Reviews - The Burning Page

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817 reviews for:

The Burning Page

Genevieve Cogman

3.95 AVERAGE

rachel_br's review against another edition

3.75

adventurous dark lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

mis_chievous's review against another edition

3.5

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

gak_does_books's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Irene and Kai find themselves racing through a dangerous version of St. Petersburg, facing collapsing portals, deadly politics, and the ever-looming threat of Alberich, a rogue Librarian determined to burn the Library to the ground. With worlds unraveling and loyalties tested, the stakes are higher than ever for the Invisible Library and everyone tied to it.
I really enjoyed this one — it’s easily the strongest entry in the series so far. The pacing was sharper, the action more intense, and it felt like everything the previous books had been building towards really started to pay off. Irene continues to be a brilliant lead — clever, resourceful, and always walking that line between cool-headed spy and deeply human protagonist. The magical mechanics of the Library were used to great effect here, and the tension throughout had me hooked.
It also deepened a lot of relationships, particularly between Irene and Kai, while continuing to explore the larger multiverse in some clever and unexpected ways. My only slight criticism would be that a few moments bordered on predictable, but honestly, I flew through it regardless.
A fast-paced, clever, and rewarding continuation of the series that’s left me excited to dive straight into the next one.

inkhearted's review against another edition

5.0

The Library faces its biggest threat yet, from one of its own. As what can only be described as terrorist attacks against Library gates and Librarians increase alarmingly, Irene faces her biggest crisis so far.

I'll keep this brief. Frankly, I loved it. Now that I've read through #7, I'm not sure that it's my favorite, but would quite possibly in the top three for danger and intrigue alone. We encounter quite a few villains in the course of the series (and a fair number of characters that have complicated shades) but Alberich is the true Big Bad of the series and firmly deserves his place. If there's a grown-up equivalent of Voldemort, this is it. We also get to see glimpses of a more vulnerable side of Vale and hints of his backstory which---honestly---make a lot of sense, but even though it may not be entirely unsurprising, don't disappoint.

The ending of this book is one of the more showstopping ones of the series. While The Masked City was decent, this is really a return to form and levels up on the best parts of the first book. Definitely recommended.