Thank you to the publisher for a Netgalley that was one of my most anticipated reads of 2024.

I somehow stumbled upon this book while googling something about books. No one is talking about this February 13 release!

Time travel. Books with magic powers. A thick plot that is superbly written. That is really most of what can be said about this debut novel. Saying too much would ruin the surprises throughout the book and give away spoilers.

Let's just say I absolutely loved it. I loved the characters-- especially Drummond. And I can just picture that cozy Fox library in my head.

The easiest 5 stars I’ve ever given! This book is everything I hoped it would be and more. Absolutely one of my all time favorite reads!

“Any door is every door.”

I watched and waited to see if I would be approved for this arc and the SECOND I saw it on my shelf, I stopped every other book I had going and started this one. I was immediately enveloped in this story, in the characters, in the magic.

Each character is unique and memorable. Cassie, Drummond, Izzy, Lund, dear sweet Mr. Webber…I love each and every one of them. Even the villains, especially “the woman” and Hugo, have been etched into my memory. The emotions this book made me feel is a testament to the thoughtful writing. And the ending, just perfect.

I can’t wait for the book to officially be published so I can have a physical copy in my possession. I know this will be one I re-read multiple times.

Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins for the opportunity to read and review this arc.

3.5 stars

Wow- what a magical adventure.I was immediately drawn to the story, the atmosphere was cozy and whimsical, a ton of action and twists with multiple POVs throughout.

The Plot- a bookseller named Cassie is given a gift by her favorite customer, an unusual book that gives her the power to travel anywhere in the world that she wants. Yet, possessing this book puts her in danger, as the book of doors isn’t the only magical book in existence and people with nefarious intentions are seeking them all.

Writing & Pace- .POV was third person, and jumped from character to character. I think multiple POV can get confusing, The writing is very dreamlike. The pacing of the story speeds up and slows down seemingly at random. Which really bother me. I hated how inconsistent the pace was.

My Thoughts- A fabulous read for booklovers who enjoy an imaginative fantasy novel with engaging characters. The emotion journey Cassie took through the doors was an interesting ride. I loved the concept of this book. It’s execution, however, has left me conflicted. I struggled to connect with the characters. Some of them were downright irritating. The plot had its fair share of holes, and the ending left me unsatisfied.

I would recommend this book to my friends and family.

I received this an advance readers copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Cassie Andrews lives a quiet life working at a bookstore and living with her best friend, Izzy in NYC. When an old man gives her a mysterious book, her life changes. The book is magic and can take her to any door anywhere and everyone wants it putting her and her friend in danger.

The premise of this book was promising. The execution was not good and comparing it to The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue was misleading as this was not that.

1. The character’s decisions didn’t make sense. Everyone was so trusting for a secret society of magic book keepers/lovers.
2. The pace was jerky and so slow. I was 60% into the book before I felt like something of consequence was happening. The back and forth of time lines and locations was very confusing.
3. There were a lot of characters to keep track of.
4. The plot was predictable.

I wanted to like it, unfortunately I didn’t.

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!