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A Door in the Dark (Waxways, #1)

Scott Reintgen

Start date: January 1, 2024

Finish date: January 31, 2024

Discussion: Book Discussions - 2024

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Book Discussions - 2024

* June: Chaos & Flame
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What Members Thought

Feb 28, 2023 Kristen rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, fantasy, thriller, family-and-friendship, arc, antihero-vibes

Ren Monroe is a scholarship wizard at the elite Balmerick University where she's known for her textbook smarts, but top marks doesn't mean immediate acceptance into the major houses, a necessity if Ren's going to succeed in her ultimate goal. Only one house is off-limits for her: the Broods, whose heir, Theo, is forced to use the public portal to get home after a party trick gone awry. When the portal spell malfunctions, sending six students--including Ren and Theo--into the middle of nowhere, t Ren Monroe is a scholarship wizard at the elite Balmerick University where she's known for her textbook smarts, but top marks doesn't mean immediate acceptance into the major houses, a necessity if Ren's going to succeed in her ultimate goal. Only one house is off-limits for her: the Broods, whose heir, Theo, is forced to use the public portal to get home after a party trick gone awry. When the portal spell malfunctions, sending six students--including Ren and Theo--into the middle of nowhere, they have to work together to make it back home. But each member of the group is hiding secrets, and there are monsters in the forest that will do everything they can to stop the students in their tracks.

I was very excited to get an arc copy of A Door in the Dark via Netgalley. I enjoyed Reintgen's debut Nyxia and purchased his more recent Ashlords (but unfortunately have not yet read it, though it has moved up higher on my TBR). I was eager to read this book, which is pitched as a cross between One of Us Is Lying and a recent favorite of mine, A Deadly Education. This book does not disappoint. 4 stars.

The basic setup for this book has quite a few similarities to A Deadly Education, with a magic school whose members are often from elite and wealthy families. For Ren, her only hope to living a life of relative comfort is to be offered a place with one of the major houses, which is harder than she expected it to be, despite her innate smarts. It differs, though, when Ren and the others are sent into a wild, unmapped forest full of magical monsters.

The first 25% of the book is mostly world-building and character set-up, which sounds like it would be tedious but was very enjoyable for me. I liked seeing the world Reintgen has built, and liked that readers were introduced to the main cast outside of the main storyline. It helps quite a bit, actually, since relationships between these characters will be forged and broken across the remainder of the novel.

The remaining 75% of the book can be fit into a thriller or adventure genre. The group has limited magical reserves, a passing knowledge of what to expect and how to get home, and a creature that is actively hunting them. I found myself losing a little bit of interest as the story continued, as it took on some typical horror movie aspects that I'm generally disinclined to. But overall, the story is made stronger by the character arc of the lead, Ren, and what she's willing to do to achieve her goal. Some may not like her character (I was on the fence) but others will definitely enjoy Reintgen's version of an anti-heroine.

An excellent entry into dark fantasy, A Door in the Dark could be a set-up for a series (at this time, it doesn't appear to be) or could be an open-ended novel where the rest is left up to the reader's imagination. I think this will definitely be a popular book with YA and adult readers alike.

I received my ARC copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. My thanks to the publisher, Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing, for the chance to read and review. All opinions are my own. Publication date: March.28.2023. ...more

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Mar 01, 2023 Leander Public Library added it · review of another edition

Shelves: age-group-young-adult, death-and-grief, parental-advisory-violence, adventure, romance, thriller, fantasy, parental-advisory-profanity, horror, paranormal

Oct 02, 2023 Christine marked it as to-read

Shelves: literally-leander-book-club

Sep 24, 2024 Susan Stearns marked it as to-read · review of another edition

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