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beckimoody29's review
4.0
I don't normally like supernatural elements in my stories and so this type of mystical realism or speculative fiction or whatever were calling it, is not normally my first choice. But I really liked the protagonist of Every Bone a Prayer, and was intrigued by the idea of the doors. Its a question I asked myself throughout the book "would you take your door or send it away?" and I haven't really decided. Like Maren, I think I would like the possibility of the door -- having that choice available as an option. I wouldn't want to send it away because that would close off the chance to ever find out. But there are a lot of things in my life that I would miss.
At several points in the story I thought that the doors were a metaphor for suicide, and it is a similar concept although characters also talk about suicidal ideation and those choices as separate from the door. I think it could be somewhat triggering however. I did wonder what was on the other side although I am happy there was no attempt to explain.
I liked the characters and felt they were realistic and multi-dimensional. The writing is beautiful and gives you a good sense of "place" without being Nathaniel Hawthorne level descriptive. I love books that make you think, and I will be thinking about this one for awhile.
At several points in the story I thought that the doors were a metaphor for suicide, and it is a similar concept although characters also talk about suicidal ideation and those choices as separate from the door. I think it could be somewhat triggering however. I did wonder what was on the other side although I am happy there was no attempt to explain.
I liked the characters and felt they were realistic and multi-dimensional. The writing is beautiful and gives you a good sense of "place" without being Nathaniel Hawthorne level descriptive. I love books that make you think, and I will be thinking about this one for awhile.
livrad's review
2.0
In the backwoods town of Blackdamp, Kentucky, for as long as anyone can remember, some residents have a door that appears to them. If they open this door and go through, all of their problems are gone, but they'll never come back. I had hoped that this book would have some of the magic of Ten Thousand Doors of January, but instead, it was more like being in the depressive and drug-riddled world of Winter's Bone. Just like the door hovers behind the main character in this book, it is almost out of sight in the plot--almost like an afterthought to make the book more interesting--and the lives being led in Blackdamp were so disheartening to read about, I wished I had my own door to escape.
"There was so much promise in a door left shut. As long as you never opened it, you could never be disappointed by what you didn’t find." The same could be said about my reading experience with Where I Can't Follow. It was a book best left shut.
"There was so much promise in a door left shut. As long as you never opened it, you could never be disappointed by what you didn’t find." The same could be said about my reading experience with Where I Can't Follow. It was a book best left shut.
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