This is such a beautiful book. Stepping through the void to find adventure and love. I was hooked from the beginning, and have already preordered it i loved it that much

I was very excited to get a NetGalley of this book, after hearing about it for quite some time, and I must say, it didn't disappoint. It's not necessarily the sort of book I normally read, but that's part of the fun!

This is, first-off, a gorgeously-written book. It has an effortlessly beautiful narrative style, for not just the primary narrator, but the secondary as well. Yes, there's two, and the book-with-a-book style works very well, too, skilfully tied together and progressing hand-in-hand and revealing their twists at just the right time. The lush prose and strong voice gets you through a bit of a slow start, where the narrator promises much but is slow to deliver the actual surprises. Once it gets going, though, it becomes very hard to put down...

It has a very classic feel to it, albeit with 21st C sensibilities. Part of this is the turn-of-the-(20th)-century setting, which influences the voice, but seems to have also have influenced the style of the story itself. We have a young not-quite-orphan with a brave, absent parent; a stern, rich guardian; a loyal pet; and many secrets to uncover. All sorts of classic children's stories come to mind - and this isn't a bad thing - though this isn't quite a children's story, though it doesn't feel that far off a classic YA (the language may be a bit rich for a modern YA? I'm not an expert).

The characters and the fantasy elements are the icing on the cake, here, blending wonderfully with the classic setting and style, shaking it up and making it a truly modern fantasy. I'll leave it for you to explore, but it's clear why there was such buzz about this book, and I wouldn't be surprised if it makes a big splash.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

I really enjoyed the premise of this book and it certainly lived up to what I expected. It started off a bit slow for me and I was certainly confused for the first half of the book but it was certainly setting it all up to be really intriguing.

There was a specific reveal that made me realise where the book was actually going and what was trying to be achieved. It was really clever how it was a book being read inside a book I was reading. This was a really interesting way of telling a story.

The language was beautiful and the description was fabulous. I really connected with the main character January and I really enjoyed following her story and I really felt for her at parts of the book.

Overall a very enjoyable, rounded book and beautifully written.

★★★✰✰ 3 stars

“Reason and rationality reigned supreme, and there was no room for magic or mystery. There was no room, it turned out, for little girls who wandered off the edge of the map and told the truth about the mad, impossible things they found there.”


Readers who have yet to dip their toes in the vast sea of YA fiction will probably enjoy The Ten Thousand Doors of January more than those who are well acquainted with this popular genre.

In spite of its first promising chapters, The Ten Thousand Doors of January never quite reaches its full potential.
The premise of the book called to mind Seanan McGuire's Wayward Children series—which also stars 'magical' doors—and the more adventure/travelling oriented YA such as Alexandra Bracken's Passenger. The start of The Ten Thousand Doors of January, with its focus on the relationship between a young child and her guardian, held echoes of Philip Pullman's The Golden Compass and Cornelia Funke's The Inkheart Trilogy: Inkheart, Inkspell, Inkdeath. What followed sadly lacked the magic of these two series and throughout my reading of The Ten Thousand Doors of January I had the impression that it's the kind of book that doesn't know wherever it's aimed towards middle-grade or young adult readers...it stars cartoonish characters that would be more suited to a MG while also trying to address more serious themes, all the while attempting to establish a complex 'magical' system.

The Good
Occasionally I do like to first address the good things—or to be more accurate, the things I personally liked—in a book. In the case of The Ten Thousand Doors of January that would be the writing style. Alix E. Harrow's writing style was the best aspect of her debut novel.

“Books can smell of cheap thrills or painstaking scholarship, of literary weight or unsolved mysteries.”


The first-person point of view allows for a compelling and engaging narrative, a narrative which our protagonist is aware of:

“I ought to introduce Mr. Locke properly; he'd hate to wander into the story in such a casual, slantwise way.”


This awareness creates many charming moments as she intersperses her narrative with many amusing asides, for example telling us what she thinks of certain words or sayings: “After that, our fates were more or less sealed (a phrase that always makes me picture a weary old Fate tucking our futures into an envelope and pressing her wax seal over us).”
The openness of January's storytelling is incredibly effective as it holds the reader's attention and makes us sympathise with her.

“But, as Mr. Locke so often complained, I could sometimes be quite improper, wilful, and temerarious (a word I assumed was unflattering from the company it kept).”


That she often refers to existing stories/tales of children wandering into magical realms or such places acknowledges the intertextuality of her own story.

“People never got to stay in their Wonderlands, did they? Alice and Dorothy and the Darlings, all dragged back to the mundane world and tucked into bed by their handlers.”


And it is the very way that January recounts her own story that kept me interested...it was also nice to follow her character growth. Due to her father and her own appearance (she is described as having coppery-red skin) she is pegged as 'no good'. Because of this, January does try to meet expectations of respectable femininity, an attitude which—as she herself notes later in her narrative—will hinder her future independence. We could see the way her circumstances affected and shaped her.

The Not so Good
Although I loved the portions recounted by January herself, incorporated in her narrative are sections from a book that she is reading...called The Ten Thousand Doors. These sections were boring and led to a very predictable reveal.
The magical doors that we are promised in the summary of....do not really make a 'proper' appearance as we are told of the adventures of other characters in a very rushed and indirect manner. I was hoping that the story would follow January's adventures but that wasn't the case. She reads of other people's adventures, and it is only it last 20% or so that she actually gets to do something more enterprising.
The book she reads is supposedly written by a scholar but it just seemed pale when compared to January's own narrative. While her voice is engaging and genuine, the book she's reading never really convinced me. It seemed to be trying for a similar effect as January's sections but the 'author's' voice failed to come across as believable or even as belonging to an actual individual.
The magic system, in other words the Doors, was poorly explained and explored. Parts that should have been more detailed and fleshed out are rushed over so that we never get a clear picture of how a Door works, we know they introduce “change”, which is a very generic way of defining them.
There is little to no action and, with the exception of January, the characters we are introduced to never seemed very fleshed out. Some had very inconsistent personalities while others, such as the love interest, were painfully dull additions. And it isn't great when as soon as we are introduced to a character we know the role they will play. Take for example this love interest. As soon as the words “childhood friend” and “boy” appeared on the page it was quite obvious that he would form a romantic attachment to January. His main two qualities are: he is Italian and he likes January. That's about it (his name/appearance/personality are pretty much irrelevant).
I think that having more characters would have filled up the backdrop of January's non-adventures a bit more. Maybe it could have detracted from the overall one-sidedness of two or three people in her life. Other than January there are mainly two other female characters, and they seem to share the same I-am-sort-of-empowered personality. With the exception of January's father and her love interest all men sort of suck, seeming closer to caricatures of evil men rather than actual evil men.
The story had very little to it. While I loved January's narrative voice, I disliked the way the writing would sometimes use metaphors or description that seemed to exist merely to meet certain YA aesthetics (we have the typical overabundance of colours: “I dreamed in gold and indigo”; as well as descriptions alluding to 'glitter/shards': “The thought was dizzying, intoxicating—I'd already broken so many rules tonight, left them smashed and glittering in my wake—what was one more?”).

Overall
The summary and first few chapters lead to disappointment. The simplified vision of evil, the boring and wafer-thin side characters, and the poorly developed 'Doors' all left me with a not so great impression of this book.

I fell in love with the cover and then I slowly fell in love with the book. It took three times to get hooked because I started then stopped and restarted because I couldn't stop thinking about this book.
The style of writing is amazing and hypnotic, I was fascinated by how the writer crafted the phrases and fleshed the characters.
The main issue was the pace: it's slow and this is not a book you can read fast because it takes quite a huge number of pages before something happen and it's not only a a telling of January growing up.
The style of writing made come back and after a while I got the prize, the book started to be more engrossing and then I was hooked.
Take your time, savour the words and you're in for a wonderful travel in an amazing world.
Recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

After growing up under the watchful eye of her wealthy benefactor, Cornelius Locke, who employs her father to travel the world in search of unique oddities and treasures to add to his growing collection, January Scaller can’t help but feel part of the furniture: well kept but mostly ignored. However, when her father disappears, she discovers a book that sends her into the new worlds which lay behind secret doors. With an unlikely crew including the grocer’s son and a mysterious woman hired by her father, January begins her search which will ultimately question what she knows and the world around her.

It’s been a few days between finishing the book and writing the review you read now, and I’m kept thinking about it. So I’m not even sure how to explain what worked so well with this book. I didn’t even have any expectations for this book, and its cover mainly enticed me. However, when I finished reading, I was utterly enthralled. The open concept of the story seems so simple, but Harrow does such a great job at making it so unique, spinning a tale of love and loss and finding yourself after a long time. The characters stood so well on their own, but when they come together, they are a team to adore. This book is what I’d call a quiet read: nothing loud nor brutal. Harrow creates such an atmospheric tone that shone through this book entirely. As a child, a common daydream of mine was finding doors to new worlds, so January’s journey truly felt like a love letter to my own childhood dream.

January is a young girl who feels lost until she accidentally discovers a book that opens her world beyond the Locke estate. Set in the early 1900s, January is aware of her privilege and her ability to live a life of wealth that most mixed-race girls would never have been granted. I also appreciated that the book didn’t shy away from racism, classism and sexism, especially for the period its set in. She discovers the existence of Doors that open into new worlds and learns about the true circumstance of her family history. Reading this book felt quite dreamlike, the writing so lyrical and immersive, a calling to those who wish to wander to lands beyond our wildest dreams.

January as our protagonist is incredible, a fish out of water and must survive on her own for the first time in her life. I felt for her need to leave and discover life on her own terms. Jane, hired by January’s father, is equally compelling. Samuel, the grocer’s son, is lacking in characterisation but can’t really give it much fault as he isn’t as crucial to the story as the two leading ladies. The book also follows two others: Adelaide and Yule Ian, two people who cross many worlds to find each other, their story the most heartbreaking in my opinion. The villains are corrupted, faceless men who move in the shadows they have created, and are hellbent on making sure January doesn’t bring a flame to their power.

Overall, I adored the Ten Thousand Doors of January. A charming and magical adventure about a girl who persevers in the face of resistance. A story I didn’t know I needed, but I will appreciate for a long time.

The blurb for The Ten thousand doors of January is one of those that do not quite do justice to the true magic that within the pages. Most would read it and think they are going to depart on a rich portal fantasy. This is both utterly true and completely false all at the same time. The Ten thousand doors of January is like no other portal fantasy I have read before. It is a complex and beautifully woven tapestry of tales of growning up, finding yourself, finding your souls home, tales of family and friendship and of course the magic of other worlds.

The writing in this book is everything. It is actually dual perspective but in the most fascinating of ways, we have January’s tale a recounting of her life, encountering Doors (with a capital) and how they changed everything she knew, but also we get the chapters of the mysterious book January encounters. It starts as an Academic Dissertation of the Theory of such Doors and dissolves into the personal journey of that books writer. These two perspectives and their stories become linked in such an intricate and balanced yet delicate manner, as you the reader move through both stories, that in itself is truly magical.

The glimpses we get bind some of the Doors is filled with rich descriptions and depth of emotion, that hint at so much more being contained behind them with all of their own stories, if only we could spend more time there. In fact my only criticism is I wish there was more worlds to explore and more time spent in them. Then again, that would make this a very different and probably slightly less magical book.

While the world building is delicious, I would say this is more of a character driven tale. It’s about the relationships January his built throughout her life, those she has lost and wishes to regain, those that are not what she originally thought. It’s about her growing up and finding herself. I enjoyed January as a character, she didn’t fall into the “chosen one” instead she learned and grew over time, established herself and her relationships. The questioning of what makes the villain and Villain (capital V) is also an interesting aspect. It questions a lot of these sorts of aspects and that’s what makes these characters interesting.

The pacing is slow but not in a detrimental way. Instead it allows you to savour moments, pick up on connections and see how everything intertwines in such a natural and conversational way. It has dashes of romance, of magic, of mystery all in the right places to keep the pages turning. Harrow manages to project a feeling of bittersweet melancholy with the golden lining of hope that is just gorgeous to read. The whole book just has that lovely comforting feeling of something magical and warming, sweet but not sickly. It is lyrical, imaginative and quite possibly my favourite read of the year!

Finally, The Ten Thousand Doors of January is a story about books, about stories and about words. It’s about the power all of these have to change a persons thoughts, feelings, circumstances. How they shape knowledge, how they can transport a person somewhere entirely and how they can have impact in people lives. There is a hidden love letter to tales, stories and books buried within the pages of this story. As a passionate reader myself this resonated with me, it sung a song I recognised so strongly. From the first page I knew I had encountered something special, by the end of that page I had pre-ordered the book, and by the last page I was glad I had. It’s just beautiful.

5 of 5 stars
https://lynns-books.com/2019/09/09/the-ten-thousand-doors-of-january-by-alix-e-harrow/
Oh my giddy aunt – this book just blew me away. It’s like a love letter to fantasy fiction readers. It left me thinking of so many things all at once and put me in mind of Narnia, Wonderland, Pan’s Labyrinth and Middle Earth whilst being nothing like any of those things. A book of infinite possibilities filled with doors, locks and keys and wonderful characters. This is a literary masterpiece that is just begging to become a classic and by the time I put this down I had goosebumps breaking out and tears threatening to spill. The only problem I now have is how to write a review that does this book justice.

Well, I’ll start off with my one issue or possible criticism – simply to get it out of the way early and to give you a hint of what you might expect. This is a book with a slow start. I would say it took me almost 30% of the story to become really invested – now that might sound a bit much but maybe take that with a pince of salt because I can be something of an eager beaver when I first start a new book and the early chapters, whilst beautifully written are primarily setting up the stall. We meet January and are introduced to her special circumstances. January and her father live under the care of an incredibly wealthy man named Locke. Locke has a huge estate and his mansion is packed to the rafters with antiquities. January’s father is employed by Locke to recover ancient artefacts and whilst he is away (for huge amounts of time) January remains under the custody of Locke. Locke also travels extensively and often takes January with him. During one of these excursions and whilst January is still only a little girl she stumbles upon a doorway to a different place. Of course her little adventure is deemed the nonsensical fancies of a young mind and as a result she finds herself under careful scrutiny from then onwards and until she can prove that she can behave like a rational young lady. The years move on and apart from January receiving a few mysterious gifts little of substance really takes place other than her discovery of a book that tells a strange adventure and a tale of love, she receives a puppy and then a mystery woman comes to stay with her to act as companion (at the request of her father). Then, out of the blue, January receives news that completely shatter her world.

I’m not going to go any further into the plot to be honest. This is such an unusual story, and quite unlike anything I can recall reading before, that I don’t want to give anything away. So, other than a slightly slow start during which I become more and more curious about where the story was going I can say without hesitation that this is a beautifully crafted story. Just take your time and be patient with it and all will become clear and as far as I’m concerned it’s absolutely, without doubt, worth the effort. To be honest, I wish that I’d taken this read slower to start with but I’m always in such a rush, so impatient to see what comes next and racing through the pages like some sort of raging maniac. Don’t be me. Take the time to enjoy the introduction – this is a book that I will definitely return to and next time around I will read it like a grown up and show it the respect it deserves.

In terms of world building. There’s so much going on here that I can’t really begin to outline it. We start the story around 1900/1901 – I can’t recall exactly the year but it was deemed to be a time of infinite possibilities. To all extents January lives an incredibly privileged life in a large house and grounds. She never completely fits in though and often experiences bouts of loneliness, longing to accompany her father on one of his adventures but of course being forbidden due to the potential danger. The author tells a story within a story and so we get to experience more than a few different places, all brought vividly to life on the page.

The writing style – well, it’s something that I loved. In fairness you might say it’s detailed but I think it’s necessary and really gives a feeling for the period.

The characters are very well done. January is great to read about, particularly watching her progression from a meek and mild young woman to somebody who will stand up for herself. She experiences a number of awful encounters that really shake her out of her naivety although she still grasps on to a certain amount of innocence and longing for people to be better than they are right up to the bitter end. As I mentioned, January has been sheltered for most her life, without the protective umbrella of a wealthy custodian she feels the true weight of prejudice and hate that are held at bay by money and position. I’m being a bit vague here, not wanting to unwittingly supply spoilers. There is a baddy to this story but the main focus revolves around a secret society, if you will, a gentleman’s club with very restricted access. I actually loved reading the story of January’s parents and the way that both the stories eventually come together in such a satisfying way.

So, what else can I tell you. In a nutshell, portals, coming of age, many different worlds and experiences, gothic goodness, asylums, different cultures, family ties, friends, love and a great dog called Bad.

I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.

WOW. This book is every bit as wonderful, enchanting and charming as you’d hope for after such an intriguing synopsis. I can’t quite describe how much it touched me and took me back to the feeling of being younger and reading a fantastical story and desperately wishing it was real. This story is one for readers who love magic in the everyday, those who enjoy a beautifully crafted story and want to root for characters who feel achingly real.

The book is focused on January Scaller, a bi-racial young girl who has spent all her life under the care of Mr. Locke, a collector of strange and wonderful oddities. She spends most of her life alone and largely ignored, partly due to her position as ward and also because she is a woman of colour in an upper class, white dominated world. She longs for adventure and travel with her father, Julian who travels to exotic and far flung locations to add items to Mr Lockes collection. Her life is pretty much hum drum until one day when seven year old January finds a Door. This is not just any door however, this door allows her to enter a whole other world and begins a quest for knowledge, magic and adventure beyond her wildest dreams…

“It is at the moments when the doors open, when things flow between the worlds, that stories happen.”

After this discovery, January is told to forget all about it and focus on being a refined and well behaved young lady and for a time, she adheres to Lockes rules…that is until she finds a mysterious book entitled ‘The Ten Thousand Doors’ and it changes everything. Within the book, January reads about a bold young woman named Adelaide who meets a young man who came through a mysterious door, and their touching and beautiful love story, their untimely separation then long journey back to each other. I loved the ‘book within a book’ feature here, it works so well, while we’re reading Januarys story, we also get to follow the tale of ‘The Ten Thousand Doors’ and I was super invested in both threads. It was so enjoyable reading the way fact and fiction merged for January and how the book acts as a wondrous escape and source of power for a girl who loves stories. I think we can all relate to indulging in a good book, movie or tv series and it being a source of escapism, and ‘The Ten Thousand Doors of January‘ offers all that and more.

“How fitting, that the most terrifying time in my life should require me to do what I do best: escape into a book.”

I really liked January and she was such an interesting and intelligent protagonist, with quirks and flaws which made her feel real. I think that her relationships with the other characters, also emphasised all the qualities I liked so much; her care, compassion and courage to name a few. She has a complicated relationship with her father, who is absent a lot of the time and towards her guardian, Mr Locke. This is something she struggles with, as she feels indebted to Locke for his perceived kindness but also recognises that he views her as an oddity, not a person in her own right and wishes to mould her into what he wants. I liked that Harrow explores the racial tension of the time period and doesn’t gloss over it, as exhibited when January is placed in an asylum due to her standing up to Locke and his cronies. It shows just how fragile her position is and how easy it is for the powers that be to subdue those who don’t fit into the tidy margins they put others into.

“This was the true violence Mr. Locke had done to me. You don’t really know how fragile and fleeting your own voice is until you watch a rich man take it away as easily as signing a bank loan.“

Unlike in some books in this genre, the secondary characters are just as well realised as January and I really liked how they fit in to the story and shaped the narrative. I loved Jane and Samuel and Jan’s beloved dog, Sindbad. Janes backstory in particular was amazing and I’d happily read a whole book based on her adventures prior to meeting January. Every heroine needs a loyal furry friend and Sindbad, or just Bad as he is called, is the most adorable little guy. Samuel is Januarys only friend growing up, they bond over reading and he offers her a view into the outside world, without any restrictions or barriers. They had such a sweet, budding love story and it’s nice to read a book where the characters are shy around each other and take it slow.

The writing is absolutely stunning and there were so many excellent passages and quotes, it’s descriptive in the best way, so utterly lush and immersive. I can’t believe that this is a debut novel, because Alix E. Harrow has such a mastery of wording and tone which is truly hard to find. After doing a little research, I’ve found that Harrow has written some short stories which I’m definitely interested in reading, I seriously adore her writing so I can’t wait to dive in to those.

Overall, The Ten Thousand Doors of January was a joy to read and I can’t sing its praises highly enough. It had everything which I love in a story; magic, adventure, emotion and a courageous and flawed heroine, making it the complete package. This novel definitely deserves all the success and hype it will undoubtedly receive and I know that others will love it just as much as I did. It’s a love letter to reading and the wonder of a really good book.

This had been a delicate and profound book, for readers and story lovers, I can assure you that this is the most beautiful book you’ll read this year.
January Scaller discovered her first door when she was young, no one believed her and had to keep that memory hidden for a long time, but there will be another chance to discover this mysterious world, there will be another book waiting for her full of adventures and surprises. Ready?
I felt like January was the part of me that loves to read, to be involved in the amazing adventures that a book creates in your mind, the pleasure to be part of them, even if it’s just in our imagination. Every book has a different meaning for every reader, that’s what tries to show us the author, Alix E. Harrow, with delicacy, beautiful prose and a surprising story.
Don’t expect a non-stop action book, this is a book for book lovers, to create stories inside stories, the beauty to let your imagination flow and grow inside a story, where every detail is important in your mind and it doesn’t really matter the ending, only the travel.
There are not many characters on this story, but you won’t need them, because what’s really important in the book is what it will represent to you, not January, because you’ll become the January on the book, the one to open the doors and discover all the amazing worlds inside.
Ready to open the first door?

As soon as I finished this book I knew it would be one of my favourites of the year. It’s difficult to describe the enchantment this story weaves and the sense of utter perfection it leaves the reader feeling. Suffice to say, it’s a book for book lovers, written by a bibliophile with a reverence for stories and a belief in the power of words and the indelible marks they leave on readers. It’s not a book filled with action so you’ll be disappointed if that’s what you’re looking for. Instead, every word has a purpose as it explores the Doors that can take you into fantasy worlds and elsewhere.

Set in 1911, the main character is seventeen-year-old January Scaller, a wilful and curious biracial child who is slowly forced to conform to societal expectations of female behaviour under the watchful eye of her guardian. Her first-person point of view alternates with extracts from a scholarly text, The Ten Thousand Doors. Alongside January, we experience a rising sense of adventure, exploration and the idea of wanting more than society deems you deserve. The characters are all nuanced and complex; there’s not a wasted character in the whole story and each is deservedly memorable and unique.

The beautifully lyrical prose sweeps the reader along as they accompany January on her journey of discovery. The story explores themes of racism, patriarchy, and misogyny, whilst contrasting chaotic and ever-changing magic with social order, stability and ‘progress’. Worlds are crossed, epic loves are torn asunder, hidden histories are revealed yet the author firmly roots the narrative in the simplest magic of all – words. My review feels unanchored because it’s impossible to capture the essence of this incredible story. However, be assured that if you love books you’ll love The Ten Thousand Doors of January.

I really enjoyed this twisting, spiralling tale of untold stories and undiscovered worlds. I did find that the book-within-a-book structure took a little while to get used to, but I loved the imagination and the gorgeous sense of wonder that infused it. As someone who isn't generally a fantasy reader, this was accessible and lovely, and carried me away.

I truly loved this wonderful book. It took a few chapters for everything to click into place but I was intrigued enough to keep going till the story made sense. January is a great central character and her need to break free from constraints placed upon her by Mr Locke would be understood by every teenage girl. I think this is partly the novels success - Harrow has taken a familiar feeling from any girl’s teenage years but placed it within a magical world where the freedoms are almost unimaginable. When January realises she can write doors into other worlds and follow them she realises that more freedom than she ever imagined is hers for the taking. This freedom depends entirely on Mr Locke’s grace and we learn later in the book that his guardianship of January is even more far- reaching than she thought. He has schooled and packaged January in a way that is acceptable to Victorian society. He has polished and locked her away like one of the many treasures in his collection.

The novel is full of characters who move beyond their bounds in one world, while finding themselves completely at home in another. Jane is sent as a companion for January, paid for by her traveller father who comes and goes as he works to extend Locke’s collections. Jane finds that in one world her fearlessness and hunting skills are integral to her culture and survival, but in January’s world she is expected to keep her eyes down and not challenge people who are her betters. In this world Jane is problematic because she is a woman with no breeding or class and because she is black. January’s friend Samuel has slightly more freedom than Jane because he is a man even though his class and skin colour are the same. Just as Locke categorises and catalogues his collections, it seems there is an unspoken taxonomy of people. January has side-stepped disapproval thanks to Locke’s fortune which keeps her in dresses, pearls and first- class travel. January is kept in a gilded cage, but it is still a cage.

January's narrative is interspersed with a love story between a girl called Ade and a man named Yule Ian. At first I couldn’t see where they fit into the narrative, but soon I realised how crucial they both are to January and the world she sees as she discovers her writing power. It takes huge courage to use that power, but increasingly January finds it is the only way she can protect herself and the freedoms she believes in. She wants to find her father or at least where he died and she will keep wrenching doors open until she finds the right one. A shadowy organisation is not far behind her though run by The Founder. They want this world to stay on one course; a rigid world following a set pattern of Empire, industrial revolution and exploitation of other country’s resources. The magical worlds January visits has a are too unpredictable and signify endless change. What will they do to keep the doors closed and how can January throw them wide open again in order to see her family?

When I saw the cover I fell in love! It is such a beautiful cover! Although I have some mixed feelings about the book. I did really enjoy the book but I felt it dragged at times. There are also some lovely quotes in the book, one of my favourites is:

"Let that be a lesson to you: if you are too good and too quiet for too long, it will cost you. It will cost you, in the end."

The book is full of beautiful descriptions but I did feel that it slowed the story down and it took quite a while for the story to even begin properly. I think my main issue with the book is that I couldn’t really connect to the characters, which for me is an important part of actually truly loving the book and fully immersing myself into the story.

I know that many people have loved the book, I just think it wasn’t the right book for me.

I was attracted to this book because of the utterly gorgeous cover and I loved the sound of the 'doorways to other worlds' plot.

The story starts in the early 20th century. January Scaller is the ward of the super-wealthy Mr Locke. Although his servants and friends sometimes sneer, Mr Locke is kind and courteous to her (provided she does as she is told!) and January lives a privileged life in his huge mansion filled with precious artefacts. As the years pass, January realises her life in a gilded cage, devoid of free will, isn't so great. And that Mr Locke views her in much the same way as the rest of his collection. She takes refuge in a strange old book, about a girl who discovers a doorway to another world, but what if that doorway was real?

The Ten Thousand Doors of January is a rollicking adventure story that I didn't want to put down. It's a story-within-a-story, a tale of magic realism set in the late 19th century and early 20th century. It reminded me of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials series, especially The Subtle Knife, with it's strong female characters and moving between worlds. Whereas His Dark Materials dealt with the use of religion to oppress, this story discusses racism and segregation.

I fell in love with this book and its brilliant characters, and I really didn't want it to end. Thoroughly recommended. My favourite read this year!


Thank you to Alix E. Harrow and Orbit (Little Brown Group) for my copy of this book, which I requested via NetGalley and reviewed voluntarily.

A beautiful cover and promise of an atmospheric epic complete with doors to other worlds? Count me in! I was very excited for this release and it didn't disappoint. This is a gorgeous, magical story which lives up to its tantalising premise and its stunning cover. Imagine an atmospheric historical story about a young girl orphaned living in a grand manor, throw in a gripping origin story oh and a smattering of portals to other worlds and you've got something close to The Ten Thousand Doors Of January.

January Schaller is a quiet child with a love for books and fantasy. She grows up as the ward of wealthy Mr Locke, motherless and with a father she barely sees. During her childhood and early adolescence she's almost convinced herself that this is all there is, but that all changes with the sudden disappearance of her father and the arrival of a mysterious book, The Ten Thousand Doors.

The doors in question are not the regular doors that you and I know, but rather doors which lead to new worlds unexplored, richly imagined and bought to life by Harrow's elegant writing. I love how the author takes a mundane object such as a door and looks at it in a different way, transforming it into something new; in this story doors represent change; each contains a story and acts both as a fragile divider and an opening to new possibilities.

"There are ten thousand stories about ten thousand Doors, and we know them as well as we know our own names. They lead to Faerie, to Valhalla, Atlantis and Lemuria, Heaven and Hell, to all the directions a compass could never take you, to elsewhere."

The entire novel is full of gorgeous, evocative prose and the power of Doors, words and stories. But if you're after a strong plot, that's all here too. The story starts more as a historical drama as we follow January growing up at Locke House, but in the final part, the magical elements take the lead, as the reader is whisked into an epic story of other lands, family ties, heroes and villains as January fights to learn where she comes from and discovers who her friends and enemies really are. Perfect pacing, evocative description, a gripping plot and an imaginative fantasy world all come together to make a truly awesome read. Highly recommended.

This novel follows January who when she was seven years old stumbled across a door leading to another world however she is prevented from exploring this by Mr Locke the man she lives with and who her father collects strange and unique artefacts for. As time passes January begins to forget about this experience until she finds a book within Mr Locke's collection which leads her to doubt everything she has known and takes her on a journey she never dreamed possible.
This is such a magical book and I can't get over how beautifully written this is. I really loved the character of January and really related to her desire to go Elsewhere. This book also discusses race and class in a really important way.
Overall I really loved this book and gave this 4 out of 5 stars.

Incredibly lush, exquisite and enchanting, The Ten Thousand Doors of January has all the makings of a classic. One which I’m certain will be well-loved and much-read. And I dare say not only by those who enjoy fantasy, for this novel is pure joy in literary form that is a tribute to almost every reader out there.

Do you love books? This book is for you.

Do you love the written word? This book is for you.

Do you love stories and escapism? This book is for you.

When I first laid my eyes upon the cover of The Ten Thousand Doors of January, it was love at first sight. Far from it for me to advise anyone to judge a book by its cover, but in this instance its entire package justified my feelings when I gaze upon that thing of beauty. A few months’ back, I came across Alix E. Harrow’s beautiful short story “A Witch’s Guide to Escape: A Practical Compendium of Portal Fantasies”, which made my anticipation to read her debut novel grow even further. It did not surprise me at all that said short story even won the Hugo Awards this year. You can read this wonderful little tale here.

With such eager anticipation and high expectations, I was naturally anxious when I finally started reading The Ten Thousand Doors of January. And especially when my co-reviewer Celeste, who adored the book with all her heart, ardently believed that I will love it as well. I read the first few sentences and I was entranced. The writing was simply exquisite. It felt like reading a classic but without the pretense; the prose was literary without trying to be so. It felt familiar in tone but there was also a sense that I’ll be taken on a journey like no other. And in no time, I was swept off my feet.

I am not going into any description about the story. What I will say is that it has one of the most beautiful love stories I’ve read. It was not just a love story between two persons, however, but a love story dedicated to books, to the power of the written word, to wanderlust and to mankind’s ever faithful companion.

“At this point, you’re thinking that this story isn’t really about Doors, but about those more private, altogether more miraculous doors that can open between two hearts. Perhaps it is in the end—I happen to believe that every story is a love story if you catch it at the right moment, slantwise in the light of dusk—but it wasn’t then.”

The main character of January Scaller felt real and alive under the masterful strokes of Harrow’s penmanship. This is not a particularly long book, but the characterisation of the January and the supporting characters was marvellously rendered. The story was told from a combination of January’s perspective and from the author of the in-world book “Ten Thousand Doors”. Each with its distinctive personality and tone, but both equally enthralling to read.

As a portal fantasy, the magical backbone of the story dealt with Doors which can transport anyone who crosses its Threshold into other realms and worlds. Being readers of fantasy, we can easily appreciate the joys of escapism. Books are our portals to imaginary worlds and to great adventures with new friends (and sometimes even old ones), all while remaining physically safe although I can’t say the same about our hearts.

“Worlds were never meant to be prisons, locked and suffocating and safe. Worlds were supposed to be great rambling houses with all the windows thrown open and the wind and summer rain rushing through them, with magic passages in their closets and secret treasure chests in their attics.”

Where did the power of the written word come in then? That I cannot reveal for it begs to be discovered. In any case, the sheer beauty of the writing in this book should convince you that the written word has a magic of its own. Reading The Ten Thousand Doors of January was a sensorial experience, where every word and every immaculate and wondrous turn of phrase tantalized my senses.

“Words and their meanings have weight the world of matter, shaping and reshaping realities through a most ancient alchemy. Even my own writings—so damnably powerless—may have just enough power to reach the right person and tell the right truth, and change the nature of things.”

This is unlike any fantasy book you would’ve read before. Almost literary in flavour but eminently magical in essence, The Ten Thousand Doors of January will transport you into another world within the world we know of. The pacing can be said to be languid for most of the narrative but it is thoroughly engaging. With such an spellbinding read, why would you want it to be over so soon anyway?

Do not miss entering this Door to an amazing and wondrous journey through a magical landscape of words and stories.

Thank you to NetGalley, Orbit and Little, Brown Book Group for providing me with a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a book that I had seen hyped quite a lot in the book community and I can honestly say that after reading the synopsis I found myself wanting to read it even more.

Alix E. Harrow has completely blown me away with this novel and has created a work of perfection in my opinion. The world Harrow has described is rich in imagery and is a tale of unforgettable love and a tale of journeys that should be impossible.

This story was like nothing I have read before. The magical system was flawless and the way the two stories weaved throughout the book was done amazingly. The characters in this book are incredibly well written. I found myself loving January and how much she developed into a strong woman. I felt myself not wanting to put this book down and when I did, I found myself just constantly thinking about it.

I think I could sit here for a long time writing about everything I loved about this book but then that would take away from how magical and heart-wrenching it was. If you’re on the fence about this book I really recommend taking the plunge.

This book will forever stick with me and I cannot wait to read more of Harrow’s work.

I would like to thank the publisher, Orbit, for providing an early copy in exchange for an honest opinion. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and the quotes included may change in the released copy.

This book was everything I hoped it would be, and more! It was sweet, it was heartbreaking and heart-mending at the same time. Rarely has a book exceeded my expectations, stimulated my imagination and filled me with wonder the way The Ten Thousand Doors of January has. Rarely has a book rekindled my love for reading, my hunger for a good story and beautiful words as this book has.

"It is at the moments when the doors open, when things flow between the worlds, that stories happen. "



And rarely has a book come knocking at my door in such a timely fashion.

Reading has been and will always be my passion, my companion and my means of evading. But we’ve had some difficulties lately, what with me swinging in and out of book slumps, being too busy, too tired, too lazy, re-shelving a multitude of books not because they’re bad, but because the timing wasn’t right. I’ve been longing for a book that will erase the fatigue, the indifference and carve a doorway into my heart and mind.

" …and some naive corner of my soul was holding its breath in expectation, waiting for something magical to happen. "



And something magical did indeed happen to my reading self! I’ve been meaning to take a break after I closed The Ten Thousand Doors. But some Doors aren’t meant to be closed! Here I am, starting a new book and barely able to stop myself from leaping to the next chapter.

"You see, doors are many things: fissures and cracks, ways between, mysteries and borders. But more than anything else, doors are change."



What else to expect from a book that is an ode to books and readers, to the written word and to the “word-workers”? But also an ode to dreams untouched by adulthood's shackles, to the flame that animated us as children and made us believe everything was possible and within our reach. I loved how it celebrated freedom and adventure and how it accurately dealt with loneliness, loss, abandon and broken promises. And I loved the ever-presence of books and stories and fairytales in the narrative.

"I wanted wide-open horizons and worn shoes and strange constellations spinning above me like midnight riddles. I wanted danger and mystery and adventure. "



January was an endearing main character. And she was the perfect narrator in my opinion, sometimes a detached (but not without wit and cheekiness) storyteller but mostly an ever growing, continuously learning, realistically painted protagonist. Despite a mostly absent father, a deceased mother and being “oddly colored” (in a hostile world and era for people of color), January has lived a rather luxurious and sheltered life under Mr Locke’s wing. But a sheltered life isn’t synonymous for a happy one. And underneath the thick layers of submissiveness and good manners lurks an adventurous, dreaming, barely tamed soul whose constraints would be tested the day she discovers The Thousand Doors, hidden in one of Locke’s treasures.

"At this point, you’re thinking this story isn’t really about Doors, but about those more private, altogether more miraculous doors that can open between two hearts. "



Just take a look at the simple beauty of those lines! Alix Harrow has such a beautiful, charming, clever and evocative writing that at the same time seems almost effortless. Her debut (Debut! See that capital D, like a mouth hanging open, incredulous before such a ridiculously exquisite prose?) reads like a modern classic or like my friend Celeste astutely remarked “like a children book for adults”. I highlighted furiously, I smiled fondly and I cried tears of joy and of sorrow.

Since the first chapters, I guessed and kept guessing until the end. Almost all my theories were true and you know what? That’s what made the book even more special for me!

How I love this feeling in books, when I guess (or think I guessed) something, or suspect a hidden goal, an endgame and I cannot wait to see it come to pass. Like a love declaration one perceives early on or an inevitable battle between good and evil you expect since the beginning... The beauty of The Ten Thousand Doors wasn’t (only) in its revelations and closure for me but in the way leading to them. “Journey before destination”, right?

I think that the author intended for some revelations to be discovered, dropping subtle hints like a trail of breadcrumbs and leaving her reader’s imagination to run freely and try to gather the pieces of the puzzle.

"Sometimes just by telling a story you’re stealing it, stealing a little of the mystery away from it."



This is a story for every reader, whether you’re a fantasy lover or more of a literary person. Choose a comfortable seat, take your inner child on your lap and let Alix E. Harrow’s beautiful words take you through magical Doors and into ten thousand worlds.