Reviews with content warning for Death - The Ten Thousand Doors of January

Doors introduce change. And from change come all things: revolution, resistance, empowerment, upheaval, invention, collapse, reformation - all the most vital components of human history, in short. p.52

4.5 stars

In this book, Harrow kept to two central themes: the power of doors and the power of words. Both of these were used, separately and in conjunction, to weave a powerful story about family, love, and belonging. The Ten Thousand Doors of January is a story that unfolds slowly and satisfyingly - something like a mystery in which the puzzle isn't too complicated necessarily, but rather like you were sitting too close to it to see how the pieces all fit together. But when they do come together, and you see the full picture? My heart could barely take it.

Something that I particularly enjoyed were the characters. Harrow wasn't afraid to make her characters flawed, and truly flawed. Because that's how life works, sometimes you can be a good person for some people and not for others. I could see how much January wanted to forgive people who had done her wrong. It took a lot to rewrite her attachment to them. It was frustrating and heartbreaking but also perfectly encapsulating of the human experience.

I loved how Harrow depicted the racism that January experienced throughout the story. It was so expertly weaved into her interactions with strangers. Not in-your-face, but never something to be forgotten either. It was in how people treated her with suspicion...until they saw her white companions. It was in how when she had money, she was unique, like a zoo exhibit, but when she didn't have money, she was distrusted.

I also really loved Harrow's commentary on old, rich, white men feeling entitled to the treasures of other places, but also fearing that those people and those cultures could threaten their own position in society. "There is nothing quite like the anger of someone very powerful who has been thwarted by someone who was supposed to be weak." I thought it was genius that these villains took different shapes. Cartoonish and gun-wielding, to personable and subtly manipulative. In some ways this book made me sad, because it so perfectly reflected a lot of what's wrong with the world today. But it was also empowering to see a young girl who'd grown up blind to these wrongs come into herself and feel determined to set them right.

What brought this book down just a little bit for me was that it was definitely slow to get into at first. I think the payoff was immensely rewarding, but it was a really slow start that was, in part, due to the switching between the two stories. Again, incredibly worth it once all of the pieces came together, but a little dry at first.

But circling back to the two main motifs. Doors, of course, are central to the story. Both as literal passageways between worlds, but as mechanisms to stifle one's freedom. If doors are a passageway, words are the means of transportation. If doors are a barrier, words are a means of escape. The portal magic felt whimsical and crazy, but also incredibly grounded. And the worlds that Harrow created behind the doors were really unique and well-built. I would eat up a book that took place entirely in the City of Nin.

Tl;dr this was a really magical book with cohesive motifs and a very tightly written plot, even if it took a few chapters to kick into gear. Definitely one I'll be revisiting in the future!

Content Warnings

clarabooksit's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional 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

4.75

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szuum's review against another edition

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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

le3713's review against another edition

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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.

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elliebeemellie's review against another edition

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adventurous dark medium-paced

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

4.5

This book was terrible and lovely and exactly the sort of bittersweet adventure I wanted so badly as a child. The beginning was slow, but the writing turned lovely, and I loved the exploration of deliciously complicated character relationships. I can't say too much without spoiling bits of the book, but the story explores themes about love and abuse and neglect in really interesting ways.
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“There's only one way to run away from your own story, and that's to sneak into someone else's.”

"Worlds were never meant to be prisons, locked and suffocating and safe. Worlds were supposed to be great rambling houses with all the windows thrown open and the wind and summer rain rushing through them, with magic passages in their closets and secret treasure chests in their attics."

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