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A review by diannamorganti
The Library of the Unwritten by A.J. Hackwith
2.0
I’m totally the audience for this book - I cannot pass up a fantasy, urban fantasy being a bonus. And a librarian in Hell’s library? Bring it on. But - I didn’t like it all that much. I liked enough to slog through it slowly and doggedly, and I couldn’t abandon it. I have no qualms about not finishing books, so it’s got its redeeming qualities. My gripes are mostly the writing style. The timeline must happen in skips - though it doesn’t seem to. It seems to be about 24-48 hours, but there are also times where you sort of think a week went by without you knowing it. I say that because there are several times when characters who have only just met make these general remarks about each other in their heads. Leto has just met the librarian seemingly hours earlier, yet in the chapters he narrates he says things like “when the librarian is upset, she likes to make tea” or whatever - things that require some time to know about a person.
Also while we learn a lot about all the characters, none seem that fully developed. In fact I’d say only Hero seems 3-dimensional to me, which is quite ironic (no spoilers). Even Claire remains a mystery. That could be my biggest annoyance - there are books where it’s purposeful that you don’t get to know the protagonist for REASONS, and I almost always hate them (Brent Weeks is perhaps the only exception to this). I don’t think this is purposeful though. Just felt like the writing.
I may pick up another installment later to see if the writing changes or grows on me, because I love the concept and became curious about the characters. I call my gripes “writing style”, not quality. It’s just not fully my style, but I may get used to it. Might be your style. Let me know.
Also while we learn a lot about all the characters, none seem that fully developed. In fact I’d say only Hero seems 3-dimensional to me, which is quite ironic (no spoilers). Even Claire remains a mystery. That could be my biggest annoyance - there are books where it’s purposeful that you don’t get to know the protagonist for REASONS, and I almost always hate them (Brent Weeks is perhaps the only exception to this). I don’t think this is purposeful though. Just felt like the writing.
I may pick up another installment later to see if the writing changes or grows on me, because I love the concept and became curious about the characters. I call my gripes “writing style”, not quality. It’s just not fully my style, but I may get used to it. Might be your style. Let me know.