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4.05 AVERAGE
4.05 AVERAGE
I love love loved this book! My favorite thing I’ve read so far this year. It’s so bananas and off the wall. It never does what you’d expect and it’s jam-packed with big ideas that are sometimes seen as a throw away lines or no-big-deal moments even though they’re amazing. Can’t wait for this author to write some more books.
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Drug use, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Alcohol
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Banger. This is such a unique and captivating story. It is also extremely violent FYI, though most of it feels pretty detached.
Anyway, I loved the writing and the unique voices of the characters. The plot is fast paced and high stakes, even though you don’t know exactly what the stakes are or where the story is even going, even in the last 50 pages. Throughout all of this, much of the world building is half explained, but not at all in a lazy way - it’s more like you, the reader, are a ~mere mortal~ reading a story about gods and there isn’t time to explain it all. Very well done. But again, wildly violent, check trigger warnings.
Anyway, I loved the writing and the unique voices of the characters. The plot is fast paced and high stakes, even though you don’t know exactly what the stakes are or where the story is even going, even in the last 50 pages. Throughout all of this, much of the world building is half explained, but not at all in a lazy way - it’s more like you, the reader, are a ~mere mortal~ reading a story about gods and there isn’t time to explain it all. Very well done. But again, wildly violent, check trigger warnings.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I read this book when it came out, and I’m still chilled by it. It defies explanations or references to what other book it’s like. It stands on its own, melding genres together.
medium-paced
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
weird as fuck and funkily written
The weirdness of The Library at Mount Char reminds one of the weirdness of American Gods, The Stand, or Annihilation. But in many ways it is a book that is far stranger that those three put together.
The book presents a world where even the readers and main characters only get a slight glimpse into the workings and rules of the universe. Events, characters, concepts that are important on a cosmic scale are only alluded to, mentioned, or hinted at, giving the reader a bewildering sense that far more is going on than we really know about.
Even the small part of this universe that is revealed to the main characters shows a cosmos with strange, almost unknowable rules (hence the giant library). While this certainly makes for a strange, memorable book, it also causes a lot of problems with the plot.
I can't echo all the rave reviews this book has received. The bizarre and seemingly random rules to the world of Mount Char means that its a world where almost anything can happen. So when the plot calls for characters to be restricted by something, it jostled my suspension of disbelief. One moment, characters are almost invincible, almost literally Supermen, the next they're hampered by the most mundane things. People who are knowledgeable beyond our most intelligent super-geniuses, suddenly become naive idiots, or simply don't know things, when the plot calls for it.
Also, I'm sorry, but this book is written in a dumb way. Certain scenes (without going into spoilers) would be impactful and moving, but instead the author writes them in a lazy, nonchalant way, or has them occur offscreen entirely.
Apparently weird is in, judging by all the rave reviews The Library at Mount Char has received. If you want weird, you'll certainly get it with this book. If you want weird, with a well-structured story, you might find this a little wanting.
The book presents a world where even the readers and main characters only get a slight glimpse into the workings and rules of the universe. Events, characters, concepts that are important on a cosmic scale are only alluded to, mentioned, or hinted at, giving the reader a bewildering sense that far more is going on than we really know about.
Even the small part of this universe that is revealed to the main characters shows a cosmos with strange, almost unknowable rules (hence the giant library). While this certainly makes for a strange, memorable book, it also causes a lot of problems with the plot.
I can't echo all the rave reviews this book has received. The bizarre and seemingly random rules to the world of Mount Char means that its a world where almost anything can happen. So when the plot calls for characters to be restricted by something, it jostled my suspension of disbelief. One moment, characters are almost invincible, almost literally Supermen, the next they're hampered by the most mundane things. People who are knowledgeable beyond our most intelligent super-geniuses, suddenly become naive idiots, or simply don't know things, when the plot calls for it.
Also, I'm sorry, but this book is written in a dumb way. Certain scenes (without going into spoilers) would be impactful and moving, but instead the author writes them in a lazy, nonchalant way, or has them occur offscreen entirely.
Apparently weird is in, judging by all the rave reviews The Library at Mount Char has received. If you want weird, you'll certainly get it with this book. If you want weird, with a well-structured story, you might find this a little wanting.