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ohheyitlex's review
adventurous
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
This book had a dragging start for me.
I didn't feel hooked until afterJanuary escapes the asylum though from then on, I did really enjoy the story! Once all the dots started to connect, and it was made clear that the book she's reading is actually her parent's story and thus hers I thought it was paced very well.
In the end, I love the reveal thatJanuary has been writing her story for Samuel. And how she is truly living her own life and creating her own adventures.
I didn't feel hooked until after
In the end, I love the reveal that
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism and Violence
Minor: Animal cruelty
caits_lh's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Classism, and Abandonment
adequate_squatch's review
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
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? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism
Minor: Animal cruelty
ambb's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.75
Well holy shit. This is one of those books that stays with you for a long time after reading it. From reading The Once and Future Witches I went in with high expectations, and Alix E. Harrow delivered. I love me a strong female lead, and I loved watching her grow and eventually rediscover herself. All the otherworldly aspects of the story were so well done and really sucked me in. I found myself leafing back to connect the dots often, because I really wanted to unravel the mystery. The ending was satisfying and not too “they lived happily ever after”. I do think January could’ve written “He remembers.” and made Samuel remember immediately, but oh well.
I have to add I don’t think the use of the n-word was necessary, especially since the author is white. It was maybe a handful of times and they could’ve very easily been replaced with less harmful terms.
I have to add I don’t think the use of the n-word was necessary, especially since the author is white. It was maybe a handful of times and they could’ve very easily been replaced with less harmful terms.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Forced institutionalization and Self harm
Moderate: Racism
Minor: Murder
r_j_setser's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
This book destroyed my emotions and then repaired them as easy as one opens a door.
The Ten Thousand Doors of January is a deeply emotional coming-of-age novel with a splash of fantasy. While I can't say that it's an "enjoyable" read, it is definitely one that can play your emotions effortlessly and I have no choice by to give it five stars. The writing style is absolutely breathtaking, January is a unique and lovable main character who will always have you rooting for her, and the double time-line makes the plot very engaging.
I never grew tired of the story or lost interest, but there were a few scenes where I had to step away and take a breath just because of the emotional intensity. This book got the closest to making me cry as any book has in a very long time. I will recommend it to anyone looking for a low fantasy, historical novel with a healthy dose of heartbreak and healing.
The Ten Thousand Doors of January is a deeply emotional coming-of-age novel with a splash of fantasy. While I can't say that it's an "enjoyable" read, it is definitely one that can play your emotions effortlessly and I have no choice by to give it five stars. The writing style is absolutely breathtaking, January is a unique and lovable main character who will always have you rooting for her, and the double time-line makes the plot very engaging.
I never grew tired of the story or lost interest, but there were a few scenes where I had to step away and take a breath just because of the emotional intensity. This book got the closest to making me cry as any book has in a very long time. I will recommend it to anyone looking for a low fantasy, historical novel with a healthy dose of heartbreak and healing.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Classism, Forced institutionalization, Racism, Self harm, Blood, and Animal cruelty
Minor: Cursing
Content warnings:hwesta's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I really enjoyed this. Doors to other worlds is always a fun concept.
I figured several things out before the narrator, but I most cases it was plausible that she didn't because the world doesn't normally work on story logic.
I was pretty frustrated with January for making an obviously terrible decisionto send a letter to Locke partway through but I suppose she is young and can make poorly thought through decisions
I figured several things out before the narrator, but I most cases it was plausible that she didn't because the world doesn't normally work on story logic.
I was pretty frustrated with January for making an obviously terrible decision
Content Warnings
Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Abandonment, Confinement, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Classism, Grief, Sexism, and Racism
Minor: Pregnancy
atlantisfrost's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Very slow start, story doesn't pick up until after 30% in. Beautifully written, but also distractingly flowery. Intriguing concept, very reflective, but the plot was thin and stretched out, so I found it a bit boring. The main character was annoying to me, and the others didn't stand out.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm
Moderate: Colonisation, Racism, Gun violence, Animal cruelty, and Forced institutionalization
asahome's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
3.5
A young woman learns the story of her life isn't what she thought it was. In the end, she goes through one of the ten thousand Doors to find her Home.
There is a book within a book. It felt a little like two short stories brought together in one novel with large sections devoted to one story over the other.
There is a book within a book. It felt a little like two short stories brought together in one novel with large sections devoted to one story over the other.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Racism, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Cultural appropriation, Violence, Racism, Colonisation, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Blood, Grief, and Murder
mossbelle's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism
mindsplinters's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
inspiring
fast-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? It's complicated
5.0
Glorious language in a world inspired by all of those portal fantasies that served as a staple to so many of our childhoods. When we are little, we know that words have power. When we get older... we forget. This book makes you remember in the most visceral way as you follow the inner and outer and round-about journey of January Scaller and her mother and her father and her associates. The entire thing is caught midway between a fairy tale and a very real world story of wealth and haves and have-nots. While there is a lot of magic here, not just in the words used by the author or the stuff drawn from the characters' will, there is also a lot of brutal honesty. Even in the other worlds mentioned, there is no shying away from the harsh brutality that might be there. Doubly so with what we readers might reasonably call our own. At the turn of the century (1900, that is), there was a lot going on in the world and not all of it was good. Progress came in two flavors, good and bad, but not everyone can tell them apart. Racism, stratification of society, people actively fighting to stay on top of the heap.
January is witness to it all but only slowly starts to actually understand and realize what it all means. As a character, she has a very long way to grow and go and it is both pleasure and pain to be her companion. Without quite coming out and saying it, the author holds us witness to the emotional abuse and neglect, the masked concern, and care with strings that January endures. We see the flaws; January has to learn to see the poison behind and beneath it all. Understandably, as a complex and very human character, she fights the knowledge at times or backslides. After all, it is sometimes much easier to ignore a door or close it than to deal with what might come through it.
In the end, though, this book is so full of hope and strength and you leave it battered and scarred but with a new determination. As January says (via Alix E Harrow) "I hope to every god you have the guts to do what needs doing. I hope you will find the cracks in the world and wedge them wider, so the light of other suns shines through; I hope you will keep the world unruly, messy, full of strange magics; I hope you will run through every open Door and tell stories when you return."
May we all have the bravery and conviction to STOP being polite when confronted with Wrongness and Evil.
January is witness to it all but only slowly starts to actually understand and realize what it all means. As a character, she has a very long way to grow and go and it is both pleasure and pain to be her companion. Without quite coming out and saying it, the author holds us witness to the emotional abuse and neglect, the masked concern, and care with strings that January endures. We see the flaws; January has to learn to see the poison behind and beneath it all. Understandably, as a complex and very human character, she fights the knowledge at times or backslides. After all, it is sometimes much easier to ignore a door or close it than to deal with what might come through it.
In the end, though, this book is so full of hope and strength and you leave it battered and scarred but with a new determination. As January says (via Alix E Harrow) "I hope to every god you have the guts to do what needs doing. I hope you will find the cracks in the world and wedge them wider, so the light of other suns shines through; I hope you will keep the world unruly, messy, full of strange magics; I hope you will run through every open Door and tell stories when you return."
May we all have the bravery and conviction to STOP being polite when confronted with Wrongness and Evil.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Self harm, Violence, and Animal cruelty
Moderate: Xenophobia and Racism