A review by tonyaf
The Book of Doors by Gareth Brown

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.25

 The Book of Doors by Gareth Brown is a portal fantasy and a book about books, two of my absolute favorite sub-genres of low fantasy. It’s charming, sometimes dark, emotional, magical, and surprising.

First, the plot of The Book of Doors is well-paced and exciting. The chapters are short and easy to fly through. Plus, all the various characters and locations keep the story moving, so that I never felt as if the story had stalled or gotten dull. I enjoy the idea of magic books and I found the concept of them potentially being used as weapons to be fascinating. The story is also full of lots of twists and turns and it managed to surprise me a few times!

The main characters are interesting and there are several relationships - both friendships and potentially romantic - that I genuinely love. The main character, Cassie, has several relationships that I found to be especially touching. Her friendship with her best friend, Izzy, was the book’s highlight for me. I also enjoyed her relationships with Drummond and Mr. Webber. There are also three scenes of her with another character, who I won’t name for spoilers, that I found to be truly moving and emotional.

My only complaint about the book is that the villains sometimes feel a little too one-dimensional. Hugo Barbary, in particular, feels almost cartoonishly evil at times. The Woman also feels a little flat, but since she’s used sparingly and her scenes all portray what a truly evil character she is, it ends up working well within the story.

The Book of Doors is a classic story of good vs. evil that I found to be a very enjoyable read. I recommend it to anyone who loves portal fantasies, books about books, and last year’s Ink Blood Sister Scribe by Emma Törzs!
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