Blog Archive

FORMAT/INFO: The Book of Doors was published on February 15th, 2024 by Bantam Books in the U.K. and on February 13th 2024 by William Morrow in the U.S. It is available in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook formats.

OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: The Book of Doors by Gareth Brown is a fresh urban portal fantasy standalone that’s just one of those books that got me reading well into nap time on a long flight. It’s saying something because I take nap time very seriously.

Cassie, an introverted young woman who works at a bookstore and lives with her friend is handed a book that gives her the magical power to make any door every door and transport herself to places, unlocking unlimited possibilities. Clearly it’s not that simple, because that’s where her trouble begins, because should it get into the wrong hands that are already in search for it, it would be a disaster.

What starts simply with Cassie and her polar opposite and best friend Izzie being swept up in a mad adventure for their survival, while making friends on the way. It is here I want to stress that the author has a certain way with describing settings in an impressionable way that made me feel like a silent bystander in the story, almost to the point where I once wanted to shout “look out!” at the characters. This certainly added to my investment in the events, as did the portrayal of Cassie’s relationship with Izzie and her late grandfather. The latter was simply so endearing in a way that’s hard to describe, and it makes for some very emotional moments.

If this was a simple portal fantasy, it might’ve not been so mad, but there’s an element of time travel and the way it is used for the progression of the story makes this book exciting and heart-pounding. While the narrative is told majorly from Cassie’s perspective, the others add to the flavor of the story and heighten the stakes. While the book is initially quite plot-driven, with Cassie just reacting to everything that happens around her, it becomes character-driven after a point and she subtly develops this kind of quite confidence by the end that made her arc a gratifying one to read. Over the book there are new additions to her friend circle, and all characters have a compelling part to play, and the interweaving of the past and the present was done so well that I wouldn’t have had trouble following the timeline if it weren’t clearly stated in the chapter headers.

Something felt off about the book but I can’t put my finger on what exactly it could be, and anyway I had such a blast reading this that I give in and indulge it with a rounded up five-star rating, so that makes it my first of the year!

CONCLUSION: The Book of Doors is everything I wanted in a fantasy adventure: books as magical artifacts, a fight between good and evil with a compelling heroine, a charming retinue of characters, time travel, and a fractured timeline. Not to forget, epic cinematic moments that made me imagine it made into a Marvel movie, and some of the soundtracks still play in my head as I write this review. It’s so fresh in a way that’s hard to explain, and for that alone, if nothing else, you should give it a shot.