The Onyx Door: A Gaslamp Trinkets Novel

The Luella Winthrop Trilogy, Book 3

By: Kenneth Baldwin

Narrated by: Naomi Rose-Mock

Length: 11 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's summary

Luella Winthrop doesn't know whom she can trust.

Her heart is divided, and difficult truths wait for her at every turn. With even her magic beyond her reach, isolation could not have come at a worse time.

Her goal is as simple as it is difficult: Escape those who wish her harm, and save her true friends. With magical doorways sealed, scarce resources, and a city trying to hunt her, she will have to dig deep within herself to discover the strength to overcome mortal and otherworldly foes alike.

Don't miss the epic finale of Luella Winthrop's magical misadventures.

©2021 Kenneth A Baldwin (P)2023 Kenneth A Baldwin

Deep themes of what it is to be human.

Luella Winthrop is consistent in her flaws. Though an intelligent and thinking woman, she continually makes reactive decisions based on her emotional perceptions of her situation. This, I suppose, makes her very human. In fact, the book has a running theme concerning what it means to be human, and the sorts of magic unique to humanity.

Luella’s self deprecation over her misguided choices unfortunately perpetuates the blind spot that allows her to continue making them. “This is my mess,” she claims yet again in Chapter 25. When another character disputes this statement, Luella cries, “Enough! This is your whole routine, it always is!… You’re the one who doesn’t understand… What’s worse, I think you purposely misunderstand to get what you want!” Only a few minutes after this ironic outburst, she notes, “I didn’t need a [magical trinket] to tell me my own heart.” Um, I beg to differ. I think a magically inescapable look at her own heart, minus all the self-deceptions she has been spinning in order to cope, might be just the right prescription for Luella.

The beginning of this story picks up right where The Silver Currant left off, which comes as a relief after the cliffhanger ending of Book Two. While The Onyx Door is a fitting conclusion to the entire trilogy, it lacks some of the magic of the second book. Book One set the stage and piqued my interest, although imperfectly, and then Book Two hit the real high note. In Book Three, the stakes balance on the edge of a knife, but the action simultaneously grinds to a halt as our friends become mired in a court case. This drags on miserably, as only a legal proceeding can, and it’s a testament to Baldwin’s writing that the reader isn’t screaming against the tedium of sequential failed attempts to escape (quite literally) from a jail cell. Somehow the story still manages to be, er… what is the audio equivalent of a page turner? Of course, the stakes are actually much higher than whether someone will or will not hang for an alleged crime, and we do push past all this red tape to get at the crux of the matter.

My main disappointment with the story is that the Onyx Door does not figure in the story to a satisfying degree. While I can accept the hinted-at metaphorical answers surrounding its existence and nature, the story still leaves me with unanswered questions I won’t discuss here. Suffice it to say that though there is a lovely symmetry in the three titles (The Crimson Inkwell, The Silver Currant, and The Onyx Door), I feel the first two delivered on the promise of their titles, while the third did not.

The book has several foibles suggesting more editing would have been a good idea. In Chapter 13, it is stated that Luella does not know how to ride a horse, which I find absolutely believable, except for the (more questionable) fact that she was certainly doing just that at the end of Book One. Specific to the audiobook, there is more than one place when Rose-Mock slips back into Luella’s voice, disrupting the sense of a tale told from a male character’s perspective. Also, the musical theme from Book Two returns, this time with a completely different melody and added lyrics. No explanation for this is offered, other than the arguably sufficient fact of the song’s magical source.

In the end, Luella does find herself, though she paid a dear price for such understanding. The question remaining is whether she can find redemption. Littering her wake is an upchurn of missed potential, bleeding wounds (figurative and literal), and broken relationships. Baldwin does a fantastic job of letting the reader wonder if certain of those relationships can ever be salvaged. Despite all this, Luella has friends willing to accept the maxim brought forth in Chapter Two: “We are not the choices of our past, not even the sum of them. We are tomorrow and today.” It’s just possible that list of friends is longer than Luella is inclined to believe—but it all hinges on her ability to forgive herself.

/ I had the privilege of receiving a complimentary copy of the audiobook, and this review reflects my honest opinion. Look for my reviews of the remaining two books to complete my reflections on the series as a whole. /

Great way to end the series!

This third installment of the Luella Winthrop Trilogy continues to follow Luella and Co. as they try to solve the problems of magical illnesses, magical memory loss, and evading the law that misunderstands exactly what is going on.This book has an ability to make commonplace things like familial love and loyalty into things of magic. There are repeating themes of:
-what it means to be human
-love is not a thing you deserve, it's a thing you give
-caring about someone just means you have a heart
-fears can be overcome when you choose to lean on those that love you instead of pushing them away

It picks up right back where the last novel ended, so it is great as an immediate follow-up rather than a read to come back to. The action ends before the end of the book, but the ending is worth it, as it ties up all the loose ends. Altogether, this was a great historical fiction/fantasy read!

Very Enjoyable Series

Baldwin has written a wonderful series and I really enjoyed all three books.The Onyx Door brought everything around to a nice conclusion!

Great entertainment

The Onxy Door was just as enchanting as the Crimson Inkwell and The Silver Currant. It is so much more than a tidy wrap up of Luella Winthrop's adventures. It continued the story with lessons on love, friendship, trust and courage imbedded within. I would suggest that if you only have time to indulge in one pleasurable read - make it The Gaslight Trinkets Triliogy. Kenneth A Baldwin is a gifted writer. And Naomi Rose-Mock is a superb storyteller.