Alex reviewed The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow
Light reading
4 stars
It's well written, but not strikingly original. I liked it, but clearly sort of a YA kind of thing.
Paperback, 416 pages
Published May 12, 2020 by Redhook.
Enero Demico es una joven curiosa que vive en una extensa mansión llena de objetos y tesoros peculiares. Como la pupila del rico Sr. Locke, se siente un poco distinta a todo aquello que la rodea. Entre todos los artefactos que habitan la casa, Enero descubrirá un maravilloso libro: un libro que la llevará a otros mundos y que cuenta una historia repleta de puertas secretas, de amor, aventura y peligro. Cada vez que pase una de sus páginas se le revelarán verdades imposibles hasta descubrir que la historia que lee está cada vez más entrelazada con la suya.
It's well written, but not strikingly original. I liked it, but clearly sort of a YA kind of thing.
Content warning Spoiler for a story twist, cw death, animal harm, self harm
It's a little flat. Fantastical but enough racism to just sort of suck the air out of it. I really resented the >>spoiler<< dead dog switcharoo even though I kinda saw it coming. When the >>spoiler<< dead mum turned up alive then the >>spoiler<< dead dad did too then dead friend then dead great aunt ... it was a bit of a struggle to not just nope out.
The worldsbuilding is solid. The characters are solid. Representation of POC is great. One character is in a pan polycule, which is rad. The rest is OK, (pacing, plot, etc.) just very predictable. It's fairly YA but for the self harm. (One day I'll happen upon a novel for grown-ups & faint dead away)
... e NON è una critica, eh. Al di là del tema "il capitalismo e lo sfruttamento dell'ambiente (sotto metafora) fanno schifissimo", si tratta di un libro perfetto per adolescenti sia come protagonista che come tipo di problemi personali in cui la protagonista si dibatte. Quanto alla struttura narrativa, contiene alcune scelte di trama che possono ad alcunz sembrare un po' trite, ma è principalmente una questione di chilometraggio letture, non di età.
I listened on audio book. I enjoyed parts but felt it went on a bit too long and jumped around a lot, but not in a good way. I was bored by the end. It didn't really ever grab my attention