Forbidden Doors: An Anthology - Various - ★★★.¼

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EDITOR: Bianca Millroy

GENRE: Anthology
RATING: 3.15 Stars.

An anthology with stories from varied genres having ‘doors’ as the common theme.

As the title indicates, the above-mentioned doors are forbidden. The doors most of the tales are physical rather than metaphorical. Despite the apparent commonality, the imagination of the authors ensures that almost every story has a distinct kind of ‘door’ involved.

While the theme is common, the genres are quite varied. The stories come from sci-fi, psych drama, romance, crime, fantasy, historical fiction,… This can work both for and against the book. If readers have strict genre preferences, then such a collection will leave them dissatisfied, especially as the genre of each story isn’t indicated anywhere in the book. But if readers are more universal in their reading approach, the variety can offer a nice mixed-thrill experience.

As in most anthologies, some stories deliver wonderfully while some fail to meet expectations. For me, most of the stories of this collection fell in the mid-range category. I didn’t hate any, but I also wasn’t blown away by most of the tales herein. My top favourite was ‘Marigold's Room’ by Alyssa Mackay, a creepy story about a girl and her brother who have just moved into a new location for housesitting. Other nice ones were ‘The Many Doorways of Tori Chen’ by Brooke Maggs (explored the what-if angle well), ‘Boots on World’ by Sophia Evans (the story of an interstellar traveller), and ‘Wilde’ by Jo Edgar-Baker (reminded me of Beauty & the Beast though it was not the same.)

This collection of fifteen stories is written by indie writers from Australia who met at a writing con and decided to band up. For an indie collection by varied authors , the range of stories is impressive but this is probably also why the consistency is missing.

3.15 stars, based on the average of my rating for each story.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author through ‘StoryOrigin’ and these are my honest thoughts about it.

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