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melancholymegs's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Abandonment, Child abuse, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, and Self harm
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Murder, Blood, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Colonisation, Classism, Gaslighting, Gun violence, and Xenophobia
baknata's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
This book was so enrapturing. The world that Harrow creates is complex and exciting. There were many points where a new element was introduced and I was completely caught off guard. January is a girl who was raised by a wealthy man, Mr. Locke, who employs her father to find rare treasures. This book covers a good part of her life and her discovery of the doors to other worlds. When her father goes missing, her adventure begins as she attempts to find him. Her journey through worlds and finding out about her father is one of many trials. She is accompanied by her protective dog Sinbad, Bad. Given to her by a childhood friend Samuel, Bad is her one companion in the Locke house, until her father hires Jane to be her companion. I loved the way that January evolved throughout the story. She discovered who she was and took back the power taken from her by those in her life who just saw her as a dark-skinned girl. Her story had adventure, mystery, and romance, but it all centered around January finding out who she was and who she wanted to be. This was a dynamic story that had well-developed, complex characters. I love Harrow's writing style and can't wait to read more of her work.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Animal cruelty, and Violence
Moderate: Racism and Self harm
Minor: Confinement, Death of parent, and Domestic abuse
dariusmortee's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Holy shit why haven’t I read this book sooner. It’s so good and magical and exactly in my alley.
I would compare this book to The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern in vibes.
Alix managed to write this book in a way I start to believe there may be actually Doors hidden in our world. It makes me want to go and explore, see if I can end up in different worlds, without minding the risk of ending up in a shitty one. I love how stories are woven through this book it makes it so much more magical.
The Once and Future Witches was my first book by Alix E Harrow and I will absolutely read more if she decides to publish them.
I would compare this book to The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern in vibes.
Alix managed to write this book in a way I start to believe there may be actually Doors hidden in our world. It makes me want to go and explore, see if I can end up in different worlds, without minding the risk of ending up in a shitty one. I love how stories are woven through this book it makes it so much more magical.
The Once and Future Witches was my first book by Alix E Harrow and I will absolutely read more if she decides to publish them.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Classism, Racism, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Confinement, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Death of parent, Slavery, Gaslighting, Torture, Forced institutionalization, and Grief
szuum's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation, Forced institutionalization, Confinement, Death, Gaslighting, Racism, Toxic relationship, Animal cruelty, and Classism
Moderate: Self harm and Sexism
le3713's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
I loved this one! From the very beginning I was marking favorite sentences, like “I ought to introduce Mr. Locke properly; he’d hate to wander into the story in such a casual, slantwise way.”
The book has many heart wrenching moments, and I really didn't know what kind of ending to expect, but I was captivated by January and her companions as well as the concept of Doors and the way they worked in the book. The particular power the written word was given was so appealing to me. It started a bit slow, but I soon couldn't put it down, and wanted to give the book a hug by the end.
Before reading, I saw a lot of comparisons to The Starless Sea, which is a book that didn't work at all for me. I can see the ways in which they are similar, but I found this book much more straightforward in style, while still fantastical, adventurous, and mysterious.
The book has many heart wrenching moments, and I really didn't know what kind of ending to expect, but I was captivated by January and her companions as well as the concept of Doors and the way they worked in the book. The particular power the written word was given was so appealing to me. It started a bit slow, but I soon couldn't put it down, and wanted to give the book a hug by the end.
Before reading, I saw a lot of comparisons to The Starless Sea, which is a book that didn't work at all for me. I can see the ways in which they are similar, but I found this book much more straightforward in style, while still fantastical, adventurous, and mysterious.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Self harm, and Forced institutionalization
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Racism, and Death
izzybell's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm, Confinement, Racism, and Forced institutionalization
Moderate: Animal cruelty
starshine1's review against another edition
mysterious
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Forced institutionalization, and Animal cruelty
Moderate: Confinement, Racism, Sexual harassment, and Slavery
waytoomanybooks's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Harrow writes beautiful prose and excellently nails the desperate longing for something more that every young woman feels growing up in a world full of adults who make it their mission to squash their spirits. January, Ade, and Jane are brave and strong in the face of prejudice and heartache, and I can't help but sympathize with them on a rather personal level.
The concept of looking for an escape, a way out, a Door is deeply relatable. There is nothing more appealing to me than a door. Especially when that door is old, secluded, or has a special Something that has drawn me to it. I find it difficult to resist the urge to try to open every door I pass, and then I am left wondering what was behind it, even years after I've passed it by. It was so cathartic to see a character who is just like me in that regard, always asking questions and looking for answers.
If there was anything I'd say against it, it's that descriptions of events, people, places, etc. trailed on for too long until it felt as though I was reading a list of adjectives. She's also quite fond of the words "oil," "greasy," "shush," and "bronze." And the ending was rather abrupt.
Overall, I enjoyed this read. And it hits a lot of bullet points in my reading wheelhouse: female MC, historical settings, time travel, magical realism, secret doors/passages, and women on journies.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Physical abuse, Xenophobia, Misogyny, Colonisation, Animal cruelty, Blood, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Gaslighting, Grief, Classism, Confinement, Racism, Stalking, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, and Forced institutionalization
carbs4life's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I enjoyed the Harrow’s prose. It had a way of sucking me into this story and it wraps up nicely. Ten Thousand Doors is full of adventure and romance across worlds. The romance is contained to journal entries which I found quite effective and does not distract from the main direction of the plot.
It is an imaginative and interesting story. One that I found myself thinking about when I wasn’t reading. I believe I’ll keep this book on my mind for years imagining the world that Alix Harrow built.
It is an imaginative and interesting story. One that I found myself thinking about when I wasn’t reading. I believe I’ll keep this book on my mind for years imagining the world that Alix Harrow built.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment
Moderate: Forced institutionalization and Racism
Minor: Animal cruelty, Blood, Cursing, and Confinement
isabelmary's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
This book was such a mixed bag for me. The prose was lovely, and the sense of atmosphere the author evokes is wonderful. The path that January takes - from subdued “good girl” to untamed and free - is compelling, but overall I won’t be revisiting this book or investigating the author’s other works.
Some pros:
- Gorgeous prose - describing the Doors and the other worlds etc
- it was nice to have race actually play a realistic role in a historical fantasy
- the ending was satisfying
- the work itself is clearly well crafted with a lot of love
- the premise is great
- the interweaving of the stories works overall
Some cons:
- it took the protagonist a LONG time to realize things that felt very obvious to me, and that was frustrating
- the interpolation of the two different first person narrative accounts felt contrived (For the middle half of the novel, January ends every chapter picking up a book and reading a chapter of it. In some ways this must’ve taken a lot of clever planning to pull off, but it ended up getting a little unlikely and irritating)
- both narratives were written from the character’s future, and both of them take multiple moments to decry the decisions of the past eg “if only I’d been fast enough”…. That stressed me out
- the love interest has no personality of his own and seems to have a totally improbable attachment to her
- the ending confrontation was actually pretty anticlimactic to meLocke was clearly evil from day 1, and January’s shock at realizing that did nothing for me. It was realistic for her, sure, but annoying as a reader. There was no real explanation for how she withstood his will and so his death felt unearned to me
Some pros:
- Gorgeous prose - describing the Doors and the other worlds etc
- it was nice to have race actually play a realistic role in a historical fantasy
- the ending was satisfying
- the work itself is clearly well crafted with a lot of love
- the premise is great
- the interweaving of the stories works overall
Some cons:
- it took the protagonist a LONG time to realize things that felt very obvious to me, and that was frustrating
- the interpolation of the two different first person narrative accounts felt contrived (For the middle half of the novel, January ends every chapter picking up a book and reading a chapter of it. In some ways this must’ve taken a lot of clever planning to pull off, but it ended up getting a little unlikely and irritating)
- both narratives were written from the character’s future, and both of them take multiple moments to decry the decisions of the past eg “if only I’d been fast enough”…. That stressed me out
- the love interest has no personality of his own and seems to have a totally improbable attachment to her
- the ending confrontation was actually pretty anticlimactic to me
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, and Grief
Moderate: Abandonment, Colonisation, Death of parent, and Racism