The Book of Doors by Gareth Brown

      What if you could be instantly transported to any place in the world by opening up a door? Where would you want to go? That question is explored in The Book of Doors by Gareth Brown.

     The main character is Cassie Andrews. Cassie works at a bookstore in New York City. She regularly chats with an elderly patron, and he ends up giving her a gift one night. The gift is a book. This book is not like an ordinary book. It contains weird language and drawings that don’t make sense. She goes home to talk with her roommate, Izzy about her night and the strange book she received, and ends up reminiscing about a trip she took in Venice. While still thinking about this trip, with the book in her hand, she gets up and opens the door to her hallway. Except it’s not her hallway on the other side. It is a small, cobbled street in Venice. How is this possible? That is because Cassie now owns the Book of Doors which allows all who hold onto the book and open any door to transport to any place they wish as long as they can picture that door. 

     Cassie and Izzy quickly discover that this isn’t the only magical book in existence. They meet a man named Drummond Fox, a.k.a. The Librarian. His family owns a library filled with other magical books including the Book of Shadows. Using this book, Drummond has hidden away his family’s library in the shadows, away from the prying hands of a diabolical woman who will stop at nothing, including murder, to gain access to all the books, including the book of Pain, the Book of Sorrow, the Book of Luck, among others, and use them for evil. And, she’s not the only one. That means as long as Cassie and Izzy possess the Book of Doors, their lives are in danger.  

     Brown’s The Book of Doors encompasses fantasy, magical realism, and time travel, because not only can you travel to anywhere in the world with the Book of Doors, you can also travel to any time in the world. There is also a very subtle touch of romance that made me smile. The plot of this book is definitely what was intriguing and kept me reading. There are lots of characters to meet in this book, but it is never confusing to keep all these characters together in your head.  It is also the kind of book that heavily plays on your emotions. You’ll fall in love with the characters and their development throughout the story. You feel their joy, but also their pain. 

     I recommend this book. Similar titles include The Midnight Library by Matt Haig, The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd, and The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman.