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raginsagein's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Blood
Moderate: Medical content
Minor: Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Confinement, and Body horror
ewalkergrace's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Death of parent and Blood
Moderate: Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Gun violence, and Kidnapping
Minor: Gaslighting and Animal death
asahome's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
2.75
I found the first part of the book boring. I know it is intended to set up the rest of the book so you can understand the action when it gets there, but it felt too long to me. I also really struggled to understand when we were in the present versus when we were looking at the past. If there had been a format change or something to indicate we were not in the present, it would have felt less jarring to me.
Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Death of parent, Self harm, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Death
Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcoholism, Abandonment, Child abuse, Chronic illness, and Medical content
readwithria's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- 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
3.5
I was very intrigued by the premise of this book. Sisterhood, familial magic, and dark secrets are usually things that I enjoy in books. However, it took about 300 pages to get through the setup and to the main plot. Those first couple hundred pages were interesting, but easy to put down. The last 85 pages were much more action-packed, but almost to the point of going by too quickly.
Other than the pacing, it also bothered me that it felt like the decisions the three POV characters made were because of the plot, and I prefer books where the plot happens the way it does due to decisions made by the main characters.
Things that I did enjoy included
- the magic system
- Pearl, Collins, Sir Kiwi, and the little cat
- the themes of colonial deconstruction
- the division of information through the different POVs
I would recommend this book to people who enjoy books that deal with family secrets, generational trauma, and objects of power. I would not recommend this book to people who are sensitive to self harm (CW: graphic bloodletting for magical purposes)
This was interesting, but missed the mark in a few key ways. 3.5 stars.
Graphic: Blood and Self harm
Moderate: Murder, Grief, Gun violence, Gaslighting, Cursing, Kidnapping, Gore, Colonisation, Medical content, Death, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, and Death of parent
Minor: Classism, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, and Cursing
aksmith92's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
The setup: The novel follows two sisters, Esther and Joanna, born and raised in a magical family - those who can read magic from books and cast certain spells. While Joanna can produce this magic when reading it, Ester seems untouched by the magic. When she reads the books, nothing happens. More perplexing, magic seems to have no impact on her. Esther and Joanna's family is complicated, and we are met with many fascinating tales about mothers, fathers, stepmothers, and overall familial ties.
In addition, we also travel alongside the tale of someone named Nicholas and his bodyguard, Collins. We know little about Nicholas and his ties to Esther and Joanna's story, but he lives in The Library, a heavily guarded magical library in London. Nicholas is a Scribe, meaning that he writes magical books.
Throughout the novel, we learn of the characters, the magic, and their connection through many ups and downs.
What I liked: I found this novel quite innovative and original. The theme of magical books has no doubt been done before, particularly in witchy settings, but I just thought this one was unique. Additionally, the writing style and prose were just lovely. I found it atmospheric but still grounded in modern times, which was an interesting touch. To me, this seemed to sway to the side of magical realism versus fantasy, but it is about magical books and spells, so I can see why it wouldn't necessarily be too close to real life. Either way, I just thought it worked so well. There were also a couple of twists and turns throughout this novel that I didn't see coming, which I always LOVE!
What didn't hit the mark: The beginning was slow, and while I loved the character development, once the connection was there between plots, I felt some things were a little rushed. That said, I gave this 4.5 stars, so it didn't impact my overall reading experience and love for the book.
I recommend this as a nice in between of magical realism, contemporary literature, and fantasy. It was super readable, yet poetic at times, and I loved the plot. I look forward to checking out this author's other works in the future!
Graphic: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Cursing, Child abuse, Body horror, Grief, Violence, Confinement, Blood, Abandonment, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Death, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder
Moderate: Gore, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Medical content, and Medical trauma
in_libris_speramus's review against another edition
- 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? No
5.0
Graphic: Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, and Blood
Moderate: Violence and Kidnapping
Minor: Confinement and Torture
pompompuri's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Moderate: Medical content, Gun violence, and Blood
Minor: Eating disorder, Death of parent, and Emotional abuse
zias's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, and Medical content
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Gun violence
laurenleigh's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Blood and Medical content
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Violence, and Gun violence
rorikae's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I really enjoy the magic that Törzs has created as well as everything related to the library. I cared for the sisters but I do think that I will quickly forget them. There is a big part of this story (and a main character) that isn't mentioned in the synopsis and I'm not quite sure why. I found them to be the more interesting part and I felt like they had more character development. I will be interested to see if Törzs writes any companion novels since the world she sets up feels far vaster than the story in this standalone. This feels like it might have been better set up as a series with this book as the first installment and a future installment that would further explore the world outside of the main characters' lives.
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Blood, and Violence
Moderate: Death, Gun violence, and Grief
Minor: Medical content and Death of parent