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4.03 AVERAGE
4.03 AVERAGE
adventurous
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
🚪✨ Book Review
The Book of Doors by Gareth Brown
⭐️⭐️⭐️ (3/5)
What if any door could take you anywhere—even back in time? When New York bookseller Cassie Andrews inherits a mysterious volume called The Book of Doors, her quiet life turns upside down. Alongside her best friend Izzy and the enigmatic Drummond Fox, Cassie discovers a hidden world of magical books—and dark forces desperate to claim them.
👍 The good:
✔️ An irresistible premise for book lovers: a magical book about magical books.
✔️ Time travel + secret libraries + dangerous villains = plenty of intrigue.
✔️ Cassie is an endearing lead, and Drummond adds depth with his shadowy past.
👎 The not-so-good:
- Flat character development—supporting players blurred together.
- Pacing issues (slow in parts, overly drawn-out in others).
- Some dialogue and descriptions felt dated or unnecessary.
- The magic didn't always live up to the premise.
📖 Final thoughts:
With echoes of The Midnight Library and The Ten Thousand Doors of January, this novel is rich in imagination and atmosphere, albeit with some unevenness. While the execution could have used more magic, the concept is undeniably compelling. If you're a book lover who enjoys stories about books, stepping through this door is a delightful adventure.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
adventurous
emotional
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:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I think the premise is really strong and it had a lot of characters I enjoy the concept of but I felt the execution kinda weak in many places. I think this guy has a torture fetish... just a little bit..... I felt that in a lot of places the pacing was awkward and the dialogue kinda cringe. The side characters were a lot more compelling to me then the main ones, I felt our protagonist and her love interest really lacked any spark both individually and between themselves.
I also thought the villain backstory was really weird and convoluted. Was a big "What the hell??? That's so stupid why would you do that!?" Moment when the big origin story was revealed.
I did like how this book is very circular, like the time travel was set up and executed well at least. Some of the better closed loop time travel I've seen! I wish the book leaned into that more.
I think overall this book would've benefitted from committing to a much darker sci-fi tone from the get-go, especially because iirc the whole conception of this book was the (spoiler)time travel shenanigans and clearly this author really likes to write gruesome material. Going into this book with the expectation it's going to be more of an adventurous but high-stakes romp with whimsy and wonder will leave you a bit disappointed I fear, there is very little whimsy to be found.
Strengths: The plot structure, the premise itself. The relationship between (spoiler)our protagonist and the old man from the beginning was genuinely very sweet and definitely the emotional high / throughline of the book to me
Weaknesses: Really flat and annoying characters, actually interesting side characters getting very little screentime or development, the villains being so cartoonishly evil but not in a fun campy way they just kinda. drag. The pacing is all over the place. This guy writes women very weirdly in my opinion. Generally amateurish writing and dialogue
Overall rating it a 2/5 or a 4/10. Not a book to my taste
I also thought the villain backstory was really weird and convoluted. Was a big "What the hell??? That's so stupid why would you do that!?" Moment when the big origin story was revealed.
I think overall this book would've benefitted from committing to a much darker sci-fi tone from the get-go, especially because iirc the whole conception of this book was the (spoiler)
Strengths: The plot structure, the premise itself. The relationship between (spoiler)
Weaknesses: Really flat and annoying characters, actually interesting side characters getting very little screentime or development, the villains being so cartoonishly evil but not in a fun campy way they just kinda. drag. The pacing is all over the place. This guy writes women very weirdly in my opinion. Generally amateurish writing and dialogue
Overall rating it a 2/5 or a 4/10. Not a book to my taste
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Torture, Violence, Murder
Moderate: Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Stalking
Not a bad book, but just not feeling it. Tried pausing and coming back to it, but still couldn't keep my attention. Think I'm just excited to read too many other books
adventurous
dark
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced