When a young girl discovers a blue door in a field she views, another world, taking her into a path of discovery, destiny, empowerment, and love. I have read a couple of this authors later books so when I found this one at a book sale and that it was Alix Harrow's first book, I was curious to how much, if any, the writing had changed, plus it was a good price and I had liked the others that I had read...so I gave it a "home". The story centers on a young girl, January Scaller, who grew up under the watchful eye of two men...the wealthy Cornelius Locke who was her father's employer, and Julian, her father whose job it was to travel the world in search of the "odd" object and valuable treasures for his employer's collection. This strange collection is housed in Mr. Locke's sprawling Vermont mansion. January lives what could be considered a "charmed" childhood, but she feels stifled by the "good old boys" club that Mr. Locke and his friends belong to. They all treat her like she's a curiosity, which she kind of is. A lot of that is because she is a mixed-race child with a long, long precocious streak. She is forced to wear elaborate clothes, which she hates...and to show lady-like, docile behavior, which is certainly NOT in any way...her "thing"...nor is the many society gatherings she is forced to attend. Then when she's 17, her father just disappears, and January finds a book that will change her life forever. She has friends; allies, in the persons of Samuel, the grocer’s son; Jane, the Kenyan woman sent by Julian to be January’s companion; and her best friend ever...Bad, her dog. With them, January embarks on an adventure that will lead her to discover secrets about Mr. Locke, the world and all its hidden doorways as well as her own family. The method that the author uses to draw a "picture" of the door with words, was both clever and interesting. (From the book) “Sometimes I feel there are doors lurking in the creases of every sentence, with periods for knobs and verbs for hinges” Vivid imagery can be found on almost every page. The book also has quiet a diverse cast of characters with a very strong lead character. Though this portal is a huge part... actually the backbone of the story...it doesn’t take away from any of the things that help it succeed as an interesting, and well-done story. ( )

Una storia d'amore più travagliata di quella di Romeo e Giulietta da cui nasce una figlia, January, poi soggiogata magicamente dal suo tutore: delirante fondatore di una società segreta dedita a chiudere le porte tra i mondi. ( )

This was a really fun read. The characters were so engaging. I'd love to know what January gets up to next. ( )

“I believed in the black gleam of the ink in the night, in the strength of my own fingers wrapped around the pen, in the reality of that other world waiting just on the other side of some invisible curtain. I believed in second chances and righted wrongs and rewritten stories. I believed in Samuel’s belief.”

I love everything about this book. I love the title, the whimsical cover, the book within a book trope, the enchanting characters, the hauntingly beautiful language. This book is everything I want a book to be. And it’s my first read of the year; I just can’t imagine that it’ll get any better than this gem.

The Ten Thousand Doors of January is about a semi-orphaned girl raised to be good with a devoted dog named Bad. Like the best heroines, January (a name I’m unabashedly obsessed with) longs for freedom and adventure and truth, which is in contrast to her borrowed privilege and sheltered, isolated existence inside the gray estate of Locke House. In short, January longs to be the hero of her own story, but the abandonment by her father and her captivity as a collector’s item in Locke’s museum force her to fall in line with the wealthy benefactor’s expectations of her—be good, be quiet, don’t indulge in fantasies. Through the smuggling of stories, though, January finds a small red thread of impossible hope. This new and fragile faith allow her to cross the Threshold, setting off on an adventure through ten thousand doors to find the truth she’s searching for. In the end, it’s the power of words that save January and the many worlds she crosses into.

This book is about the power of words and stories, it’s about hope in the midst of hopelessness, it’s about adventure and love and enchantment. It’s about all the things that make a satisfying journey through the world of books. ( )

Absolutely fantastic! Gorgeous writing: picturesque, lyrical, beautiful prose in service of a fantastical, magical story. I tore through this book, eagerly, hungrily, in just a few days. The story is very inventive, rich in nuance and detail. It filled me with sense of longing and loss, fun and wonder. To scour the world with January Scaller, a complex and compelling protagonist, and her faithful canine friend Sindbad, in search of Doors, would be a grand adventure and worth the hardships. I hope Samuel will be able to rejoin them. The Ten Thousand Doors Of January was borrowed from my public library, but it will be added to the permanent collection. Between this and A Spindle Splintered, Alix Harrow, in only two books, has quickly become a newly discovered favorite writer. ( )