Rating: 5/5 stars
Pages: 384
Genre: Historical Fantasy
Publisher: Redhook Books
Release Date: September 10, 2019
Summary: In the early 1900s, a young woman embarks on a fantastical journey of self-discovery after finding a mysterious book in this captivating and lyrical debut.
In a sprawling mansion filled with peculiar treasures, January Scaller is a curiosity herself. As the ward of the wealthy Mr. Locke, she feels little different from the artifacts that decorate the halls: carefully maintained, largely ignored, and utterly out of place.
Then she finds a strange book. A book that carries the scent of other worlds, and tells a tale of secret doors, of love, adventure and danger. Each page turn reveals impossible truths about the world and January discovers a story increasingly entwined with her own.
(blurb as found on goodreads).
** Thank you to Netgalley and Redhook Books for providing me with an eARC of this book**
Wow, so I don’t even know what to say after reading this book. It was utterly fantastic. A wonderful tale about finding your voice and the power of words. So, a few people probably know I’m a sucker for portal fantasy, and this one is so well done. The worlds through the doors are so well done, and even with only slight peeks at some of them, there’s an incredible sense of place.
January is so easy to root for, not only is she wonderfully written, but she’s also a greatly flawed character, and there’s definitely some growing to do. Honestly, I think all the characters are so well done, especially January’s father, Julian, who is one of those characters who is doing his absolute best, and yet still makes such big mistakes along the way.
And my final praise for this book, is how utterly gorgeous the prose is. January’s voice is unmistakable, lyrical and was such a pleasure to read.
Honestly, I recommend this book to anyone loved portal fantasy growing up, and wants to return to a place familiar, but with secret magic. Seriously, if this book had been around when I was a kid, I would’ve spent my childhood looking for doors!
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