Apr Book Club Discussion - The Ten Thousand Doors of January

[ufcasey]

This month's book club pick was The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow

I don't have any questions for it - so feel to discuss whatever.

[ufcasey]

Tagging people who may have read it:
meowmaps, dontlook, wesleycrusher, aurora, Vespasia, travella, litebright

[aurora]

Thank you! I was hoping you'd be a day or two late as I am not quite done. Will be back soon!

[ufcasey]

Apr 29, 2020 22:35:11 GMT -5 aurora said:

Thank you! I was hoping you'd be a day or two late as I am not quite done. Will be back soon!

That's me too actually I am a little over half way through it. 

[MrsAxilla]

I actually read it this time! I gave it five stars. - possibly the first of 2020. I didn’t know what it was about, so all the little plot twists were a surprise. It even took me awhile to snap to Julian/Yule Ian - lol.

[dontlook]

I loved this book. 5 stars! It was so different from anything I’ve read before. I enjoyed the love January and her dad had for words. I have been wanting a tattoo for a while and whenever I can safely do it I will. There are some words I want to keep close!

I hated that January was so naive but I’m happy the author was true to the character. The fact that she loved Mr. Locke and couldn’t fully see who for who he was.

Spoiler::
The book was long but I really didn’t want it to end at the very end. I wanted one more chapter to end in.....”and they lived happily ever after”. I just wanted that sappy ended. Plus I wanted Jane to get home.

[meowmaps]

Apr 30, 2020 9:28:39 GMT -5 dontlook said:

I loved this book. 5 stars! It was so different from anything I’ve read before. I enjoyed the love January and her dad had for words. I have been wanting a tattoo for a while and whenever I can safely do it I will. There are some words I want to keep close!

I hated that January was so naive but I’m happy the author was true to the character. The fact that she loved Mr. Locke and couldn’t fully see who for who he was.

Spoiler::
The book was long but I really didn’t want it to end at the very end. I wanted one more chapter to end in.....”and they loved happily ever after”. I just wanted that sappy ended. Plus I wanted Jane to get home.

Yes!  I felt like the ending left it open for the possibility of a sequel because of these unresolved plot elements but when I googled it the author said it was a stand alone book.  She didn't close the door (ha) to the possibility of a sequel but I don't think it's in her plans.  

[meowmaps]

I really enjoyed this book. Sometimes fantasy/magical realism can be cheesy but that wasn't the case here, at least for me. I thought the different portals/worlds were very imaginative.

I gave it 4 stars. I've read five or more books since so I can't remember why exactly it didn't reach a 5 for me. I know one thing, I didn't like the parts where Bad was mistreated. I'm always nervous when there's a central animal character in a story with bad guys.

I'd definitely read more by this author.

ETA: I wonder if the author pronounces her name Al-ix or Ah-lix like the woman in Such a Fun Age.  

[expectantsteelerfan]

Apr 30, 2020 9:28:39 GMT -5 dontlook said:

I loved this book. 5 stars! It was so different from anything I’ve read before. I enjoyed the love January and her dad had for words. I have been wanting a tattoo for a while and whenever I can safely do it I will. There are some words I want to keep close!

I hated that January was so naive but I’m happy the author was true to the character. The fact that she loved Mr. Locke and couldn’t fully see who for who he was.

Spoiler::
The book was long but I really didn’t want it to end at the very end. I wanted one more chapter to end in.....”and they lived happily ever after”. I just wanted that sappy ended. Plus I wanted Jane to get home.

I loved it too!  So much so that I gave it the spot of favorite book I've read so far this year and one that I will most recommend.  And I totally agree with you on being being annoyed that January was so naive, but understanding that it was part of who she was and why and glad they at least kept it consistent for the whole book.  I maybe would have liked more closure on the Jane storyline (although I read several books since then, so now I'm not 100% sure I'm remembering how they left her storyline right now or not).  
Some of the critics have said that not enough happens for a book that is about traveling to different worlds, but I found the writing so beautiful I didn't mind that it wasn't action packed.  I also hadn't read the description at all before starting to read it, so maybe I didn't have expectations for it to not live up to.  This is definitely one where I was sad when it was over!

[Vespasia]

I liked this book but I really expected/wanted to love it. I think it suffered lot from the fact that I read it just a few months after The Starless Sea which was amazing and what I think this book could have been.

It's hard to describe why but it fell a little flat for me. The writing was beautiful but I found the plot a bit lacking. The second the boy with the "red black skin" met Ade I knew they were January's parents. It killed some of the anticipation and mystery. Locke being from another world and practically immortal was a good twist though. I thought it strange that people getting lost in the Threshold permanently wasn’t really mentioned until the end but maybe I just missed it.

I also found the parents relationship kind of annoying. Maybe I am a cynical bitch (lol) but I generally hate where a great lifelong love is based on spending a few hours together. They barely know each other but then devote their lives to finding each other. He neglects their daughter and leaves her with people he must know are at least somewhat shady because he is so fixated on getting back to his wife. I did appreciate that Ade still had the urge to travel and adventure even after she and Yule Ian found each other the first time so it wasn’t just for him.

January’s relationship with Samuel was somewhat similar in that they had that connection after barely speaking for years but at least they had some history together. I also can’t begrudge a girl for falling for the guy who gave her a dog.

Speaking of Bad, I am sure everyone involved deserved it but having a dog that just goes around biting people isn’t usually a sign of good pet ownership!

All that said, I think the author has a lot of promise (I think this was a debut novel?) and I would definitely read more of their books in the future.

[travella]

I'm amazed at all the five star reviews. I couldn't get into this book and ended up giving up on it. Maybe I'll have to try picking it up again at a different time.

[dontlook]

Apr 30, 2020 23:56:14 GMT -5 travella said:

I'm amazed at all the five star reviews. I couldn't get into this book and ended up giving up on it. Maybe I'll have to try picking it up again at a different time.

The first 75 pages or so were a little rough. I couldn’t quite grab onto the words and make sense of what was happening. I probably would have given up of it wasn’t a book club book. Something turned suddenly for me and I was sucked in. I’ve been struggling to read most books lately and I think I’m going to force myself a little further just in case they aren’t as bad as I’m telling myself they are.

[wesleycrusher]

I still have another 7 weeks left on my hold...but I think people must be reading it fast, because I only placed the hold 2 weeks ago and it said 11 week hold then. Hopeful to get it soon!

[dontlook]

May 1, 2020 9:32:31 GMT -5 wesleycrusher said:

I still have another 7 weeks left on my hold...but I think people must be reading it fast, because I only placed the hold 2 weeks ago and it said 11 week hold then. Hopeful to get it soon!

My holds have been coming in extremely fast. I hope you get yours quickly!

[MrsAxilla]

May 1, 2020 6:55:16 GMT -5 dontlook said:

Apr 30, 2020 23:56:14 GMT -5 travella said:

I'm amazed at all the five star reviews. I couldn't get into this book and ended up giving up on it. Maybe I'll have to try picking it up again at a different time.

The first 75 pages or so were a little rough. I couldn’t quite grab onto the words and make sense of what was happening. I probably would have given up of it wasn’t a book club book. Something turned suddenly for me and I was sucked in. I’ve been struggling to read most books lately and I think I’m going to force myself a little further just in case they aren’t as bad as I’m telling myself they are.

Yeah, I’m having a hard time getting sucked into much lately.  I think I mainly liked it because it was different.

[aurora]

I just finished!

I also really liked it. I do wish we got to see her re-opening Jane's door. Jane deserves to get home to find her family!

Re. January being naive, wasn't that because Locke was messing with her brain for her whole childhood, trying to control her? I thought that was implied by their last conversation.

I was so worried about Bad.

I was so confused by the chapter numbering in the table of contents, but I did like the narrative structure and changes in POV.

[ufcasey]

Ok finished the book! I liked it for the most part. I will say I was not really invested in the love story between January's parents - it felt too rushed and too all-encompassing considering how little time they actually spent together in total. Also I thought January was kind of a dick for abandoning Samuel and Jane to go find her parents alone, even though she did eventually go back for them. Overall I thought it was an interesting concept and I liked that January wasn't a brave kick-ass heroine, she was more relatable.

[mrspez07]

I finally was able to get this book from the library and get it read.
I’m writing my thoughts here before I read everyone else’s reviews (I don’t want you all to ruin my love!). 5 stars.
I read it right after The Starless sea and love this one and dislike that one (I’ll save my review on that one for the book club discussion). They both strongly used doors as portals into other worlds.

I enjoyed the characters, plot twists, evil antagonists and wonderful worlds of this book. I actually would have liked it to be longer, and I could see a sequel of explored worlds being an interesting follow up.

There is a bit missing and a jump from her going from a helpless upper class girl to heading into new worlds to explore, not sure she fully developed the skills she needed in her short time in Arcadia.

My review on goodreads:

This book hit the right spot. Enough to make it feel real, enough fantastical parts to escape into.
I read this directly after The Starless Sea and they were a similar premise, but this should have been the longer one, WAY better!
It’s the type of book that is probably amazing to read in hardback, unfortunately due to Covid, I had to settle for the ebook.

I’ll do the ETA if I want to weigh in on other reader’s thoughts.

[aurora]

Jun 10, 2020 13:47:09 GMT -5 mrspez07 said:

I finally was able to get this book from the library and get it read.
I’m writing my thoughts here before I read everyone else’s reviews (I don’t want you all to ruin my love!). 5 stars.
I read it right after The Starless sea and love this one and dislike that one (I’ll save my review on that one for the book club discussion). They both strongly used doors as portals into other worlds.
...

I'm halfway through the Starless Sea, having read Ten Thousand Doors last month, and definitely find myself getting confused by the overlap.