alix harrow the ten thousand doors of january

January, as the narrator of this story, is infectious with her curiosity. You don’t even know my name (it’s January Scaller so now I suppose you do know a little something about me and I’ve ruined my point). You can’t see the scars that twist and knot across my skin. You don’t know a thing about me you can’t see me sitting at this yellow-wood desk, the salt-sweet breeze riffling these pages like a reader looking for her bookmark. When you see that word, I imagine a little prickle of familiarity makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. There–look how tall and proud the word stands on the page now, the belly of the D like a black archway leading into white nothing.

Harrow is truly gifted with how she plays with language, enabling January to break the fourth wall in charming ways. I’m not exaggerating when I say this is one of the most beautiful pieces of writing I’ve ever read. There’s a heartbreaking emphasis on loss and love given her father’s absenteeism and the mystery of who her mother is/was. She’s smart, sometimes prickly, curious to a fault, and just feels everything down to her bones.

It takes a while for this good versus evil vibe to firmly take root, as there is a lot of coming of age setup for January, but she is a wonderful heroine to spend time with. Strange men are hoping to close the Doors permanently, sealing them from ever being opened again. Her life is, understandably, changed forever at this discovery, especially as she grows older and her relationship with the Doors (portal doors are capitalized in the text) becomes part of a larger conspiracy. At the age of seven, January discovers a blue door in a remote Midwestern field that opens up to a rocky, seaside cliff. Locke is very interested in collecting antiquities and rare objects January’s father is often hired to procure these items and travels most of the year. January Scaller is a woman left in the care of her father’s employer, the enigmatic and very wealthy Mr. Unfortunately, the plot doesn’t lend itself to tense action or momentum, making this a much quieter adventure and not quite what I was looking for after coming off the bloody, excitable events of The Blacksmith Queen by G.A.

It’s slow, winding, and subtle, brimming with some of the most gorgeous writing I’ve ever read. The Ten Thousand Doors of January is a wonderfully magical portal fantasy novel that will appeal to just about any book lover.

Alix harrow the ten thousand doors of january