I received an advance reader’s copy (ARC) of The Book of Doors by Gareth Brown. Since this version is just a proof and not the final version, I won’t quote directly and will keep my comments general.

In The Book of Doors by Gareth Brown, Cassie is working in a bookstore, trying to make ends meet while living with her best friend in New York City. However, a favorite customer dies in the store, and she’s devastated. Then, she’s also intrigued when she finds a book at the man’s side with an inscription to her on the inside cover. This book is called The Book of Doors, and the first page promises that it can take the person who possesses it anywhere. Cassie soon discovers it’s true: this book is magical, and will transform any door into a portal to wherever you want. But this sort of book is valuable, and Cassie soon finds herself immersed in a dangerous underground society of black market collectors of rare volumes like this one. And these collectors are willing to do anything, even kill, for magical books. Cassie and her roommate Izzy must team up with the mysterious Drummond Fox, whose own connection with magical books is deep and ancestral—but the women aren’t sure he can be trusted. Then again, when their lives are on the line, what other choice do they have?

This book has such a cool premise! I love taking the idea that books can transport you figuratively and making it literal. And as we and Cassie soon find out, there are other magical books, some wonderful and some terrible. All are fascinating, and I enjoyed seeing how they work and affect people who use them. The Book of Doors, of course, is the one best explored, as it’s the one the protagonist possesses, and it truly is an excellent tool. But that’s coming from me, who likes the idea of teleportation because then I wouldn’t have to drive anywhere.

That said, the Book of Doors comes with an additional power, not just the ability to move across space. The user can also travel across time, as long as they can remember a certain moment. This has fabulous potential (and of course, danger, depending on how it’s used), but this is also where, I think, this novel struggles a little. Because honestly, I think this story’s theory of time travel doesn’t quite make sense. Rather, it’s extremely paradox-inducing, and I really think that there should have at least been a mention of parallel universes. I mean, going back in time and changing the past surely would change the present, or at least create an alternate present, right? I don’t know; I’m a book reviewer, Kirk, not an astrophysicist. Either way, time travel theory in this felt kind of convenient for the plot, but probably doesn’t fully hold water if you think about it too hard. Oh, well.

Speaking of paradoxes, the moment we learned about the origin of the magical books really confused me. Without spoilers, this revelation is the most paradoxical moment of the novel. How does this work, exactly?!

Ugh, okay, moving on. Honestly, there are several aspects of this book that I quite liked. Cassie and Izzy’s bond is lovely; you can tell these are two close friends, and their love for each other is a wonderful thing to watch as they go through all this strife, both apart and together. I also enjoyed Cassie’s connection with Drummond. He’s a great character, both charming and enigmatic, and his mysteriousness isn’t annoying, but rather makes sense as we get to know him better.

I also found the action-focused scenes to be pretty intense and exciting. There’s a lot of violence, as the main antagonist is extremely ruthless, and if you don’t like mild gore, this isn’t the book for you. However, there are also enough emotional stakes in the action scenes that make them compelling. And the pacing is pretty good throughout, with the exception of the middle of the book. I think I liked the final act the best, as so many disparate elements come together in a pretty satisfying way.

In the end, The Book of Doors is a fairly impressive debut novel. Brown puts forth some intriguing concepts, even if they don’t all quite work for me. The characters are mostly quite good, other than the villain (who kind of fell flat), each with distinct personality and development. The emotional beats pretty much work, and the action isn’t bad. It’s not the greatest story I’ve ever read, but it’s not bad! If you like books like The Starless Sea or, from what I can tell from its description, The Midnight Library, you’ll probably like this!

The Book of Doors is available now!