The Ten Thousand Doors of January

by Alix E. Harrow

Publisher: Orbit Books

Ginasbookreport Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Genre: Fantasy

Read This If You Love: The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

Every story opens a door.

It’s a rare 5 ⭐️ book!!! Why isn’t this book on ALL the best lists? It should be. Let’s start with the production quality of this book. The cover is beautifully designed and really connects to the feeling of the content. Generally I’m a read-a-book-in-whatever-format-you-prefer-type of reader. However, I loved the feel of this paperback. The selection of the paper is such a nice stock and helps to put the reader into the book within this book. The entire package really is a piece of art. From the author photo and paper edge treatment, the production quality is top notch. (As a former Production Director, I really appreciate the care and expense of those decisions.)

The story…the writing…all of it! Amazingly breathtaking. This book fits into every genre…horror, fantasy, mystery, romance, high literature, and poetry. Technically it lives in the magical realism and historical fantasy space. However, if you don’t typically like fantasy, I still encourage you to give this one a read. I know a lot of people who don’t read a lot of fantasy really loved The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue and this book would hit in the same spot. 

The writing is a lovely combination of bookish intellect and fantasy. At the core, The Ten Thousand Doors of January is a book celebrating books and how the written word can transport us to other worlds and expand our minds. What happens to a world without stories, imagination, and creativity? When we stifle those things, we close ours minds and are controlled by a stagnant status quo and progress fails. 

Here’s the publisher synopsis to give you a more detailed description:

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 await in Alix E. Harrow's spellbinding debut--step inside and discover its magic.