The Ten Thousand Doors of January | NetGalley Review #3

They say that every story opens a Door and I guess this is my one. Or your one, if you prefer.





Today we're here to talk about Alix E. Harrow latest novel, The Ten Thousand Doors of January, that will hit the shelves on the 10th of September 2019. This is a Young Adult Historical Fiction with a little bit of Magical Realism and Fantasy elements to spice the things up a little bit, a genre that for some way is out of my comfort zone but to which I gave a go because as you may know or not, I like to explore new stories and authors and genres.
The story is set in the early 1900s, and our main character is about to go on a very peculiar journey in the attempt to look for her lost family and her lost identity.
I'll leave the plot that I found online because I find it very effective and it doesn't give too much away, as I'm convinced that this book should be a personal discovery, different for everyone.

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.
But her quiet existence is shattered when she stumbles across 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 reveals more impossible truths about the world, and January discovers a story increasingly entwined with her own.

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As usual, I will divide this review into two parts, pros and cons that we're going to explore together.
I have to say, though, that I was expecting much more from this novel and unfortunately I've been left a little disappointed. We're going to talk about it more in depth in a minute, but first of all I would like to clarify that I will try to be as objective as possible while putting my opinion into this article, hoping that you will choose to pick this book up for its positive traits rather than leave it on the shelves for what didn't properly convinced me or for what I thought didn't really work. You'll see that most of the things that made me curl my lips up and pull a face are mostly subjective preferences that don't really stand out as flaws of the book itself.
So get some popcorn and enjoy what is about to come.

Positive notes.
(Everyone likes them and it's a good starting point, don't you think?)

I genuinely think that the idea at the base of this novel is great. I'm not sure it's original - as in, I'm not sure this is the only novel out there that talks about Doors with capital letter that bring you to Elsewhere - but it definitely took hold of my attention since it was first announced.
The writing style was okay, nothing special but nothing that could've turned up being too much for the kind of novel the author chose to write. I was positively surprised when I saw that the way she chose to write this story was actually very accessible and wasn't going too overboard despite the historical traits of it. I was expecting something more pretentious than the simplicity that I actually found in the pages and I appreciated this choice a lot.
You can say it's Historical Fiction, but at the same time you can also clearly see that it has been written for Young Adult audience and it won't bore the reader nor make it hard to understand the context or the setting in place and time.
On another side, it doesn't stand out too much either. Unfortunately - and I'll explain myself better and into more details in the next section - if on one side the choice to go for a simple writing style was a good thing because it matched the course of the story and the kind of character the author chose to bring to life, on the other I found it a little forgettable and dragging.

Another thing I really appreciated and I fell in love with was the story told in this mysterious book January comes across at some point. I literally was squeaking and rooting for Adelaide and Yule Ian and I found myself wanting to know more and more. It felt like the chapters from that book weren't enough and I almost wished the story was about them exclusively. Like, if we get a spin off or a series of short stories about slices of life belonging to them, believe me I wouldn't complain!
I found their story heartwarming and adventurous, the kind of story that every girl at Ade's age would like to go on and the kind of love story that every human out there deserves to live. Delicate, full of respect and mutual commitment, where you learn things about the other part and you learn to appreciate the good and the bad, because you're mature enough to work through what doesn't feel right and find a balance so that everyone can be happy.

I also loved the way Alix E. Harrow was talking about love and falling in love, being in love, what love actually is and how it grows and changes and doesn't have the same shape for everyone. I think this was the strongest message in the book - or at least, for me; maybe you'll find something that strikes you harder than this and will become your favorite thing of this novel. I was totally mesmerized by how actual and fitting that idea was to me as a person. I was totally surprised, let me tell you, when I found out I actually liked the idea of cheering for those two characters to be a couple and survive all the odds. Me, the same girl who can't read romances because she's too pragmatic to enjoy cheesy stuff.

Another cool thing it was for sure the Doors (yeah, with capital letter. Read the book and find out why) and the worlds they lead to. It was very interesting to see how people from other worlds are perceived in others and how different they actually are. Alix E. Harrow takes all the rules belonging to society and bends them in a way that is impossible to not adore or admire. Too bad we get to see little scorches and not a lot of them, deeply. I get that a book shouldn't go on and on and on, but I wouldn't complain if I get a War and Peace kind of novel where the author explores more of said Doors either, since I can't really travel through them and explore what they offer myself!

Samuel was another thing I fell in love with. His charm, his personality, his strength and the way he's always there for January, their relationship... Guys believe me when I say that I was curled up on the sofa squeaking loudly at every single line he was given. Like, no shame at all.
What made me fell completely for this guy, though, was particularly the development of his relationship with January, that took an unexpected path. I was sure that a certain thing was going to happen, I thought it was inevitable and there was no other way to make it finish, so I prepared myself for the cheesy elements. And yet, the author managed to surprise me. At the very end of the book, when I read the epilogue, I let a loud "YES, PLEASE" leave my mouth, because it was just perfect. The way she treated the relationship between the two of them in relation to the storyline she decided to go for, was simply the right one. Realistic, with nothing that has been forced or that felt like it was out of place. I appreciated that, as I appreciated the fact that whatever was going on between them was not the main point of the whole story. Surely had a very important role and impact on several decisions and moments that January had to make and confront, but it wasn't what the author wanted the reader to focus on. As I said, there's more to this book than the simple things we're discussing in this post.

And last but not least, I loved the ending. The last chapter before the Epilogue had me tearing up a little bit. Maybe it was a little obvious, maybe a little too fast, but it fitted and that's the most important thing.
I won't say much more about it because I don't want to spoil the pleasure of reading the book and discover what happens at the end of  January's journey, and also because it's not about what happens but it's about what you feel when you follow her page after page.

 

Now the bad notes. Remember that this section is mainly about what I didn't like as a reader, but it's not automatically a flaw of the book, because you might find these aspects more appealing and exciting than I did. I am a fussy reader and there are things I avoid with all myself because I know I won't like them, but unfortunately when you try and pick up a book without knowing too much it might happen that you slip on one of them. I guess that's how a reader's life works, right?

First thing first. I didn't really care about January or Locke, and I feel so bad because as a reader I'm supposed to go for the main character at least a little bit, but this wasn't the case. I strongly think that Samuel and January's auntie were the strongest character of the whole story, very well detailed and with personality traits that have been chosen and defined carefully. Yet, I found January annoying for most part and Mr. Locke very despicable. Whatever happens to him in the end is more than well deserved, and I won't apologize for saying it.
About January, nothing in particular made me dislike her; it's just that I don't really sympathies for female characters in general, and this doesn't have anything to do with the genre of the book I choose to pick up. She's nothing like many different female characters I met and hated. Compared to them, January is lovely, believe me. She's just there, acting and telling a story that I listened to, and that's all. She didn't make any difference to me and I struggled to imagine her going on this journey and acting in a certain way in certain points of the book. I for sure related to some aspects of her, to some of her ideas and feelings, but not on a deep level and maybe that's why to me she is just a character and nothing else. I won't consider this a flaw, because maybe January was given life into that specific way for a reason that I didn't grasp, but this I may never get to know. Also, I have a very troubled history with female characters, so please don't mind me too much on this aspect, above all if you consider that my heart belongs to Samuel; there's no place for anyone else, sorry.

Moving on to the next point, and the last one of this dreadful list, I also thought that the writing style, as I mentioned before, was a little slack here and there, at the beginning in particular. Up until the point in which January finds the mysterious book, I had a hard time to follow the events and I can't understand why.
Plus, for a good part of the book, mainly what concerns the present days of the story, the events lack of that little spark that makes them extraordinary and engaging. I can't tell you why, but there were parts that were... too much, that if  those were missing the story wouldn't have suffered and would've been much more fast paced and interesting. I think it's such a shame that I missed out on stuff because I kept on spacing out and getting distracted, because I think that the story is a valid one, as I said already.
I think it is just a matter of me not getting along with the writing style itself, more than a flaw belonging to the book specifically or to the author. It was very linear and clear, nothing pretentious and, once again, fitting the kind of story Alix is telling us. I just think that there are writing styles that are made for different people and this wasn't for me, but it might be for you who, for sure are less fussy than me ahah.

 

So, overall a full 3.5 stars out of five. It was a good story, interesting and catchy but it reminded me a lot of Stephen King's books and if you're familiar with my posts you know how complicated my relationship with this author is and always has been. The Ten Thousand Doors of January definitely works and it's worth to read so don't hesitate to pick it up if you come across it. I enjoyed my time reading it despite the little things that didn't convince me, so I would definitely recommend it to people.

As usual, many thanks for reading this little rant! Let me know your opinion if you read the book already and in the meantime accept all my love.
See you in the next post, folks, and don't forget to check this little one out on its release date!

Sam.