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A review by carlyxdeexx
The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow
4.0
I saw the cover of this book and was immediately fascinated by it—my friend and I spent a good part of BookCon trying to get to its giveaways, and we were lucky enough to snag advance copies. Honestly, I’m not sure I was as entranced by the story as I was by its cover, but it was still a pleasure to read.
I don’t want to give away too much about the events of the book, so I won’t speak too specifically. There is magic of a sort and it’s creatively explored and executed throughout the book. The cast of characters is compelling, and the narrator’s voice is very strong and certainly makes an impression—it may not be appealing to everyone. The villains are certainly relevant and tie directly into current anxieties though the book is set in the distant past.
A notable thing about this book is that we see our protagonist in a lot of situations she is ill-equipped for. There aren’t many (or any, really) easy solutions for her. I wonder sometimes how I would fare if I were suddenly thrown into a life-or-death magical scenario, whipped out of the comforts of my routine and daily life with no guide on what to do or who to listen to or how this whole thing will all end. January encounters an upheaval like this and I think her responses and actions are deeply realistic and informed more by a desire to see her grow than to see her succeed. I enjoyed that aspect of the book even as I gritted my teeth and hoped for better outcomes, because it was fresh to be so unsure of January’s fate and whether or not her decisions would land her in a bigger predicament.
If you’re someone who likes stories about stories, stories about writers, stories as magic, you’ll likely be very fond of this one. It touches on racism and has a fairly diverse cast, which seemed to be a very deliberate choice. All in all, like I said, I enjoyed reading it!
I don’t want to give away too much about the events of the book, so I won’t speak too specifically. There is magic of a sort and it’s creatively explored and executed throughout the book. The cast of characters is compelling, and the narrator’s voice is very strong and certainly makes an impression—it may not be appealing to everyone. The villains are certainly relevant and tie directly into current anxieties though the book is set in the distant past.
A notable thing about this book is that we see our protagonist in a lot of situations she is ill-equipped for. There aren’t many (or any, really) easy solutions for her. I wonder sometimes how I would fare if I were suddenly thrown into a life-or-death magical scenario, whipped out of the comforts of my routine and daily life with no guide on what to do or who to listen to or how this whole thing will all end. January encounters an upheaval like this and I think her responses and actions are deeply realistic and informed more by a desire to see her grow than to see her succeed. I enjoyed that aspect of the book even as I gritted my teeth and hoped for better outcomes, because it was fresh to be so unsure of January’s fate and whether or not her decisions would land her in a bigger predicament.
If you’re someone who likes stories about stories, stories about writers, stories as magic, you’ll likely be very fond of this one. It touches on racism and has a fairly diverse cast, which seemed to be a very deliberate choice. All in all, like I said, I enjoyed reading it!