The Book of Doors by Gareth Brown

I haven’t read any books by this author before but the premise really intrigued me. I could very easily see a sequel being written as there is lots more to explore. I really enjoyed the book, although I didn’t find the explanation as to where the books came from to be plausible – that’s the only thing I would change.

Cassie Andrews is sharing a flat with her best friend Izzy in New York City. She has her dream job of working in a bookshop, and she is shocked when one of her favourite customers dies in the bookstore leaving her a very special book – The Book of Doors. Inside it says that any door is every door. Merely imagining a door can take you there – present and past! This unlocks a wonderful world for Cassie and Izzy – until one day they find that others also want the Book, and will stop at nothing to get it. What’s more the Book of Doors isn’t the only magical book.

Definitely a good read, especially if you like magic, time travel, and adventure. The characters are well drawn and very believable. I really hope he writes a sequel.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6072964969

This was a complete gamble for me as I only read mystery/thrillers and tend to actively avoid sci-fi, whether book, TV or film. However, something about the books description tempted me and I thought it was worth just giving it a go. I am so pleased I did. One word...... Magical!
When you're someone who gets through endless books, year after year, they generally get forgotten or tend to merge together, I can guarantee I will not forget #TheBookOfMirrors, this is special, it will always stay with me. I really do hope that it will be either made into a film or TV mini series (many possibilities for spinoffs too) as visually they would be spectacular and also I've been boring my non reading family silly with how much I'd love them to see/read this book.
My only negative which I would drop half a star for would be the fact I don't really understand how or why the books were originally created, I realised we are told who made them, but I just don't know why, and why would that person make sure awful ones as well? Finally, I'm not sure if I understood the back story of our main evil villain and how she became that way? The same with Hugo, what was his beginnings? These questions maybe things I've missed but for that reason I have to rate a 4.5 star rating rounded up to 5.
Thank you #NetGalley for the advanced copy

What an interesting premise. Books which hold magical powers that are shared by the person who holds them. The book of doors allows you to travel around the world and time.
It's a very desirable book and others will kill to get hold of it. Cassie is left the book and the adventures with her best friend Izzy will astound and inspire.
Enjoy I did

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the review copy. I enjoyed this book and it is impressively written for a debut author, but it was hard not to compare it to a very similar book I read earlier in the year, Ink Blood Sister Scribe which also features magical books. I think this book is very good at weaving together all the various characters and their stories into a cohesive narrative, but I don't think the magic system was as well developed in comparison. Nonetheless if you liked Ink Blood Sister Scribe, you'd probably also like this book and it is well worth a read!

Not a genre of book that I would normally read but the advance publicity caught my attention, and I am so glad that it did. Although this is a book about time travel, Gareth Brown seems to attach some logic to this concept. An interesting story involving magical books that can be used for good or evil. There are some very dark strings to this plot line that include psychological torture as well as murder. The book also deals with more down to earth themes including friendship, companionship and coming to terms with bereavement. A well written book where all aspects of the plot come together very nicely.
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK for the advance copy of this book.

In the heart of New York, Cassie Andrews, a humble bookseller, leads an unassuming life until a cherished customer presents her with an extraordinary gift—a peculiar book filled with cryptic writing and mysterious illustrations. At its forefront, a handwritten message reveals that this is the Book of Doors, a unique tome that declares any door is every door.

As Cassie delves into the Book of Doors, she discovers its exceptional powers, capable of whisking her and her best friend Izzy away from their mundane existence to anywhere they desire. Enthralled by the possibilities, they embrace the enchanting journey it offers.

However, the Book of Doors is not the sole magical book in existence. Other times wields wondrous and perilous abilities, falling into the hands of dangerous individuals hungry for the power Cassie now possesses. The tranquillity of Cassie and Izzy's lives shatters as they confront violence and danger, with Drummond Fox emerging as their unexpected ally. Fleeing his demons, Drummond harbours a secret library of magical books, concealed in the shadows for safekeeping. A nameless evil hunts them all, forcing them into a perilous game where the only hope lies in the secrets hidden within the magical pages.

The E-Book could be improved and more user-friendly, such as links to the chapters, no significant gaps between words and a cover for the book would be better. It is very document-like instead of a book. A star has been deducted because of this.

This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and I would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if it were in a bookshop. Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

3.5/5.

Gave up very quickly with this. The idea behind it felt more like a children’s book. I didn’t find the characters engaging enough to make me want to read on.

The Book of Doors……wow! I just couldn’t put this one down!

The story follows Cassie Andrews as she inherits a mysterious book, which she soon finds has magical powers. Unfortunately, a lot of people are interested in the book (and other magical books like it) and some are willing to use any means necessary to get their hands on them and use the powers they provide for evil ends.

The combination of books, magical powers, time travel and a great cast of likeable characters made this story a great fantasy adventure from start to finish.

I really hope Gareth Brown decides to turn this into a series, as I would love to hear more about the secret library and what comes next for Cassie, Drummond and their friends. (It would also make a great TV series!)

Cassie Andrews is working in a bookshop when she receives a book from a favourite customer of hers, just before he passed away in her store. The old man told her many fanciful stories, he was a collector of books, they shared many of the same reading interests, but still Cassie is surprised he gave her a gift. Cassie takes the book, full of strange writing and odd drawings. Inside the front cover there is a handwritten note addressed to Cassie, telling her that this is the Book of Doors, and that ‘any door is ever door’.

Cassie and her flatmate and best friend Izzy, soon discover that the Book of Doors is a magical book, which allows the owner the extraordinary ability to use any doorway to travel to anywhere in the world. To use it, Cassie simply has to visualise where she wants to go, open the door and step through it, and there she is. Soon Cassie and Izzy are exploring the power of the book, travelling with abandon, until Izzy becomes uneasy with using the power without knowing more about it and asks Cassie to stop. However, their use of the book has not gone unnoticed and the friends quickly learn that the book is not the only magical book in the world. There are many books, and many people hunting them all down, and many of these hunters will stop at nothing to get their hands on the books. Their only hope is Drummond Fox, a man who has created a secret library of books, and wants to keep the books safe from those who would use them for harm.

I am very torn on this book. On the one hand I love the concept. A magical world where books can physically transport you anywhere and give you real powers, with many books giving you many different powers. The thought is magical, and the world created is an extraordinary concept. On the other hand, I struggled to actually like the book. It had excitement yes, once the action kicked off it kept going at a good pace to keep you engaged. However, the characters were a bit one dimensional for me. Some were intriguing, but for the most part, wet blanket, whiney, insipid comes to mind. A bit harsh I know, but I really just didn’t gel with Cassie or Drummond in particular! The plot was a bit weak, with most of the work seeming to having gone into the world building. The system of magic is brilliant, the books as tokens for the magic exchange works so well, and there was a lot of demonstration of their use for bad as well as good. The author dug deep on the good vs evil in this story and how it is not the object or the power, but the person using it that makes the difference is key. The evil in this story was not just a monster, but also human character, and that is always a hard one for the side of good to fight. The ending, again torn. Paradox. But when you mix magic and time travel what else do we expect?

Overall I am glad I read it. I don’t know if I would read a follow up that was hinted at. The idea of the world it has planted has stayed in my brain, and I am not mad at that at all. It can live there rent free. I can see this working as a tv series or movie, if given the right budget to craft it as beautifully as the cover. 3.5 stars.

*I received this book from NetGalley to review, but all opinions are my own.

A book that can open any door. A library of books that have different powers. The premise had me hooked, excited to jump in. And then I started the story and it all came to a crashing halt.
It was the lead character, Cassie, I found her whiny and irritating. I couldn't find any redeeming qualities that made me root for her or care about her, I think it was her that spoiled the book for me. The supporting characters were much more likeable and more interesting, having them in the story was what kept me reading.
And reading and reading and reading, because this felt drawn out beyond story/world building. It was working towards an ending, but I didn't feel the ending was worth the meandering story.
As for the world and the books, it was a very interesting premise that Brown spun, it was certainly that that kept me reading - i wanted to find out how it went.

Grab this book for a bedside table read, a few chapters a night may make it more enjoyable.

An interesting idea, the author certainly has a lot of imagination! I did enjoy it, but found the pace slow at times, with too much introspection and drinking coffee. But it was entertaining and I enjoyed the story - I think it would make a good film.

It's taken me over a month to read this book which is ridiculous, but that's because I've so busy lately and is not a commentary on the book by any means.  It was a good book, I enjoyed it a great deal.  It's a very interesting premise and the start of the book felt very much like something I could have written.  The characters are well-written, I particularly liked Lund, and the baddies are very definitely bad.  There are some very dark scenes which seem to be ever darker in comparison to the rest of the book which isn't dark overall.  There's also some quite emotional scenes too.  I really appreciated that we find out how the books came to be, even though it did seem to be quite the paradox.  It was also good to find out why the particularly evil baddie was so evil.  Overall I found it very engaging and readable, and will be interested to see what else the author comes up with. 

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an advance copy to review.

I am in awe.
This book is incredible.
I cannot believe this is a debut author! Gareth Brown, take a bow.
The premise is nothing like anything you've read before. The Book of Doors has so much imagination and wonder, that the reader will be blown away by all that it can do. The other books bring out the dark and dangerous side, and the Book of Pain doesn't need much explaining. Some scenes had me wincing and grimacing, and I was worried I'd have nightmares.
Some parts of the time travel took me a few rereads to ensure I had followed correctly, and it is complex and warrants some level of concentration.
This book will hook you and grip you till the end. One of my books of the year.
It deserves to be huge, and undoubtedly will be on the 'Best Books of 2024'.

Oh! where do I start with this review, this was a complex magical book but also with some hard hitting grewsome things which reveal just how awful mankind or even womenkind can be to one another for greed, power or sickeningly just for perverse pleasure. If your brave enough I recommend you read this book . #NetGalley, #GoodReads, #FB, #Amazon.co.uk, #Instagram, #<img src="https://www.netgalley.com/badge/8a5b541512e66ae64954bdaab137035a5b2a89d2" width="80" height="80" alt="200 Book Reviews" title="200 Book Reviews"/>, #<img src="https://www.netgalley.com/badge/ef856e6ce35e6d2d729539aa1808a5fb4326a415" width="80" height="80" alt="Reviews Published" title="Reviews Published"/>, #<img src="https://www.netgalley.com/badge/aa60c7e77cc330186f26ea1f647542df8af8326a" width="80" height="80" alt="Professional Reader" title="Professional Reader"/>.

Book Review 📚
The Book of Doors by Gareth Brown - 2/5 ⭐

Unfortunately this was a DNF for me. I felt like it was thrown together rather then a finished product? I was intrigued by the title and cover (stunning by the way) but the writing style just was not working for me.

I'm sure this will be much more suitable for someone else who enjoys this type of writing.

What an extraordinary story -time travel and magic through books. It seemed a long novel, but definite worth reading. Cassie and her flat mate Izzie get involved with people they didn’t know and felt they were rather strange and life takes on different values and meaning.

DNF

I wanted to like this book. I really wanted to like this book. The concept is fascinating and the book cover is gorgeous… by the wooden prose throughly let it down and unfortunately it was a barrier I could not push through.

The writing lacked a clear narrative voice with stiff phrasing and lacked the polished flow of the other ARCs I’ve read this month.

This book reads like an early draft, not a published novel.

A real shame. I was excited for this one.

I am sure there may be an audience for this style of writing, but it is not me.

Cassie works in a bookstore in downtown New York. When one of her best customers comes and visits the shop. Mr Webber is a friendly chap and always comes into the shop with his well-read copy of The Count of Monte Cristo. She leaves him to read as the shop is busy. But when she returns Mr Webber is found dead. She is devasted. She finds the copy of the Count of Monte Cristo and another book, the book of doors. When she opens it has some scribblings and a note to say that this is a book for you. The book is a magical book that will let you go to anywhere you wish to go. Cassie, and with her friend Izzy uses to go to the places she has wished to go and the places she loves. But on her journey, she meets a man called Drummond Fox saying that she is in danger that there is people out there that will steal her book or will kill to get their hands on the book of doors. Not only it goes to places you want to go but it will let you go back and forth in time. She also discovers that there is other people out there with other copies of magical books. Drummond requires books and keeps them in his own library to protect them from the evil woman kills people to get as many books as she can.
The book of doors is a fascinating read. It is even better than I was expecting. It is a beautifully written and magical story that you get fully immersed in. This has great characters, except the evil woman that creating havoc to get more books to use against everyone. This is also thought-provoking, about relationships and grief and about good verses evil. This is such and amazing book and I reckon going to be a tremendous best seller hit. 5 stars from me.

A story about a young woman who receives a magical book, which enables her to travel to any place, at any point in time, by simply walking through any door. A book that some would kill for. I loved this! It hooked me right from the start and I really didn't want to put it down. It was an exciting read and the time-travel element was cleverly executed. I will certainly be recommending this when it is published!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK for the advance reader copy.

Overall I enjoyed the story but did find getting to that point a little hard.
Once you get to around 30-40% of the story that’s when it picks up and you’re thrown into the story properly.

I didn’t realise the book was meant to be for teens/ya and think it should be promoted as new adult/sci fi due to the violence and some of the other all themes.

I’m happy I read this and was able to be immersed in a world of magic books.