Review: The Book of Doors

The Book of Doors
By Gareth Brown

Published By: Transworld Publishing
Publication Date: February 1, 2024
Date Read: May 26, 2024
Genre: Adult – Fantasy / Magical Realism
Source: eARC from Netgalley
Format: E-Book
Pages: 392

From Goodreads:
If you could open a door to anywhere, where would you go?

In New York City, bookseller Cassie Andrews is living an unassuming life when she is given a gift by a favourite customer. It’s a book – an unusual book, full of strange writing and mysterious drawings. And at the very front there is a handwritten message to Cassie, telling her that this is the Book of Doors, and that any door is every door.

What Cassie is about to discover is that the Book of Doors is a special book that bestows an extraordinary powers on whoever possesses it, and soon she and her best friend Izzy are exploring all that the Book of Doors can do, swept away from their quiet lives by the possibilities of travelling to anywhere they want.

But the Book of Doors is not the only magical book in the world. There are other books that can do wondrous and dreadful things when wielded by dangerous and ruthless individuals – individuals who crave what Cassie now possesses.

Suddenly Cassie and Izzy are confronted by violence and danger, and the only person who can help them is, it seems, Drummond Fox. He is a man fleeing his own demons – a man with his own secret library of magical books that he has hidden away in the shadows for safekeeping. Because there is a nameless evil out there that is hunting them all . . .

Because some doors should never be opened.

“This world is awful and mean and I hate it… but books have always been a place I can go.”

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.

“Sometimes you know you are going to face something hard and scary. But you have to get on with it. No point bitching and moaning. Get it done.”