Reviews tagging 'Blood'

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow

91 reviews

fantastiskfiktion's review

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad medium-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Racism

Moderate: Pregnancy and Death of parent

alanahcw's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced

5.0

This book is perfect. 

My heart is full and hungry for more Doors. Thank you so much for opening this one, Alix Harrow. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, and Self harm

Moderate: Racism, Abandonment, and Blood

se_wigget's review

adventurous emotional 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? Yes

5.0

Exquisite fantasy novel!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Physical abuse, Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Confinement, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Blood, Forced institutionalization, Racism, Bullying, Classism, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Violence

merbears's review against another edition

adventurous inspiring mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Self harm, Racism, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Death of parent, Colonisation, Classism, Xenophobia, Blood, Confinement, Gaslighting, Animal cruelty, Cultural appropriation, and Death

Minor: Misogyny, Pregnancy, Sexism, and Murder

cardlikecredit's review

adventurous dark emotional reflective 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

5.0

This book was really really beautiful. The concept was kind of mystifying at first but it really keeps you in suspense and wraps up pretty nicely at the end. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Murder, Mental illness, Confinement, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Blood, Animal cruelty, Gun violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Colonisation and Racism

sareidle's review

adventurous inspiring mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Cultural appropriation, Blood, Self harm, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Racism, Gun violence, and Forced institutionalization

norspider's review

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.25

You can visit other worlds if you're very, very brave.

The Ten Thousand Doors of January mostly follows January Scaller, a young girl growing up as the ward of a wealthy and eccentric collector. Her days are spent in hazy boredom, missing her father while he works. Until one day, January stumbles upon a door that opens to another world. From then her life is a series of searches, upheavals, chases, and escapes. 

The first time I read Ten Thousand Doors I stopped after the first chapter. It was good, just not the story I was looking for at the time. Almost a year later I picked it up again and devoured it. The writing is beautifully imaginative and vivid (too much, at times). Each world you visit feels real and lived-in. The characters described with such depth you can almost touch them. The story could have been told in fewer words, but it is such a rich experience the way it is. 

I would have followed January and Bad through another 10,000 Doors. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Forced institutionalization, and Classism

Moderate: Racism, Blood, Animal cruelty, and Death of parent

Minor: Violence

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

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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Classism, and Abandonment

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.