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

"Once there was a brave and temeraryous (sp?) girl who found a Door. It was a magic Door that’s why it has a capital D. She opened the Door."

Set (mostly) in the early 1900s in (mostly) Vermont, The Ten Thousand Doors of January tells the (mostly) coming-of-age tale of January who longs to join her father on his artifact-hunting trips but is stuck being raised in luxury and on display by their wealthy benefactor-collector, Mr. Locke. It is, of course, about so much more than that: a possibly real magic Door, a possibly evil Society, an impossible love story, the impossible power of words, the possibilities of courage and progress.

I'm a sucker for a portal fantasy and this is such a good one! The narrative follows an unusual format, which might weigh down some readers, but I loved the dimension it adds and the way it drew me into the experience.

Content notes: racism, bigotry, confinement (to room, closet, mental asylum, bed, with and without restraints), tattooing and cutting, knife and gun violence, death, vampire, mind control

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jonsnowsmanbun's review

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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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sha_keiraa's review

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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? Yes

5.0

absolutely one of the best books i have ever read. made me cry, beautifully written

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keen's review

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense

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

4.0

I started this book with an intensely negativity mindset for several reasons. 1) I do not like historical books. I find them to be either boring or painful to read. 2) Connecting to 1, historical books that address racism and sexism can be triggering for me, as a trans-masc black person. 3) I simply found the start of the book to be interesting, but boring, disappointing me based on talk about it being adventurous portal fantasy.

I've just finished reading and my heart is tight in my chest. It hasn't made me cry, but it was right on the edge of it. I don't have good words to describe why I liked the story overall. It's more several small parts that built up into me caring deeply about the story. But to summarize:

The racism aspect of the book was what made me immediately connect to January. Both of us struggle with our race being ambiguous, causing people of all races to be unsure of how to approach us. I would've preferred to not focus on it at all, but that would have significantly changed the story. Honestly, I was surprised the author is white. Her depiction of racism was so natural. Better yet, characters of different skin tones are described, not only dark or unnatural skins. I've seen it be far too common that only dark and alien skins will be described, implying that the default skin tone is white and doesn't need to be mentioned for a character description. This was immensely refreshing.
Similarly, the way mental health and abuse was handled was so realistic that it was actually triggering. I had to put the book down to recover a few times. This was an awful experience for me, but I think this is a bonus to the book. I rather be hurt by how accurately a book portrayed a toxic relationship, causing me to further relate to a character, than to see it handled badly.
I was pleasantly surprised to see a prominent LGBT character in the story. It's not lingered on long, but it's made explicitly clear. There's also a small mention of a two old men holding hands.
I can't say that I found Samuel particularly interesting as a character, but I enjoyed him. I wasn't expecting much for a story that's not focused on romance, anyway. Him and January have a nice dynamic, with their relationship not developing in a straight line. Also, he's not Prince Charming. January gets a lot of agency in what she wants. This story has a strong focus on women being courageous and powerful and how those are attractive qualities.
Above could be said for a lot of the characters in this story. I appreciate that relationships in the book are explicitly complicated. I'm very happy that a story about family and your place in society didn't make relationships one-dimensional. Friendships and family in this book feel so grey that there's not a lot of room on how to handle a situation in a "good" or "bad" way.

Aside from my issue with the slow start to the book, the only had bad thing that stands out to me is how impulsive and reckless January can be. At the same time, that could be said for a few characters, and in the context of the book, it makes sense. Also, she's a teenager, so shouldn't expect some ground-breaking planning skills when going through a terrifying situation.

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melshoo's review

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

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