I was drawn into this book from the beginning and love the idea of magical books that take you places. The first few trips that Cassie and Izzy go on are magical. It all quickly falls apart when they realize there is danger to using this book and there are other books. I really wanted to see more about the books and it just felt like a bit of jumbled mess when the villians of the story appeared. I really felt detached from the primary characters and really needed to care about at least the two original characters to make this book work since there was supposed to be such a powerful relationship that the book winds around. I felt that a lot of the disconnect was due to the language the author used in dialogue and the way the descriptions about the women were made. I really had to struggle to get through this book and had to come back to it several times. The end wrapped up nicely and was well layered for resolution, but ultimately this was not really enough. Thanks for the ARC, NetGalley.

Magical, beautiful, and such a mind warp.🤯 Incredible story and writing. Brown has a brilliant mind to make all the pieces fall into place. It’s a slow pace, but the beauty of the story kept me invested

Just finished "The Book of Doors" by Gareth Brown. It was a wild ride around NYC and many other places around the world. Cassie works at a bookstore and lives with her bestie Izzy (who used to work at the bookstore and is how the two of them met).

One night one of Cassie's customers (Mr. Webber) passes away just as the bookshop was being closed for the night. However, Mr. Webber leaves her a mysterious book titled *The Book of Doors*. Thus, the real premise for the story begins.

The Book of Doors allows access to any other door, across time and space, if you can imagine it. This premise is right up my alley, as someone who enjoys both sci-fi, travel, history, and historical novels. . I mean, who wouldn't want the power to step through doors to any destination or era they desire? I keep thinking of where I'd go first, and I can't make up my mind. :-)

While the book takes a bit to find its footing, once it does, it's like a roller coaster you don't want to end. The story's complexity and twists more than made up for it, making it an overall fantastic read.

For those who's read "The Midnight Library" should enjoy this book as well.

Big thanks to NetGalley for hooking me up with this ARC.

4 ⭐
0 🌶️

What an adventure. It was a bit of a slow start for me, but once I got a feel for the characters and the magic system I was fully invested. The concept started interesting but quickly became mind-blowing as other aspects came into play. Cassie and Drummond were sweet book nerds who had to dig quite deep to be the heroes of the book. I enjoyed how the author took two people who liked living in their books and the shadows and forced them to live their adventure and be more. The villains were horrible, really horrible and the good guys were real. The pacing seemed a bit uneven at times but as I said once I got a feel for the world it moved along very quickly. I was immersed in the storyline as Cassie went on her many poignant visits. The book was heart-wrenchingly moving at times. I believe this is a debut author and I categorize this as a heck of a great start and a wonderful urban fantasy.

Truly a magical book. The Book of Doors was hands down one of my favorite books of 2023. It has the aura of a classic and I have a feeling it might join the canon for fantasy. I almost had a strange sense of Deja Vu that the book already existed or perhaps always had, From the endearing to characters to the warm voice of the story, as well as a really interesting exploration of time bending, it provided deep enjoyment. For fans of Eva Ibbotson, JK Rowling, and Maggie Stiefvater - or really anyone who likes to cozy up to a good book. I’m terribly excited to see where Gareth Brown’s writing career takes him. What a brilliant debut.

This book was an early reader copy I received through Net Galley. All words are of my own opinion.

2 stars. Great concept and I had been looking forward to reading this, but the writing style sadly didn’t work for me at all.

The way this is written felt incredibly simple and juvenile. And so bland. Very few descriptions or explanations and those we did get seemed almost amateurish. Not very magical for a book about magic. I really struggled with it. I know many people enjoy this kind of writing; it just isn’t for me. It lacked personality!

Unfortunately, I felt the same way about the characters. They were flat, their motivations made no sense to me and there were no connecting moments to explain their choices. If you just found a magic book that lets you travel wherever you want to go—which you immediately use, by the way—you should have a reaction beyond something along the lines of “This is the best thing ever, but now I’m hungry, let’s go eat.”

The good guys, especially the two female friends, were annoying and the baddies resembled cartoon villains. The dialogue was atrocious and very much fell into the category of “People don’t talk like this!”

After introducing all the important characters, the plot went in a direction that didn’t interest me at all. I might have been able to get on board with it if I hadn't felt like I was fighting the stylistic writing choices with every page read. I wanted to enjoy a magical and immersive story all about the power of books, but regrettably, it was not to be.

This book sure did not disappoint. I went in not knowing what to expect but exceeded my expectations. This is a unique read and I would try to go in with very little knowledge. If you love time travel books, be sure to pick this up. It is an adventure read with magic sprinkled throughout.
3.5 stars

SPOILERS. A good book. I almost bailed with some of the European travels at the beginning... a little too tedious, but I'm glad I didn't. I enjoyed reading it, and the explanations and examples of time travel were great. Some notes, male authors don't need to comment on female characters' looks. Drummond was "bedraggled" and "gaunt" but we got SO many more descriptions of Izzy, Cassie and the woman. Just unnecessary. Especially as the same type of descriptions were not afforded any male characters. Another note, not everything has to be explained. I appreciate the magic being fully explained so that it could solve problems, but Cassie didn't need to create the books.

With magic books, violent sociopathic villains, puppy-dog romance, and cozy reading corners
“The Book of Doors” by Gareth Brown - (4 Stars) (Pub Date: 2/13/2024) is a great story, with amazing magic, time-travel, and “wish-it-were-true” adventure.

Good Things: Brown does an excellent job of stepping a reader directly into the magic, and then through the complexities of that magic with excellent world-building. The magic books, the doors, and the conflict of the story were interesting, and I wanted to know more about them, the history, and the world of magical books that came before this story and what might come after. I particularly liked the explanation of the theories on time-travel, and the simple demonstration of those theories. Time travel in narratives can sometimes be too complicatedly scientific or demonstrably difficult to follow along with, OR they are so simplistic that a reader is asked to just trust that all things just work out and not ask too many questions about how. The Book of Doors keeps it light and accessible.

Opportunities: There were a lot of characters, and they had a lot of opportunities to shine, but I feel like the author invested all of his creativity on the world, and the magical mechanisms so that when the characters had to live in that universe and talk to each, the writing took a pretty definitive dip. This had a LOT of potential to be a five star, ‘knock me off my feet’ story. But instead I felt like the characters weren’t terribly believable, and the way they talked to each other was stilted and uncharacteristic of the age and life experiences we were supposed to believe they had lived. The villain was amazing in concept, but felt completely disjointed from the rest of the characters. I just didn’t really believe that these people would talk and act the way that they did and that was a little disappointing because I REALLY liked the magic. Like a lot.

Final Thoughts: This book was still a solid 4-star read because of the world, the magic, and the action, but I really felt earnest disappointment when I realized that the characters I had, were all that I was going to get. The sense of imbalance was unfortunate, as was the fact that the characters (in their 20’s-30’s and up) talked like my middle-schooler. BUT STILL…read it and dream of doors, and books, and magic all through our world.

I appreciate the opportunity afforded me to have an early read of this story by netgalley and William Morrow. The opinions in this review are expressly those of ButIDigressBookClub and are intended for use by my followers and friends when choosing their next book. #butidigress #butidigressbookclub #thebookofdoors #bookofdoors #magic #timetravel #garethbrown #netgalley #netgalleyreviewer #arc #arcs

Details
Review Shared on Goodreads - www.goodreads.com/leah_cyphert_butidigressbookclub
Publishing Review 2/10/2024

I just need to know if there is goin to be more to this story because you cannot leave us here! You don’t need to explain magic of books to book lovers. The difference in this story was these books were truly magical. They could take you to different times, inflict pain on others, push you into despair, protect you from all harm, give you joy and many other things yet to be known.

Cassie was presented with a book by one of the usuals of the bookstore after his unexpected passing in the store. It was the Book of Doors and it said any door is every door. While it took bit of time for Cassie to actually understand what that actually meant, she got to experience the magic of this book. She was naive as she wanted to use this book to skip her walk to the bodega. However, dangerous people around her would thought her a lesson very fast.

The variety of the characters and their development arches were impeccable. Storytelling was captivating as I didn’t want to put the book down not even to eat. You will feel all sorts of feelings reading this story. One hell of a debut!

WOW!! Just WOW! This book was an amazing story; a magical journey for book lovers everywhere to experience and enjoy. I didn't really know what I was getting into when I first started reading this 5 hours ago, but I loved every single chapter I read! I went back through some chapters to relive it before I wrote my review. This book will absolutely be a book I'll revisit and read again.

In New York City, Cassie Andrews works at a bookstore. She's been an avid reader since she was a young kid, she shares her love of books with her Grandfather who raised her. After her Grandpa died, she left her childhood home and moved to New York City. She's been mourning her grandfather everyday and just existing. The bookstore is where she meets Mr. Webber, a frequent patron of the store. He's there most nights reading while she's working.

One night, after talking to him before she started closing up the store, he dies minutes after she just spoke to him. She's in shock. She sees the book he was reading "The Count of Monte Crisco" along with a smaller leather bound book that she'd never seen before. The book was "The Book of Doors" something she'd never heard of before nor has ever seen it on him. Inside the the first page of the book, she sees that he wrote something personal to her. After taking both books with her before the police show up, she feels a profound loss of the nice man who'd always spend time with her sharing stories of his life.

Unbeknownst to Cassie, "The Book of Doors" is a special book many in the book world would go to great lengths to possess. After leaving the store and going home to her roommate, Izzy, her life will change forever. The Book of Doors has the power to transport Cassie anywhere she wants to go, as long as she can picture the place in her mind and have the book on her at the same time. Cassie and Izzy were just randomly talking about a trip Cassie took 8 years ago in Rome. When Cassie opens her bedroom door, Rome is on the other side. Wanting to prove to Izzy that it's not a hallucination and indeed magic, they travel to a rooftop bar in Manhattan. There they see a man that neither of them know, but will meet with soon.

Izzy does some searching on Google the following day and there's nothing about the book or anything in chat rooms. But she calls attention to both girls without their knowledge. When the same man shows up the next day while they are at a diner, Cassie recognizes him from the night before.

Drummond Fox, also known as the Librarian, has been worried about the girls. He knows that they must have The Bad of Doors, he needs to make sure that they both are protected and safe. He owns the Fox Library, where at one time, all of the magical books were safe. Now some evil people own some, and some trustworthy people have others. But he needs to make sure that Cassie's book remains safe.

When Drummond uses his book to erase Izzy's memories, Cassie transports them to his hidden library in Scotland, only then does he show her what her book really can do. Time travel.

There's one woman who's nothing but evil out there in the world, she has The Book of Despair, the Book of Mists, and several others that do nothing but inflict pain and suffering on whomever she wants. Cassie and Drummond need to keep this book away from her.

When the couple jump back in time so Cassie can understand what happened to make Drummond hide and run for the last decade, she finally understands how dangerous the book can become in the wrong hands. Coming back to the present, they encounter someone who has the Book of Pain and the Book of Control. After he takes Cassie's Book of Doors from her, he leaves her back in the past, in 2012 alone with no book.

Now she needs to find a friend and avoid running into young Cassie herself. Will her friend believe her story and help her find her book? Or will she have to wait 10 years until she sees Drummond again and her book?

A definite must read!!

Cassie works at a bookstore and befriends one of its patrons Mr. Webber who when he dies leaves her a book called The Book Of Doors. When her and her roommate Izzy use the book they learn it can transport them through any door through to any other door but when Izzy goes in search of more info about this magical book on Google, it alerts good and bad people as to who has The Book Of Doors and where they can be found which results in lots of trouble for the two roommates not to mention maybe just a tiny bit of romance. Let me start with what I liked about the book the premise the time travel the different books and the storyline what I didn’t like about the book as I thought especially at the end he had far too many villains in the book and I thought the book could’ve ended early on and would’ve made for a great read I still loved the book but after one of the characters goes to non-reality I totally struggle to finish the last 1/5 of the book. I also became so sick of the girl from Georgia who loved to inflict pain… No… Really? I was so over her butt ass for the bookseller totally loved her Lund awesome Cassie and Izzy love them drum he was awesome but as I said the premise is awesome the characters are awesome I just still stick with my original opinion and there was just one too many villains mainly the woman from Georgia but having said that I still recommend this book because who doesn’t love time travel and with these other books it just adds other powers and it could’ve made for a very awesome book but only made for an OK book that I still recommend. This is one of those books I totally looked forward to reading and I won’t say I was totally disappointed but I was a little letdown with the ending not the way it ended but the length of part five I cut it down without all of that and would’ve still loved the book probably more. I want to thank Random House and net galley for my free arc copy please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

This was such a fun book! Books about books are the absolute best, and the magical realism and time travel was amazing. I did not know what I was expecting from this book, but it exceeded my expectations. How everything came together in this book was pure perfection. Very happy to have gotten an early copy of this book!

Thank you to NetGalley and Gareth Brown for the ARC of The Book of Doors. I LOVED this story. I definitely feel that it will be one of my top reads for the year. I loved Fox Drummond, the grandfather, and Mr. Webber. I got very emotionally attached to these characters alongside Lund. I loved their relationship to Cassie and how they impacted her path in the story. I loved how connected everything was in the story and how it all came together in the end. I definitely recommend this book for anyone looking for a five star read!

For about half of this book, I was very interested in what happening and enjoying it a lot more than I did by the end. Then something happens that changes the entire story, and it felt completely out of place compared to the beginning. Lots of things get thrown in at this point as well. While I did still like the book (and someday a reread knowing where things are going may help), it lost some of its appeal because of the direction it took.

Note: arc provided by the publisher via netgalley in exchange for honest review

I loved the beginning of this book. About half way through I got confused and lost. I finished the story and the ending was pretty awesome.
Mystical with some fantasy.
Thanks NetGalley for the ARC.

This was such a beautifully written fantasy novel. It tested both my intelligence and imagination as I dove into Cassie’s and Izzy’s world. Thank you so much to NetGalley and William Morrow for the opportunity to read this early on a digital platform. Excited to read more work by this author!

“Any door is every door.” 🚪

This enchanting story is about a young woman named Cassie who works at a book store. On one ordinary day, a customer she is friendly with passes away and leaves her with a book called “The Book of Doors”. This magical book can take you anywhere you want to go, as long as there is a door to enter and exit from.

This book starts off in such an adventurous way with her and her best friend Izzy using the door to travel the world, but what starts off as delightful, soon becomes sinister and life threatening.

The girls soon run into a man named Drummond Fox, who informs them that not only are there more magical books in the world, but there are also people who would kill to get them. The people who would kill to get them includes “the woman”, she’s a sadistic monster hunting the books one by one & only wants to cause harm and bring despair to others.

This story is action-packed, has a touch of romance, is captivating, emotional, and has a found family aspect to it. The twists & revelations were shocking and gripping. This book is going to stay on my mind for a very long time.

I’m giving this 4.75 ⭐️ not a full 5 because I felt the ending was too abrupt & some reveals needed to be expanded upon. Also, the action scenes became a bit “too much” for me, and the romance subplot was too subtle. I wanted more!!!

✨ If you are a fan of The Midnight Library, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, and/or This Time Tomorrow, then read this book! If you love time bending stories then you’re in for a treat. This book gave me everything I was looking for, and more! ✨

Thank you NetGalley & WilliamMorrow for this ARC! This book publishes on 2/15/24!

DNF @ 50%

I really wanted to love this book as so many have based on their reviews. I’ve tried multiple times to pick this book up and continue on. But I just can’t seem to get myself to continue any longer.

This is about our FMC Cassie, an employee at a bookstore, that receives a special book from an elderly man that frequents her bookstore. It turns out that it’s not just any ordinary book, it’s the Book of Doors that transports you anywhere you want to be.

The beginning was fun. Cassie and her best friend Izzy have light-hearted journeys all around the world and it’s a cute time. Of course, not everything stays bright and cheery. The darker it got, the less interested I became.

There were so many characters introduced that I was getting dizzy with the quantity and lack of quality. Not only were there a lot of storylines going on, but I didn’t feel like any of the characters really stuck. Like Lund and Asaki, I couldn’t for the life of me understand who they were and what role they played. Nor could I be bothered to care.

The scene where the woman sees Drummond’s friends was the last straw for me. The descriptions and the gore completely dissipated any of the little interest that I had left in this book. I’m usually into descriptive scenes like that but these bad characters were just unbearable. I was hanging on by a thread and that scene was the scissors that cut me off.

I guess my problem was I had expectations for this book based on all of the amazing reviews that it had. With the comparison to Addie LaRue, I felt like it was a must-read. I usually say “I’ll pick this up at a later time” but for this book, it’s just completely not for me and I don’t see myself reading it again.

Thank you so much to NetGalley for the ARC. I’m very grateful to be able to receive advanced copies to review.

The Book of Doors by Gareth Brown follows Cassie as she comes to own a magical book that allows her to travel through doors anywhere. Little does Cassie know that this bit of magic is tied to a very dangerous part of the world. With elements of found family and dangerous magic, follow Cassie and her friends as they try to stop an evil force.

If you are not a fan of negative reviews, that is what follows. I really wanted to enjoy this because the concept sounds very cool. However, I found myself wishing for the pacing to be faster and I felt like some parts of the plot were unnecessary. The relationships between characters were not fleshed out enough and there was an element of romance that was entirely forced. This could have been done without romance completely. Next, the plot feels all over the place. It starts to go in one direction and then completely changes pace. The timeline also threw me off and made it difficult to follow. The timing felt like it was added to describe the magic system, which can be done well, but I feel it was not the case here.