Review: A Door in the Dark by Scott Reintgen

A Door in the Dark

Scott Reintgen

(Waxways #1)

Publication Date: March 28, 2023

Hardcover, 368 pages, McElderry Books

Genres: YA, Fantasy

Goodreads

 

One of Us is Lying meets A Deadly Education in this fantasy thriller that follows six teenage wizards as they fight to make it home alive after a malfunctioning spell leaves them stranded in the wilderness.

 

Ren Monroe has spent four years proving she’s one of the best wizards in her generation. But top marks at Balmerick University will mean nothing if she fails to get recruited into one of the major houses. Enter Theo Brood. If being rich were a sin, he’d already be halfway to hell. After a failed and disastrous party trick, fate has the two of them crossing paths at the public waxway portal the day before holidays—Theo’s punishment is to travel home with the scholarship kids. Which doesn’t sit well with any of them.

 

A fight breaks out. In the chaos, the portal spell malfunctions. All six students are snatched from the safety of the school’s campus and set down in the middle of nowhere. And one of them is dead on arrival.

 

If anyone can get them through the punishing wilderness with limited magical reserves it’s Ren. She’s been in survival mode her entire life. But no magic could prepare her for the tangled secrets the rest of the group is harboring, or for what’s following them through the dark woods…

My Review

Are you looking for a YA book that gives dark academia vibes with some horror and magic thrown in? Then I think this one may be right up your alley. It definitely has the worldbuilding atmosphere of the Shadowhunter Chronicles with a similar feel to Naomi Novik's Scholomance books. There are magical teens, deadly creatures, and even deadlier secrets.

Ren, our main character, is the know-it-all of the group, and I'm not using that term derogatorily. She really is the one who knows it all. She's like Hermione Granger with a dark side. Then there is Timmons, her best friend; Cora, the medic; Avy, the tough guy; Clyde, the drug-dealer/bad boy; and Theo, the son of Ren's enemy. It's quite a cast of characters thrown together in a situation that quickly goes from bad to worse when they all get thrown miles away from their home and into a wilderness filled with a lot of magical boogeymen

I will say, the worldbuilding in this story is what is intriguing. Once the story starts to pick up about fifty pages in, there were crazy things going down every other chapter. There were wyverns, kobolds, dragons, and very evil humans. Even when the spellwork was explained and things got a little too technical, none of it took away from the actual events in the story. I could believe that characters had magical objects hiding on their person and that creepy monsters were haunting the group. Honestly, it was a good thriller/adventure story. I was constantly wondering how everyone would get out of the situation in one piece.

 The weakness of this book lies with the characters, however. They just never quite clicked and they came across as rather dry. In my opinion, they needed more personality and to interact with their peers more on the page. Maybe if the book had been longer and added some conversations between the characters, it could have gained some of that development within the story. As is, it's just really hard to get attached. However, it was shocking when bad things would happen to them. But, unfortunately, after the initial "Oh no!" reaction, I didn't feel anything more. Maybe I'm heartless, but I wasn't feeling it. This is definitely not a character-driven book, it's a plot-driven one. So if you like scary-esque plots where kids are trapped in the woods with monsters, and you also like magic and dragons, then this story could 100% be for you.

Overall, I think this book could be popular for teens looking for the next series to pick up after Harry Potter or Shadowhunters. It could easily fill those gaps. However, if you're looking for something where you fall in love with the characters, I don't think this book is that. It has more of a '90s thriller vibe set in a fantasy world. It was an entertaining read, just not something I fell in love with. Though, I'm not a huge horror fan, so that could explain why.

*Note: I received a copy of this book to review from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way affected my opinion/review.