Reviews

Die Bibliothek von Edinburgh by T.L. Huchu

readinglexi's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

2.0

beansandfungi's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

A good read, clearly at least somewhat inspired by Rivers Of London. I did enjoy it, on the whole, although I have a few gripes: there's not really any character development (Ropa at the end is essentially the same as Ropa at the start), there's some weirdly clunky dialogue at times, and the mystery was so hugely predictable.

issianne's review against another edition

1.0

This book made little to no sense. I'm not completely sure what was happening for most of the action/intellectual parts of this book. There's barely any library of the dead content included. The plot was everywhere, jumping around. A lot happened in 330 pages, and I'm not sure I was crazy about any of it. I wanted to like it so badly!! Ropa seems to be an interesting character--we just don't seem to know much about her...

bibliobrandie's review against another edition

2.0

I really wanted to like this book. The setting was the best part. It started off well, an interesting character who talks to ghosts in a near future version of Edinburgh. For a book titled The Library of the Dead, you don't spend a lot of time in the library. It seemed more of an afterthought. The plot felt messy and the mystery was resolved too conveniently.

apierlessbridge's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

kmmcghan's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

htbaumtree's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Ropa's voice as a narrator is infinitely endearing and infinitely entertaining. She's a distinct force of nature who's constantly torn between what she knows to be right in her heart and outsmarting all of the crap hands she's been dealt. Huchu metes out each piece of worldbuilding slowly enough that I never felt like I was slogging through and exposition-dump, but regularly enough that I never felt lost. The plot galloped along at a riveting pace and I'm ravenous for the rest of the series.

leggup's review against another edition

2.0

Interesting story, clunky execution. The characters tell you everything and then later, gasp, they tell it again. It has a very Scooby-Doo vibe. The Library was too little too late and the climactic scenes were in odd places.

hspfost's review against another edition

I really wanted to like this one but I just couldn’t get into it. It was just slightly too creepy/existential for me. A little dystopian and a lot about dead people.

jess_mango's review against another edition

3.0

Ropa uses a combo of Zimbabwean magic and her Scottish street smarts to talk to ghosts to help communication between the living and the dead. Hey, its a way to make a living. then she hears something about how kids are being bewitched and having all of their joy stolen. She follows to the clues to figure out what is going on.

This was quite a read. I haven't read much Urban Fantasy so this was change from the norm. Ropa is a fun, young, protagonist giving a BIPOC face to the youth of Edinburgh. The book is set in a somewhat dystopian near future, where people accept the existence of ghosts. At its heart, this book is a supernatural missing persons mystery, so could have appeal to both fantasy and mystery fans.
While I didn't 100% connect with this book as much as I wanted, I would consider picking up the second book in the series.

thank you to the publisher for the audiobook!