Do you like dark fantasy? Did you watch Labyrinth and wish that the Goblin King would romantically sweep you around a ballroom? Are you one of the Phantom of the Opera fans that think Christine made a mistake and should’ve chosen Erik? Fascinated by the myth of Hades and Persephone? Well, here’s the perfect book for you!
First you may want to check out the content warnings posted by the author if you have any potential triggers—I always appreciate when authors look out for their readers like this and allow the audience to make an informed decision before starting a book. While the warning about emotionally abusive/manipulative romantic relationships may cause some readers to reconsider, this was actually what convinced me the book would do justice to the central romance. There’s nothing worse than a defanged villain, because why even bother with a villain/heroine romance if it’s going to play out the same way as a sweet fluffy friends-to-lovers romance? If the love interest is a bad guy, it SHOULD be dark and questionable and manipulative to the max! Conversely, supposedly sweet romances that have toxic underpinnings and are unintentionally problematic cause a whole lot of frustration with the mixed messages and lack of awareness at the abusive nature of the relationships portrayed. But Beyond The Black Door is upfront and self-aware about its characters and romance, which is brilliant!
Our protagonist Kamai is a young woman with the rare ability to soul-walk, a skill that she shares with her mother and develops in secret as it’s considered highly dangerous and therefore illegal unless one is a priest or priestess. Kamai is capable of exploring other people’s souls which always take the form of a house of some sort, ranging from simple shacks to elaborate palaces. While the visual depiction of each person’s soul house or nehym differs from person to person, the one constant is the mysterious black door that follows her around, always lurking somewhere in every nehym, waiting for her to stumble upon it. Since her mother’s main rule was to forbid Kamai from ever opening that door, it’s obviously an enormously enticing challenge to stay away from it!
The mystery of the black door, what it represents, and the seductive being within develops alongside great personal strife and upheaval in Kamai’s life as she arrives in the capital to be presented at the royal court. On one hand, she faces Vehyn who is a mesmerising and aggressively magnetic influence who reels her in against all common sense; on the other, Kamai contends with a complicated web of conspiracies, secret guilds and political intrigue. At times Kamai is frustratingly naive and reckless, and many readers will no doubt despair at her continuing to make poor choices. But well, teenagers aren’t known for having the best judgement and given the circumstances under which she is left adrift without proper guidance or support, it’s somewhat understandable that she gets herself into one scrape after another!
The pacing felt slow off the mark, for instance Vehyn wasn’t introduced until about a quarter of the way through despite being a major character and driving force of the novel! For those who appreciate a good mystery, the tantalising lead-up to his entrance won’t dampen their enthusiasm, but readers like myself who are looking forward to the main romantic pairing interacting with each other may be tempted to skim past some of the early set-up chapters. There is quite a bit of exposition to sit through as we’re introduced to the religious beliefs that govern Kamai’s society; while fascinating, it felt like a lecture at times, often because Kamai was parroting back information that she had been taught for our benefit.
However once the pieces were in place and the larger picture of this world assembled, I appreciated the rich mythology created by the author with gods based on the sun, moon, and the earth. Instead of just naming them for these elements and calling it a day, there is effort put into the more intricate details. For example, to show how aspects of each deity might influence the way people behave, pious women cover their head with a scarf to pay respect to Heshara, the moon goddess who hides her face during the day. Then there’s the employment they seek—the Solar Arts governed by the sun god Tain include finance, law, medicine and other intellectual occupations. The world-building was very imaginative and fun to think about with the mythology being incorporated in different unexpected ways.
Now to the most important and celebrated part of the book – the LGBT+ representation! The blurb states that Kamai’s asexuality is a central theme and it’s developed wonderfully here. Asexuality isn’t widely known or understood in our society, and while it’s starting to be explored in YA books, this is the first time I’ve encountered a central ace protagonist in speculative fiction who is experiencing a coming-of-age storyline, and even better, one that involves romantic attraction! People who have some idea of what it means to be asexual will often picture Sherlock Holmes or Sheldon Cooper, arrogant aloof characters who shun human contact and feel superior to their fellows. It’s usually a surprise to realise that asexual people may actually desire romance, given that fictional representation includes notable aro-aces like Jughead Jones and Felicity Montague (The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy) who are coolly confident in their lack of interest in relationships.
However in Beyond The Black Door, a new dynamic is presented as Kamai struggles with her orientation and being different from others. This puts her into sexual situations to see if she can make herself feel like she’s ‘supposed to’ and later trying to work out the limits of what she’s comfortable with while experimenting with her connection to Vehyn. She has a beautiful arc of grappling for self-acceptance and overcoming the intrinsic feeling that she’s damaged because she’s not like everyone else. The specificity with which her feelings are written ring very true to me as a fellow ace, but regardless of orientation, these themes of alienation, of feeling alone and misunderstood and striving to fit in are universally relatable to a wider audience. Kamai’s journey in dealing with her asexuality raises the profile of this minority, helping aces in the audience to feel more visible and offering clarity to other readers who may not have understood or even realised this identity existed. The author cleverly incorporates the mythology she’s created to help illustrate the different aspects of the asexual spectrum via the phases of moon, which is such a great metaphor!
The distinguishing feature of this book is definitely the diverse representation – aside from Kamai, a notable side character identifies as both ace and trans (or ‘soul-crossed’), plus a range of minor characters are depicted as being bisexual or gay. This will likely be a hook for a lot of readers, but while the diversity may prompt someone to pick this up, the beautiful imagery and lush descriptions along with the tantalising mysteries will be what keeps them reading. After a slow start to establish this new world, the court intrigue and fascinating character dynamics lead into quickly accelerating action and stunning plot developments that will keep you tense and frantically turning the page!
Beyond The Black Door is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers as of October 29th 2019.
Will you be picking up Beyond The Black Door? Tell us in the comments below!
Synopsis | Goodreads
Kamai was warned never to open the black door, but she didn’t listen …
Everyone has a soul. Some are beautiful gardens, others are frightening dungeons. Soulwalkers―like Kamai and her mother―can journey into other people’s souls while they sleep.
But no matter where Kamai visits, she sees the black door. It follows her into every soul, and her mother has told her to never, ever open it.
When Kamai touches the door, it is warm and beating, like it has a pulse. When she puts her ear to it, she hears her own name whispered from the other side. And when tragedy strikes, Kamai does the unthinkable: she opens the door.
A.M. Strickland’s imaginative dark fantasy features court intrigue and romance, a main character coming to terms with her asexuality, and twists and turns as a seductive mystery unfolds that endangers not just Kamai’s own soul, but the entire kingdom …
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