The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix Harrow

* Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. *


Synopsis

I was so hyped up to read The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow. It was one of my highest anticipated reads this year. When I saw the cover, I was totally in book lust and reading the synopsis had me hooked. I needed to read this book. I love books about books and the travelling to new words trope is always intriguing and fantastic. I wasn't wrong. The Ten Thousand Doors of January was so creative and wonderful. The story is colorful and beautiful with so much room for more. This is a really good book. I enjoyed it a lot. It somehow felt to me like a combination of the magic in reading that came from The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern and The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins. It is weird, it is fantastical, just a little dark, and it is just what I've been looking for in terms of a concept.

I would have loved to give it 5 stars in all honesty, but there were two things that prevented that:

1...Hype. Dang it! I hate it when that happens. I was all worked up for something incredibly magical, blow me off my feet. And it WAS good. It was magical, but it didn't blow me away. I expected too much. I oversold it to myself and wrecked the beauty that is all wrapped up in this book. This means that I may have to put it on my bookshelf and bring it back out in a couple of years for a reread once the hype goes away. In all honesty, there's a good chance I could love it even more on the second go round, but for this read I just felt like the world building was a little lacking and I wanted so much more of the story.

2...Pacing. I STRUGGLED with pieces of this book. It wasn't one where I couldn't put it down. At least not until the last 1/2. The beginning moved slowly and I just wanted to get to the action. Again, this was probably a factor of the hype. This book is a bit of a slow burn, which is a difficult read when the potential for fabulousness is so high. I knew what this book was supposed to be about and I just wanted it ALL. RIGHT. NOW. Ya...that didn't happen. But I pushed on because I wanted to love it. And the second half moved great. It wrapped me up in the narrative and propelled me forward, itching for each new page. So thank goodness for a fantastic ending. This is also the kind of case where a reread has the potential to be even better. My antsyness will be reduced and I should be able to settle in to the narrative and enjoy it even more. 

As it was, it was still a great read.

Rating

I blame myself for the lack of 5 stars, really. But let's be honest... 4.5 is still pretty dang good. So I say definitely read this one if you like fantasy at all. But do yourself a favor if you can and wait out the hype. It'll be worth the wait.