Reviews

A Biblioteca Invisível by Genevieve Cogman

dad_bro_39's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? Yes

4.5

vsamek's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

3.75

felixmarauder's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

• 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? No

4.0

If you ever wanted to read a book that includes every type of fictional creature that has ever lived, just read the first half of this book. 🤣 There is so much constantly happening that it's hard to keep straight. And as soon as you think it can't get any more chaotic, the sentence

"And at that moment the alligators burst into the room."

appears. That said, the characters have a charm that make you want to know more and things start to settle into place (or at least the surprises become less jarring) in the last 25% of the story. I'll definitely reading the sequels!

celestialjane's review against another edition

fast-paced

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

2.75

The world building intrigued me in the beginning, with multi-dimension hopping and secret libraries. The story, however, was convoluted and messy. Too much happened too quickly and I had a difficult time keeping up, even with my session notes. The characters felt one-dimensional. I kept hoping it would get better and eventually finished out of spite. The climax felt - well - anti-climactic. And then it just… ended. I may borrow the next book to see if the author’s writing gets cleaner, I don’t know yet. 

kivt's review against another edition

1.0

DNF at 6%. Over-written and awful.

kthomas16's review against another edition

5.0

Great story!

This book really intrigued me! If you are an avid book lover, mystery lover and overall fantasy genre lover, you will greatly enjoy this book. Super interesting story world, and very much looking forward to the rest of the series! Highly recommend!!!

egrace13's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.5

bingley's review against another edition

3.0

(240518) Had some interesting, exciting plot points, but character personalities are inconsistent and feel 2D. I feel like it was so busy trying to be a rollicking mystery adventure, hitting certain benchmarks of snarkiness, that it got confused trying to find its way there and out.

TLDR: too inconsistent to deeply capture my fascination/loyalty for further reading.

Whenever I was getting into the plot, a character behaving oddly, trope-ly, or having a random outburst/reaction would just take me back out.

Irene's inner monologues are somewhat long-winded, her thought process in key decisive moments make me feel impatient, like GRL! ISN'T THIS A DANGEROUS SITUATION RN? WHAT ARE YOU DRAGGING ON FOR? Author says she's smart, but her behaviors contradict that: she keeps getting into yikes situations and making questionable decisions.
Kai... exhibits inconsistent behaviors and replies that it feel like he's more a compilation of surface quotes rather than a full fleshed character. He's only given a key characteristic of stringent loyalty that even after

his identity as a dragon is revealed

, it doesn't add much depth.

Also, what's with the secrecy of the Library?? After all Irene's INSISTENCE that the Library is secret, it's dangerous to talk about it, they're not allowed to, she then ends up telling new friends all about its inner workings and the Language. She insists that "oh, i can't say anything, but I will say- (goes on to spill a bunch of secrets)" Like where is the consistency here, too?!?!
If Author establishes one of the founding pillars of the Library to be secrecy, then why is Author contradicting herself by making all these loose lips! SMH.

POV: third person, singular, Irene
MAGIC: fae, elves, dragons, spells, oh my. a little bit steampunk-ish world, if you will.

treelord's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

3.5

ashaleyfaye's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5