Reviews - Where the Library Hides

4.32k reviews for:

Where the Library Hides

Isabel Ibañez

3.81 AVERAGE

dancingsabs's review

3.75

adventurous 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

kimaguilar's review against another edition

4.0

Honestly this was a good ending to where the river hides! I had to reread Where the River Hides before this book but it was a good ending to it. I feel like everything got tide up correctly, and I didn’t feel unsatisfied. It was definitely more of a mystery/realism book than a romance book, but I did like the sprinkle of romance in there.

linnea_laeser's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous emotional funny informative inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

sanjana214's review

4.0

medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

amandajhuesmann's review

DID NOT FINISH: 26%

Gave me the ick

one_of_the_many_sarahs's review

4.0

Well well well, this was fun! Huge fan of these books that mix my favorite genres. I also have a soft spot for authors and books that can make me hate or be completely annoyed with some characters while still loving them, ha! That’s when I know they got my emotions involved! I was frustrated with Whit’s actions and Inez’s trusting nature throughout a lot of this book, so it for sure kept me engaged! I love this setting, and this duology is now one of my favorites! Why not five stars, you ask? I felt like the info discovered about Inez’s parents was a little too far fetched for me at times. And I really felt like I could have gone without Whit’s perspective and instead would have liked the two characters to simply talk things out a bit more. I needed more info on Whit’s family… that plot line was just too random and short! But… I love these characters and this book! And I will definitely be taking this ride again in the future:)

zauren's review against another edition

2.5

Where the Library Hides is the sequel to the book What the River Knows. We continue to follow Inez and Whit as they navigate the potential of marriage, the secrets held between them, and the struggles presented by Inez’s family from book 1.

I can’t say if my reading preferences have changed since I read the first book, or if this book just didn’t do it for me like that one did. I remember really enjoying What the River Knows, but I really couldn’t wait to be done with this book. I only finished it because I was curious enough about the ending.

I liked the setting and the premise of the book. I still found some interest in the characters as well. Unfortunately, there were several things in this book that made it difficult to read.

It was very repetitive. Inez felt the need to remind the reader of something that happened within the book / something she was feeling pretty often. It felt like the author either didn’t trust her readers to be able to remember something for a few chapters, or was running short on pages and just needed to fill the time. Another (smaller - could be a me problem) was it was repetitive was in its word choice. The word(s) niggling/niggled was used 5 times, which may not seem like a lot, but it’s a word that stands out so much that it felt like it was in the book a lot more.
Communication would have fixed at least 75% of the problems in this book. Why no one was able to communicate I do not know.
I feel like Whit has so much potential to be a really complex and interesting character, but since we never really dive into him as a person (only his actions), he falls flat. He’s clearly a little messed up from the things that have happened to him, but there is NO pay off. It’s disappointing because I really think I could love his character flaws and all if we got more.
The “villain” for a very Scooby Doo like moment (IYKYK) and then went off on a cringy speech. I could ALMOST forgive this, but the villain answers every question asked of them (which is crazy), and when approached with ONE question the story doesn’t want you to know yet, they say something alone the lines of “that will come in time.” Why could you answer every question but that one?? It was clearly just to build suspense, but it didn’t feel effective to me.

MINOR SUGGESTED SPOILERS FOR MY LAST TWO POINTS (no specifics are mentioned)

Lastly, I don’t have any idea who the target audience is. Like none. It’s a YA book, but aside from a few word choices, it reads VERY young. For context, I work with middle schoolers, and I would recommend a book written like this to them, EXCEPT it’s oddly sexually explicit???? Like it only happened twice (I think), and no body parts are named, but we are there with the characters as they begin having sex (unclothed, touching intimidate areas, and I believe the mention of penetration without using the words for it). I am not against sexual context in YA novels, and I think this is well done for a high school audience, but the writing itself reads SO young that I’m not really sure who this book is for??
The characters felt inconsistent. Is Inez strong and independent, or impulsive and boy obsessed (with someone who deeply hurt her!!!)?? Is Whit closed off and brooding, or down bad and sweet?? These things don’t change as character development. It’s different chapter to chapter.