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3.95 AVERAGE
3.95 AVERAGE
adventurous
relaxing
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
this took me way too long to read lmao
anyway
apparently zayanna already appeared in the second book? i didnt remember her lol
just like kai, i also though she was very sus. also she said darling way too much
i wish irene and kai spent more time in st petersburg. i feel like they were there for two chapters max.
im happy the library was saved, sad the books were burnt, i hope alberich died in that fire, however i feel like he survived.
anyway
apparently zayanna already appeared in the second book? i didnt remember her lol
just like kai, i also though she was very sus. also she said darling way too much
i wish irene and kai spent more time in st petersburg. i feel like they were there for two chapters max.
im happy the library was saved, sad the books were burnt, i hope alberich died in that fire, however i feel like he survived.
I liked this book a lot more than the second one. I thought it was more polished.
adventurous
inspiring
lighthearted
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
As always I love, love, love Cogman's Invisible Library series. I finally got my hubby to start reading them last week. And I hate having to wait a whole other year for the next one!
If you haven't read the other two books in this series you need to start there, as this book continues on, with Irene paying the consequences of leaving her resident librarianship in the last book and a certain rogue librarian is continuing to cause many issues with The Library.
Vale is of course back, along with Mr. Lee and several other minor characters are back again.
I love the writing, the wit and the huge vocabulary that Cogman uses to tell her tales. It really does feel like a novel written for well read book lovers.
If you haven't read the other two books in this series you need to start there, as this book continues on, with Irene paying the consequences of leaving her resident librarianship in the last book and a certain rogue librarian is continuing to cause many issues with The Library.
Vale is of course back, along with Mr. Lee and several other minor characters are back again.
I love the writing, the wit and the huge vocabulary that Cogman uses to tell her tales. It really does feel like a novel written for well read book lovers.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
In this book, Irene and Kai are back working together. With Kai's nature as a dragon revealed, he uses his abilities and true form more freely, and also seems to be a bit more forceful with Irene, although he still ultimately defers to her orders. I do like their relationship and am wondering where it's going to go.
The Library itself is under attack, no longer the safe zone that it has been. The nature of the threat is uncertain, although Alberich seems to be involved. I have to confess that I'm not quite clear on how books affect the Library and worlds to which they are linked, but that seems to be part of the problem.
Irene is sent off on a quest for a book into an alternate nineteenth century Russia where magic and order are strong characteristics. At this point, I'm unfortunately starting to feel like the books are just McGuffins, objects to get the plot moving, more than they are the point of the series. The reason to get the book seemed thin, and really a justification for a new setting. I'm sad about this, because the idea of an infinite library is one that really resonates with me- I'd love to see something like that and part of me really wants to believe it exists! But between intrigue and danger threatening, the politics of the higher Librarians don't seem that different than politics with any powerful group of people. They don't need to be Librarians in order to be in or deal with the situation as presented in the book, just powerful magic users. So the book-loving part of me isn't getting satisfaction with the concept.
With an infinite number of worlds, with Irene hopping back and forth, the stakes on any one world never seem very high- the scale of the universe is just so vast that one version of Catherine the Great doesn't seem like such a big deal, even if she rules most of the one world she's in. I did like the idea of magically levitating reindeer sleighs instead of planes to get places fast, and I liked the Russian bear guards sniffing out magic at the sleigh-port.
After the Russia angle plays out, Irene goes back to her steampunk-London setting. Her detective friend Vale is suffering the consequences of having traveled to a highly chaotic world in order to help rescue Kai in the last book. Also, her serpent-loving Fae friend from the previous book, Zayana, has turned up and is trying to attach herself to Irene- definitely not a coincidence.
Finally, Irene ends up traveling to confront Alberich on his own terms with no preparation because one of her friends will end up dead if she doesn't act immediately. This scene also feels like a set piece without much relation to the rest of the book.
That seems to be the trouble with this book. I know that the author has a plan and overarching plot, but the seams are showing. Characters are put into place in various settings and rushed along so that the reader doesn't have too much time to think about the logic of everything, but it feels to me like the author has some cool scenes in her head and is forcing these scenes into a plot. The book felt very disconnected. At the very end of the book, the change in tone was jarring to me.
Scene by scene, the author can generate tension, but I'm not satisfied by the plot arc of the series or by how the Library has become just another organization instead of one that loves and treasures books in addition to using them. I need to see a bit more from the next book.
In this book, Irene and Kai are back working together. With Kai's nature as a dragon revealed, he uses his abilities and true form more freely, and also seems to be a bit more forceful with Irene, although he still ultimately defers to her orders. I do like their relationship and am wondering where it's going to go.
The Library itself is under attack, no longer the safe zone that it has been. The nature of the threat is uncertain, although Alberich seems to be involved. I have to confess that I'm not quite clear on how books affect the Library and worlds to which they are linked, but that seems to be part of the problem.
Irene is sent off on a quest for a book into an alternate nineteenth century Russia where magic and order are strong characteristics. At this point, I'm unfortunately starting to feel like the books are just McGuffins, objects to get the plot moving, more than they are the point of the series. The reason to get the book seemed thin, and really a justification for a new setting. I'm sad about this, because the idea of an infinite library is one that really resonates with me- I'd love to see something like that and part of me really wants to believe it exists! But between intrigue and danger threatening, the politics of the higher Librarians don't seem that different than politics with any powerful group of people. They don't need to be Librarians in order to be in or deal with the situation as presented in the book, just powerful magic users. So the book-loving part of me isn't getting satisfaction with the concept.
With an infinite number of worlds, with Irene hopping back and forth, the stakes on any one world never seem very high- the scale of the universe is just so vast that one version of Catherine the Great doesn't seem like such a big deal, even if she rules most of the one world she's in. I did like the idea of magically levitating reindeer sleighs instead of planes to get places fast, and I liked the Russian bear guards sniffing out magic at the sleigh-port.
After the Russia angle plays out, Irene goes back to her steampunk-London setting. Her detective friend Vale is suffering the consequences of having traveled to a highly chaotic world in order to help rescue Kai in the last book. Also, her serpent-loving Fae friend from the previous book, Zayana, has turned up and is trying to attach herself to Irene- definitely not a coincidence.
Finally, Irene ends up traveling to confront Alberich on his own terms with no preparation because one of her friends will end up dead if she doesn't act immediately. This scene also feels like a set piece without much relation to the rest of the book.
That seems to be the trouble with this book. I know that the author has a plan and overarching plot, but the seams are showing. Characters are put into place in various settings and rushed along so that the reader doesn't have too much time to think about the logic of everything, but it feels to me like the author has some cool scenes in her head and is forcing these scenes into a plot. The book felt very disconnected. At the very end of the book, the change in tone was jarring to me.
Scene by scene, the author can generate tension, but I'm not satisfied by the plot arc of the series or by how the Library has become just another organization instead of one that loves and treasures books in addition to using them. I need to see a bit more from the next book.
adventurous
adventurous
hopeful
tense
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:
Yes
devoured this one— more engaging in the second half! nice world building and neatly wrapped up while leaving possible further questions
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated