I absolutely loved this book! It was fun and interesting and I hated to put it down. This book was a magical with the different things that each book could do.

This is an incredible book for a debut author — it re-created the amazement I felt the first time I read “The Night Circus” or “The Discovery of Witches.” It’s overwhelmingly phenomenal. And it’s a book about time travel — a genre that I usually avoid. Finally, a time travel book that, ahem, makes “sense.” I do expect “The Book of Doors” to be on my favorite books of 2024 list (and it’s only January).

Imagine a library of books capable of creating magic: The Book of Illusion, the Book of Luck, the Book of Shadows, the Book of Destruction, the Book of Light, the Book of Despair, the Book of Joy, the Book of Safety, the Book of Speed, the Book of Pain, the Book of Matter, the Book of Health, the Book of Faces, the Book of Flame, the Book of Mists, the Book of Mirrors, the Book of Consequences, the Book of Answers, the Book of Control, the Book of Doors. Doors? What does that one do? Why do a group of greedy book hunters want that one so badly that they’ll kill for it?

The Book of Doors has fallen into the hands of bookstore clerk Cassie, when sweet old Mr. Webber, a frequent customer who Cassie liked immensely, quietly dies in her shop. He leaves behind a small book, with an inscription meant for her. With her friend Izzy, Cassie discovers the book’s secret: hold onto the book and imagine a world no matter how far away behind a nearby door. Open that door, and you’re in that world — Venice, Paris, Egypt, a rooftop bar. Suddenly Cassie is living her dreams, using the book for travel, wonder and delight, although Izzy has her reservations. Is there a cost to magic?

Of course, using the book means someone might realize the previously rumored Book of Doors is real and out in the open again, so pursuing Cassie and Izzy are Drummond Fox (the Librarian, who warns them about the book); Lottie and her thugs (The Bookseller, a black market middleman); Dr. Hugo Barbary (an awful barbarian living up to his name); and The Woman (once Rachel Belrose, a serial killer even more evil and cruel than Barbary, rejoicing often in the memories of the torture and murder of her parents).

“The Book of Doors” is original, magical, and delightful, but not without tragedy and horror. The villains aren’t cartoonish — they’re ghastly and nightmarish and the action is non-stop. Cassie and Izzy and their newly acquired friends get entangled in a magical battle that enthralled me to the last page. 5 stars! I hope a possible sequel can maintain the amazement.


Literary Pet Peeve Checklist:
Green Eyes (only 2% of the real world, yet it seems like 90% of all fictional females): NO Only Gramps’ blue eyes are mentioned.
Horticultural Faux Pas (plants out of season or growing zones, like daffodils in autumn or bougainvillea in Alaska): NO But every mention of flowers is a moment of joy among scenes that can often be despairing.

Thank you to William Morrow and NetGalley for a free advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review!

A dreamy read where the world lies just one door away.

“The Book of Doors” falls into the hands of Cassie and it’s not long before she uncovers that the strange book has the ability to bring here where she wishes at the turn of a handle. It’s not all fun as she finds herself caught between various parties who wish to use the book for harm or to add to their a deadly collection of other magical volumes and if she’s not careful, the door she’s caught behind might leave her trapped for good.

This was an interesting read and reminded me a bit of The Starless Sea in that sort of whimsy of what a collection of books could do especially in the hands of a reader who longs for adventure and fun but on a humble budget.

The characters were nice with Cassie being given the most it seemed to full develop and grow which makes sense given the context but it did feel at times that some of those supporting characters got the short end rather than were equal parts of the team. This story had a lot of moving pieces and a Leverage style plan that needed to work with everyone doing their part and at times I found myself confused as to who was the good and who was the bad which made things complicated but not distracting.

The story is fun and I wish we got a little bit more of the how or at least there was a more satisfying talent that came with the reveal for the books themselves especially since comments were made about the user and how some pair with it easily but others do not. I think the villain here was interesting and worked very well as this stoic and silent consequence of actions taken and this sort of full circle like moment which tied everything together in a well written bow.

A nice read and one that I think benefits from a second go so you can catch tiny details missed and a very satisfying start to a new year of reads.

**special thanks to the publishers and netgalley for providing an arc in exchange for a fair and honest review**

Ok let’s start here I loved the concept of a book that opens doors but there was a lot to this book that’s made me forget the point of the book. There was a lot of talk about croissants like a lot but it’s ok it was a good book kind of reminded me of the midnight library tbh

✨T H E B O O K O F D O O R S✨
🅶🅴🅽🆁🅴—𝐹𝒶𝓃𝓉𝒶𝓈𝓎/ 𝑀𝒶𝑔𝒾𝒸𝒶𝓁 𝑅𝑒𝒶𝓁𝒾𝓈𝓂
🗓ℙ𝕦𝕓 𝔻𝕒𝕥𝕖—𝔽𝕖𝕓𝕣𝕦𝕒𝕣𝕪 𝟙𝟛, 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟜

✂️ P L O T L I N E
Cassie Andrews is an introverted book lover who works at a book store. One day her favorite customer dies in the store and leaves behind a magical book of doors. Cassie’s possession of this book brings her great joy, but also puts her in lots of danger. Drummond Fox has his own set of magical books and knows all about their ability to cause destruction if they are put in the wrong hands. Cassie and Drummond must team up to protect these rare and powerful books against the evil people who will do anything to possess them.

💭 ⓂⓎ ⓉⒽⓄⓊⒼⒽⓉⓈ
This book had the perfect recipe for a magical and wonderful book. There was so much I enjoyed about this debut novel! Adventure, magic, time travel, and the ability to play with your emotions and make your brain hurt! There was a large cast of characters and I thought each person was well developed and had a purpose being in the story. This story was enchanting and magical and transported you to a place that let your mind wonder while also connecting heavily with your heart. The book was on the longer side and the storyline was very intricate, so parts of the plot line definitely went over my head a bit. But I highly recommend this book for any lovers of time travel and magical realism!

📚 𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎:
💫Books about books📚
💫Time travel🕰️
💫Magic🪄
💫Love and friendship💕
💫Adventure🗺️
💫Mystery🧐
💫Good vs. Evil☯️
💫Twists and turns🔀
💫Chapters with titles📖

🕰️𝕄𝕐 ℝ𝔸𝕋𝕀ℕ𝔾🕰️
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

💕Q U O T E: “𝐻𝒶𝓅𝓅𝒾𝓃𝑒𝓈𝓈 𝒾𝓈 𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝓈𝑜𝓂𝑒𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓈𝒾𝓉 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓌𝒶𝒾𝓉 𝒻𝑜𝓇. 𝒴𝑜𝓊 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝓉𝑜 𝒸𝒽𝑜𝑜𝓈𝑒 𝒾𝓉 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓅𝓊𝓇𝓈𝓊𝑒 𝒾𝓉 𝒾𝓃 𝓈𝓅𝒾𝓉𝑒 𝑜𝒻 𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇𝓎𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝑒𝓁𝓈𝑒. 𝐼𝓉'𝓈 𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝑔𝑜𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝑜 𝒷𝑒 𝑔𝒾𝓋𝑒𝓃 𝓉𝑜 𝓎𝑜𝓊.”

🙏Thank you NetGalley, William Morrow, and Gareth Brown for this ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts. 💕

The premise of the book is magic. A book that opens doors. A book collectors want - badly. It was an interesting but long read.

The Book of Doors is one of those titles that should have worked for me, but didn't. The premise, a magic book that turns any door into all doors, is promising, but it just never really got going for me. I think the issue was the caracters. To me, they lacked depth and were predictable in ways that felt obvious.

This book has been getting enthusiastic reviews, and I'm an outlier here, so I wouldn't base a decision about whether to read this book on my say-so. Look at some of the strongly positive reviews as well, and see the impact those have on you.

I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley; the opinions are my own.

3.5 ⭐️ round up to 4 ⭐️

Cassie Andrew’s was given a book …The Book of Doors. You can open any door and go anywhere. Time travel. This isn’t the only magical book out there. There are people who collect these books to inflict pain and death.

Cassie and her best friend Izzy are suddenly confronted with danger having such a powerful book and the only one that can help them is Drummond Fox. Drummond own’s a secret library full of magical books that people want. He has hidden the library in the shadows so no one can get to these books.

This book was quit the adventure. A few things that kept it from getting a full 5 ⭐️’s is it was too long. There were quit a bit of repetitions. I started skimming at 80 % because it just kept rambling on. Izzy was portrayed as a bimbo which put me off.

All in all it was a fun read. Highly recommend it. I would read another book by this author.

Thank you NetGalley and Transworld Digital for this advanced copy.

I very rarely leave reviews because | don't feel like what I say can do the book justice or that my opinion matters. I'm feeling like this now after finishing The Book of Doors but I want to express how I was beyond enchanted with this book.
The book literally contains the magic of books and I was completely absorbed from beginning to end. I'm stingy with my stars but this definitely deserves the 5 stars I'm giving it. Well done Gareth Brown. I can't wait to see what else you've written. Many thanks to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this wonderful adventure!

I ended up dnfing this book. The premise is interesting, but ultimately I find myself not interested in reading it. I personally found the writing boring.

Thank you NetGalley and William Morrow for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

3/5 stars

This book took awhile for me to get in a groove. The beginning was wordy and long and I was often questioning why I cared or what purpose this had to the plot. Cassie seemed to make bad decisions rather than look at the facts and help herself. Once I got about 60% in, I was hooked and intrigued.

Cassie had grown and learned from her mistake. She now had something to fight for and could realize that her actions did have consequences. I enjoyed watching the plan come together as well as the reunions.

Drummond was just trying to do his best after knowing the damage the books could do. I do think it was a little love at first sight which was slightly annoying.

The main issue I have is that the villain is a villain with no real reason. She just enjoys pain and despair. So it seemed like something was missing when we read her POV since she was just cruel for no reason.

Overall the world setting was interesting and I enjoyed the magic about the doors. I was glad to see Cassie take back her life and bring back the enjoyment of the magic.

Wow. This book is pretty amazing!! Rich characters, lots of mystery and intrigue, and why not, a lot of magic too! You just turn page after page to discover what is going to come next. A good versus evil battle and it all gets wrapped up in a bow at the end, the final aha of the book.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for allowing me to read this ARC.

I won’t be finishing this book. I’m 12% in. The use of profanity is not necessary and could have easily been replaced with other words—more descriptive, less repulsive. It’s too bad.

This is a simply wonderrful story about magical books. It is enormously inventive and entertaining. I couldn't wait to see what would happen next. Any book lover knows that books are doors into other worlds. What if there were a special book that could open a literal door to anywhere you imagined? And any when?
There's a good bit of well conceived and skillfully executed horror. I rooted for the protagonist and loathed the two main villains.
I look forward to reading more by this author.

“‘Don’t waste your life hidden away in your own mind.’”

Well, Mr. Brown, you have an eternal fan in me. The Book of Doors is magical and mystical, dark yet hopeful, wise and perceptive; in short, it’s everything and more. Sometimes the sheer brilliance of his writing stole my breath away. The descriptions were unique and powerful, the settings atmospheric and picturesque, and the emotions intense and raw. I especially loved the time travel debate and the approach he took to the topic as it was so different from most. You’ll find subtle romance, a distinct understanding of the preciousness of books, twists and turns no one could predict despite his beautiful way of foreshadowing, and so much more. At first, the storylines and multiple variables floating around may seem too vast, too many, but in time, you’ll see they’re nothing short of perfect. Finally, I loved the chapter titles almost as much as I loved the dear and sweet Mr. Webber. If you’re a book lover, you’ll find Mr. Brown knows exactly the world to create for you.

P.S. This book is insanely quotable. So much so that my highlights were endless. To choose the quote above, I simply decided to go with the one that spoke to me, not necessarily the one that was most profound.

Thank you to Netgalley, William Morrow, and Gareth Brown for allowing me the pleasure of reading and reviewing this ARC.

I appreciated the relationships in the book. There was enough build up and development to give me an idea of those relationships, but not so much that I knew everything going into reading past the expository. What an imaginative novel!

Cassie, a young woman who works in a New York bookshop, finds one of her favorite customers dead in his chair, holding two books, one a novel he was reading, and the Book of Doors, which he has inscribed as a gift to her. She discovers that the book has the power to transport its owner through any doorway they can imagine to visit any place in the world.
At the same time, the reader is introduced to Drummond Fox, a Scottish librarian, whose job is more dangerous than it sounds. He is pursued by Mr. Azuki and his bodyguard, who are hired by the person known only as the Woman. There are other titles mentioned, the Books of Joy, Luck, Dispair, Destruction, and others, each volume having its own special magic.
Normally, this would be the kind of book I enjoy, full of magical books and the people who love them. It is not badly written, but I had to stop reading 27% of the way through (my unpublished Kindle copy had no pagination beyond "locations" and percentages) because it was making me feel sick.
I had already felt disappointed by the characters. Cassie, who I assume is supposed to be the main character, seems oddly limited. I learned that she is an orphan who has traveled widely and now lives a life full of small pleasures and not much hope. I found it difficult to relate to a person whose imagination seems oddly stunted. When she discovers the magical powers of her new book, she spends every spare moment revisiting her favorite travel destinations (watching a sunrise in Prague or having coffee and a croissant in Paris) or opening a doorway to allow her to visit the scene of a postcard sent to her from Egypt. When she brings her friend, Izzy, with her, they travel to a rooftop restaurant in Japan or use the book to get back to work before Cassie's break is over. I found myself wishing Cassie could come up with something more interesting to do. There are, after all, sunrises and croissants in New York. She never engages with any of the people in the places she visits or takes advantage of any of the cultural opportunities. Even the Japanese restaurant (which moves her to declare that the city is much more impressive than New York) doesn't tempt her to try any of the food.
Drummond Fox, the Librarian, who seems to spend all his time hiding from the Woman who wants to steal the books in the famous Fox Library, seems colorless. He is handsome when he smiles and has a brogue. That's all I learned from reading about him.
Izzy is beautiful and stylish and worries that using the Book of Doors might be dangerous. She is right to worry.
This brings me to the reason I had to stop reading less than a third of the way through.
The Woman is a horrible person who lives to steal books and inflict pain on other people. That's her whole life.
When she sees a happy little girl walking with her mother, the Woman uses the Book of Dispair to destroy her happiness, permanently and completely, for no other reason than that she can.
She derives no pleasure from any of her books, except that of ownership and their ability to hurt others. In a moment of introspection, she wonders what she will do when she has stolen all the magical books and killed their previous owners.
She lives in a decaying house that belonged to her parents, who are buried on the property along with many other hapless victims. The reader learns that when she was a girl, the Woman's parents took her on a trip to New York City, where she was changed. While I was curious about what might have caused the change, the description of how she tortured her innocent mother over several months before burying her next to her equally blameless father creeped me out so badly that I could not bear to read any more. Life is too short. Perhaps if I were more invested in the other characters I might have pushed on, but since I didn't care about any of them enough to continue, I stopped reading The Book of Doors before it gave me nightmares.
While I feel badly about not finishing a book given to me by NetGalley in exchange for a review, I refuse to subject myself to something so unpleasant and so lacking in other redeeming qualities.

I loved the concept of this book. It’s execution, however, has left me conflicted.
The first 20 % of the book bored me. The pacing felt off- rushed- and the characters were very flat. I didn’t like the main character until about 50 % percent of the way in, but then I loved her. That’s also about the point that the story became much more detailed and vivid and finally drew me in, and I couldn’t put the book down.
The dialogue between characters often felt clunky and awkward; the phrasing often struck me as “off” too. There were quite a few scenes that were much gorier than I expected.
I think this book had the potential to be great; but instead is just good, and that’s why I feel so torn. However, I would definitely recommend it to others.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A great debut.
Enter a world where books have magic. Special books with a singular power. One that can be used to give or take away pain, one to travel, to heal, cast illusions, and so on. The book of doors where any door is every door.
Cassie works at a local bookstore. The night where she finds the book of doors is the night that one of her old customers, Mr. Webber passes away. When the police and coroner leave his copy of The Count of Monte Cristo is there along with another books she has never seen or heard of. She finds out that she can travel to anywhere she wishes. Any door can be used as a portal to another as long as she thinks and concentrates. Egypt, Vencie, Prague, London, you name it she can go.
I found that I was super fascinated with this story. I really liked the plot and sometimes in certain areas where I struggled a little bit to get through, it got kind of repetitive, I was still needing to know what happened in the end. I may have cried a few times as there were a few parts that definitely made me sad. But overall, I really liked the book. I really enjoyed the magic system as I haven't read anything exactly like it before. I hope to see and read more from Gareth Brown in the future.

A book that combines my love for, well, books… but also ✨ magic ✨ is a book I already know I need to be reading.

This one started a bit slow for my liking, mostly because I was trying too hard to piece together how the individual parts and characters were related. By the end of part one I feel like the pace picked up and I was completely invested in the world and learning more about these magical books.

I LOVED this book!! I highlighted so many quotes and passages and genuinely felt so connected to the characters as I was reading. This was a really interesting spin on time travel that I think most readers will really enjoy!

Thank you to Netgalley and the author for my copy of this ARC to read and review.