The Ten Thousand Doors of January

I wanted to like this! I just really did not. I even hesitated doing this book review because I thought, I never blog everything I read, why spend time talking about a book I don’t like?? Then I thought, okay who reads this but my grandma (hi grandma) and you should blog everything you read!! So here we are. Here I am. Writing about a book I have negative feelings towards.

In The Ten Thousand Doors of January, we meet our heroine, January, in New England at the turn of the twentieth century. She is living in an old estate with Mr. Locke, her father’s employer. Her mother is long dead, and her father, Julian, travels around the world collecting oddities for Mr. Locke. She grows up with a governess, a protective dog, and a decent relationship with Mr. Locke. One day, January finds a door that opens into another world. She tells Mr. Locke, and he quickly shuts her down and calls her crazy.

I found it too predicable! Plus, last year, I read The Starless Sea which is a slightly similar premise — doors to other worlds, an ode to storytelling and books — and it was just infinitely better. I was chatting with my friend Maya, who also read it, and she said it was “predictable and also kind of hollow.” “Hollow” is never a way I would think to describe a book, but it feels very apt. Just… not much there. A plot that moved quickly, yes. A protagonist you could root for, 100%. A love story between the parents? Why not!

I just wanted more.

Rating: ★★