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A review by shercockholmes
Where the Library Hides by Isabel Ibañez
3.0
Overall Vibes: Historical Fiction with a hint of magic
Hot Sauce Scale: 1 (everything that isn't kissing is fade to black)
This is a sequel to What the River Knows, a book that I got from Owlcrate last(?) year. Time blends together a bit, and I'm slow to read my Owlcrate books. The first book was a solid 3.5-star (4 stars on Goodreads since it doesn't allow half stars). The follow-up was not as engaging as the first part of the duology. This is a very solid 3-star.
Inez is a bit of a frustrating FMC. She is very, very trusting and does not double-check information that she is given by (known) unreliable characters. I was more forgiving of this in the first book, as she was a lady of means and not world-traveled, but she doesn't appear to have grown from her experiences. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, yeah okay, my bad. Fool me three times, I'm Inez. She has some likeable characteristics. She does not give up, she's headstrong, and she will gladly take charge of situations. I just wish she had a little more common sense.
Her romantic interest, Whit, is unable to effectively communicate with her. Ever. And it's frustrating. There are plenty of chances for things to be solved or discovered if the two main characters would just talk. There isn't much chemistry between them that is shown without telling. Yes, we are told that Inez swoons over this man, but he doesn't really do anything deserving of that until the second half of the book.
The library in the title does not appear until the climax. There is very little archaeology in this book. The reveal of her father's fate is probably the goofiest, corniest thing I've read recently. I'll leave it at that. The whole plot became a bit of a convoluted family drama by the end, with Whit appearing occasionally to beat the sh*t out of people.
My least favorite bit of the whole book was the "epilogue." It is presented in an Animal House freeze-frame-on-the-character "Where are they now?" style, with illustrations of characters followed by a sentence or two. It's such an ineffective way to present an epilogue. Why do I care that a tertiary character went back to England and did something? Why use the space for that instead of fleshing out the endings of primary characters people actually care about? Arabella's blurb includes a hint that her adventures may spin off into a new series. Okay? And? Why do I care about her? She was a plot element to cause strife between Whit and Inez over money. She appeared, in person, for about two seconds on the last few pages. I have no investment. I won't be seeking out the Arabella spin-off unless I happen to be in a book club that forces me to read it or it shows up in one of my surprise book boxes.
Hot Sauce Scale: 1 (everything that isn't kissing is fade to black)
This is a sequel to What the River Knows, a book that I got from Owlcrate last(?) year. Time blends together a bit, and I'm slow to read my Owlcrate books. The first book was a solid 3.5-star (4 stars on Goodreads since it doesn't allow half stars). The follow-up was not as engaging as the first part of the duology. This is a very solid 3-star.
Inez is a bit of a frustrating FMC. She is very, very trusting and does not double-check information that she is given by (known) unreliable characters. I was more forgiving of this in the first book, as she was a lady of means and not world-traveled, but she doesn't appear to have grown from her experiences. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, yeah okay, my bad. Fool me three times, I'm Inez. She has some likeable characteristics. She does not give up, she's headstrong, and she will gladly take charge of situations. I just wish she had a little more common sense.
Her romantic interest, Whit, is unable to effectively communicate with her. Ever. And it's frustrating. There are plenty of chances for things to be solved or discovered if the two main characters would just talk. There isn't much chemistry between them that is shown without telling. Yes, we are told that Inez swoons over this man, but he doesn't really do anything deserving of that until the second half of the book.
The library in the title does not appear until the climax. There is very little archaeology in this book. The reveal of her father's fate is probably the goofiest, corniest thing I've read recently. I'll leave it at that. The whole plot became a bit of a convoluted family drama by the end, with Whit appearing occasionally to beat the sh*t out of people.
My least favorite bit of the whole book was the "epilogue." It is presented in an Animal House freeze-frame-on-the-character "Where are they now?" style, with illustrations of characters followed by a sentence or two. It's such an ineffective way to present an epilogue. Why do I care that a tertiary character went back to England and did something? Why use the space for that instead of fleshing out the endings of primary characters people actually care about? Arabella's blurb includes a hint that her adventures may spin off into a new series. Okay? And? Why do I care about her? She was a plot element to cause strife between Whit and Inez over money. She appeared, in person, for about two seconds on the last few pages. I have no investment. I won't be seeking out the Arabella spin-off unless I happen to be in a book club that forces me to read it or it shows up in one of my surprise book boxes.