Ten Thousand Doors...

Hey everybody…it’s been a rough couple of months. Obviously, 2020 is a dumpster fire that just keeps getting worse and worse, for everyone. But man, I’m just exhausted. I’ve hit a major reading slump this last month, and I can’t seem to get out of it…but I’m letting it be. Today I am here to talk about the last book I finished before the slump happened: The Ten Thousand Doors of January, by Alix Harrow.

I’ve had this book on my shelves for almost a year and just kept putting it off because, like I do with books I am excited to read, I worried it wouldn’t be as good as I wanted it to be. But guess what? It was! It actually reminded me a lot of other books I’ve read recently, and I’ll get into that later.

This is the story of January Scaller, and her journey back to her roots and her family. January learns in a round about way, that doors to other worlds exist. She learns that she has the ability to open them and close them, and that her father holds a special secret that has eaten him from the inside out for her entire life. I loved this book because it took you into another place and time, and you became January. I ate this book up, and I really loved that she left the ending open for a sequel if she wanted to write one, but even if she decided not to, the ending is up to interpretation enough that you could be happy with the ending…which I was. It was a sweet little bow that has the potential to unravel, but I was pleased with the conclusion.

For anyone who is having a reading hangover, though….here are some read-alikes:

Every Heart A Doorway, by Seannan McGuire – this is the first book in a series, but I was immediately reminded of these while reading The Ten Thousand Doors of January.

The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials), by Philip Pullman – if you don’t know about these books, who even are you? Lyra is a young girl who discovers terrible secrets about her world, and must seek answers in another one.

The Hazel Wood, Melissa Albert – fairy tale creatures are real, and their worlds exist. Enough said. If you love this one, the sequel is called Night Country.

xoxo - is.