BLOG TOUR: “The Ten Thousand Doors of January” by Alix E. Harrow (Review)

Today I’m featured on the blog tour for “The Ten Thousand Doors of January” by Alix E. Harrow. Many thanks to Compulsive Bloggers for this opportunity.

“The Ten Thousand Doors of January” by Alix E. Harrow

Hardcover, 384 pages

Published Sept. 5, 2019, by Redhook (slated for U.K. publication Sept. 12, 2019, by Orbit

Synopsis (from Goodreads)

In the early 1900s, a young woman embarks on a fantastical journey of self-discovery after finding a mysterious book in this captivating and lyrical debut.

In a sprawling mansion filled with peculiar treasures, January Scaller is a curiosity herself. As the ward of the wealthy Mr. Locke, she feels little different from the artifacts that decorate the halls: carefully maintained, largely ignored, and utterly out of place.

Then she finds a strange book. A book that carries the scent of other worlds, and tells a tale of secret doors, of love, adventure and danger. Each page turn reveals impossible truths about the world and January discovers a story increasingly entwined with her own.

Lush and richly imagined, a tale of impossible journeys, unforgettable love, and the enduring power of stories awaits in Alix E. Harrow’s spellbinding debut–step inside and discover its magic.

My review

Like many others reviewing this book, the thing that first drew me in was the fabulous cover. Have you ever seen anything more beautiful?

I struggled to write a synopsis for this book because there is almost too much detail for me to sum it all up in a tidy package. And I’m struggling to even review it eloquently. I’ll simply say that I knew, from reading the info provided to me when I agreed to participate in the blog tour, that this book would be out of my comfort zone. I NEVER read fantasy novels. But as readers, don’t we all relate with the concept of escaping through the pages of a book into other worlds?

The main protagonists in Ten Thousand Doors — January and her dog Bad, her friend Samuel and her governess Jane — are the kind of characters I can empathize with. They’re society’s cast-offs, bound together by the common goal of finding a place where they belong. The action that takes place in this book is a nonstop roller coaster ride.

My only source of disappointment in this one is that it seemed to drag on a bit too long. But that’s it. In each of the heroes of the story I saw something of myself, and I cheered for them until the end.

“The Ten Thousand Doors of January” is an impressive debut novel that I recommend to all lovers of fantasy, historical fiction and YA.

I received an advance digital copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

About the author

Author bio and photo courtesy of Goodreads

I’ve been a student and a teacher, a farm-worker and a cashier, an ice-cream-scooper and a 9-to-5 office-dweller. I’ve lived in tents and cars, cramped city apartments and lonely cabins, and spent a summer in a really sweet ’79 VW Vanagon. I have library cards in at least five states.

Now I’m a full-time writer living in with my husband and two semi-feral kids in Berea, Kentucky. It is, I’m very sure, the best of all possible worlds.

My debut novel–a historical fantasy called THE TEN THOUSAND DOORS OF JANUARY–will be out in Fall 2019 from Orbit/Redhook.

My writing is represented by Kate McKean at Howard Morhaim Literary Agency.