Reviews tagging 'Forced institutionalization'

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow

133 reviews

perifairy's review

adventurous hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Abandonment, Racism, Forced institutionalization, Emotional abuse, Animal cruelty, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Classism, Blood, Colonisation, and Abandonment

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.

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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. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Classism, Forced institutionalization, Racism, Self harm, Blood, and Animal cruelty

Minor: Cursing

Content warnings:

Mild cursing. No on-page spice (only a couple of kisses). There are heavy themes of racism and classism (true to historical records) and some mildly detailed self-harm scenes. The forced institutionalization scenes span through a couple chapters and can be difficult to read at times.

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 decision

to send a letter to Locke

partway through but I suppose she is young and can make poorly thought through decisions 

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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.

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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.

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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

amaranth_wytch's review

adventurous inspiring medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Classism, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Blood, Confinement, Death, Violence, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Animal cruelty, Abandonment, Grief, and Self harm

Minor: Gun violence

jessicarenz's review against another edition

adventurous inspiring 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? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Blood, Gun violence, Self harm, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death, Medical content, Forced institutionalization, Animal cruelty, and Murder

Minor: Toxic relationship, Confinement, and Medical trauma

hilwithonel's review

adventurous 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? No

5.0

The vibes of "The Starless Sea" but I understood what was going on.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization and Animal cruelty

Moderate: Abandonment, Kidnapping, and Racism

Minor: Violence

craftysnailtail's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious 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

I can't get enough of Harrow's style of writing. Her metaphors and descriptions are like nothing I've encountered in writing before. Everything feels lyrical and alive. It's honestly difficult to move on after reading one of her books because it's like I have a book hangover, but in the worst way. I love the story and the characters, but what I can't move on from is Harrow herself. Her style almost ruins reading anything else after finishing a novel of hers.

Overall, I highly recommend this book just for Harrow's style alone, but it's also a fascinating plot with creative and well developed characters. Yes, it starts off rather slow, but that's extremely intentional. Yes, January feels frustratingly naive, but of course she is given her living situation. This book is all about adventure, imagination, and developing your own life's narrative. One of the top books I read all year and I recommend it to everyone!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Grief, Emotional abuse, and Self harm

Moderate: Child abuse, Colonisation, Confinement, Cursing, Death of parent, Sexism, Slavery, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Racial slurs

Minor: Abandonment, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, and Death