The Book of Doors is the story of a group of magical books and the people that wield them. It's also the story of Cassie and a group of people who are part of the world of magical books. There are good guys and bad guys and a race to see who will come out on top.

There is so much about this story that is brilliant that I'm not sure where to start. I thought the beginning (maybe 25%) was a bit slow. In retrospect, I realize that the author needs that time to set up a lot of characters and situations so that the readers can get the payoff in the end. Honestly, the last 25% just flew by! Cassie is definitely the central character in the story, but she is not the most important. The cast of characters is large and varied and each character plays a vital role in the story. I like how the author ties everything together with small steps and tiny tidbits. The moments of discovery at the end were gut wrenching. I actually cried at the end. I also said "woah". This story does not leave a happy feeling, but it does give the reader a chance to experience Cassie's sense of wonder as she makes discoveries at each step.

I had one issue with the story. I wondered how Cassie is able to use her cell phone and credit card in foreign countries without issue. The author did sort of answer that with statements about Cassie turning off her phone or not being able to pay for food at a diner, so she did a dine and dash. Ultimately, I would have liked a little more, but it wasn't necessary for the story to work. Also, there is a huge reveal at one point about the books. I still do not understand the reveal. I will not give it away here because it is truly huge and a major part of the story but I'm still scratching my head.

This is a book about magic books. It is a quiet story that sort of sneaks up on you and then wham the author ties it all together. It takes place in New York, Scotland, Paris and other places. If you are looking for something different, give this a try. I think it is well done and very creative. I will read more from this author in the future.

I loved the story, the world building and meeting the different characters. I felt completely immersed in the story and couldn't stop reading it.

I read an ARC of this book and absolutely loved it. It isn’t too complex to follow, yet very interesting world building that kept me thoroughly intrigued. I actually laughed, cried, and gasped while reading this heartfelt journey. Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for the opportunity to read the ARC and to Gareth Brown for writing this fantastic book!

This book is a thrilling blend of magic and suspense, weaving together a tale of friendship, betrayal, and the courage to confront darkness. Brown's evocative prose and vivid imagery will transport you to a realm where every door holds a new adventure and every page reveals a hidden truth. Prepare to be mesmerized by this extraordinary tale that will leave you eagerly turning the pages until the very end. Definitely a must-read for anyone craving an immersive and unforgettable journey into the unknown. Add this to your TBR ASAP!!! ✨📚 #TheBookofDoors #GarethBrown #Fantasy #Magic #Adventure #BookReview

Overall: 5/5
Readability: 4.75/5
Definitely recommend!

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Gareth Brown's The Book of Doors is the most imaginative and original novel I have read in quite some time! This is a five star read and one that I will be recommending for awhile. There is such magic and compassion in the novel, both in the plot and how the characters relate to each other. I promise you, as the reader, you will feel a spectrum of emotions as you travel through this book. It has a little bit of everything, but just enough to keep you attentive and curious.

The Book of Doors is a great read for those who liked Haig's The Midnight Library or Shaffer's The Wishing Game. Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for the opportunity to read this novel in advance of publication.

This sounded promising Cassie, a bookstore clerk, discovers a magical book that opens doors to anywhere and anytime. The beginning had me reeled in and there were some wonderful plot lines with time travel. The book definitely got boring with the time travel. Thank you NetGalley for the chance to read and review this book!

Cassie is just your average New York City transplanted resident, who left home to find her way in a place where everyone that mattered is gone. She works at a small bookstore, and one evening at the store ends with one of their regulars passing away quietly in the cafe. But he leaves behind a book that Cassie has never seen before. The Book of Doors, where any door is every door. And then the traveling begins, and very quickly afterward, so does the trouble.

I loved the story of this book. I love the construction of the magic and the angles of how everything shakes out and resolves itself. The writing, in general, is great, and the imagery here is fun, interesting, and really engaging. This was one of those books that I had a really hard time putting down. The intrigue and curiosity about how all the special books work, and how to keep them safe, kept me hooked.

There ARE some problems. There is VIOLENCE. Like Hitler-if-he-had-magic levels. It's effing GRAPHIC on occasion. I get why. The villain is a dang VILLAIN. But oof. And the male author does not do a good job of decent female descriptions. There's some very clear body shaming descriptions about some of the women involved, and that is problematic, especially since this book is brand new, and people involved in creating and publishing it should know better and do better.

I really liked the book, despite the troubles. I'm definitely one for a good mysterious magical story. And this was that. Just keep in mind that there's some moments that could be troublesome for those who need to be careful with themselves.

I received an Advanced Reader Copy via NetGalley in return for sharing my thoughts on this book. Thanks to the author and publisher for this opportunity!

Imaginative, wickedly clever, and mind-bending with a time-travel twist! This brilliant book about secret and magical books kept me turning the pages long after I should have turned out the lights. And the ending? Well, I definitely didn't see that coming! Fabulous debut!

Thank you to the publisher for the advanced reader copy. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins Publishing for this ARC
Rating 4/5 stars

Fans of V.E. Schwab or anyone who loves books about books will adore this debut novel by Gareth Brown, The Book of Doors. This book immediately throws you into an enchanting world filled with magical books that give the person who owns them different powers. Brown's writing is both evocative and eloquent, transporting readers worldwide. His characters are richly developed, each with unique quirks and motivations. An aspect I thoroughly enjoyed was that it is multi-pov so you're in the minds of almost every important character instead of only seeing through the lens of one. Brown seamlessly weaves together these multiple storylines with endless twists and turns that I never knew what direction the book was going. My only critique is that there were several moments where the dialogue felt very clunky and repetitive. It resulted in some moments of using dialogue to tell instead of show which at times took me out of the story. Besides that, this is a fun, mysterious, magical fantasy standalone with a little hint of romance that is sure to captivate you from the first page.

Cassie works in a New York City bookstore, a quiet uneventful existence until a beloved customer dies on her shift in the shop. She had always enjoyed chatting with the elderly man and will miss his stories. He left her a book but it is not an ordinary book, it is the Book of Doors. The book is thin and inside are strange drawings and languages and nothing makes sense except the note he left her in the front. Cassie finds that the book is magical -she can stand at the door to her bedroom and think of a place and when she opens the door she can walk through to the place she was thinking of. She and her roommate experiment with the book going to their favorite hotel bar and there diner. But they begin to notice someone following them and this is when the adventure gets dangerous. There are lots of other people who want her book and will do anything to get it from her. She finds out there are other magical books that do many other things and there are people who collect these books and are willing to kill for them.
This is a fast paced and well crafted story. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. If you enjoy contemporary fantasy this will be a good read.

DNF 20%

I’ll only be going a one star review here and not posting my rating elsewhere. I will feature the title on my IG.

While the premise of this book is promising, the execution is very shallow and clumsy. Character development is in fits and starts, especially as more and more players are put on the board-more POVs was not a solution to shallow characters. The writing was very histrionic, attempting to tug at your heartstrings rather than engage your interest. As soon as the caricature villain made her over the top entrance, I lost any interest in following the story.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my free copy. These opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for sharing this ARC!

The Book of Doors has a solid premise that I immediately gravitated toward. Unfortunately, something got lost in the execution. While the magical realism was done very well, everything else, from the flat plot to the poor character development did not keep my interest. A story like this could be better told through television or film.

ARC Review: Publish Date 2/13/2024
Thank you Net Galley for letting me read more books!

I kept wanted to love it and feel all the feels for The Book of Doors, but every time I was on that path, a derogatory sentence or description would come out of nowhere and take me right out of the story. There is fat shaming, fat phobia, racist remarks, anti-women remarks, and others woven into the story, dropped like a little blip on the radar, for no apparent reason, and are totally unnecessary, and it didn't track for me. It made my uncomfortable every time one came. I am not sure why Brown included those since only hurt his story. That being said, the concept about magical books that give their owners incredible powers and allow folks to travel across the world and time, was spectacular. I loved how the time travel and magic worked in the story and how everything was connected in the end via our main protagonist, Cassie. It felt like a fun adventure. But, be prepared, there are parts with the main "women" bad guy, that are quite gruesome.

Overall, it was a fun book with issues. The characters fell flat and lacked any depth, the language was repetitive and clunky, but the plot and magic was fun. As a book loving gal that would give anything for a Book of Doors, still worth the read, even if it wasn't perfect.

3 Stars

The premise of this one sounded promising- Cassie, a bookstore clerk, discovers a magical book that opens doors to anywhere and anytime. The beginning had me hooked and there were some very clever plot lines pertaining to time travel. However, as the book went on, I really started to find most of the side characters tiresome to the point that I could no longer care about out the story or outcome. Thanks to NetGalley for the chance to read and review this book!

I genuinely wanted to love this book, but I just couldn’t get full into it. It started fairly slow in my opinion, and took a while to get to the meat of the story. I felt the ending was more exciting and satisfying, but due to how slow it felt to me originally, I can only rate this three stars.
I hope others still give this one a try because it had a great premise and world building. My issues with it are just that, mine.

I truly don’t have words for this book… It absolutely stole my heart with the beauty of the found family aspects and the characters working together for a better future for everyone despite the risks to themselves in the process.

Read if you like:
📚 Special Edition Books
✨ Fantasy
🚪Magical Realism
🔎 Mysteries
🏠 Found Family
👯‍♀️ Stories about Friendship

I just finished the book, and I’m sitting trying to write my review, but all I can think about is the physical ache in my chest from all the emotions that this story gave along with the pulse pounding fast paced story telling where I couldn’t stop reading because I needed to know what was happening next.

This story truly is so magical and I don’t want to say much other than be ready to feel all the feels throughout the book, because it truly did get me to feel ALL of the feelings.

Additionally, I wholly recommend going in blind and just letting the book of doors take you on the adventure of a lifetime as you uncover the story one page at a time.

Thank you a million times over to the publisher for my ARC in exchange for my review!

I loved this book!

Action/Adventure ✅
Thriller/Horror ✅
Fantasy ✅

It was so addictive and completely bingeable. I saw @scaredstraightreads rave about this book, so I immediately requested it on NetGalley, and he was not wrong in his review. I didn’t put this book down all day because I had to know what happened - I also got emotional a few times but let’s not talk about it lol

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Anyways, this is a must read! Thank you @netgalley and @williammorrowbooks for the arc in exchange for my honest review. Pub date February 13.

Let me begin my saying that this book is not my usual genre of reading, but oh my!!!! It sucked me in from the first page.
If you like magic, time travel, good vs evil, romance, books and bookstores, then this book is for you.
Cassie is working in a bookstore in NYC, after the death of her grandfather, who raised her. She becomes friends with an older man who is a daily patron of the bookstore. He suddenly dies, at the store, and leaves Cassie with a beautiful, but strange book, The Book of Doors. This magical book allows Cassie to visit and enter any door. “Hold it in your hand, and any door is every door”.
Cassie travels in time to visit places of her past, that fill her with happiness. But there are many others, those who own other magical books, that want hers and will go to any means to get it. The development of the cast of characters is perfect- you knew who they were and what they want.
As I got closer to the end, I didn’t want it to end, but I needed to find out how it would end. And I loved it!
This is Gareth Brown’s debut novel and I’m hoping there will be a sequel to the wonderful Book of Doors!
Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for this advanced copy.

THE BOOK OF DOORS by Gareth Brown is a clever story with a very different take on time travel. All books are magic, but Mr. Brown presents a world in which certain books have a specific type of magic. One makes you feel nothing but joy. One helps you to create illusions. One causes pain. And one opens any door anywhere.

One of the best things about THE BOOK OF DOORS is that it is a standalone story that explains all its mysteries. By the end of the story, you know what happens to each of the characters, know the pertinent elements of their backstory, see how the books come to exist, and get closure on the characters' futures. Mr. Brown tidily wraps everything up for his readers, something that doesn't often happen in fantasy novels.

While book lovers often talk about books as a way to discover new worlds and experience different cultures without ever leaving home, THE BOOK OF DOORS takes that idea and makes it real - except for the leaving home part. It is less about a love of books and more about the living embodiment of what books can do for its readers. While Cassie's book is a literal door to anywhere, the other books are equally powerful. Everyone who calls themselves a reader has an experience of strong emotional reactions or imagining something that doesn't exist simply through the words on a page.

As for Cassie's Book of Doors, Mr. Brown changes the idea of time travel we've seen in previous novels. If I had to guess, Mr. Brown was not a fan of any of the Back to the Future series, given that his book makes that series impossible. Gone is the idea that the past is malleable, and any change you make to the past would have consequences for your future - the very premise of all three Back to the Future movies. Instead, in THE BOOK OF DOORS, the past is fixed and cannot be changed.

Not only does Mr. Brown's time travel idea turn the idea of time travel on its head, but it removes all of the danger of time travel. (Yes, time travel is theoretical, but let's pretend we could do it and it was physically safe.) No more time paradoxes. No more threat of nonexistence should your past self meet with your time-traveling self. The options Mr. Brown's idea gives time travel are limitless, and Cassie only touches the surface of it.

While other stories out there revolve around a love of reading, THE BOOK OF DOORS takes the idea of the power of books and makes it literal. The story is a simple one, and the characters are equally one-noted. But any lover of books will appreciate the world Mr. Brown builds.

Cassie Andrews works in a New York City bookshop and lives a pretty mundane life, until she receives a book from a mysterious patron of hers upon his death. This is no ordinary book, it's the Book of Doors and can make any door into EVERY door. Reminiscent of The Midnight Library and for fans of The Night Circus and the Secret Life of Addie LaRue, The Book of Doors is a wonderfully written fantasy novel that just keeps getting better and better.