Beautifully written book, packed with adventure and sets your imagination on fire. Love that books are central to the magic and love the dynamics between Cassie, Izzy and Drummond. Very enchanting and enjoyable read

🎧Audiobook Review🎧

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I want to thank NetGalley for approving me for an ARC of this book.

🪄Magical realism
⭐Unique
⏳Time Travel
🌍Adventure

I was initially drawn to this book because of the title, I love books about books and this one was a pleasant surprise.

The best way to sum this one up is to imagine the unique magic system of Babel (except this is books with power) and the intricate time travel of The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle. It's a journey from start to finish that will leave you reeling!

⭐⭐⭐⭐✨

I adored this book. Every single bit! I got completely wrapped up in the magical feel of this and the was instantly transported into the world. I thought the writing was extremely clever and thought out and I felt the whole world stood up. The characters were interesting and I wanted to know more about all of their lives. 5 star read for me!

A great book and one for book readers everywhere. My only niggle was the amount of characters that came in and at times it was hard to keep up with who was who.

I honestly don’t know where to even start with this review. The Book of Doors was so much more than I ever could have expected. I initially picked up The Book of Doors because the premise sounded intriguing and I loved the idea of magical books. I did not expect to find such a beautiful, magical journey with so much heart. I honestly loved this book so much, and I cannot recommend it enough.

The Book of Doors follows the story of Cassie, a young bookseller who comes to possess a small journal titled ‘The Book of Doors’. She soon discovers it is a magical book that can help you to travel anywhere with only a picture of a doorway in mind. Any doorway can travel to anywhere. But there are book hunters looking for the magical books, and everything is about to get all the more dangerous.

I absolutely loved the premise of this book. I mean how amazing would that be? To just be able to open any door and find yourself anywhere in the world. Any point in time… it would just be so amazing. Right from the start, I was just sucked into this whole idea. I loved that it was set in our world and the whole thing just seemed to plausible. If anyone knows where I can find a book of doors can you all just let me know?

The first half of this book was good… but the second half. HOLY SHIT! It was twist after twist. It was just unputdownable. I couldn’t read it fast enough, but at the same time I just didn’t want the book to be over. This is honestly not the sort of book I usually pick up. I’m usually a high fantasy, whole new world kinda girl but something about this one made me pick it up… and rightfully so because it’s genuinely a masterpiece. I wasn’t expecting it to get quite so dark and emotional. I was fully expecting this whole fun journey across the world, but this book is so much more. It definitely gets darker in the second half and that is what made the whole thing unputdownable to me. There were events happening that had me gasping and sat with my mouth agape unable to believe what had just happened.

The Book of Doors is honestly such a phenomenal debut. I cannot recommend this book enough. It is such a heartwarming, beautiful tale that is woven together expertly. Gareth’s writing is so addictive and once you start this book, you will find it hard to put down. It truly is a modern masterpiece and the love of books is always there at the forefront of everything. I adored evert single moment of this book and I can’t wait to read more of Gareth’s work in the future. If there’s only one debut you’re going to read this year, make sure it is this one.

The Book of Doors by Gareth Brown seems to have received mixed feedback, with readers, pointing out issues in world-building and character depth. Im in agreement with those who didn't enjoy it. The magic system was confusing, as key elements were left unexplained, and the antagonists lacked complexity. Although the fast pace and snappy dialogue kept the story moving, this came at the expense of character development, particularly with the one-dimensional villains​

Despite its promising premise, the book fell short in delivering a fully immersive and coherent narrative.

Enjoyable fantasy debut.

Pros
An original premise that was well executed.

Cons
Some of the descriptions jarred a bit
I, personally, don’t really like excessive violence and gore so I struggled with parts of this book.

*** Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher ***

A moving story of mystery and magic.

A slow start, but stick with it and the story unfolds into a beautifully written book about Cassie, a young woman who is gifted a truly magical book that will turn her life upside down.

This book had so much promise and potential, and I really fought through to finish it, hoping it would somehow get better. But it didn't. Every aspect was disappointing. For a book centered on the relationship between two women, it lacked depth of emotion. The villain wasn't even given a name. The writing was disappointing, giving more depth to croissants than the characters.

Genuinely one of the best books I have read in a long time.
Its my read of 2024 so far.
I'm recommending it far and wide.

The Book of Doors is an immersive and spellbinding read which wholly captivates the reader and takes them a way to a magical world. The world building by Gareth Brown in this book is nothing short of wonderful.

The Book of Doors seamlessly blends mystery, fantasy, and a touch of the surreal, keeping reader hooked throughout.
This book is a must-read for anyone who loves to lose themselves in a beautifully crafted world. An absolute treasure!

This book is brilliant. I could not put it down. It had me captivated from start to finish.
The author writes in a way that made me feel that everything that was magical was real. The endless twists and turns contained within each chapter all tied together so that there were no questions that I had went unanswered. There is a lot going on and normally this would confuse me but this was written in a way that everything flowed.

An excellent first book.

I even read all the acknowledgements because they were funny, honest and from the authors heart - not just a list of names and habitual thanks.

A brilliant book about powerful books!

I really liked the concept and the time-travelling aspect to it too. I also loved that it was all nicely tied-up by the end of the book.

It was well-written with great characters and I would recommend it to anyone who wants a great read!

I was really excited to dive into The Book of Doors because the concept sounded great.

Unfortunately, it didn’t quite live up to my expectations. There were some good moments, but overall, it felt like a bit of a slog to get through.
If you’re into unique concepts, you might enjoy it more than I did. For me, it was just okay.

Wow just wow! I loved this book.
It started off fairly innocently, A young American woman Cassie working in the café of a bookshop and the always friendly old man dies leaving his books behind. One book is a mysterious book which turns out to have magical powers of travel. Being a traveller myself, I quite like the idea of a magical travelling book. This book turns out to be so much more though revealing a very sinister world and the true power of her book is very much sought after by others who are prepared to kill for it!
Thankfully Cassie and her flatmate friend stumble across Drummond Fox or does he stumble across them? He recognizes that they are in possession of this magical book that he had heard of but not really sure if it existed and is the proprietor of his own collection of magical books. He also realises what mortal danger they are in.
Fantasy is not usually a genre that I read unless you count Harry Potter and some really good children's boooks.by other authors and didn't really feel that thus was high fantasy until I was a good way through. but was loving the story so much especially the likeable characters of Cassie and Drummond who will never turn down the chance of a Scotch and his fabulous library. I thought there may be some room for romance unless it was so subtle that I missed it. This is a book that would be enjoyed by readers of fantasy, mystery, teens and young adults but also older adults like myself (middle aged).
Will definitely be on the look out for more books by this author.

With thanks to #NetGalley and Random House UK, Transworld Publishers and Bantam Press for this preview read of #TheBookofDoors

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for this review copy. Words cannot truly express how much I loved this book. I now have a signed copy and can’t wait to read their next book.

I'm quite late to the party but it was a great party as a book about books that opens doors to other places is very high in my list of what i want to read
Great, excellent world building, dreamlike atmosphere and excellent storytelling.
I loved the characters and I suffered by book hangover when I have to say goodbye
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Brilliant book! Very, very clever. High-octane and gripping but so well-written and literary at the same time. It made my brain melt.

Books exist and they are magic. But what if there were others, containing actual spells to allow for your transportation or the conjuring of any image from your imagination or any number of other phenomena? Cassie is about to discover this for herself but it won't be all magical outings and fairy tales as a deadly pursuit starts that will take place both through time and space as enemies untold seek to gain these books for their own immoral gains.

This book in one word: phenomenal! Everything about the concept enraptured me and there existed as much action as it did plot progression throughout to ensure no part felt too stodgy or too rushed. I hadn't any idea of where the book would go and did have to go back and reread the latter sections in order to process the path the book actually took. When I realised I had, in fact, read what I thought I had, I became astounded all over again with Gareth Brown's brilliance. This was utter perfection!