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leafhead's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
A love letter to those who write. Beautiful story with lovable characters. The only reason it did not get five stars is that the story is kind of all over the place with themes. Kind of like the author threw in everything cool they could think of. It's a lot of fun, but it's a lot. At times I found myself wishing it had a tiny bit more focus on just one character/theme.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Death, Self harm, Suicide, and Violence
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders and Bullying
margaret_k30's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts and Death
Moderate: Violence, Suicide, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Abandonment, Mental illness, Fire/Fire injury, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, and Bullying
greatexpectations77's review
adventurous
challenging
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
The plot of this book is really interesting, and I'm really not sure why I didn't find it engaging. I hope lots of other people like this because I think it's well done! I maybe just couldn't get into the world-building?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Toxic relationship, and Grief
Moderate: Murder, Abandonment, Classism, Confinement, Death, and War
Minor: Religious bigotry
noellelovesbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
4.25
Content Warnings: Murder, self-harm, bullying, suicidal thoughts, and mention of suicide.
I stumbled on the summary of this book late last spring and was fascinated with the idea. Sadly when it was gifted to me, for my birthday in July, I let it sit on my shelf unread until a few days ago. Wanting to read something somewhat different, but still, within the Fantasy genre, I decided to finally pick it up and dive in…and it did not disappoint.
This book is like nothing I’ve ever read before and I enjoyed every second of it! We follow four different perspectives as we journey through this book.
First, we meet Claire the current head librarian of the Unwritten Library who is very good at her job and keeps everything running as efficiently as she can. Claire has been the head Librarian for over thirty years and is rumored to have an entire wing dedicated to books she left unwritten during her time as a human.
We then meet Leto, a junior demon, who has been tasked with informing Claire of a runaway, unwritten, story that she’s been tasked to find and return. Leto is new to his position and is shocked when Claire informs him he’ll be traveling along with her to Earth to hunt down the runaway story.
Ramiel an angel and fallen Watcher is just going about his normal business of standing at the gates of Heaven and processing new souls when he’s met with a soul that’s carrying a suspicious scrap of paper, that seems to hold unknown power. When the soul informs him it’s a piece of the long-lost Devil’s Bible Ramiel finds himself tasked with hunting the rest of the book down. Having been barred from crossing the Gates of Heaven, since he sided with Lucifer before the War, he’s given the idea that he could reclaim his rightful place, and finally go home, if he completes his mission to collect the Devil’s Bible.
Brevity, Claire’s assistant and junior librarian, who also happens to be a former Muse, is being trained to someday take over the role of Head Librarian. No one knows exactly what causes Head Librarians to retire, or where exactly they all go, but there’s always someone training to take over whenever that happens. The longer Brevity trains under Claire she feels like she’s able to see past the strict and seemingly uncaring, exterior Claire presents to a kind and fearless person.
I won’t lie this book did take about a hundred, to a hundred and fifty, pages to finally feel firmly invested in the adventure. The lore I found deeply fascinating and the more I got to know the characters, through the different perspectives, then I found myself connecting and empathizing with them. This book is so fascinating and I can’t wait to read the other two books to see what journey, and adventure, we go on next!
If you’re looking for a unique fantasy that involved a library, heaven, hell, demons, humans, angels, and book characters brought to life…I highly suggest picking up this book and diving in!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Self harm
Minor: Suicide, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, and Bullying
angelbabe_cj's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Death, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Suicide and Death
Minor: Bullying, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Religious bigotry, and Toxic friendship
starofash's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
i really liked this! the story is new and refreshing and captivating, the plot twists are unexpected and the foreshadowing is immaculate.
sadly, i read a spoiler about librarian claire's past so i wasn't surprised when the grand reveal rolled along- except i was, because there was more to it than i thought. as i said, the plot twists are Amazing!!
also, i loved the play with basic book categories like heroes and villains and damsels, and how at the end, we realize that they don't matter, because villains are capaple of heroics, and damsels are people, too.
also, i loved how at the beginning of the chapters, we get an insight in the librarian's log and- yeah i just loved basically everything about it.
sadly, i read a spoiler about librarian claire's past so i wasn't surprised when the grand reveal rolled along- except i was, because there was more to it than i thought. as i said, the plot twists are Amazing!!
also, i loved the play with basic book categories like heroes and villains and damsels, and how at the end, we realize that they don't matter, because villains are capaple of heroics, and damsels are people, too.
also, i loved how at the beginning of the chapters, we get an insight in the librarian's log and- yeah i just loved basically everything about it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying, Emotional abuse, and Death
Minor: Suicide
kellyhady's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide
Moderate: Mental illness and Bullying
keen's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
inspiring
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I enjoyed the book. It didn't have me binging it, but I'm always a sucker about books about books. This one delivered greatly by showing appreciation to stories of all kinds, even if the focus is on books. Which makes sense, one of the main characters is the Librarian of a Library of unfinished stories, reasons ranging from an author losing interest or the author dying. Still, there is appreciation of other kinds of artworks, such as paintings and weaponry. Which makes me wonder how dances are incorporated.
In the beginning, I found the story intriguing but not much to ride home about. The character Hero annoyed me in particular. It was only halfway through the book that I began picking up a lot more interest, even having me grow on Hero. By the end, I was surprised to find myself fully accepting him as an enjoyable character. Similarly, I found some of the character development wonky. It became noticeable to me by one line that felt like a big jump in relationship improvement between characters.
Otherwise, I'm happy to see another book I picked up that has diverse characters, from Claire being described as being dark-skinned and has braids to Hero being bisexual. The author leaves no room to assume that you're interpretation the words wrong. Additionally, I loved how the author avoided only describing the skin tone of dark-skinned characters. Nothing frustrates me more than only character with dark skin and abnormal skin tones being described, leaving the reader to assume everyone else is the "default" of white. Different skin tones are described, from tan to olive to pale. I was also pleased to see commentary on the sexualization of women in stories as being rewards, which got incorporated into the plot.
So, in conclusion, good book, was worried I'd need to drop it or ignore the sequels, and by the end, I was hooked enough to purchase the sequel (for a discounted price, but I would've gotten it from the library otherwise).
P.S. Brevity is adorable 10/10 would hug again.
In the beginning, I found the story intriguing but not much to ride home about. The character Hero annoyed me in particular. It was only halfway through the book that I began picking up a lot more interest, even having me grow on Hero. By the end, I was surprised to find myself fully accepting him as an enjoyable character. Similarly, I found some of the character development wonky. It became noticeable to me by one line that felt like a big jump in relationship improvement between characters.
Otherwise, I'm happy to see another book I picked up that has diverse characters, from Claire being described as being dark-skinned and has braids to Hero being bisexual. The author leaves no room to assume that you're interpretation the words wrong. Additionally, I loved how the author avoided only describing the skin tone of dark-skinned characters. Nothing frustrates me more than only character with dark skin and abnormal skin tones being described, leaving the reader to assume everyone else is the "default" of white. Different skin tones are described, from tan to olive to pale. I was also pleased to see commentary on the sexualization of women in stories as being rewards, which got incorporated into the plot.
So, in conclusion, good book, was worried I'd need to drop it or ignore the sequels, and by the end, I was hooked enough to purchase the sequel (for a discounted price, but I would've gotten it from the library otherwise).
P.S. Brevity is adorable 10/10 would hug again.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Moderate: Blood, Confinement, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Bullying
mandkips's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide
Moderate: Death and Bullying
misssleepless's review against another edition
The writing almost put me to sleep, the POVs were difficult to tell apart and overall I didn't care enough to continue despite the amazing premise.
Content Warnings
Minor: Bullying and Death
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