Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow

33 reviews

alyssasaurus's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious sad slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racial slurs, Forced institutionalization, Self harm, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Animal death, Cultural appropriation, Death, Blood, Confinement, Death of parent, Animal cruelty, Racism, Xenophobia, Body horror, and Stalking

clarabooksit's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Murder, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Forced institutionalization, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Xenophobia, Grief, Confinement, Sexism, Classism, and Blood

Moderate: Violence, Death, Death of parent, Murder, Animal cruelty, and Gun violence

melancholymegs's review

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Abandonment, Child abuse, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, and Self harm

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Murder, Blood, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Colonisation, Classism, Gaslighting, Gun violence, and Xenophobia

runrina11's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective tense fast-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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment and Xenophobia

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Colonisation

Minor: Forced institutionalization

waytoomanybooks's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

3.0

Harrow writes beautiful prose and excellently nails the desperate longing for something more that every young  woman feels growing up in a world full of adults who make it their mission to squash their spirits. January, Ade, and Jane are brave and strong in the face of prejudice and heartache, and I can't help but sympathize with them on a rather personal level.

The concept of looking for an escape, a way out, a Door is deeply relatable. There is nothing more appealing to me than a door. Especially when that door is old, secluded, or has a special Something that has drawn me to it. I find it difficult to resist the urge to try to open every door I pass, and then I am left wondering what was behind it, even years after I've passed it by. It was so cathartic to see a character who is just like me in that regard, always asking questions and looking for answers.

If there was anything I'd say against it, it's that descriptions of events, people, places, etc. trailed on for too long until it felt as though I was reading a list of adjectives. She's also quite fond of the words "oil," "greasy," "shush," and "bronze." And the ending was rather abrupt.

Overall, I enjoyed this read. And it hits a lot of bullet points in my reading wheelhouse: female MC, historical settings, time travel, magical realism, secret doors/passages, and women on journies.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Physical abuse, Xenophobia, Misogyny, Colonisation, Animal cruelty, Blood, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Gaslighting, Grief, Classism, Confinement, Racism, Stalking, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, and Forced institutionalization

shell_bell's review

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious fast-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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Sexism, Self harm, Blood, Classism, Kidnapping, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

heytherekaity's review

adventurous 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

5.0

 hello yes I LOVE this book!!!!!

do you like portal fantasies? have you ever wished the Wayward Children series were full length books instead of novellas? do you dream of a grown up version of The Magician's Nephew? because if so, WOW do I have the book for you!

The Ten Thousand Doors of January is an absolutely PHENOMENAL book and you should read it as soon as you possibly can!!!

and also Alix E. Harrow is one of my ALL TIME FAVORITE authors and somehow I ended up reading her debut THIRD (I read A Spindle Splintered first, then The Once and Future Witches) and OH MY STARS it's just SO GOOD! her writing style just really works for me and I wish she had at least ten more books for me to read RIGHT NOW! (but there will be more soon and I will wait. patiently. or at least attempting to wait patiently)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Blood, Classism, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Violence, and Xenophobia

jonsnowsmanbun's review

adventurous hopeful 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

4.0

„The will to be polite, to maintain civility and normalcy, is fearfully strong. I wonder sometimes how much evil is permitted to run unchecked simply because it would be rude to interrupt it.“

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Racism, Xenophobia, Animal cruelty, Body horror, and Forced institutionalization

archaicgambit's review

mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

I wanted to love this book. I thought the concept was great. I really struggle with first person and wasn’t connecting to January’s voice, and the first half felt incredibly slow. I liked the passages ‘by’ her dad a lot better? Her parents were definitely my favourite characters.

I also felt the book was predictable in a lot of ways that stifled my enjoyment. I figured most of the reveals out long before January and just sort of felt disconnected because of it. Normally I’m not someone focused on the reveals and wouldn’t mind but it irritated me. 

I wasn’t sold on the romance with Sam until the end bc I thought January wasn’t pulling her weight or really giving him any reason to be interested, but the ending WAS very sweet. I’ll allow it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Racism, and Animal cruelty

Moderate: Xenophobia and Abandonment

librarianmage's review

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Self harm, Racism, and Xenophobia