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mattyb's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Grief, Trafficking, Confinement, Death, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Kidnapping, Sexual harassment, Torture, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Excrement, Violence, and Gore
Minor: Drug use, Police brutality, Alcohol, Excrement, and Cursing
sauvageloup's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
tense
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
3.5
a fun supernatural, dystopian mystery read, enjoyed it.
pros:
- the writing style was different and fun. I got a real sense of who Ropa was and liked her a lot. her character comes through through the writing, with a quirky mix of slang and complicated language and concepts. shes both smart and street smart.
- I also really loved priya and gran as side characters, they were great. priya was a lot of fun to read, and ropa's love for her gran was obvious.
- there was also some lovely descriptions in Huchu's writing, creating a great atmosphere.
- the horror was also genuinely creepy with the Brounie, the eyeless milkman, the unaging siobhan
- while the mystery was great, the tensions ropa had about still bringing money in and helping her family felt very real. she really feels she has to carry everything and doesnt tell anyone older than her, apart from Callender, who fails her.
- I likes the dystopian Edinburgh a lot, made a nice change from London, and the implied breakdown of society which was hinted at but never entirely explained, was interesting.
- priya's magical wheelchair was fab, really interesting application of magic.
- and the bits of African culture, the mbira helping ground the spirits and gran's magic, were great, enjoyed learning about them.
cons:
- I never got a real sense of Jomo, he seemed quite hapless and not particularly helpful, didnt quite get Ropa's loyalty to him.
- occasionally the slang dialogue did feel a bit forced but not often.
- the two main bits of the plot seemed very disparat . the creepy brounie house and the children having elixir made from them were only barely linked.
- I did get a bit frustrated with the refusal to give an in depth explanation of a lot of things, like the collapse of Edinburgh, why the milkman had no eyes, why only the faces of the kids got old, what happened with Ropa's mum, why Ropa's magic didnt work (tho I guess it said at the end that she just needed to be angry enough), how Priya's wheelchair magic worked (why could she go on ceilings but not up a steep hill?). I mean, it's a mystery story and a series so some of these are understandable but there did seem to be a bit too much vagueness at times.
but overall, really enjoyed this read :)
pros:
- the writing style was different and fun. I got a real sense of who Ropa was and liked her a lot. her character comes through through the writing, with a quirky mix of slang and complicated language and concepts. shes both smart and street smart.
- I also really loved priya and gran as side characters, they were great. priya was a lot of fun to read, and ropa's love for her gran was obvious.
- there was also some lovely descriptions in Huchu's writing, creating a great atmosphere.
- the horror was also genuinely creepy
- while the mystery was great, the tensions ropa had about still bringing money in and helping her family felt very real. she really feels she has to carry everything and doesnt tell anyone older than her, apart from Callender, who fails her.
- I likes the dystopian Edinburgh a lot, made a nice change from London, and the implied breakdown of society which was hinted at but never entirely explained, was interesting.
- priya's magical wheelchair was fab, really interesting application of magic.
- and the bits of African culture, the mbira helping ground the spirits and gran's magic, were great, enjoyed learning about them.
cons:
- I never got a real sense of Jomo, he seemed quite hapless and not particularly helpful, didnt quite get Ropa's loyalty to him.
- occasionally the slang dialogue did feel a bit forced but not often.
- the two main bits of the plot seemed very disparat .
- I did get a bit frustrated with the refusal to give an in depth explanation of a lot of things, like
but overall, really enjoyed this read :)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Slavery, Death, Body horror, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Trafficking
Moderate: Child death, Murder, and Death of parent
Minor: Addiction, Sexism, and Alcoholism
a past character's gambling addiction is discussed.pkc's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
This was an absolute whirlwind of a book. Edinburgh provided a fitting backdrop for this mysterious plot and rapid fire magic system. It was fascinating. I enjoyed the trips into Scottish mythology and the dystopia-lite feel. By which I mean, society hadn’t fully broken down, but things were FAR from ideal. I struggled a lot with the language. Everything was clipped and there were phrases in there that I’ve never heard anyone use, but honestly more power to them. Give it a bash, but fair warning, it gets DARK. The allegory of the central plot is heavy. The final showdown setting is frankly hysterical to me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Religious bigotry, Sexism, Violence, Colonisation, Medical content, Pedophilia, Blood, Child abuse, Kidnapping, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical trauma
atlantiareads's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
The Library of the Dead was not my typical read, but was a nice change of pace. Theres a good mystery and great cast of characters. I found this book to quite creept at times. Even though the main character is 14, this book i feel like is definitely better suited to an older age range.
Overall i felt the first 130 pages were too slow and were difficult to get through. Truthfully consideted dnf'ing.
I feel like learning more about the greatly detailed magic system and spending more time in the hidden library would have brought me more enjoyment with this book.
Unsure if I will continue on to book 2.
Overall i felt the first 130 pages were too slow and were difficult to get through. Truthfully consideted dnf'ing.
I feel like learning more about the greatly detailed magic system and spending more time in the hidden library would have brought me more enjoyment with this book.
Unsure if I will continue on to book 2.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Body horror, Blood, Car accident, Child abuse, Classism, Confinement, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Violence, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Addiction, Police brutality, Medical trauma, and Racism
rosemaryandrue's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-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
3.5
Ropa, a teenage ghost-talker, is too intent on making a living to work for free. But when a ghost begs for her to seek out her missing son, she gets drawn into the magical underworld of Edinburgh and uncovers the grisly truth.
Astonishingly, I have finally read a physical book! This is a series I've been eying for a while, and honestly I'm not sure why it took so long to get into it.
Ropa is a snarky lead with a strong narrative voice; it took me a little bit to get used to it, but I enjoyed it quite a bit. The world-building is very intriguing - we are in some future Edinburgh that has entered urban decay. There are allusions to some kind of Scottish rebellion in the past, and magic seems to be an open secret. We get enough information on this to flavor the book without really getting a complete grasp on what's going on, but I expect we will learn more in future books. Same goes for a certain mysterious entity and whatever is going on with Ropa's mother.
There was plenty of action and mystery and magic, and I liked following Ropa along on her journey to find Ollie and learn some magic along the way. However, I did find the plot resolved in a somewhat predictable manner - once we were in Arthur's Lodge, about two-thirds through the book, I knew precisely how things would end, and I was not surprised.
On the whole, though, this is a fun urban fantasy with world-building that feels fresh, and I'm excited to continue the series.
Astonishingly, I have finally read a physical book! This is a series I've been eying for a while, and honestly I'm not sure why it took so long to get into it.
Ropa is a snarky lead with a strong narrative voice; it took me a little bit to get used to it, but I enjoyed it quite a bit. The world-building is very intriguing - we are in some future Edinburgh that has entered urban decay. There are allusions to some kind of Scottish rebellion in the past, and magic seems to be an open secret. We get enough information on this to flavor the book without really getting a complete grasp on what's going on, but I expect we will learn more in future books. Same goes for a certain mysterious entity and whatever is going on with Ropa's mother.
There was plenty of action and mystery and magic, and I liked following Ropa along on her journey to find Ollie and learn some magic along the way. However, I did find the plot resolved in a somewhat predictable manner - once we were in Arthur's Lodge, about two-thirds through the book, I knew precisely how things would end, and I was not surprised.
On the whole, though, this is a fun urban fantasy with world-building that feels fresh, and I'm excited to continue the series.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Classism and Violence
Minor: Addiction
pvbobrien's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping
Moderate: Death of parent, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Child abuse, Classism, and Violence
Minor: Pedophilia, Blood, Car accident, Drug use, Death, Police brutality, Trafficking, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, and Medical content
fox_at_the_circus's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-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
4.0
I love how magic in this world works, that there's so many approaches and different types, the more born with it skills like ghost talking and the ones you can learn with a scientific approach. I thought, the scientific theories this book had for magic sounded very sound, and I'm interested to see, how the next book expands on that. Also the way the magical academia is described is very accurate to how academia works in my experience.
Ropa is such a badass character. I loved her as the narrator, her "don't take no shit", smartass, downto-earth tone made the book so much fun to read. And she has a pet fox, how much more badass can you get?!
The other characters are interesting, too. I especially love Jomo and Priya. That trio is just some nerdy kids, that get in trouble to safe the world.
I really enjoyed the atmosphere of this world. The unnamed big bad thing, that happened, having modern technology like phones, but also ghosts are real, all the description of old Edinburgh architecture,... all that really made for great backdrop for some mystery solving.
Ropa is such a badass character. I loved her as the narrator, her "don't take no shit", smartass, downto-earth tone made the book so much fun to read. And she has a pet fox, how much more badass can you get?!
The other characters are interesting, too. I especially love Jomo and Priya. That trio is just some nerdy kids, that get in trouble to safe the world.
I really enjoyed the atmosphere of this world. The unnamed big bad thing, that happened, having modern technology like phones, but also ghosts are real, all the description of old Edinburgh architecture,... all that really made for great backdrop for some mystery solving.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping
Moderate: Death and Violence
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Drug use, and Police brutality
nytephoenyx's review against another edition
dark
reflective
slow-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? No
3.5
The Library Of the Dead was a tricky book because there are a lot of interesting things, but I struggled with the execution. The book is written in first person with a lot of slang, which is fine, but the protagonist rambles. It has a very “inner monologue” feel and it slowed down the narrative. Add to that: the library mentioned in the title only appears in a couple chapters, and the plot didn’t really get going until halfway through the book, and this was a struggle for me.
The magical concepts were interesting, but the system was infodumped and the protagonist’s explanation came off a bit impatient with the whole thing. I still haven’t nailed down the time period (futuristic but with loads of contemporary pop culture references?). The descriptions of magic were good and the plot was interesting, but delivery was simplified and overly lucky.
In general, the book was interesting to read, but a bit too messy to hold my interest for a re-read or continuation.
The magical concepts were interesting, but the system was infodumped and the protagonist’s explanation came off a bit impatient with the whole thing. I still haven’t nailed down the time period (futuristic but with loads of contemporary pop culture references?). The descriptions of magic were good and the plot was interesting, but delivery was simplified and overly lucky.
In general, the book was interesting to read, but a bit too messy to hold my interest for a re-read or continuation.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Death, Drug use, Body horror, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, and Death of parent
Moderate: Medical content, Violence, Torture, and Slavery
Minor: Excrement and Vomit
The main character is BIPOC and a supporting character uses a wheelchair. Characters experience poverty.asha_m's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence and Child death
anniereads221's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Grief, Death, Cursing, Blood, Child death, Violence, Vomit, Physical abuse, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Drug use, Torture, Slavery, Classism, and Child abuse