BOOK REVIEW: Seventh Dimension - The Door: A Young Adult Fantasy: “Screaming Within Me a Love for Layers of Meaning and Deeper Truths”

5.0 out of 5 stars

ByKPearsonon November 2, 2016

Format: Paperback

I was gifted Seventh Dimension - The Door, as I am a huge fan of allegory. This book first came out in 2013 and is now part of a vast series.

I grew up on The Chronicles of Narnia, Pilgrim’s Progress, and Hind’s Feet on High Places. These works were the basis of my reader’s identity, creating within me a love for layers of meaning and deeper truths. The Door reminds me of those works, with its artful allegorical tale. The author definitely knows her genre, as I see similarities to other works, but she has taken the examples that have come before and made them her own.

The best part of this work, for me, was the strong, clear, Gospel message! As the main character, Shale, is dealing with many deep issues of anger and abandonment, the way she comes to understand her true worth and belief in the King is written exceptionally. I would highly recommend this for others who have young people dealing with these issues.

I would also recommend this as a fun read during bedtime stories, perhaps a chapter a night. A great way to get younger kids into larger books and series.

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To read more of K. Pearson's reviews, you can visit her website at 

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BOOK REVIEW: “Seventh Dimension – The Door: A Young Adult Fantasy” Five Stars from Readers' Favorite Reviewer Maria Beltran

Reviewed by Maria Beltran for Readers’ Favorite

Five Stars

Seventh Dimension - The Door: A Young Adult Fantasy by Lorilyn Roberts is a young adult fantasy novel about the adventures of Shale Snyder. Bullied at school and a product of a broken family, she finds herself in an unusual situation when she is transported to a garden paradise. She meets a donkey and a rabbit there who inform her that she is in the garden of the king himself. There is trouble in the garden, however, and Shale escapes to the seventh dimension together with a dog. More adventures await her in the amazing place where she finds herself. And in facing them, she is forced to look inside her heart. Hungry for love, will she finally find it here?

What is surprising about this young adult fantasy book is that although it is a fantasy story, it manages to deal with the issues that confront our young people today. Shale Snyder, the main character in the story, personifies many of the problematic young people in our present society. This makes her a real person to me. Because of her background, she longs for real love and she looks for it subconsciously. The talking animals make this story a fable and I can imagine that it will be an entertaining read for young people.

In Seventh Dimension - The Door, I think the author Lorilyn Roberts intends to give young and rejected kids some hope that they will find what they are looking for someday and hints where to find it. And the reader also gets the extra bonus of going through a very entertaining book that will surely tickle their imagination. There is no doubt that this book is a must-read for people of all ages.

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BOOK REVIEW OF SEVENTH DIMENSION - THE DOOR: A Young Adult Fantasy, by Amazon Reviewer/Author Sandra McLeod Humphrey

What a great mix of ingredients inherent in this Christian allegorical novel for young adults! There’s plenty of drama and conflict inherent in the ongoing battle between good and evil with a sprinkling of romance and even a dash of political commentary. 

The animal characters are charming and the human characters are equally interesting. We immediately identify with the young protagonist Shale as she deals with her feelings of rejection, abandonment, and social isolation, and we can also empathize with Daniel and his conflicted feelings about just who the teacher really is--whether He is actually who Shale believes Him to be. 

I love the concept of “multiple realities” depending on the choices one makes, and I think this is really a novel for all ages. It’s a journey of self-discovery but so much more!


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GUEST POST BY AUTHOR CAROL A. BROWN: Book Review of Seventh Dimension - The Door

Shale Snyder is smart, determined, impatient--and a troubled teen. Abandoned by her father, misunderstood by her mother, step-father and school authorities; accused of cheating, isolated from her best friend, and bullied by other students? It is a crazy, difficult world she lives in--hard to know what to do, when to fight and when to walk away. Comfort comes in unique ways. The school counselor says she is gifted and an apparently homeless dog adopts her. When Shale runs away from home with her broken birthday gift (yet again) it is understandable.

In her flight, a weak ankle gives way; her head hits a rock and so begins the inner journey that changes everything for Shale. While unconscious she enters a dimensional door that leads her further and further into another time and place. She is chased from an idyllic garden through a second door to enter the time Jesus walked this earth and taught. 

She comes face to face with the enemy of her soul and eventually defeats him. She briefly meets her long-absent father and wicked stepmother. She hears a wonderful teacher, discovers He is THE KING and then meets Him and is changed by Him. She brings her half-brother to Him for healing and during this time in this dimension finds the love of her life. Oh, yeah, she also talks with animals during all these events! There is plenty of drama; in fact, it seemed almost non-stop!

Arriving back in her own time and dimension, she finds people have changed. It is almost as if changes in the spiritual dimension have an effect on people in the natural dimension.

The issues of unfairness, injustice, not listening, and not taking people seriously were strong themes throughout; themes that many teens relate to. I felt that Roberts did an excellent job of incorporating the teachings of Jesus into the resolution of Shale's problems. Her characters were well developed. Some characters I loved right away and others I disliked immediately. Some grew on me slowly--I think young people would relate well to both the characters and the issues. There is a final warm fuzzy but I don't want to spoil it for you!

This is a book that I could recommend to teens interested in fantasy or who are dealing with similar issues as those Shale encountered. I would also recommend it to adults/parents of troubled teens to help give them an understanding from a teen perspective.