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3.95 AVERAGE
3.95 AVERAGE
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This was a fun read and addition to the series. I liked the plot and story of this one and though it seemed like too much was happening it made sense in the end. My biggest problem was the constant repitition of certain things that were said every chapter. Just internal monologues that stated the same thoughts with no new progression.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Incest
I love this trio. They're quickly becoming one of my favorites :D
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I felt like this installment was a lot of spinning gears but not actually a lot happened until right at the end. I never quite felt invested in the whatever was going on in fae-infested Venice (I actually have forgotten why Irene needed to go there a week after finishing the book) and was only really made curious by the Big Explosive Reveal section. OK, so it's gnarly, but it does make you want to know what happened in the past to bring these things about and makes you question what little you do know of the mysterious Library.
It was supposed to be a simple fetch and retrieve routine mission, but a hasty escape through a building that is under siege on fire and where the doors back to the library suddenly are not working. No one other than the person who allocated them the task knew where there were. Leaving the alternate version of the French Revolution is only possible with the help of her assistant Kai who is partly dragon and can move between the worlds when he chooses.
Turns out it wasn’t an isolated incident, many librarians who were also trying to return with the books that had been asked to retrieve were getting stuck in the other worlds. Not everything is right in the world of the library spies and meetings are called to elicit information and to pass on orders on books that need retrieving with the hope of restoring order and balance back again. The powers that be know that a lot of this is being caused by the traitor Alberich, but fighting back against him is going to be difficult.
Irene and Kai head home after the traumatic experience where she finds her home full of deadly spiders, someone really doesn’t want her to be around anymore. Finding out who is betraying secrets of the Library to Alberich is going to take some doing and will take her to some of the darker parts of her home city and test some of her oldest friendships. The Library is trying to get a grip on the situation and she and Kai are asked to head to St Petersburg’s Winter Palace, to retrieve a book that will help restore order.
The place they are going to is a secret and the last person that expects to meet is Alberich, but he is there are waiting for them.
And I am not going to say any more than that! This is the third in the series of Cogman’s Library Spy Series. Whilst I guessed at the outcome of the book, it is a series, after all, the journey to get there is faster paced than the previous two as Irene battles the threat to the library. The characters are more developed than in the first two books too, the author has grown in confidence in her writing and the interplay between the main two characters is stronger and helps the narrative. Onto the fourth book soon. 3.5 stars
Turns out it wasn’t an isolated incident, many librarians who were also trying to return with the books that had been asked to retrieve were getting stuck in the other worlds. Not everything is right in the world of the library spies and meetings are called to elicit information and to pass on orders on books that need retrieving with the hope of restoring order and balance back again. The powers that be know that a lot of this is being caused by the traitor Alberich, but fighting back against him is going to be difficult.
Irene and Kai head home after the traumatic experience where she finds her home full of deadly spiders, someone really doesn’t want her to be around anymore. Finding out who is betraying secrets of the Library to Alberich is going to take some doing and will take her to some of the darker parts of her home city and test some of her oldest friendships. The Library is trying to get a grip on the situation and she and Kai are asked to head to St Petersburg’s Winter Palace, to retrieve a book that will help restore order.
The place they are going to is a secret and the last person that expects to meet is Alberich, but he is there are waiting for them.
And I am not going to say any more than that! This is the third in the series of Cogman’s Library Spy Series. Whilst I guessed at the outcome of the book, it is a series, after all, the journey to get there is faster paced than the previous two as Irene battles the threat to the library. The characters are more developed than in the first two books too, the author has grown in confidence in her writing and the interplay between the main two characters is stronger and helps the narrative. Onto the fourth book soon. 3.5 stars
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
I hope Genevieve Cogman never runs out of ideas for The Invisible Library! As Irene and the Library fight for their lives, she discovers some depths of friendship, betrayal, and new ways of thinking. On to book #4!
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
3.5 stars.
MUCH better than the previous two. Satisfying adventure plot, even if some things were forgotten along the way. The tattered threads of romance subplots are the weakest parts, which is apparently a thing in this series. I still hope Vale and Kai are happy interspecies boyfriends offscreen, and I still wish that were happening onscreen.
Other things:
Fails the Lexa test, as the queer lady character both turns out to be somewhat evil AND dies at the end for no reason whatsoever. It doesn't even advance the plot. It's just gratuitous getting rid of the lesbian fae, as opposed to, say, blasting her into another world and making use of her at some point in the future when there's need of a new macguffin. She would be the hero of her own tale there, as befits the fae, and it would have as much dramatic impact as being horribly crushed by a giant bookshelf.
Walks back the androgyny panic of Book #2 in favor of a simple "dragons are whatever gender they claim to be; biology doesn't enter into it" (paraphrasing Kai). I'm not sure that's the same thing as calling Li Ming a transman, though? Would he call himself trans? IDK. It's hard to know because this series is so Victorian in some of its sensibilities and so 21st century+ in others.
MUCH better than the previous two. Satisfying adventure plot, even if some things were forgotten along the way. The tattered threads of romance subplots are the weakest parts, which is apparently a thing in this series. I still hope Vale and Kai are happy interspecies boyfriends offscreen, and I still wish that were happening onscreen.
Other things:
Fails the Lexa test, as the queer lady character both turns out to be somewhat evil AND dies at the end for no reason whatsoever. It doesn't even advance the plot. It's just gratuitous getting rid of the lesbian fae, as opposed to, say, blasting her into another world and making use of her at some point in the future when there's need of a new macguffin. She would be the hero of her own tale there, as befits the fae, and it would have as much dramatic impact as being horribly crushed by a giant bookshelf.
Walks back the androgyny panic of Book #2 in favor of a simple "dragons are whatever gender they claim to be; biology doesn't enter into it" (paraphrasing Kai). I'm not sure that's the same thing as calling Li Ming a transman, though? Would he call himself trans? IDK. It's hard to know because this series is so Victorian in some of its sensibilities and so 21st century+ in others.