A review by spellvexit7
The Last Heir to Blackwood Library by Hester Fox

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

This book started promisingly and initially held my interest -- I enjoyed the gothic qualities of the estate she inherited and vicariously enjoyed the enormous library she owned, but I was challenged as the narrator became increasingly unreliable.  While the reasons for this are explained, it stretched out a bit too long, and felt repetitive.  I can see some of the ideas the author was playing with and appreciate her exploring them, but they never quite clicked with me.  The "real" badguy and the "real" hero of the story were heavily telegraphed to the point where I wondered if the reader was supposed to be in on it all along rather than discovering the truth alongside Ivy.  I hope that's the case!

I neither loved nor hated this book, but I did make it to the end.  It's not a bad read, but it seemed a bit more frustrating than I had expected it to be, owing to Ivy's naive stubbornness and the unreliable quality of her narration noted above.