14 new YA books to read during sweater season this October

Beyond the Black Door – A.M. Strickland

This dark, complicated fantasy about a soulwalker who opens a forbidden door is perfect for fans of Labyrinth who maybe liked Jareth the Goblin King a bit too much. Beyond the Black Door follows the story of Kamai, a young girl who can journey into the souls of others while the sleep.

But after the death of her mother Kamai makes a dangerous mistake – opening the titular black door she always sees on her journeys through dreams.

In doing so she releases Vehyn a dark being who appears as a boy her age, and who definitely has his own agenda. The story, which involves everything from a plot to kill the king to secret societies and Kamai’s attempt to solve the mystery of her mother’s murder, is sprawling and complicated, but features an exceptionally rich mythology.

The synopsis describes story thusly.

"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 .."

Beyond the Black Door is available on October 29.