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The Door to January
by
It’s a nightmare. And it’s killing her.
Ever since sixteen-year-old Natalie Payson moved away from her hometown of Bernier, Maine, she’s had nightmares. And not just the usual ones. These are inside her, pulling her, calling her back, drawing her to a door, a house, a place, a time. Full of fear, full of danger. So this summer, Natalie’s going back to Bernier to face up to ...more
Ever since sixteen-year-old Natalie Payson moved away from her hometown of Bernier, Maine, she’s had nightmares. And not just the usual ones. These are inside her, pulling her, calling her back, drawing her to a door, a house, a place, a time. Full of fear, full of danger. So this summer, Natalie’s going back to Bernier to face up to ...more
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Hardcover, 255 pages
Published
September 5th 2017
by Islandport Press
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When I first discovered The Door to January in my mailbox I immediately fell in love with the cover. I am always on the lookout for Young Adult novels that are a quick read and don’t require a long term investment on my end, and this one fit the bill perfectly. The blurb is fairly vague and I wasn’t 100% sure what the book would involve, but I was intrigued and excited to have found a story that felt so different than what is being published in the genre today. Initially I assumed the book had s
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(I received an advance copy of this book for free. Thanks to Bookmasters and Edelweiss.)
This was a YA story about a girl suffering from nightmares.
Natalie was an okay character, but I found it hard to connect with her.
The storyline in this was about Natalie investigating a recurring dream that she was having by visiting the abandoned house where she believed the dream took place. She visited this house with her cousin Teddy, and set up a recording device which picked up some odd noises/talking, ...more
This was a YA story about a girl suffering from nightmares.
Natalie was an okay character, but I found it hard to connect with her.
The storyline in this was about Natalie investigating a recurring dream that she was having by visiting the abandoned house where she believed the dream took place. She visited this house with her cousin Teddy, and set up a recording device which picked up some odd noises/talking, ...more

Disclaimer: This book was sent to me by the author, Gillian French, for an honest review.
Opinion:
“As Natalie moved closer to the door, she heard whispers.
Girls’ voices hissed around the frame. ‘Natalie,’ the said. ‘Natalie.’
She opened the door to blackness colder than the pits of January.”

Natalie Payson has been plagued with strange nightmares for the past two years, where voices call her to a house – a door. She has no idea what to make of these dreams or why it whispers to her in ...more
Opinion:
“As Natalie moved closer to the door, she heard whispers.
Girls’ voices hissed around the frame. ‘Natalie,’ the said. ‘Natalie.’
She opened the door to blackness colder than the pits of January.”

Natalie Payson has been plagued with strange nightmares for the past two years, where voices call her to a house – a door. She has no idea what to make of these dreams or why it whispers to her in ...more

2.5 Stars
So, not as good as Grit. Grit had really great characterization that I felt The Door to January was missing. This is also not my typical read; which wouldn't make it good or bad on its own, but coupled with a few missing pieces, forced the lean to not as good even further.
The Door to January is a paranormal thriller about a girl who cannot escape the town in which she grew up, nor a house that she has a connection to, but can't figure out how or why. This story flips between the "now" a ...more
So, not as good as Grit. Grit had really great characterization that I felt The Door to January was missing. This is also not my typical read; which wouldn't make it good or bad on its own, but coupled with a few missing pieces, forced the lean to not as good even further.
The Door to January is a paranormal thriller about a girl who cannot escape the town in which she grew up, nor a house that she has a connection to, but can't figure out how or why. This story flips between the "now" a ...more

It's not easy to write a thriller that keeps a reader on the edge of their seat but Gillian French does it. She deftly weaves a story that spans time to deliver authentic young adult characters and a believable (nail-biting) plot in a setting that will ring true to small town residents everywhere. You won't be able put this one down.
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It started with the dreams. The dreams of the house and the door to January. Natalie hasn't been in Bernier, Maine in two years, not after the tragic incident that nearly cost Natalie her life. Now, back in Bernier for the summer, Natalie is working at her aunt's diner and investigating the old abandoned house that's been in her dreams with her cousin, Teddy. Then, some strange objects start appearing at her house, and her dream and the incident start to collide. The Door to January is a thrilli
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The Door to January is a masterfully crafted thriller, with a slow build that makes you question several timelines at once. Sound confusing? It’s not. In the capable hands of French, the reader is simultaneously thrust into the conflicts—okay, horrors—of the present, recent past and historical past. These timelines are woven into one seamless narrative vine. French’s writing is starkly beautiful and inherently echoes the grounded nature of Mainers. French’s Yankee authenticity sings on every pag
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Natalie's family fled Bernier after she and her cousin, Teddy, were attacked at gunpoint by local bullies. She had stayed away for three years, but felt a need to return in order to find out more about the nightmares that had been plaguing her. While back in Bernier, she "reunited" with her attackers, which awakened memories of that terrifying encounter, while also stumbling upon another mystery involving an abandoned house, which seems to call to her.
I really enjoyed this blend of mystery, time ...more
I really enjoyed this blend of mystery, time ...more

The Door To January is part coming of age, part mystery and part ghost story, oooooo. Considered a paranormal thriller this book has all of the makings for the perfect ghost story! Sixteen-year-old Natalie Payson is being drawn back to the home town her and her parents fled, after a terrible incident occurred, by a barrage of plaguing nightmares. Dangerous and mysterious things are pulling her back to Bernier, Maine, to an abandoned house and disembodied voice which she can no longer ignore. Nat
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The Door to January is a little complicated. Natalie is having nightmares about the past. She goes back to her hometown to confront the nightmares and to try to make sense of them. Through Natalie's dreams and her exploration she finds that her past, the distant past and the present are all linked. This story is her path to understand how they are all linked and to clear up a couple of mysteries in the process.
The ending of the book is interesting; with the final sentence being one that makes yo ...more
The ending of the book is interesting; with the final sentence being one that makes yo ...more

This is a very well written suspense novel. Nightmares bring Natalie back to her hometown to face her fears. She ends up in the house where her nightmares originated and she starts getting glimpses of the distant past every time she visits the house. Entities are informing her of the death of 2 girls and one that is being held in the basement of the barn. Simultaneously she is remembering something that happened to her 2 years ago. The 2 stories unravel together in the best way.

Thank you so much to Gillian French for sending me a signed paperback copy of this stunning and literally chilling novel! I am currently in the middle of an Alabama summer, so it is absolutely sweltering outside, but as I devoured this tale today, I was positively freezing. It in itself is a door to January, a barrier which, once broken, leads to an icy and broken world where its characters struggle to keep their wits about them in a world that has stopped making any kind of realistic sense.
We m ...more
We m ...more

The Door to January did not give me the thrills I was hoping for.
Natalie has nightmares about a traumatic event that happened two years ago. The nightmares aren't only about this event -- they are pulling her towards an old abandoned house in the town where she used to live. She feels compelled to go back to her old town for the summer and face her fears. She is staying with her aunt and her cousin, Teddy. Teddy is the only one who knows the real reason Natalie has returned.
Natalie and Teddy vis ...more
Natalie has nightmares about a traumatic event that happened two years ago. The nightmares aren't only about this event -- they are pulling her towards an old abandoned house in the town where she used to live. She feels compelled to go back to her old town for the summer and face her fears. She is staying with her aunt and her cousin, Teddy. Teddy is the only one who knows the real reason Natalie has returned.
Natalie and Teddy vis ...more

E ARC from Edelweiss Above the Treeline
Natalie moved from her hometown in Maine after an incident where one of her friends was shot, but no one could prove who did the shooting. She comes back for the summer to help her aunt out at her cafe, and also to investigate the nightmares that she is having. Her cousin Todd goes with her to a creepy house that is the setting of these dreams, and the two actually catch some "ghost" conversation on a voice recorder. More than that, Natalie gets sucked into ...more
Natalie moved from her hometown in Maine after an incident where one of her friends was shot, but no one could prove who did the shooting. She comes back for the summer to help her aunt out at her cafe, and also to investigate the nightmares that she is having. Her cousin Todd goes with her to a creepy house that is the setting of these dreams, and the two actually catch some "ghost" conversation on a voice recorder. More than that, Natalie gets sucked into ...more

‘The Door to January’ is a chilling tale, following Natalie Payson, two-and-a-half years after an event that completely changed her life. But when she starts having nightmares tied to a place that she left in her past, the only way she can find the truth is to return to her hometown and face the memories that have been haunting her. Gillian French completely threw me for a loop in this story. Once I started this book, I found it impossible to put down, even for a moment. I loved that the premise ...more

I seriously struggled to get into and ultimately finish Gillian French’s paranormal thriller “The Door to January” and although two genres were blended together well enough I found myself drifting off whenever central character Natalie had one of her uninvolving dreams. Natalie and her cousin have returned to their old town after a few years away as she feels the nightmares she is plagued by are connected to a violent incident which led her to leaving the town in the first place.
Along the way s ...more
Along the way s ...more

Ohhhh, how I loved this book! I don't often read YA novels for pleasure, but being a high school English teacher, I know what my students like, and this chilling tale features it all! I was highly entertained, and read obsessively until I finished, having to know the fate of Natalie, our protagonist, and her crew of comrades. Following a tragic incident involving her cousin and classmates, Natalie begins experiencing terrifying and all-consuming nightmares. These lead her to a house that exists
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This was between 2.5-3 stars for me. I absolutely loved Grit that came out earlier this year and it's still one of my top favorites from 2017, but this book reads like it was the author's first book she wrote and it didn't get much editing. There was some choppy discussions and descriptions, and it felt like the reader got thrown into a fairly paranormal scenario without much explanation of terms getting thrown around like a "psychic fallout". Side note: what's up with so many YA authors publish
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Well written short novel with some paranormal and time travel thrown together. There's a mystery in the far past, Natalie's own recent past, and the present where the story slowly unfolds and ties together by the end that was satisfying. I liked that it didn't try to make itself longer than it needed to be, either. And the cover is gorgeous, and the title works really well, too. I love it when you've read a book and the cover and title make sense and feel right.
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Natalie returns to her home town two years after she and her cousin, Teddy, were terrorized in the woods. She has been called back by vivid nightmares of an abandoned farm house. As the pair dive into the house's morbid past, their own past creeps up again.
horror & time travel (science fiction / historical thriller)
16 year old
Takes place in Maine ...more
horror & time travel (science fiction / historical thriller)
16 year old
Takes place in Maine ...more

Quick read so not a big time investment. I found the plot intriguing but the writing too fragmented leaving me trying to piece together events too often. It's hard to connect with any if the characters. I will say the story picked up in the second half but still very scattered in my opinion when it didn't have to be.
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Not sure how French managed to fit so much into such a short novel but she did it very successfully. Some of the supernatural elements were a bit cheesy for my tastes, but other parts were legit terrifying. Too many great things not to rate this highly. Would definitely read something else by this author.

Very well written, and very suspenseful! I couldn't put it down! It got really dark at the end and I didn't expect the guilty person to be who it was. All in all it was a very good read, and I loved the style of writing and Natalie, the main character, was a very strong and very relatable character.
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Quick YA read. The plot is disorganized and disjointed, the characters flat and inconsistent, but the concept is intriguing. According to the flyleaf, this is the author's second YA book-- so I'd say, keep trying!
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Very intriguing story line, jumping between the two mysteries and how they tied together kept my attention throughout this intense thriller. I havent read a book but Gillian French that i haven't liked. Please write more i love the twist and turns you take the reader on!
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It was a short enjoyable "thriller" story. If you're looking for a quick thriller to read I'd recommend it.
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Gillian French is the author of three novels for teens: GRIT (HarperTeen, THE DOOR TO JANUARY, and THE LIES THEY TELL (HarperTeen, 5/1/2018). Her short fiction has appeared in Odd Tree Press Quarterly, EMP Publishing's anthology Creepy Campfire Stories (for Grownups): Tales of Extreme Horror, Sanitarium Magazine, and The Realm Beyond. She holds a BA in English from the University of Maine, and liv
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