Reviews with content warning for Blood - The Invisible Library

Reviews tagging 'Blood'

The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman

20 reviews

leeang's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

This was a fun book that was a quick read and a wild ride! A wonderful concept for anyone who has ever identified as a bookworm or thought librarians were the coolest of people!

A twisting (albeit not very surprising) mystery plot line with lovable characters! There ARE some whacky surprises in store though.

I did not see the alligators coming!

The ending leaves a bit to be desired, but with subsequent books in the series it was satisfying enough!

I just enjoyed this book! It was fun and easy and I’m honestly looking forward to book two.

Content Warnings

littlewishling's review

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adventurous funny mysterious 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

4.5

A really fun read with excellent world building and fun characters. I can’t wait to read more.

Content Warnings

starrysteph's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted tense 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

3.0

This was a fun concept, although a little light on the execution.

We're dropped into the secret society of the Library, which exists between alternate worlds and collects unique works of fiction. We follow Librarian Irene and her fresh assistant Kai as they attempt to recover a stolen book, unravel a mystery, & get out of a whole lot of trouble.

It's a playful mystery story, though it suffers a bit from underdeveloped/simple characters who lack the insight they perhaps should have had. I can imagine it would be more fun for perhaps young readers who don't catch on to the (fairly obvious) clues and suspicious situations.

The worldbuilding was intriguing and I actually liked being dropped RIGHT into the action and catching up as we went along. And of course - as a person who loves to read - a book about a mysterious society of Librarians is a pretty delightful concept. This is a long series with spin offs and I would consider reading more tales set in the world! Maybe the plotting & characterization has greater depth as we go on?

CW: body horror, injury, blood, death, violence, murder, animal death, sexual content, ableism, sexism

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stwriter92's review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious 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

4.0

I bought this book on a whim back in 2019 and did not think to pick it up until this year. I've always adored books about books and this was no different. I was drawn to the idea of librarians that are super badass and travel to alternate worlds as spies to ~~steal~~ acquire books to keep in the Library, which is a place that exists between worlds as a sort of archive for said books. When I bought this book (and then started reading it three years after said buying), I did not realize that this was a part of an eight book series. However, after reading this book, I am definitely justifying myself buying each subsequent part of the series as needed.

The Invisible Library introduces us to the world of the Library as well as the politics involved. We are introduced to the Librarian Irene and her new, mysterious assistant, Kai. They have been sent on a seemingly innocuous and mundane mission to retrieve a book of Grimms' Fairy Tales from an alternative Victorian England. However, once they reach their destination, they realize that they are working with forces far stronger, darker, and more dangerous than they had expected. With the help of a (very Sherlock Holmes-esque) detective named Vale and Bradamant, a rival Librarian, they must work together to go up against a mysterious and evil adversary.

We get a good introduction to the world, but a lot of it went wanting. However, I think this will probably be rectified in the rest of the books, which I look forward to reading. There were some parts of the book that fell a little flat for me, but there were far more that had me having a physical reaction of surprise, amusement, and shock. I finished reading this book in a cafe and immediately went to the bookshop round the corner to get the second one, which I intend to start reading as soon as I finish typing up this review.

I really look forward to seeing the characters develop and I really really look forward to learning more about the Library. It is obviously more than just an archive for books from parallel worlds and I can't wait to uncover all the mysteries that lie in its corridors.

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jessitheblonde's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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dcheers's review

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adventurous mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

An enjoyable enough read, I liked the premise, the world building, and the characters to an extent, however I found some of the character dialogue, decision making, and descriptions a bit jarring and overly romantisized and out of place.

Though it wasn't a complete page turner, I am still looking forward to seeing what is next for the characters and continuing on in the series!

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tarotsystem's review against another edition

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adventurous dark lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

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columnclub's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious fast-paced

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

3.75

3.5 stars, or maybe a little above. I reread it since I have the next one in the series, and it was as intriguing but messy as I remembered -- there's always so much going on, and there are so many wider groups/forces at play that it wouldn't be possible to develop them all sufficiently. That being said, it's a lot of fun! The characters are likeable (though I kind of wish Irene hadn't programmed herself to be so allergic to feeling or reacting to anything; I actually found Bradamant more entertaining). I'm curious to see if the later series adds depth and clarity to what's already there, or if it's zany fast-paced antics all the way down.

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meganpbennett's review

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adventurous funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

A fast-paced adventure featuring a semi-mythical Library and its Librarians, who use Language to help them navigate alternate realities. It's part steam-punk adventure, part detective story, part urban fantasy and it works in a way that it really shouldn't.

Irene works for the Library, and after just barely surviving collecting a rare book from one reality, she's sent off on her next mission, with a mentee named Kai. This alternate reality is contaminated with Chaos and has all the usual urban fantasy creatures - vampires, werewolves, the Fae - to make life interesting. Irene and Kai are after a rare and specific copy of Grimm's tales from that alternate reality.

But when the urban legend from the Library shows up and turns out to be both very real and very dangerous, things have a way of getting even more complicated than they appear from the outside.

Edit: August 10, 2021 : A reread of The Invisible Library was very interesting, and the clues left about several things are very, very well done.

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aplanetarymind's review

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adventurous fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Fairly easy to get through, but honestly didn't live this as much as I thought I would - even with libraries, magic and alternate universes. I guess a lot of it just came off as flat? I really don't feel anything for the main character, and the way Kai is written/described I just find pretty confusing

also I really feel like the whole dragon thing came out of nowhere, and then wasn't really a major thing for the story/plot until it was useful?

Also: "diversity" was a ? as the way Kai was originally described just give me peak basic white boy character energy, and then there were two throwaway comments about him looking like he could be from Shanghai, so...?

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