Mia Jensen has had a horrible day. She's wondering how she got to this point in her life when she hears a noise in the kitchen. She's brutally attacked and left for dead and as she's dying she experiences some of the lives she could have lived if only she made a different choice.

This anthology tells the many lives Mia Jensen could have lived. If only. In my opinion there's not one bad story here. They're all strong, interesting and they all have the same flavour.. they all seemed like Mia. Contributors include Catherine McKenzie, Kaira Rouda, Kimberly Belle and Kate Moretti, but like I said every one of these stories is great. They felt complete. I know I've wondered "what would have happened if I did that?" and "if I hadn't of done that then this never would have happened." A unique and thought-provoking read that brought out a lot of emotions both for me and Mia Jensen.

Thank you to Netgalley and Two Tales Press for an ARC. ( )

When Mia Jensen's husband repeatedly stabs her and leaves her dying, she has a chance to see her life in retrospect. She also reviews all the possible paths her life could have taken if she had made different choices.
This anthology, edited by J.T. Ellison, with contributing chapters from 15 additional authors is an interesting take to imagine "What If?".
I have read novels by many of the contributors, and have been introduced to several more to add to my list. ( )

A Thousand Doors: An Anthology of Many Lives, edited by J.T. Ellison, is a fascinating study about both alternative life choices and, even more interesting, how those changes might affect who we would then be as a person.

The book blurb sums up the premise sufficiently, so I won't repeat it. I want to mention the two areas that the stories highlighted for me. First has to do with what choices we make that we would consider, in retrospect, to not have been the best choice. Second has to do with the person we would be as a result of any change in life that had a major effect.

As for what choices we might change, I started thinking about what constitutes a choice or decision I made (or failed to make) that I would like a re-do on. The interesting thing to me is that not all of them are the real big obvious ones. Different career choice? Different long term relationship? Move or no move? These are the types of choices that are easy to play what if... with since each would make for a drastic change in life trajectory and the resultant person. But so many are actually quite small and mundane but have a special hold on my mind and/or heart. It seems like these might cause even larger changes in who I ultimately have become (so far).

Then the issue of how much we would change. I know some dislike, and consider it a flaw, that Mia isn't the same (or closer to the same) person in each story. No doubt some part of this is the fact the stories are written by different authors. But I think that it is more realistic than having her be the same person but just living a different life. I think if I had made different choices in my life, particularly early in life, I would have been a different person. Significantly different if my choice had lead me down a drastically different path, meeting different types of people and having different life experiences, both good and bad. I know we all like to think that there is some core unchanging essence to ourselves that would be immediately noticeable and consistent no matter what paths we might have taken, but I think that is wishful thinking. Like the person who claims to "know" exactly what they would do in an emergency or catastrophic event, but without ever having experienced such an event. We can hope we would do certain things but it isn't until we are faced with it that we can know. So yes, Mia is different in each because she made choices that changed who she was. That makes more sense than her being the same person regardless of her life experiences. The differences might be a little more evident because each is by a different writer, but I didn't feel that it was beyond what one would think reasonable if one's life is completely, or mostly, different. And it was exactly these changes in who she would have been that made this particularly fascinating to me.

I would highly recommend this to readers who like to ponder "what if..." and like to do so with the understanding that when things change, just about everything changes. Changing a career, for example, doesn't mean you would be living in the same place with the same person and just working a different job. That is not only unrealistic but irrational as well. Also, any readers already familiar with the authors in this anthology will likely enjoy the stories.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley. ( )

We've all had it happen - that question in our minds of what our life could have been if we had made another choice years ago. One little change would totally change everything but we never really know whether the changes would be good or bad. Mia Jensen gets an answer to this 'woulda coulda shoulda' question as she lays dying.

Mia is not happy with her life and often wonders what it would have been like if she had made other decisions earlier. Would she have a happier marriage, a more fulfilling career, a better home. As she lays dying on her kitchen floor, an angel shows her what her life could have been. Each story is uniquely different and shows a totally different Mia but they are all connected in one way and there lies the dilemma. Would they would have been better lives?

This is a wonderful anthology edited by J.T. Ellison and contains stories by 15 popular female authors with their story about Mia's life. I had read most of these authors but added the ones that I haven't read to my tbr lists.

Thanks to the publisher for a copy of this book. All opinions are my own. ( )

I am not a fan of anthologies. The idea of many short, very short, stories being put in one book, not having continuous storylines is not the type of book I usually enjoy. But in A Thousand Doors, I found that I couldn’t stop reading the stories one after another. The difference with this collection is that they have the same beginning. Mia dies and the rest of the stories are a collection of what her life could have been written by many well-known authors.

The fun part of an anthology is that you can put the book down and come back to it without missing a beat. Finish one short story and you can go read a different book, come back and the story picks right back up where it left off. A Thousand Doors is a great variety of stories with J.T. Ellison starting the collection and then tying it all up perfectly. ( )