The Ten Thousand Doors of January — Book Review with Content Warnings

Author: Alix E. Harrow

Genre: Historical fantasy

Series: Standalone

Age Rating: YA

Synopsis

In the early 1900s, January Scaller is the ward of enigmatic and wealthy Mr. Locke. She feels different and out of place, more of a curiosity than a family member, until she discovers a mysterious book that reveals an unknown history with secrets that some would kill for.

Content Warnings

General Rating: Teen+ (14A / PG-13)

• Spice Rating: Mild—chaste kissing

• Violence Rating: Moderate—gunshot wounds, knife wounds, self-harm, and institutionalization

• Profanity Rating: Moderate—use of sh*t

• Other Trigger Warnings: death of a parent, colonization, xenophobia, racism, sexism/misogyny, institutionlization and confinement, gaslighting, child abuse/neglect

Overall Rating: 4.25/5

A beautiful, heartfelt read about self-discovery and finding one’s way in a contrary world. Harrow’s prose is gorgeous as always, though the narration takes some time to sort out, the pace is very slow to start, and the different POVs were confusing to begin with. However, The Ten Thousand Doors of January was a solid literary fantasy read and an excellent entry into Harrow’s work.

What I Liked

• The voice: It is smooth and delightful to read. Harrow’s prose is thoughtful and reflective, which is mirrored in the slower pace of the book, but it invites the reader deeper into January’s self-discovery and the mystery of what happened to her parents.

• January: As a protagonist, she took some time to grow on me, but once she left Locke House, I loved her curiosity and tenacity. Despite her solitary upbringing and the neglect she experienced, she is a strong woman who will do what it takes to uncover truth.

  If you are too good and too quiet for too long, it will cost you. It will always cost you, in the end. (118)

• The side characters: Samuel’s devotion to January, Jane’s fierceness, Ade’s somewhat unhinged fierceness, and Yule and Ade’s relationship were delightfully complex and warm. I felt like I got to know these characters, and I was sad to part ways with them.

What I Didn’t Like

• Narrative switch: The switch from first person (January) to academic musings (Yule Ian) to third person (Adelaide) as told by Ian was confusing to start. The POVs don’t really start to come together until about 40% in. I think it might have been nice if Yule’s story had started the book rather than abruptly thrown in after a few chapters of January’s perspective, but once it came together, it made a lot more sense and began to move more quickly.

• The parentheses: Harrow’s use of parentheses, especially in Yule Ian’s POV, was cute in The Once and Future Witches and The Everlasting, but they become cumbersome here.

Themes and Reflections

• The power of the written word: January’s words open portals. The book transports her to another history, albeit in a different manner. Words have the power to change her destiny

• The progress and prosperity of modernity squashes stories, myths, and magic: Harrow explores the age-old relationship between reason and faith with tact and imagination. January is mocked for her belief in words that open worlds; such things are not possible in a world derived from reason. Yet, she and the faithful few hold fast despite opposition. Faith always survives reason’s efforts to drown it.

“I wonder sometimes how much evil is permitted to run unchecked simply because it would be rude to interrupt it.”

— Alix E. Harrow, The Ten Thousand Doors of January

Writing Style

• Lyrical, elegant, fluid prose

• Slow, episodic pacing

• Enchanting, melancholic, but hopeful atmosphere

• Dynamic, compelling characterization in first- and third-person POV

• Alternatively, conversational and formal dialogue, depending on the POV

• Detailed, imaginative, and inventive worldbuilding

• Memorable and inspiring
  

Tropes

• Book within a book

• Portal to another world

• End of innocence

• Mastermind villain

• Friends to lovers
  

Books Like This

• Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

• Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

• The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab

Publisher Info

• Publisher: Redhook

• Release Date: September 10, 2019

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