"The Ten Thousand Doors of January" by Alix E. Harrow

“When one enters a Door, one must be brave enough to see the other side.”

January Scaller is a relic.

At least that's how she feels tucked away with dusty antiques from far away lands: a thing to be peered at and then forgotten all together.

As the ward of the wealthy Mr. Locke, January wishes for more in life than the being the "curiosity" her explorer father left behind.

But when she stumbles upon an strange book, she discovers the story of an adventurous woman who lived several decades before her: Adelaide Lee Larson. Through the pages of the book, January reads of true love, of adventure, and of doors that lead to unexpected places.

January is caught up in Adelaide's journey, but she soon realizes that the story is getting closely similar to her own.

(Note: The book I purchased has a YA Book of the Month cover)

“The Ten Thousand Doors of January” is quite the book.

Two months after reading this story, I am still thinking about it. I keep finding myself being drawn back to the pages.

This portal fantasy set in the early 1900s asks some interesting questions:
What if the stories we read and told were individual worlds themselves?
What if we could reach those worlds through Doors? (with a capital D, mind you.)
And what if those worlds were just as real as our own?

So basically, any explorer or bookworm's dream.

“The Ten Thousand Doors of January” introduces us to our young narrator: January Scaller. As I read, I truly felt as if she were telling me her own story over a cup of tea. January is untamed and imaginative, longing for the beauty of the world outside the life she’s known. I greatly enjoyed joining her adventure and seeing her grow from a wild creature in the eyes of society to a timid girl in her own eyes to a feisty and courageous teen finding her place in the world.

We are also acquainted with some other wonderful characters that join January on her journey.

January’s loyal childhood friend and quiet local grocer boy, Samuel Zappia, can have my heart forever. His friendship with January is so pure and his character is so courageous. (My heart <3)

Another fantastic character is Jane. She is a way-cool African rebel/nanny with a gun. Everything about her is powerful: her passion, her emotions, her story. Jane is widely different from other heroines I've read. Basically, she’s amazing and I would love to be her friend.

I don't want to spoil anything but I hate the villains so much. Like a lot. Read this book and hate them with me.

I was swept away with how masterfully Alix E. Harrow wrote "The Ten Thousand Doors of January". There was a literal world in the pages of this book. I found myself so invested in the story of January and the book she found, I couldn’t put it down. The style of writing is whimsical and pretentious but the flowing descriptions or beautiful word choices never amount to "over-writing”. So many stories are weaved together in such a gorgeous and gripping way. There are portal doors (!) and treasure (!!) and footnotes (!!!). If this sounds even remotely like a book you'd like to read someday, do yourself a favor and pick it up.

Just a couple of content warnings... There were some pretty intense moments in this book, quite a few of them involving violence and blood. There was one scene that involved self-harm as an unintentional way of getting out of a bad situation. It makes sense in the story narrative but if you are uncomfortable with this type of content, the scene might tarnish the rest of the story for you. But even in the intense or dark scenes, the author still shines the light of freedom and love and beauty through each of the pages.

I really loved "The Ten Thousand Doors of January". This book helped me believe in the impossible. It helped me to find magic and adventure in the ordinary. But most of all it taught me to believe in myself and the power of stories.

I give “The Ten Thousand Doors of January” 5 out of 5 Doors (with a capital D).

Until the next book!

~ K.J. Haakenson