Reviews

The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman

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frenchtoastsbookshelf's review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

allerner's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

missyjohnson's review against another edition

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2.0

road trip audio book. This was such a bizarre mess I am not sure what to think. At times it was a mystery, then fantasy, then children's book, then maybe YA then maybe sci-fi. I listened on 1.5 speed and still did a bit of jumping ahead because some of the descriptions were so boring and long. Irene works for the Library. Her job is to go to alternate worlds to procure manuscripts for the Library. This is to safeguard literature and somehow to keep unscrupulous people from taking over some of the said alternate worlds. This particular story seems to take place in the 1800's but there are vampires, Fae, and werewolves and dragons. They also travel around London in handsome cabs that are electric and not pulled by horses. but there does not seem to be electric advancements otherwise. the women still wear the clothing of the time period for some reason. Irene is on this mission with Kai who seems to want to get into her pants within the first 15 minutes of meeting her. stupid. Then it turns out that he is a shape-shifting dragon. stupid. The narration was not all that great. often when the voices changed between Irene and Kai, it was almost impossible to hear what kai was saying and it also occurred several other times when folks were supposed to be talking low. the talking low part was certainly well done because I almost could not turn the volume up enough to hear. Irene is able to use magic to alter actions. all she had to say was things like "robot, stop all of you gears turning and stay in place" That was so creative! haha. Another point of the book was trying to use proper vocabulary and not make grammatical mistakes. Some of those points were interesting but not how anyone really talks anymore unfortunately. Irene and Kai battle alligators with metallic caps on their heads, swarms of silverfish, all kinds of magical booby traps, blah, blah, blah.

sklus's review against another edition

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5.0

The Invisible Library is an incredible book. I've been a little burned out on fantasy books and reading in general, but this book definitely got me out of my slump. It created an incredibly complex but also familiar world. In many ways, TIL (yes I just abbreviated it to make it easier to type) reminded me of The Parasol Protectorate series by Gail Carriger which is one of my favorite fun/goofy series. TIL has a much more serious tone, but they have similar strong female protagonists, male sidekicks, and complex fantasy world. I enjoyed every word of the book and will definitely read the rest of the series.

topekatradingpost's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

theavidreaderandbibliophile's review against another edition

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2.0

The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman is the first book in The Invisible Library series. Irene (not her real name) works for the Library. The Library is a special place and it is hidden from most people. Irene gets sent out on assignments by Senior Librarians. She obtains books from alternate worlds or realities (there are many different versions) for the Library (books that are special and unique). Irene just returned from a three-month assignment and is being sent out immediately by Coppelia (Irene’s supervisor and mentor). Irene is also getting an assistant to help her. Kai is an apprentice in the Library and this is his first fieldwork assignment (he is anxious to escape the confines of the library). Irene and Kai are going to London (actually London parallel B-395). This is going to be a dangerous assignment though. It turns out that this London is infected or contaminated by chaos. They have to be careful that the chaos does not enter the Library. Their contact in London is Dominic Aubrey. Aubrey guards the entrance to the Library (which is housed in the British Library) and will provide assistance to the pair. Irene goes to retrieve the book from Lord Wyndham’s safe and discovers that it is gone. Someone beat them to it. Irene and Kai need to obtain it and get back to the Library as quickly as possible. They are not, though, the only people after this special book. Will Irene and Kai succeed in their mission? They will have to battle Fae Folk, a cat burglar, a former librarian that sold out to chaos, and Bradamont (a senior librarian with her own agenda) to succeed. Join Irene and Kai on their adventure in The Invisible Library.

The Invisible Library sounded like a fascinating story, but it does not live up to its description. There is way too much going on in this novel (especially for just the first book). You know the phrase “they put in everything but the kitchen sink”? That phrase definitely applies to The Invisible Library (and I believe the author threw in the kitchen sink as well). It is hard to get into this story because of all the activity, descriptions, etc. (too much). I think if the writing had been better (instead of bland), the author could have pulled it off. Instead of being fascinating and spellbound, I was bored and uninterested (the book just dragged because of all the details and descriptions). The Invisible Library is convoluted and confusing (Irene spent too much time speculating—pages and pages). It made for a hard to read book (which made it is difficult to enjoy). I give The Invisible Library 3 out of 5 stars. It was just okay for me. I like the concepts but not how it was put together. The Masked City is the next book in the series (and I will not be reading it).

I received a complimentary copy of The Invisible Library in exchange for an honest evaluation of the novel.