![]() Irene is a professional spy for the mysterious Library, a shadowy organization that collects important works of fiction from all of the different realities. One thing any Librarian will tell you: the truth is much stranger than fiction. The Invisible Library is worth the read if you like: books, books about books, tea and books, steampunk, dragons, vampires, and Sherlock Holmes.Synopsis: Collecting books can be a dangerous prospect in this fun, time-traveling, fantasy adventure-the first in the Invisible Library series! It hopefully will pass, and I can get back to that cozy feeling I had with this one, as if I was reading it by the fire with a bar of chocolate next to me and no hurry to go anywhere. Unfortunately, I have read already several pages, and I’m annoyed. I’m in the right mood for parallel universes and librarians, having had almost cinematography experience with the first book. But I want to add that I jumped straight to the next book in the series. I have run out of anything else to say about the book. A wet dream to some and an annoyance to me. That said, he fits the story as he is, and I can’t think of a replacement for him, which wouldn’t alter the course of events too drastically, so Kai is what he is. So we had a rocky start immediately as he was introduced, and it remained so towards the end. I hate when characters are described as incredibly handsome. But, he is flawed yet, perfect (and naïve.) So, I wasn’t that excited about him, not either, when the story revealed his full character. ![]() ![]() He is inhumanly gorgeous and highly sure of himself. He’s a junior associate in training to become a librarian. The writer puts her spin on it to make it appealing and fresh.Ībout Kai. What is novel is the combo, which works so well that it is an original story nevertheless. It is all highly familiar and has been seen many times in other books. The plot, the setting, and the characters are not original (to an extent). Before I move on to Kai, I want to say something about the clichés the book is riddled with. Let’s just say that she is more of a cliché as a heroine than I wanted her to be. I can’t, as I don’t want to spoil anything. I would love to add something that is revealed at the end as a critique, which made me grimace a little. She has history, personality and isn’t a plot device. I liked her, despite the flaws in her logic. She is too invested with the Library and too consumed by being a good little librarian. She is strong, independent, snarky, likes tea and books, and has a flaw. And, of course, nothing is as straightforward. Irene, the protagonist, is sent to mid-1800 century London to get the Brothers of Grimm book, and she has to babysit a junior associate, Kai, while at it. They are ready to steal and use a cloak and dagger to get what they want. The Library employs librarians who go into these parallel universes to retrieve the books they want to gain. Unfortunately, I can’t go into details here about its duties as it ruins the plot. The Library’s job is to secure books to their collections for safekeeping. An invisible library exists between parallel universes (not identical) containing feys (vampires, werewolves, and dragons, and elemental spirits) and technology (steampunk, thus far). So what is the book about? It is pretty much what the title of the book says. Oh, of course, I could complain about things like naivety and clichéd settings and plot devices, but when such things are well executed and fit the book, it is easy to shrug off such things and just enjoy the book. But it is not too over the top or snobbish. As the name entails, it has that stereotypical librarian wit with literary references and a passion for books and tea. The Invisible Library hit every mark of a good entertaining book, which has a correct balance of easy to read and yet not inconsequential. It has been a long time since I have been sucked deep into the story, finding the characters and the setting compelling. I have meant to read this book for ages now, and I finally picked it up.
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