Reviews

Beyond the Black Door by A.M. Strickland

cas_the_poet's review against another edition

adventurous inspiring tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Honestly the Asexual representation in this was so good! I told the people around me as I was reading it that it read like spice, but without any actual spice in it. This truly was a character working through and exploring their sexuality and as a fellow asexual person myself, it was incredibly nice to read a romance that was just as steamy and just as addicting regardless of whether or not their romance ever become sexual.

miss_cheevious's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

belle_fiction's review against another edition

4.0

4.5 stars

I am VERY surprised by the relatively low rating for this book on Goodreads. I thought it was such an enjoyable and fast-paced read, and the sheer amount of diversity was incredible! I loved the asexuality rep a heck of a tonne!

Full thoughts to come.

saracat's review against another edition

4.0

I really enjoyed this book. I love stories with grey characters. Almost nothing in this was black and white. Nothing was as straightforward and simple as the characters sometimes wanted it to be.

I really liked how Strickland laid out all these breadcrumbs for readers to hint at what something might be, but never really give you the final crucial piece until it was time for the main character to finally understand and realize what had been in front of her all along.

I'm definitely looking forward to reading more from Strickland.

rusteepixls's review against another edition

4.0

3.5

i really loved this idea and characters.
i loved the main character and the struggles with self identity she has as an ace / that was really cool to see interpreted in a fantasy setting.

it could’ve been so good
but i didn’t really like the direction the plot went.

rebeshelton's review against another edition

1.0

I just couldn't do it, I could not finish.

I picked this book for my every other month book club. I was honestly excited to pick it up, especially with the blurb about the main character grappling with her asexuality.

There were several things that I just couldn't get into. I agree with several other reviews that the beginning made me uncomfortable. Now listen, I am all for supporting consensual sex work. But the way the pleasure artist was described really made it seem like the author looked down on traditional sex work.

Second, I couldn't handle the relationship between Kamai and Vehyn. There is definitely a huge power dynamic between the two and I don't appreciate or romanticize coercive relationships. I really didn't want to finish the book and find out that Kamai chose Vehyn and her asexuality was immediately gone. (If someone wants to spoil that for me, please do so! I couldn't find any spoilers online).

And last, for a book that has such grand descriptions of places and objects, I just really couldn't make myself care for any of the characters or their dilemmas. I was so bored with the entire fantasy element and even Kamai's sexuality seemed incredibly over-described. The author was definitely a huge fan of telling instead of showing. The point where I gave up was when the reader is shown an actual picture and then we have to read a lengthy description about it. Like, do one or the other, not both. It was several examples of this over-explaining that really made it difficult for me to pay attention to. After trying to trudge my way through this one for 2 and a half weeks, I'm glad I finally gave myself permission to give up!

tiashas's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

4.5

it took a while for me to get into it, read the first half over the course of 8 months but it really picked up by the end of the book. I loved the character development of the main characters as well as Nikha. 

magnetarmadda's review against another edition

3.0

3.5/5 stars

a_meliabedelia's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

If you had a weird, unexplainable attraction to Pitch Black from Rise of the Guardians, this book is for you. 

stressedspidergirl's review against another edition

2.0

It's good to see queer rep and to see it be common place rather than shameful. And I've never seen a book with an ace protagonist before.

I just felt like there was ... very little story or growth or world building in comparison to "oh no I'm broken" and for me that just meant it wasn't one I'll reread.

I would have liked to have known more about the world, the gods, the king and about a million other things than what the book heavily focused on.

I would also recommend it to other people, it was something different, and set in a non west Europe setting, so that was nice. But overall I just... I personally just felt meh about it.