Whitney’s Reviews > This Is a Door > Status Update
Whitney
is 15% done
OK:
-the animals have stylized names ("mOmO" and "Pöppy", which makes it pronounced like "puppy". No child who doesn't listen to the audiobook will pronounce it that way).
-"My purpose will be the thing that makes me the most useful to the Good god, and the least useful to the bad ones." Why are we emphasizing being "useful" to an imaginary religious figure as a life's purpose for children?
— Nov 02, 2026 03:53PM
-the animals have stylized names ("mOmO" and "Pöppy", which makes it pronounced like "puppy". No child who doesn't listen to the audiobook will pronounce it that way).
-"My purpose will be the thing that makes me the most useful to the Good god, and the least useful to the bad ones." Why are we emphasizing being "useful" to an imaginary religious figure as a life's purpose for children?
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Whitney’s Previous Updates
Whitney
is 50% done
We've now been introduced to the idea of what the "wimmelworm" is...a monster that's greedy and selfish, but also bad because "it hates the good god." There's a LOT of talk about "the good god" and I'm really struggling with the idea that a child with no parents has been raised to believe that his purpose is what is useful to any deity...why does he need to be "useful" to others?
— Nov 02, 2026 04:51PM
Whitney
is 5% done
I know I just started this and I like Nayeri's writing, but "groundbreaking" for what is essentially a Fantasy story tied into a historical fiction book he previously wrote told in novel-in-verse style isn't "groundbreaking." Novels in verse are VERY popular and widely read.
— Nov 02, 2026 08:34AM