Reviews - The Book of Doors

7.26k reviews for:

Magical books and time travel seemed right up my alley, so I was very excited to read The Book of Doors by Gareth Brown, but ultimately was left feeling a bit let down by both the plot and the main characters.

Reminiscent of Locke and Key, Cassie inherits a magical book that is able to open doors. Any door that she can picture in her mind. As with any magical object, there are others out there seeking what she has acquired and in fact, her Book of Doors is only one of many different magical books that exist in the world, all of which are highly sought after. The doors that Cassie opens in her attempt to understand the book that she holds possession of lead her not only to different countries, but through space and time itself.

This novel had all the potential for a very cool story. Magical books, time travel, and a bunch of truly evil villains on the hunt. However, my enjoyment of the book was hampered by the main character Cassie being incredibly insipid. Her dialogue was not only juvenile, but her actions continually put those that she cared about in harm's way for very very stupid reasons. Her relationship with Drummond felt forced and neither of them were very likeable. As a whole, all of the characters, save one, seemed very cookie cutter for their roles. The only exception to this was the main villain, whom, I have to admit, was purely evil and exceptionally well written and developed. The plot itself was a bit slow and meandering, but the time travel aspect was handled well. The main plot twist was a bit unbelievable, but that was simply because of the way the main character handled certain revelations.

Overall, I feel like the novel could not decide if it wanted to be pure fantasy, horror, or a cozy mystery and wanted to avoid commitment to check off as many genres as possible. I think that the storyline would have worked best as a pure horror novel with magical realism elements. The author clearly knows how to write villains and should stick with what is a clear talent for it in future novels.

Recommended for fans of Locke and Key and cozy(ish) fantasy - there is quite a bit a violence, but zero spice. For most readers, this will be an easy escapism read.

Thank you to NetGalley, Gareth Brown, and William Morrow for an advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review.