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A review by hoffmann_fanatic
The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman
4.0
This was a really, really good urban fantasy. My first comment is that I don't know why it's shelved as YA, because it really has none of the hallmarks of that genre aside from the single viewpoint. I can see this fitting into NA these days, but there's probably not enough sex and murder for that label.
This book fits so perfectly into a genre hole I personally love - you can clearly see the influence of If on a winter's night, Possession, The Name of the Rose. All those novels about books are so wonderful on their own, and you just add a little bit of urban fantasy to end up with this wonderful mishmash of niche goodness.
To be clear, this is still very much an urban fantasy novel. A very highbrow one at that, probably one of the most literate and restrained ones out there, but still with predictable tropes, a fast pace, and relatively standard pathways of character development. For all that Cogman found a really creative setting in which to write this, I rate this 4/5 simply because the plot is still fairly standard MC-name-in-the-title urban fantasy stuff. I'd especially recommend this for readers who like the concept of urban fantasy but might find it too lowbrow or steamy for them.
This book fits so perfectly into a genre hole I personally love - you can clearly see the influence of If on a winter's night, Possession, The Name of the Rose. All those novels about books are so wonderful on their own, and you just add a little bit of urban fantasy to end up with this wonderful mishmash of niche goodness.
To be clear, this is still very much an urban fantasy novel. A very highbrow one at that, probably one of the most literate and restrained ones out there, but still with predictable tropes, a fast pace, and relatively standard pathways of character development. For all that Cogman found a really creative setting in which to write this, I rate this 4/5 simply because the plot is still fairly standard MC-name-in-the-title urban fantasy stuff. I'd especially recommend this for readers who like the concept of urban fantasy but might find it too lowbrow or steamy for them.