UNPAID ADVERTISEMENT {REVIEW}
I received this book as a review copy in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion. A big thank you goes here to Hachette Australia.
ACCORDING TO JANUARY SCALLER, THERE'S ONLY ONE WAY TO RUN AWAY FROM YOUR OWN STORY, AND THAT'S TO SNEAK INTO SOMEONE ELSE'S . . .
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 artefacts 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.
Paperback: 432 pages
Publisher: Orbit; 1 edition
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0356512460
ISBN-13: 978-0356512464
'The Ten Thousand Doors Of January' by Alix E. Harrow has definitely been a cover-buy for me. And sadly, I've been blinded by the gorgeous outside.
The inside hasn't been so pretty for me as I gave up after about 100 pages. The base idea has been really intriguing but the story just couldn't capture me. I continuously put the book aside and found other things to do so I don't 'have to' read on. The story line was just too dragging in my opinion.
Although the characters are quite cute, they too couldn't convince me fully. They're just kind of lacking that special little thing that feels like a friend.
I also usually cope really well with various POVs. However, this time it disrupted the reading flow for me and the constant references throughout the story gave me more the feeling of reading an encyclopedia instead of a fictional book.
I really don't give up on a story easily but unfortunately, 'The Ten Thousand Doors Of January' simply wasn't for me. In my opinion it has okay-ish characters, too chaotic and confusing jumps between POVs, and a quite dragging story line.
Sad as it is, it seems to end up being my '2020 Book Flop'. Even though I'm quite sure other readers might enjoy this different kind of writing style.