A review by le3713
The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow

adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-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? No

4.5

I loved this one! From the very beginning I was marking favorite sentences, like “I ought to introduce Mr. Locke properly; he’d hate to wander into the story in such a casual, slantwise way.”

The book has many heart wrenching moments, and I really didn't know what kind of ending to expect, but I was captivated by January and her companions as well as the concept of Doors and the way they worked in the book. The particular power the written word was given was so appealing to me. It started a bit slow, but I soon couldn't put it down, and wanted to give the book a hug by the end.

Before reading, I saw a lot of comparisons to The Starless Sea, which is a book that didn't work at all for me. I can see the ways in which they are similar, but I found this book much more straightforward in style, while still fantastical, adventurous, and mysterious.

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