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A review by meg_elyse
Ex-Libris by Ross King
3.0
Backstory: Once I was seven years old. My mom didn't tell me anything about making friends or being lonely (terribly attempted musical reference) but I very often visited the library and took home more books than the librarians assumed I could read within the given week. And just once this was true. I started a book--an epic book--but then had to return it before I had finished the third chapter. They wouldn't let me recheck it because it was being requested at another library. I never saw that book again. Nor could I remember it's title, but I have never stopped looking for it.
A few years ago, while shopping for an ex-libris stamp a vague memory surfaced in which it seemed to me that Ex-Libris might very well be the title of my long lost book. All I could recall for sure were secret letters and a dark library. But I did some research. And so, I finally purchased King's Ex-Libris and immediately read the first three chapters.
I do believe that this is the book I began as a child, but I think that, in my mental recall over the years, I mashed it up with Kate Mosse's Labyrinth. Because I seemed to remember secret society rituals and a hidden passage in the library of my long lost book, which never appeared in Ex-Libris (is there a hidden library passage in Labyrinth?) Nevertheless, it was a good read. The storytelling felt disconnected at times, as it switched between characters/time periods, and I would have appreciated either more or less resolution with the final revelations. As it stands, I felt unresolved. But I do feel that my noble quest has finally come to an end, and seven year-old me is very pleased.
A few years ago, while shopping for an ex-libris stamp a vague memory surfaced in which it seemed to me that Ex-Libris might very well be the title of my long lost book. All I could recall for sure were secret letters and a dark library. But I did some research. And so, I finally purchased King's Ex-Libris and immediately read the first three chapters.
I do believe that this is the book I began as a child, but I think that, in my mental recall over the years, I mashed it up with Kate Mosse's Labyrinth. Because I seemed to remember secret society rituals and a hidden passage in the library of my long lost book, which never appeared in Ex-Libris (is there a hidden library passage in Labyrinth?) Nevertheless, it was a good read. The storytelling felt disconnected at times, as it switched between characters/time periods, and I would have appreciated either more or less resolution with the final revelations. As it stands, I felt unresolved. But I do feel that my noble quest has finally come to an end, and seven year-old me is very pleased.