The story starts with a young girl, Cassie, being given a book that can magically take her anywhere by walking through a door. Sounds like fun until other people around the world are searching for this and other magic books which puts Cassie’s life in danger. I enjoyed the story, especially when the element of time travel was introduced, but I have to say at times the book got a little confusing to follow. There was also some pretty graphic violence which prevents me from recommending it to my middle grade students. I know it wouldn’t be new to them but I can’t have it coming from me. All in all it was a fun story that kept me well entertained!

The Book of Doors is not like any other book I have read before. Not only is it a novel full of adventure, romance, and magic, it is a mystical world for reading fans of books such as The Midnight Library, The Invisible Life of Addie Larue, The Night Circus,- books I have not liked as much as others have. However, this particular book changed my perspective of this fantasy/ adventure romance genre.

Cassie Andrews works in a New York City bookshop, shelving books, making coffee for customers, and living an unassuming, ordinary life. Until the day 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.
But this is no ordinary book…It is "the Book of Doors. "
There are many incidents that occur along the way that the main character learns and tries to understand. Ways that she needs to decipher in order to survive. What is being hidden through secrets of the dark unknown world around her? What can she do to make things right,? This book has many twists and turns, and unique mystical elements throughout the story.

This is the story about a book that can take you anywhere in the world - really! Anywhere, anytime, the possibilities are endless. This is what happens to Cassie, a young bookseller, who befriends an older gentleman who is a regular at the bookstore where she works. When this gentleman passes away at the store, he leaves a note gifting The Book of Doors to her. What follows is an amazing story of magic, time travel, special books, and the ruthless characters who "collect" them. 

Imagine that book in the wrong hands and you'll know why Cassie and her friends need to protect the book. But, the Book of Doors is not the only magical book. There are others and they are being used by "collectors" to obtain the Book of Doors by any means necessary, each more gruesome than the last.

A story of friendship, trust, betrayal, ruthlessness, and redemption. It was a rollercoaster read.

Fair warning: There are some very graphic and violent descriptions of what the bad guy/gal do to people who get in their way. Don't say I didn't warn you.

All in all, this was a good read and I have already recommended it to several people. Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

The book is set to release on February 13, 2024. You can pre-order on Amazon or from your local bookstore. 

Thanks for reading.

The Book of Doors by, Gareth Brown has a good story idea, and beautiful cover art. I wanted to love it, but the women shaming, and racist descriptions of people turned me off.

Bookseller Cassie Andrews receives a book from a favorite customer before his passing. A handwritten
message tells her that it is called the Book of Doors which allows the owner to use the book to use any
door to travel to another place. While Cassie is excited to think about all the places she can go, her
friend Izzy is concerned.
It is revealed that there are other magical books that can be used tio do dreadful things in the hands of
ruthless individuals. The Book of Doors is sought after by many. Cassie, along with the help of others, must
find a way to keep the book out of those who would use it to harm. An intriguing read.
#TheBookofDoors #NetGalley

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for the arc

This book is described as “A debut novel full of magic, adventure, and romance” and it just simply falls short on every single one of these fronts. The magic in this book is unimpressive. The adventure was nothing to call home about. And the romance felt forced and unnatural.

While reading this book the pacing was all over the place, it would speed up and slow down and so on and so forth.

The dialogue was at best mildly interesting, and at worst unbearable. Throughout the book the author would mention details that rubbed me the wrong way such as when one of the female MCs described themselves as being “ too tall, too thin, her hips too narrow, her chest too flat, her eyes were big and wide like deer’s” These details felt a little unneeded in my opinion, and this wasn’t just a one off thing.The author continuously wrote details in the story that came off a bit like body shaming. For example when the two FMCs where eating at a restaurant one of the characters remarked about how they felt disgusting for eating pancakes and bacon, and it felt absolutely unnecessary to add this detail into the story.

Overall, this book disappointed me as I feel it was poorly executed and thought out.

An interesting take on portals and traveling. I would not consider it my genre of choice, but the writing was well done and the characters were likable. I can see a lot of my followers loving this book, especially mu science, supernatural readers!

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. Cassie works in a bookstore in NYC and one day one of her favorite customers dies in front of her. He leaves her a magical book - the Book of Doors. Inscribed in the book is the statement “any door is every door” for those can wield its power. Acquiring the book leads Cassie and her roommate Izzy to encounter various people who all desire to possess any and all magical books they can find. They meet various allies and enemies along the way - those who covet the magical books and those who wish to protect them.
It is hard to share too many details without spoiling too much of the story. Gareth Brown does an amazing job of weaving together different perspectives and times. He creates a world most readers dream of - a world in which books can take you anywhere, lend you power and bring you joy.
I highly recommend this book.

This book kept me thinking the whole time. My daughter and I often talk about how great it would be to be able to teleport. This book explores what that could be like. I can see lots of discussions with this book.

Here’s what I liked about “The Book of Doors” by Gareth Brown - a number of things. First this book reminded me a lot of VE Schwab’s “A Darker Shade of Magic” (maybe it’s the magical part? Maybe it’s the overall feeling I got reading these two books?). I can understand why some are relating it to Midnight Library, but while I see the connection, but these are two very different types of books. Second thing I liked about this book was how the timelines crossed and how, in the end, the pieces fit together. While at times I found it a bit maddening trying to keep track of who was where when, in the end, all was made clear. Third thing is that part of it takes place in a bookstore and libraries, all which sounded like lovely places to visit to have some tea (or whiskey!). If Magical Realism if your thing, I’d strongly recommend this book. What I wasn’t quite so keen about was one of the characters - he seems to be bad to, well, just be bad. His language is horribly mean and there doesn’t seem to be a redeeming thing about him; out of all the characters I felt he was the least developed. I also wasn’t too keen on the downer talk that some of the women had regarding carbs [really unnecessary]. Additionally I had difficulties for part of the book keeping two female characters separate and wish that “The Woman” had been either in quotes or noted somehow because it would’ve been a smoother read. In very many ways I enjoyed the book, the friendships made, the timelines, the fact that one cannot change what has happened before - but in other ways I didn’t love the book as much as I wanted (part 5 I’d skip on a re-read for instance).

The idea of magic books that can time travel, protect you, cause harm, etc is fascinating. But the descriptions of people are not done well. Women are constantly described as an ethnicity (the Chinese lady coming to take their order, describing a woman’s skin as African American?), which read as lazy and also kind of racist.
I cringed reading the character refer to “that Jap and his ape.” How was this approved? How did an editor read these descriptions and think it was ok?
Overall, the concept of magic in books is lovely, but it wasn’t a book I’d ever read again, and I’d be hesitant to read anything from this author is the future.
I was allowed to read this books thanks to NetGalley.

When I first started this I thought it was going to be all about a girl who is gifted this magical book that can open doors to anywhere in the world. Thankfully it is more than that since it is over 400 pages. Mystery, murder, magic, friendships and more all bring this book together to make one heck of a page turner.
There are so many magical books in this story, but the scariest one of all is the Book of Despair. What it can do to people will make your stomach clench. Don’t miss out on this one when it comes out. I feel like it’s going to be one of those books people won’t be able to stop talking about!

I don’t often read fantasy but something about the description for this one spoke to me. Plus, I recently read The Unmaking of June Farrow, which also involved a magical door - LOL! Plus, the main character works in a bookstore - count me in! Cassie is a bookseller who one day is gifted a very special gift from a customer. It’s an extraordinary item that can seemingly transport her anywhere just by opening a door. Cassie and her best friend Izzy spend time exploring and traveling wherever they wish before finding out that some doors aren’t meant to be opened.

This book reminded me so much of a fairy tale! How fun it is to be transported into this world where anything seems possible. I can’t believe this was a debut - it was very impressive!

Thank you to Netgalley, Transworld Digital and Gareth Brown for the ARC! “The Book of Doors” publishes February 15, 2024.

This review will be shared to my instagram blog (@books_by_the_botle) shortly.

A very interesting read! Kept me captivated until the very end, I enjoyed how we switched between different narrative voices and stories yet by the end they all intertwined.

The Book of Doors sucked me in from the start. I was intrigued with the idea of the power of books and the magic that these volumes could conjure. The author managed the back and forth of time travel in an interesting way and The Book of Doors reminded me again how much I enjoyed similar books like The Time Travelers Wife and The Night Circus.
I found the book a bit too descriptive midway but it did not keep me from wanting to see where the story led. I would recommend it to others who enjoy fantasy/ magic.

I have no choice but to rave about this book!

It’s of those books where everything just comes together and it is so satisfying! So many moments where I was like “Oh! That makes so much sense! And that’s why the next thing makes sense!”

Seriously such an incredible roller coaster of a story with great characters, a wonderful exploration of magic, unique questions, love, loss, action, and a whole lot more. Highly recommend this read. Not one thing I would change about it.

What a wonderful surprise of a story! I initially signed up to receive this book because of the title. How can I go wrong with a book about books? Well, I’m happy to say that I enjoyed my time reading this delightful debut novel.
A young woman, Cassie, comes to possess a magical book upon the death of a bookstore client in which she works. She discovers that if she imagines a door from a place she visited that the book will reveal this door and she can walk through to that place and time of her past. How is this possible? Could there be others out there like this one and what kind of powers would they have?
As amazing as her experience is, Cassie meets other people interested in this secretive world. Some are good and some not good at all. How will she survive when there are people who want to possess her book and will do anything even kill to get it?
We have an incredible journey with Cassie and others as they discover more books and those people craving for these powerful things. There are fantastical and horror elements woven throughout this story. There are twists I didn’t see coming. This was a magical and mysterious ride through a modern day fantasy tale. Highly recommend!
Thanks to NetGalley for my free copy

Cassie is a kind, lonely sole who works in a New York bookshop. She tends to keep to herself, still grieving the loss of her grandfather. Until one night just before closing up the store, dear Mr Webber passes away while reading his favorite book. He has however, left her a gift, The Book of Doors. Cassie and her roommate Izzy soon discover that this book is not an ordinary book, but a gateway…Any door is every door. Izzy is terrified, begging Cassie not to use it and warning that there is always a cost. Cassie is fascinated at the possibilities and can’t help herself. She refuses to let the book go, even when a man approaches to tell them they are in grave danger. He warns there are others that would do anything for the book. From here the story delves deeper into multiple entertaining characters, schemes and twists.

This was an engaging mystery with thrilling twists that will sweep you off your feet and swirl you into the unknown. One that does follow the rules and ties things back together. I would recommend this book and will be purchasing as a gift on release.

Thank you William Morrow for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley.

I am starting to venture into the fantasy genre. The Book of Doors is a great book for that if you're just starting out or for those who are more veteran to the genre. It was suspenseful and built a world based on time travel. At times it did get a little complex and I had to reread areas to make sure I was following. This book does require more concentration and focus than the average page turner. I would not consider this a fast read. It took me longer to get through than most books I read.

The beginning started out strong and I really enjoyed it. Things got a little messy and complicated for me the last 3/4 of the book, but it was still a 5 star read for me! I really enjoyed this book and glad I took a chance.

Thanks to Netgalley and William Morrow for a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Maybe I am a little biased towards time travel books, but I absolutely LOVED this book. Cassie receives the amazing Book of Doors from a friend and it sets her off on a journey around the world and into the past; a journey of joy and pain. Cassie is a fierce, loyal friend to Izzy and I really loved the strength of their friendship throughout the book. Everyone needs a friend like that. I really felt like this book centered on friendships, new and old, and on loyalty. With so many twists and turns and so much uncertainty thrown her way, Cassie relies on her relationships with others to pull her through.
After receiving the Book of Doors, Cassie discovers a whole, magical world. It starts out as a fun adventure, but she soon discovers that some horrors exist as well. With a plethora of magical books, some good and some bad, Cassie fights to make things right.
This book will definitely resonate with fans of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, or at least it did for me and I loved that book as well. I think Cassie was a strong female lead, and I really enjoy books like that. The Book of Doors has adventure, magic, a tiny bit of romance, family, drama, time travel, fantasy and what could be better than a book about books?! Seriously loved this book and cannot wait to read more from this author! Thanks to NetGalley for the advance reader’s copy!