Gareth Brown: The Book of Doors

Hi everyone

The Book of Doors is Gareth Browns debut novel. I read this on my e-reader. 
The premise is intriguing, but unfortunately, the execution fell flat for me.

"In New York City, bookseller Cassie Andrews is living an unassuming life when she is given a gift by a favourite customer. It's a book—an unusual book, full of strange writing and mysterious drawings. And at the very front there is a handwritten message to Cassie, telling her that this is the Book of Doors, and that any door is every door. 
What Cassie is about to discover is that the Book of Doors is a special book that bestows an extraordinary powers on whoever possesses it, and soon she and her best friend Izzy are exploring all that the Book of Doors can do, swept away from their quiet lives by the possibilities of traveling to anywhere they want. 
But the Book of Doors is not the only magical book in the world. There are other books that can do wondrous and dreadful things when wielded by dangerous and ruthless individuals—individuals who crave what Cassie now possesses. 
Suddenly Cassie and Izzy are confronted by violence and danger, and the only person who can help them is, it seems, Drummond Fox. He is a man fleeing his own demons—a man with his own secret library of magical books that he has hidden away in the shadows for safekeeping. Because there is a nameless evil out there that is hunting them all... 
Because some doors should never be opened." 

First, the writing style; or more specifically, how Gareth Brown writes women. He falls into the classic trap of having his "heroine" stare into a mirror and describe herself, including unnecessary details like her breast size and everything she supposedly hates about her appearance. I hate when authors do this. What do her breasts have to do with the story? Why does the other woman feel disgusting for eating carbs? There are so many strange, unnecessary comments that pulled me out of the story.
And then there’s Cassies trip to the past. She ages 10 years, and suddenly she’s in her thirties, complaining about being old, grey, and sagging. Please. As someone who actually is in her thirties, I can tell you; this is not how it works and it's insulting. And how is it possible to live somewhere for 10 years without a job, an identity, or any kind of life? What did she do all day? Why didn’t she take up boxing or learn a skill that might help her survive? It made no sense.

I didn’t care for any of the characters. They were all one-dimensional, lacking proper motivations, and without much background or growth. I couldn’t care less whether someone lived or died.

Some (okay, a lot) of the choices the characters made were just plain stupid. Sending a cold-hearted killer back in time instead of just killing him? Absolutely asinine, especially in a book where time travel exists. And did they really think the villain wouldn’t notice her books were gone? It felt like the characters were making decisions just to move the plot forward or in a certain way, not because it made any logical sense.
I would have loved to find out more about the other magical books. What were they capable of? How did they come to belong to someone? The concept was so cool, but it was barely explored. It felt like a wasted opportunity.

And finally, finding out why the villain became the bad one was a really strange decision. I like that we got some background, but not this background. It made the "heroes" seem just as bad, and I really don’t understand Brown’s reasoning here. It undermined the moral clarity of the story.

The Book of Doors had so much potential with such an intriguing premise, but it fell short in almost every way. The writing, characters, and plot choices were frustrating, and the worldbuilding was underdeveloped. It’s a shame, because the premise is so interesting.

Have you read The Book of Doors? Did you enjoy it more than I did, or did you struggle with the same issues? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Happy reading!
Helena