This book is centered around a big cast of characters, but mainly Cassie Andrews. Cassie works in a New York City bookshop and she lives a pretty boring life centered around reading and keeping to herself. When one of her favorite customers, an old man named Mr. Webber, passes away, he leaves her the book that he has in his hands specifically for her. When Cassie realizes that this is no ordinary book (in fact, it's the Book of Doors), she tries to interpret its unique inscriptions and drawings to no avail. Once Cassie realizes this book can make any door into EVERY door, she begins to see the book's power. Through this new magical book, Cassie and her friend Izzy meet a "librarian" named Drummond Fox who warns that Cassie is in danger now that she has this book in her possession. She's in danger from hunters and collectors who want to use the book for their own selfish interests, some more malevolent than others. Cassie's enemies list begins to grow, with each new adversary more intimidating than the next.

This book was the most fun journey I've ever had with a fantasy book, ever. If you like Blake Crouch's Recursion, the television show The Magicians, and anything by V.E. Schwab, THE BOOK OF DOORS should be a top priority for you to read. Just when I thought that I knew where the book was going, it changed course! The book isn't scared to shy away from the dramatics and violence, but ultimately it is an adventure of a lifetime. I will never forget this book, nor will I ever not recommend THE BOOK OF DOORS. Some books are worth killing for and the BOOK OF DOORS will show you why. I can't believe that this book is a debut and I can't believe that I've read one of my favorite books for 2024 in 2023!

With The Book of Doors I'm moving a little out of my usual genre - but, Oh, what a ride. Cassie is gifted a magic book who can move her around the world with just the opening of a door. Giddy with the possibilities of reenacting some of her best memories, traveling in Europe, it soon becomes clear that the gift comes a grave danger. There are more magic books out there, and evil forces are determined to collect them all!
A great fantasy read.

Thank you NetGalley for the chance to read and review this ARC.

All books are precious and enchanting in their own way, but what if books were truly magical? That’s what we explore in “The Book of Doors,” where owners harness powers beyond belief, simply through the pages of a book.

This was described as being the perfect read for lovers of “The Night Circus,” one of my favorite books. I of course went in very skeptical, but was pleasantly surprised. The writing wasn’t quite as brilliant in comparison, but the story itself was wonderfully dreamy and magical. The characters were diverse, their relationships touching, and the overall plot was well developed. Very rarely do I enjoy a time-travel theme, but this was flushed out very well. It was described in a “realistic” way without being too specific to the point of being confusing. From start to finish things were wrapped up nicely.

Again, the writing wasn’t perfect… there were a few clunky and repetitive sections, but overall, a well deserved 5 stars. I do agree that if you enjoyed “The Night Circus,” “The Invisible Life of Addie Larue,” and “The Midnight Library,” this will be in your wheelhouse. Maybe a bit premature, but I found myself hoping this gets picked up as a movie. I would love to see the characters and magic come to life on the big screen as it so beautifully did in my mind. Already looking forward to reading more from Brown. A great debut novel!

Thank you NetGalley, HarperCollins Publishers, and William Morrow for this advanced copy, available February 13, 2024.

I feel awful having to DNF an ARC at 45% but I just can’t get through this.

Let’s start with what I liked: I thought the concept of the book was very creative and intriguing. Who wouldn’t love a world with magical books? I thought this concept had a lot of potential, especially because we started with many characters with no concept of how they would all relate to each other and the storyline. I also really enjoyed all the references to NYC locations. As a New Yorker myself, I enjoyed reading about locations I am familiar with, and some I am not.

With that being said, I was really disappointed by the writing as I continued the book. I felt like this story was trying to accomplish too much with very little development. First, the characters’ reactions to situations were completely unbelievable. In one case, a character is speaking to another about a situation he knows she knows nothing about, and yet doesn’t understand that he needs to explain things to her. In another, a character is faced with a completely wild and impossible concept (time travel) and just accepts it on a whim. Second, there was both too much and too little development. As an example, a character we spent chapters learning the background of becomes irrelevant to the plot less than halfway through the book. He could have been left out. In that same vein, I made it through a quarter of the book and we were still having pieces of the plot set up for us. Yet we also had in depth explanation of the same object (the book of doors) multiple times.

In summary, interesting concept, poor execution.

Cassie works in a bookstore in New York City. She rooms with a friend who previously worked in the bookstore. Life is pretty much the same day to day until an elderly man dies in the bookstore and leaves Cassie a book. It has an unusual cover and seems to be filled with illegible writing and drawings. Cassie is a book lover and she loves it regardless. But even her walk home isn’t normal. Someone is possibly following her. The inscription in the book says “any door is every door”. What could that possibly mean? But somewhere, somehow it appears that Cassie knows what this means and her life is no longer ordinary.

I loved this book. I was taken into it and traveled with Cassie. This book is truly a gem.

Imagine if the books you encountered possessed special powers - that could be used for good and bad - would you choose the dark side or the good side? Cassie Andrews is gifted a very special and mysterious book. She soon finds out that her and her best friend Izzy are in grave danger as they are being tracked by hunters. Go on a wild adventure with this one!! Read this book if you like stories about books, booksellers and book hunters, mystery/intrigue, magical realism and time traveling. This was a new author for me and a 4★ experience. Thank you to @netgalley and @williammorrowbooks for this eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I seriously enjoyed The Book of Doors - this felt like magical realism at its finest. There's magical books, underground book hunters, some whimsy and big feelings, and tons of action.

This story starts with a young woman inheriting a magical book - with this book, every door becomes any door. As she starts to explore its power, she fails to realize that there are folks willing to do anything to get their hands on this magical book, and the others...

The pacing felt perfect, I love magic books, and the main character felt really relatable. It gave me everything that I wanted, but didn't get, from The Book Eaters. I think this would be perfect for fans of The Magicians.

Check out my review on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/C3SmrPJrxsN/?igsh=MXN5Z3VxeG1mY3g2cQ==
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This is a debut book by this author. I could not get enough of this book, I was flying through the pages if you are a fan of Matt Haig’s The Midnight Library or How to Stop Time I can not recommend this book enough. This book follows a girl name Cassie whom befriends an elderly gentleman and is gifted the book of doors. Throughout the book Cassie works with Drummond Fox and Mr Webber to find and keep special book safe from The Woman. The woman is a bad lady that wants to sell all the special books to the highest bidder and doesn’t care if destruction comes from the sales. This book had me flipping the pages and I have a book hangover from it that I never want to end. I have never reread a book but this may be the one that I do!! Thank you netgalley and publisher William Morrow for the ARC

I knew from the beginning that the Book of Doors was exactly my type of book. Who hasn't wished for a way to open any door and be anywhere else? With that premise, the possibilities for this book were endless.

"Any door is every door"

The book Cassie receives opens any door for her and she tumbles down a rabbit hole of adventure she never asked for, but of which she is somehow the center.

The minute I met her, I knew I would like Cassie. She's a character who makes sense to me and acts in many of the same ways I might in a similar situation. I loved the beginning of the book, watching her an Izzy explore the possibilities of the Book of Doors together. I could've read 400 pages of them exploring without all all the tension that came later.

But as Cassie and Izzy dive into the possibilities of their new book, they draw the attention of a variety of mostly unsavory characters from across the world. The twists and turns and connections this book makes as it goes on are fantastic. I gasped audibly so many times as pieces clicked into place.

If you are a fan of the Starless Sea, but wish it had a bit more murder and a bit less confusing fantasy magic system, I definitely recommend the Book of Doors. Be warned though, some of the murder is quite gruesome.

4.5 rounded up.

I think that the pacing was odd, I also didn't love how the author wrote the female main character. She felt like a stereotype but with no purpose to it.

A delightfully magical book for booklovers. Cassie is living an unassuming life in NYC working at a bookstore. She befriends the patrons of the store, and one gentlemen in particular. When one night he happens to leave her a book. But not just any book, instead one “The Book of Doors.” A magical book where any door can lead you anywhere you want to go. What ensues is a journey between good and evil and the discovery of the strength you have within yourself.

I loved this story. I swept up into the pages and couldn’t wait to see how everything ufolded. Beautiful written and the magaical elements made it all the more fun. Bravo. Thank you Netgalley for an early copy. I really enjoyed it and absolutely recommend.

Books open readers up to new worlds….but it seems there are some books that do so quite literally.

Since she was a girl Cassie has always loved to escape into the imaginary worlds she finds in books. She has settled into a quiet life, working at a bookshop in NY’s Upper East Side, and shares a small apartment with her close friend Izzy. One snowy night, she is chatting with one of her favorite customers, an elderly gentleman named John Webber who has become a bit of a friend, as she readies the store to close. She looks up, and Mr. Webber has quietly passed away…and he has left her a small leather bound book. She soon discovers that this is a very unusual book….it is called the Book of Doors, and it is imbued with the power to transport her to any door, anywhere, at any time. With Izzy at her side she experiments a bit, and finds the possibilities it offers to be a wonderful boon. Izzy is worried that there are possible dangers to consider, and she is proven correct. Very few people know about the existence of the Book of Doors and the other special books like it…..but amongst that small group there are those who want to keep them safe, those who covet them, and those who will do anything to possess them and the powers they hold. Working with Book Hunters, The Bookseller, and The Librarian of the Fox Library, Cassie and Izzy need to find a way to keep the Book of Doors from falling into the wrong hands as they struggle to stay alive.
The Book of Doors is an intriguing thriller infused with a love of books and magic. Cassie is an interesting character, a quiet bookish type who suddenly finds herself thrust into a world of intrigue and evil, and must use her brain and her imagination to stitch together a plan to keep herself and her friends safe, and to learn about her book and how it should and should not, be used. Along the way she also learns to let other people into her life, and to stop living only in the pages of books. The cast of characters that surround her a (mostly) charmingly quirky group, with a truly evil villain known throughout most of the book simply as the woman. The absence of capital letters seem only to emphasize how different and dangerous this woman is, and the mystery of how she became what she is and why she is ruthlessly collecting all of the special books is slowly revealed as the story unfolds. Traveling back and forth through time, and Cassie and her allies explore how what happens now can affect what happened in earlier times (and its reverse). I enjoyed the book tremendously, both seeing the characters fleshed out and discovering the threads of their lives weave together to create the story. It evoked several books that I have read over the years in one way or another (Einstein’s Dreams by Alan Lightman, The NIght Circus by Erin Morgenstern, and The MIdnight Library by Matt Haig), and those who enjoyed any of those novels should give this a try. It also made me think of two very different movies, Highlander and Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, so if either of those appealed to you, then again I think you should pick up a copy. Be aware that once you start this book, you aren’t going to want to put it down till you read it right through, so plan acccordingly! Many thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for allowing me access to a copy of this novel that celebrates the magic of books so well.

When recommending a book to another reader, one of the most often phrases is.....the story pulls you in and takes you to another place outside your everyday. It looks as if Gareth Brown took that phrase and built a story of a book that literally pulls you in and takes you someplace else. When I read the cover synopsis, I knew I had to read this one. Sadly, it did not live up to me expectations. It's a good book with a good story line, I just didn't get that ....zing.....I get when reading an OMG book. Gareth Brown's idea of what you'd see when you step through THE BOOK OF DOORS is different than mine. Again, this is a good book and reading some of the reviews, many people find it to be amazing. It is intriguing enough that I'll read his next title to see where Brown takes his readers next.

Cassie Andrews is at work at her job in a New York City bookshop, shelving books, & making coffee for customers, .when one day right at closing time, one of her favorite customers—a lonely yet charming old man—dies right in front of her. Cassie is devastated. She always loved his stories, and now she has nothing to remember him by. Nothing but the last book he was reading. She picks it up to take it home with her, and underneath it she discovers another book. But this is no ordinary book…....it is the Book of Doors. Inscribed with enigmatic words and mysterious drawings, it promises Cassie that any door is every door. You just need to know how to open them.
Later that night she’s approached by a stranger in a rumpled black suit with a Scottish brogue who calls himself Drummond Fox. He’s a librarian who keeps watch over a unique set of rare volumes. The tome now in Cassie’s possession is not the only book with great power, but it is the one most coveted by those who collect them. He warns Cassie that because she has The Book of Doors, she will now become hunted by those few who know of the Special Books. With only her roommate Izzy to confide in, she has to decide if she will help the mysterious Drummond protect the Book of Doors—and the other books in his secret library’s care—from those who will do evil. Because only Drummond knows where the unique library is and only Cassie’s book can get them there.

It has been awhile since a fantasy book has affected me this profoundly. I read this book until late into the night, only reluctantly going to bed, it featured in my dreams all night, and then as soon as I woke up, I was eager to pick up where I left off. Now that I am finished, I actually feel bereft. I didn't want the story to end. The author did such an excellent job with the character development. By the end of the book, I felt like we were all good friends... well, except for those who wanted the books for evil, that is! If you are a fan of fantasy fiction, then this needs to be at the top of your TBR pile. I personally hope to see many more books from this talented debut author.

Thank you Netgalley and William Morrow for an ARC ♥️

"The Book of Doors" is a wildly imaginative tale that follows Cassie, a bookseller who inherits a powerful book that unlocks alternate worlds. As she explores its secrets with her friend Izzy, they're swept up in a thrilling adventure filled with magical realms and ancient mysteries. But they're not the only ones after the book's power, and they must outsmart some serious bad guys to keep it safe.
I loved how the story explores friendship, courage, and the power of knowledge - it's a real page-turner that'll keep you up late! The characters are well-developed and relatable, and I found myself grinning at the clever twists and turns. Fingers crossed for a sequel or series - I'm hooked!

The Book of Doors was advertised as perfect “for fans of The Night Circus, The Midnight Library, & The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue” - & since I loved all three of those books, naturally I adored this one :)

Cassie is a bookstore employee (dream job) in NYC coasting along in life - she’s still grieving the loss of her grandfather, the only real parent she’d ever known, & is content to live simply & mostly just interact with customers at the bookstore & her roommate, Izzy. But one day she’s given a book that changes everything, & her routine existence is suddenly a dangerous adventure…

I appreciated how much of this book was infused with people who have a love of books, & how it mentioned things like a bookcase being a roadmap of one’s life & how rereading a favorite book can be like spending time with an old friend. I also enjoyed that the chapters all had titles, & finding out that The Library Hotel is an actual place (which I now want to visit). In addition to being a love letter to books, this story also expounded on the joys of travel. The magical realism element made this an enchanting & terrifying tale, & I was wowed by the creativity of the author - definitely a story worth rereading.

Thank you to NetGalley & Harper Collins for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The premise to this debut novel from author Gareth Brown sounded fabulous with its tease of "any door is every door." And the cover was fantastic, as well. So those two together made me very eager to read THE BOOK OF DOORS. The story drew me in immediately with its intriguing start, and I knew once I had read only a few chapters, I'd grow to really like these unique, flawed characters.

During the course of the book, our protagonist, Cassie, the quintessential bookwork and introvert (someone I can relate to!), goes on journey encompassing so much more than physicality. Hers is an emotional and psychological journey, as well, spanning time and place in unimaginable ways. I couldn't help but vehemently root for her as she faced off against evils and dangers far beyond what she could have possibly prepared herself for. We meet so many diverse characters as the story unfolds, each playing his/her own part in propelling the plot forward. For me, one of the best relationships in the book was between Cassie and Mr. Webber, a fellow book lover. I loved reading about their friendship and the special bond they developed over many years. I also enjoyed seeing Cassie’s personal growth in the book, much of it as a result of this relationship.

I must admit that some of the events in the novel were difficult to read in their randomness and heartbreaking consequences, at least for me. But I realize such events were plot-driven and precluded a happy ending for all of our characters. There is no doubt that this book has something for everyone--fantasy, mystery, adventure, horror, a bit of romance (very understated and sweet), and magic (lots of that). Most of our questions are answered, events being tied together in ways I didn’t imagine but understood nonetheless. And time travel, never easy to write about and often difficult to fully comprehend, was handled quite well. Overall, I enjoyed THE BOOK OF DOORS very much! Fingers crossed that we may have a sequel!!

I want to extend a huge thank you to NetGalley, Gareth Brown, and William Morrow for gifting me the ARC of this book! I appreciate you trusting me with an honest review!! It was a privilege to read THE BOOK OF DOORS before its release!

A thrilling fantasy novel that combines books, magic, friends, time travel--and some monstrous evil doers! Who could ask for more? Very inventive plot! I hope Gareth Brown has a series planned so I can spend more time with his crazy, brave, intelligent characters.

Many thanks to the author and publisher for offering me a chance to read an arc of this debut novel via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and the opinions expressed are my own.

⭐️: 3.5 / 5

Publication Date: February 13, 2024

I want to thank William Morrow and Net Galley for allowing me to get an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

The first chapter does a lovely job of setting up the story to come with a snowy New York City setting when a mysterious figure appearing towards the end of the first chapter sprinkling in a sense of intrigue about who this person may be and where the story might take us.

Some of the coolest aspects of this story, were the other POVs particularly the librarian. I also thoroughly enjoyed the premise of special books as a book lover myself. There’s other things I enjoyed but hard to get into without spoiling the plot.

As for my reservations, the time jumping was getting a bit tough to track as the plot progressed. I’m not sure that some of the flashbacks were necessary to the story progression either. Additionally, the reveal of one particular villain’s origins also didn’t make sense to me and written in a way that was a cop out.

Overall I liked this book. I thought the premise was unique however the execution could’ve used some work.

Would recommend for those who are fans of
- New York setting
- Urban fantasy
- Books about books
- Timey-wimey stuff

⚠️ violence

A thoroughly delightful debut filled with magic, love, adventure and danger.
Cassie and company are a great cast of characters that I was happy to spend time with. The writing is spot on, the dialog is engaging and the settings are atmospheric and real. The concept of a book of doors that can take its owner anywhere their imagination can take them was fascinating. The twists were surprising and the turns brought the story full circle. This is a fantastic fantasy novel that I highly recommend.