantasy girlie yet but I’ve been really loving dipping my toes into stories with magical realism. This was such a cool concept to me: the one who possesses the Book of Doors has only to visualize a door in their mind and they can be immediately transported to another time and place. And there are other magical books out there with all these unique abilities?! Unfortunately, the execution didn’t quite hit for me.

There were a few magical elements that confused me. I also found the characters to be really flat? Like, zero personality. The author definitely TRIED to give them dimension but in such cliched ways smh. Especially the women.

Thank you to @netgalley and @williammorrowbooks for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

3⭐️

We begin The Book of Doors with Cassie Andrews, a bookseller in New York City, when she receives a mysterious gift from a favorite customer: a enigmatic book filled with peculiar writing and drawings. Titled the Book of Doors, it seemingly grants to its possessor the ability to travel anywhere through any door. Excited by the newfound possibilities, Cassie begins going on mini-adventures, wherever a door will take her and her best friend Izzy, a reluctant and suspicious traveler via the Book of Doors. Before long however, Cassie and Izzy realize they're not the only ones with magical books. Thus they find themselves entangled in a dangerous world where book holders with sinister intentions are hunting down the long illusive Book of Doors, forcing Cassie to go on the run.

While The Book of Doors has a fantastic overall concept, complete with time travel and other magical books, the execution falls short in several key areas. The writing often veers toward oversimplification, with characterizations that are flat and overly simplistic. Characters are defined by one or two characteristics, lacking depth and complexity. The dialogue, with its outdated language (such as "Jap" — spoken as an off-the-cuff insult by a bad guy) feels out of place, seriously missing depth and nuance. Also, the portrayal of the antagonists as one-dimensional, mustache-twirling villains is disappointing, and lends itself to some cartoonish detours.

But perhaps one of the book's greatest flaws is in its unfocused plot, which progresses haltingly. The sheer abundance of magical books introduced throughout the narrative made me very aware of the author, who was potentially creating books out of the air — sort of a throw everything at the wall and see what sticks storytelling experience. Even the chapters themselves were unevenly dealt. In the more extended action sequences, Brown leaned into short chapters that never really ended, but stopped "in medias res," and continued immediately, not missing a beat, as the next chapter began. Unnecessary interruptions rather than meaningful transitions, disrupting the flow of the narrative into commercial breaks from tv in the 90s. This issue is juxtaposed and exacerbated by instances where significant time passes with little to no notable events occurring, leaving the reader disconnected from the story.

The Book of Doors is a debut novel with potential, hindered by issues of characterization, plot coherence, and pacing. One can't help but wonder about the role of the editorial process in addressing these shortcomings. Despite its flaws, the book offers glimpses of creativity and imagination, perhaps suggesting promise for future works from the author.

Rating: 3.75 stars - I had a hard time deciding what to rate this, because while the story ended up coming together amazingly, it was all over the place and hard to get through at times. There were beautiful descriptions of the locations, and the twists were all satisfying in wrapping up the threads, but there were so many characters that didn’t get the attention they needed.
The main women characters are stereotypical and shallow - too often making unnecessary comments about their appearance or what they shouldn’t be eating. I appreciated what the FMC grew into, but would still speak in a way that made me think the author had never conversed with a woman in real life. The villains are deeply troubled humans, with quite realistic descriptions, but for how scary they were their defeats almost seemed comical.
Recommended for those who enjoyed The Ten Thousand Doors of January, The Midnight Library, or The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue.
Thank you to @NetGalley and William Morrow for providing an eARC for my honest opinion.

Not quite the book for me. I had a hard time finishing. The writing was good though, so it may be a better book for someone else. Thank you to William Morrow and NetGalley!

Wow, I am actually shocked how much I enjoyed this book. I loved the characters and the idea of magical books. I was not expecting the time travel aspect of it at all and feel like that added so much to the plot. Mr. Webber was 100% my favorite character and loved that we got to see more of him later on. Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for allowing me to read this advanced readers copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

holy geez, what an amazing book!! I HIGHLY recommend everyone to read this one.

time travel, magical elements, books that can change your life (either by making them worse or helping), and a touch of romance. What more could you ask for in a book? Imagine if you were given a book of doors where it can take you ANYWHERE you can possibly imagine as long as can visualise a door. Now that's just one book out of multiples you'll be introduced in the story.

A book about books lol, but truthfully not many books get me to tear up. But this one practically had me sobbing when it touched on grief.

Thank you to Gareth Brown, William Morrow, and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I loved the premise of this book, but I wasn't a fan of Cassie. I found her annoying and whiny at times. I also felt like the beginning of the book dragged.

I also found some things to be problematic, in the sense of things characters said and some of the descriptions of other characters.

This is not the book for me. I was bored for the first 50%. There were too many characters and timelines and magic books to keep track of. I’m going to give it three stars because it was an ambitious debut novel and it picked up about halfway through but I didn’t love it. 2.5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Caution possible spoilers!

This book has my favorite elements that I love to read about: magic, books and time travel. There are re magic books, a hidden library and the magical book makes any door a door to anywhere. And has Cassie soon learns anytime as well. I am marking this review as a spoiler because I feel like the time travel part in not in the synopsis and used as a bit of a surprise.
I love time travel in books. It always makes for great twist endings as the timelines merge and this ending did not disappoint.
The book was full of magic, adventure, villains and a little romantic interest? Just a little thought but I would have liked some more. Speaking of more. I would be absolutely interested in reading more set in this world if it meant we could see more of the different books and how they work and the people that own them and if they are used for good or evil.

Loved this book! I found the concept and magic system so imaginative and the characters (both main and supporting) very well developed. The quality of writing and description was lovely and vivid. There were moments of beauty and horror. My only issue is the pacing slowed for me at times - the development and the extra attention paid at some points made me frustrated because I just wanted to know what was going to happen. A minor issue for sure!

Thank you Netgalley and William Morrow for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Book of Doors by Gareth Brown follows the story of a woman named Cassie Andrews. Cassie led a normal and unassuming life until she comes in possession of a mysterious book called the Book of Doors. While in possession of this Book Cassie is thrust into the world of danger and magic books. In this novel Cassie learns what it takes to survive the forces of evil, trying to horde these books for themselves.

Ultimately I found the premise if this novel interesting and saw where the story could turn to something more fantastical. Overall I found the pacing was a tad slow and it seemed to take some time for the main character to achieve her goals so it felt like there were many pages where it seemed the plot just stopped moving and the romance that was started to be implied never really came to fruition.

But despite the pacing I felt the emotional heart of the story and the fact the main character was given the ability to fix things really tugged on my heartstrings. I truly enjoyed the message that forgiveness is the most important part of healing. The last few chapters were a sweet and heartwarming way to end the story.

I so wanted to love this one! Starts out very promising- a young woman, Cassie, is gifted a magical book, the Book of Doors, that lets her travel anywhere in the world in an instant. Then, she quickly realizes how dangerous it is to own a book like this, and how many people are trying to get their hands on it. Some of the people have good intentions, but several of them are not. Soon, we follow Cassie through a journey with her book. It got a little messy, and the writing wasn't keeping me hooked anymore. I did finish it, but I was curious, but it won't end up on my favorite lists, sadly.

What would you do if any door was every door? That is a question that Cassie has to answer very early in the book and her first trip is New York where she lives. The Book of Doors was a solid read for me! It did take me awhile to get through it but overall I found that the plot does come together in the end. This book is an interesting blend of genes mixing together mystery, fantasy, and thriller aspects. I liked the time travel aspects, I enjoyed the good verse evil, and thought the idea of a world with multiple magic books was a good premise. At times I felt Cassie acted a bit juvenile and at some points the book read as YA. Overall I did enjoy it and I did purchase it at the book store today! If you liked The Midnight Library or The Ten Thousand Doors of January I think you will really like The Book of Doors!

The story was interesting, and I appreciated how awful the villain was. The writing, however, was not quite up to par.

A wonderful book which reminded me of The Shadow of the Wind. The magical realism infused with the friendships and relationships of everyday people make this a great story. The plot slowly clicks into place as the author deftly constructs the tale and makes it a novel you will not soon forget. In my opinion, already one of the best books of 2024!

4.5 stars.
Such a fun ride! I loved the atmosphere and the loving attention to describing place and setting (how fitting in a story about a magic teleportation book!). I loved how to time travel story unraveled and the hints of darkness and that I immediately felt attached to all the characters.
The one thing that stopped me from giving 5 stars is the fact there were a few awkward clunky moments in the writing that make it feel like an third draft instead of a final draft. But other then a few nitpicks that were just vaguely distracting, I thoroughly enjoyed this world and magic system.