Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.05 AVERAGE
4.05 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
4.5 stars
any book Victoria Schwab calls "utterly delightful" is a book I will not pass up on reading.
and I have to agree with Schwab on this one: this was an utterly delightful — albeit dark and violent and sometimes gory —read.
the story centers around Carolyn, a librarian who lives with this man she and the others call Father, but who is not their real father. they were adopted, in a way, when a massive attack killed all of their parents and Father decided to educate them in the way he himself was educated—with all of the secrets of the universe at their hands, although they were only allowed to study the catalogue he assigned them with (and the consequences to reading outside of your catalogue were pretty bad, to say the least). and one day, Father disappears, and suddenly she and her siblings aren't allowed to set foot in the Library anymore, and they must do something.
it seems pretty straightforward, but it's one of those books where the plot is crafted so that it unfolds page after page, with twists that come seemingly out of nowhere, but that make a hell lot of a sense once you start thinking about it.
it's a book that throws you in the middle of its story, without caring if you'll feel a little lost or confused for the first 50 or so pages. there's no time to breath or to get used to the very high level or weirdness (like a 6'4" mass murderer who wears a lilac tutu) and that's pretty much the pace throughout the rest of the novel; shit happens all the time and you just have to roll along with it. I was very surprised when I saw that this was a debut novel. it's a book that manages to deliver both well-crafted plot and characters, and it ties everything up in a way that at first seems rather difficult to achieve, because there's so much going on.
there's a lot I feel like I shouldn't say about this because it's better if you read it knowing as little as possible—the feeling of confusion made me want to read this more, if only because I needed to understand something. but I definitely want everyone to read this; it's a book that got me out of a almost-slump and that, even if it doesn't blow your mind, will surely entertain you completely for the duration of your read.
any book Victoria Schwab calls "utterly delightful" is a book I will not pass up on reading.
and I have to agree with Schwab on this one: this was an utterly delightful — albeit dark and violent and sometimes gory —read.
Carolyn and the rest were not born librarians. Once upon a time—it seemed long ago—they had been very American indeed.
the story centers around Carolyn, a librarian who lives with this man she and the others call Father, but who is not their real father. they were adopted, in a way, when a massive attack killed all of their parents and Father decided to educate them in the way he himself was educated—with all of the secrets of the universe at their hands, although they were only allowed to study the catalogue he assigned them with (and the consequences to reading outside of your catalogue were pretty bad, to say the least). and one day, Father disappears, and suddenly she and her siblings aren't allowed to set foot in the Library anymore, and they must do something.
it seems pretty straightforward, but it's one of those books where the plot is crafted so that it unfolds page after page, with twists that come seemingly out of nowhere, but that make a hell lot of a sense once you start thinking about it.
it's a book that throws you in the middle of its story, without caring if you'll feel a little lost or confused for the first 50 or so pages. there's no time to breath or to get used to the very high level or weirdness (like a 6'4" mass murderer who wears a lilac tutu) and that's pretty much the pace throughout the rest of the novel; shit happens all the time and you just have to roll along with it. I was very surprised when I saw that this was a debut novel. it's a book that manages to deliver both well-crafted plot and characters, and it ties everything up in a way that at first seems rather difficult to achieve, because there's so much going on.
there's a lot I feel like I shouldn't say about this because it's better if you read it knowing as little as possible—the feeling of confusion made me want to read this more, if only because I needed to understand something. but I definitely want everyone to read this; it's a book that got me out of a almost-slump and that, even if it doesn't blow your mind, will surely entertain you completely for the duration of your read.
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I finished it, so that says something. But mostly the characters were awful; the supposedly great world building I read about in many reviews was just "pull things out of a hat and then throw in the kitchen sink" and the fact that the book ended, effectively, but then limped on for another hundred pages...well, it was bad. The writing can be very intense at times (not a bad things, mostly) and it's inventive (but thrown together, as noted.) Erwin obviously amused the author much more than he did me; he was insufferable and shit and I really kind of hated having him in the book at all. Further unclear was why there were 12 children, when three of them were only names mentioned a couple of times, three more were barely referenced, and one of them was in charge of mathematics and...cooking. Because reasons. Anyway. It was interesting, at least? And I finished it? But it is not recommended to anyone at all.
Bizarre, wonderfully written, horror/thriller. I didn't know what to expect, and I was ridiculously surprised at how involved I got in the story.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Gun violence, Violence
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes