2024 the best science fiction books review

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(as of Nov 23, 2024 11:50:10 UTC - Details)

A debut novel full of magic, adventure, and romance, The Book of Doors opens up a thrilling world of contemporary fantasy for fans of The Midnight Library, The Invisible Life of Addie Larue, The Night Circus, and any modern story that mixes the wonder of the unknown with just a tinge of darkness.

Cassie Andrews works in a New York City bookshop, shelving books, making coffee for customers, and living an unassuming, ordinary life. Until the day one of her favorite customers—a lonely yet charming old man—dies right in front of her. Cassie is devastated. She always loved his stories, and now she has nothing to remember him by. Nothing but the last book he was reading.

But this is no ordinary book…

It is the Book of Doors.

Inscribed with enigmatic words and mysterious drawings, it promises Cassie that any door is every door. You just need to know how to open them.

Then she’s approached by a gaunt stranger in a rumpled black suit with a Scottish brogue who calls himself Drummond Fox. He’s a librarian who keeps watch over a unique set of rare volumes. The tome now in Cassie’s possession is not the only book with great power, but it is the one most coveted by those who collect them.

Now Cassie is being hunted by those few who know of the Special Books. With only her roommate Izzy to confide in, she has to decide if she will help the mysterious and haunted Drummond protect the Book of Doors—and the other books in his secret library’s care—from those who will do evil. Because only Drummond knows where the unique library is and only Cassie’s book can get them there.

But there are those willing to kill to obtain those secrets. And a dark force—in the form of a shadowy, sadistic woman—is at the very top of that list.

Reviewer: Natelie Newton
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Great Read!!
Review: This book was such a good read, that immediately after finishing it, i went to see if he wrote anything else. I'm an avid reader and so most of the books are beginning to have the same theme, plots, twist, storyline, ect... and at first I thought the same about this one. Okay there's this book of doors, no different than keys or rings.. so I thought oh this is gonna be like all the others. I was WRONG!! There were so many surprises and twist and excitement!! I was actually sad that I didn't have more to read at the end. Every single question that comes up during the reading, you get the answer to along the way. There were some parts that im still unclear on but that's the best part cause now I get to read it again. Really enjoyed!! I haven't been excited to read this much since the discovery of the "Seth Speaks" and "Dolores Cannon" material.If you like mystery, adventure, thrill, suspense, and intrigue, I highly recommend this read.

Reviewer: Kristina
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Great read
Review: Interesting story full of vivid descriptions of places, situations and feelings. Characters are charismatic and story portraits a human nature and its capability of using things for good or bad in life. As a reader, you quickly get hooked on the story even though beginning was quite slow for me personally. I enjoyed reading this work and spending my free time on it. I understand why it is so popular but it didn't leave the best impression on me, meaning that I probably would not like to read it again. Story wasn't cheesy and it had just the right amount of romance which I really appreciate nowadays. It's not the type of fantasy I like the best but I would gladly recommend it to others because it was a nice time spent.

Reviewer: aad79
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: a perfect read
Review: What an amazing book full of vibrant, complex characters and a story that will linger with you for years to come. I absolutely adored this book and came to love and root for the characters within. Beautifully written, and it reads like you are watching it all unfold directly in front of your eyes.

Reviewer: Steve Krizman
Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Good, light read
Review: The magic in the Book of Doors allows adventure across borders and time. It takes you to picturesque spots in Europe and America, where characters hide out from evil hunters of magic books. These books have a wide range of powers — from bringing joy to intense pain.The Book of Doors serves as one book to rule them all, and it falls into the hands of our main character, Cassie, a homebody thrust into peril that elicits her courage, loyalty, and practical wisdom.The plot is complex but easy to follow. It takes a few unpredicatable swerves. Magic leads Cassie and her friends into trouble and helps them get out of it, without “jumping the shark.”The writing is clean and simple. But efforts to dress up the prose are unsophisticated. It’s good, light reading.

Reviewer: Hibiscus Pizza
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: A Book about Books
Review: Lovely story for anyone who has been transported to another place and time, literally or figuratively, through books.Nice read

Reviewer: F. Moyer
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: First half a bit slow; second half much better
Review: I would classify this book as Fantasy since the story is driven by the idea that a set of magical books exists, where each book imparts its own unique set of powers to whomever is holding that book. Still, Amazon’s “Product Details” calls the book “Time Travel Science Fiction” – probably because I’ve never seen a book classified as Time Travel Fantasy. Yet, isn’t the whole idea of time travel just wishful thinking rather than scientifically possible? Anyway …The protagonist (Cassie) is gifted an odd looking book (the Book of Doors). Does she know the book was magical? Not initially; but odd, wondrous things certainly made it appear that perhaps it is magical. Does Cassie’s life remain peaceful and mundane? Of course not.The story is slow getting started. And during that time, I’m thinking: this story should explain how all these magical books came to be. (To the author’s credit, he does explain that -- after a fashion, anyway.)The second half of the book was much better. More action. More heart. More urgency. More twistiness in the storyline.Bottom Line: A twisty, entertaining storyline. Suspend your skeptical nature and then just enjoy the ride. A heartwarming, fantastical read.Note: There is one point in the story where I was shocked with what the author allowed to happen within the story. It was just against the basic “flow” and “feel” of the story. As a reader, I just had to power through it. If you hit this same part with similar emotions as I had, just power through it. Ultimately, you won’t regret it.

Reviewer: Lesa A Williams
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Enchanting, intense, and heartwarming
Review: This book was a wild adventure of travel, but also very easy to follow. The characters felt real and I fell in love with them! My name is also Cassie (same as the main character) and this girl and I are so alike. Which may not apply to you, reader, but I found it delightful! There was action, adventure, beauty and deep abiding friendship! 100% recommended!

Reviewer: Sam Dee Turner, Jr.
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: A Satisfying Read
Review: I love time travel books and overall this one doesn’t disappoint. There are a few parts that drag but they are overcome by the scenes of sentimental wonderment that a Book of Doors and other special books could bring. I believe everyone has thought about traveling in time and this books foundation enables that world to come to life. wish there had been less of the violence at the hotel and more of the wonderment of the books creation but there is room for a companion book now. Great prose that enriches the reader with visual descriptions of an enchanting story. Well done.

Reviewer: Amanda
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: There are books that can transport you to another world, another fantasy universe, and then there are certain books that can create a desire to literally transport you to the place where you'd want to experience the reminiscence feeling and you keep dreaming about. I didn't know how much I craved that until I read about it, until I read this book.This story invites you to lose yourself in its escape, behind its door of adventure.With every page turned, this captivating tale brings a modern, spellbinding adventure, but with a special touch of magic that drew me easily into the story. Its unique concept makes you wonder: where would I go if I had this book? what would be the first thing that came to mind if I held this magical thread? would I want to change anything in my life if the option were open to me? Having these thoughts and more really brings another experience, and I still think about theses questions after reading it, which really underlines how good this book was and how fantastic the journey has been for me."This is the Book of Doors. Hold it in your hand, and any door is every door."The book feels cozy even before you start. The slow pace at the beginning makes it hard to stay focused and engaged. I was expecting a bit more action when Cassie found herself in possession of the book, but mostly we get the experience of having something new and magical in our hands, and the confusion that comes with it. There were also extra details for the world building that I felt the impact of it missing on the complexity of the characters, and I found it hard to get attached to them. Nevertheless, that was just for the premise because the pace really changes after a few chapters, and after the real action starts to pick up.When there was action, the scenes were not only fully described but also really unpredictable because I was really immersed in the story. Looking back, I can see that there may have been clues and anticipation, but it still surprises me and creates "what just happened" moments.As a time travel narrative, this story demands careful attention to detail and concept, and I found the theory employed here particularly intriguing but yet easy to digest. It has a balance between being understandable and captivating.The way the story is broken down into different chapters and characters really intrigued me by how it was presented and described. Each chapter gives a little story about the origin of it all, the magic and the little theories, so that when you finally get to the real reason, all the construction you create in your mind puts you in a state of shock and even left me reeling.While the story isn't primarily centered on romance, there are hints of it throughout. Personally, I felt the characters and their friendships could have been more compelling without the romantic subplot, but the story was more than that so I didn't mind.I may not have gotten attached to many of the characters, but I was able to feel some of their emotions, their goals and understand their story and how their choices made them who they are.From the beautiful prose of the book, I felt like they were a lot of hints about living your life and I enjoyed when a book gives you in-between lines wisdom."Life is like a train that just keeps getting faster and faster and the sooner you realize that the better."It really sets the same mood as The Starless Sea and Midnight Library, which I didn't enjoy very much, but the things I didn't like in those books, I found myself liking it much more in The Book of Doors, for the emotions it gives me to the life lesson and the sense of escape it provides.

Reviewer: Abhijna Yashwanth
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: The story is well crafted, it was such a pleasure to read. Highly recommend

Reviewer: Rachel
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: I bought this as I used to work with Gareth (who, incidentally is a really good guy). I absolutely loved it and couldn’t put it down. His writing is excellent and I cared deeply what happened to the main protagonists. The horror and violence of the evil characters trying to get hold of the Book(s) reflects the horrors of today and the terrifying power in the hands of despots and certain tech empires around the world.I really hope someone picks this up to turn into a TV series (are you listening Netflix?) so I could see the book come to life. Fabulous read. C’mon Gareth, get on with the next book please!

Reviewer: JLopez
Rating: 1.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Llegó con una semana de retraso y el paquete y el libro venían dañados. Además el libro estaba mal ensamblado (mal encoladas las páginas) y estaba golpeada la sobrecubierta

Reviewer: Saga
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: I haven't quite finished reading The Book of Doors yet, but it's the firsy novel in a long time that has caught my attention with an interesting story that offers enough mystery and fantasy to make it something out of the ordinary. I like the main characters, however, I find the villains too downright evil. A little less would have made them despicable, rather than atrociously horrible. All in all, a very enjoyable read, though!