Summary:
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.
Thoughts:
This book is lovely in so many different ways. I had high hopes going into it based on other people’s reviews, and I’m glad to say that I was not disappointed. I think it’s a story that will resonate with a broad audience because it’s just one of those books that evokes such wonder and magic while also dealing with some very grounded topics.
January is not an orphan, but she’s also sort of an orphan. She’s grown up in a big old mansion ward of a wealthy benefactor who likes to travel and collect rarities from around the world. Her father works for this man, Mr. Locke, and he’s often away from home. When he is around, he’s distant. January desperately wants a relationship with her father, but it seems something he’s incapable of giving to her. Despite being surrounded by wealth, she’s lonely and left with a sense of abandonment. Not only that, but January, being of darker complexion and standing out in the very white world in which she lives, is often made to feel out of place when she does venture out. She’s very much a girl trying desperately to figure out where she belongs, and being told the answer is ‘no where but this gilded cage’.
It’s hard not to empathize with January, lost and alone except for her faithful dog. Especially once she realizes that things are not what they seem and Locke may not be as benevolent as she’d always perceived. There is a growing sense of unease that things are not right. My one small quibble is that we, as the reader, catch on and become outraged much sooner than January, who seems a bit naive. But if you look at things from her perspective, when the only world you know and the only person that has ever shown you kindness is the thing that turns out to be false, you may be forgiven for your natural state of denial.
This is a story about portals, doors to other worlds. But I think it’s also about books and stories and how those can take you to other worlds as well. January finds a book which is about the adventures of a young woman who found doors to other worlds. The narrative switches back and forth between January’s story and the one she’s reading titled The Ten Thousand Doors. I love the story within a story element, especially once you realize that the story January has been reading all along is special–not just because it’s a true account, but for other reasons that are much closer to heart. The heroine of that book is quite something and I think I fell in love with her a bit and her determination to find a way back to a boy she’d met from another world. She had made a promise and was going to keep it, even if it took her her entire life and traveling through thousands of doorways, visiting worlds upon worlds.
January’s family, once you learn about them, are lovely but also kind of selfish. As a result, she was left alone in the world. On the one hand, it’s hard to forgive them. On the other hand, they’re just people, each with their own flaws. As someone who has a rocky relationship with their own parents, it’s hard to wanting to forgive, but when you also get to understand certain things from their perspective, it’s hard not to feel sorry for them as well. Damn you, empathy! (Just kidding, empathy is definitely a good thing!)
Besides portals presenting a large problem for our protagonist to solve, there are some real villains here as well. I will say they may be, perhaps, the weakest part of the book for me. All of them tend to be a little bit on the mustache twirly side. That being said, there is some truly terrifying moments in the book, things like how easy it was to get a young woman (especially a young woman of color) committed because ‘she’s hysterical’. I appreciated the history there, because if you look at history there are enough examples of these types of acts, and that makes them all the more frightening here when January goes through them.
I would say the strength of this book is its characters, except that it has such lovely prose. Harrow does a great job of pulling the reader into the book and making them part of the story. There are parts that were rendered so beautifully, I felt as if I was experiencing them myself–there is a part on a boat that comes immediately to mind. Come for the interesting concept, be charmed by the characters, and stay for the prose.
Ultimately, The Ten Thousand Doors of January is a book about love–parents and children, romantic love, friendships, pets, you name it. I think that’s why it feels so hopeful and reaches into so many reader’s hearts. 5/5 stars.
Way Too Fantasy 
Glad to hear you enjoyed this one! I’ve seen so many good reviews of this book recently, I really need to get my hands on a copy. Great review!
Thanks! It really is a great read, hope you get a chance to check it out.
Great review! I’m really excited to pick this one up!
(www.evelynreads.com)
Thanks, hope you love it! 🙂
So glad you loved this too! Its definitely one of my favorite books of the year😁 I can’t wait to read her next book!
It’s an impressive book, really loved it. Very much looking forward to what she does next.
Ha, we both posted our reviews on the same day! I really enjoyed this one too. Took me a while to get into the story-within-a-story, but the payoff was worth it!
So funny! I had a good time with this one, it has some great emotional moments, but you’re right about that payoff for sure!
Glad you enjoyed this one! This sounds so promising I might be tempted to read it 😉
It’s really good. If you’re looking for something slightly less action-y with a good focus on characters and fantastic prose, this might be a good one for you!
I’ll be picking this up when I see it at the library. You and many others like it, and I love portal fantasy as well (probably because I keep hoping I’ll happen upon a portal by accident and find myself in an awesome fantasy land).
I finally had to read it because everyone I know has loved it so much, glad I did. 🙂 I wouldn’t mind a portal sometimes myself!
Great review! It’s on my book shelf and will be reading it hopefully soon. 🙂
Thanks! Hope you love it!
Yay! I had a feeling you’d love this one 🙂 I also found it very easy to connect with January, I loved her voice and personality!
She’s such a great character 🙂
Wonderful review! I agree the villains could be a little mustache twirly at times- but the rest of the book was so wonderful I dont think it ended up bothering me too much. Glad you enjoyed it!
Thanks! Yeah, in the long run they weren’t really a detractor because they were just an obstacle, the story wasn’t ultimately about them.
Your so very positive review goes to join the other ones I’ve read so far, and reinforces my conviction this is a book I should not miss – not at all…
Thank you so much for sharing this! 🙂
I highly recommend checking it out, hope you enjoy!
Yay, I’m jumping with joy that this worked so well for you too, don’t ask me why = it’s not like i’m the author – but I always love it when other people find the same reasons to love a book and let’s face it there is no shortage of reasons to love this one.
Lynn 😀
It was just SO GOOD. I mean, like you said, lots of reasons to love this one. She did a lot with this book, really packed a lot into it, and yet it all works and makes you feel good at the end.
Beautiful review Lisa, and I am so glad that you liked this one so much! I’ve heard universally amazing things about this book, even though it isn’t widely reviewed on my feed.
It’s such a lovely book!