The Invisible Library

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The Invisible Library, by Genevieve Cogman

This was just a fun read!  I will admit that I'm a little jaded about modern YA fantasy, with endless variations on fairies (ahem, the Fae or some version thereof).  But I enjoyed this a lot and I actually plan to read the next book in the series. 

Irene is a Librarian, which means she travels to alternate worlds, collecting important texts for the Invisible Library that archives...well, everything.  In this multiverse setup, the forces of Order and Chaos--with their respective representatives, the dragons and the Fae--are engaged in a tug-of-war for each individual world.  

Irene's latest assignment is in a Europe that is heavily Fae-infected.  She is to take a unique version of Grimm's Fairy Tales, and she is given a new assistant, Kai, to train along the way.  But when they arrive, the book has already been stolen.  Irene and Kai have to solve a mystery, out-maneuver the Fae, and face down both a personal rival and a terrifying, legendary Librarian gone bad.

I'm already disposed to like library fantasy, and this is pretty well done.  It reminded me forcibly of the Librarians TV series that was on a while ago, but the worldbuilding is of course somewhat deeper.  I'm looking forward to reading the sequel, The Masked City, and wondering if some of the mysteries of this book will be solved!



Comments

  1. AnonymousSeptember 29, 2016 at 4:34 PM

    Remind me, are you a fan of the Librarians TV series? I haven't seen it myself, but a lot of people have recommended it and remarked about how super great it is.

    Also, are there a lot of YA novels about fae/fairies? I feel like I haven't read very many of those at all! Are there others besides this that you felt were quite good? Fae ones?

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  2. JeanSeptember 29, 2016 at 8:11 PM

    I like watching the Librarians show, which is goofy and fun. I like goofy fun TV. :)

    I feel like there were a whole lot of YA fantasy books about fae/fairyland/etc. Possibly not quite so many in the last year or so, but there's Holly Black and a pink one and some other thing...I dunno, there seemed to be a lot!

    ReplyDelete
  3. KailanaSeptember 30, 2016 at 4:36 AM

    I have this and REALLY must read it. I was so sure I would love it that I pre-ordered book 2, but then when I still hadn't read book 1 I cancelled the preorder. Maybe by Christmas I will get to it!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Kristen M.October 2, 2016 at 10:18 PM

    I keep picking this one up but then not buying it for some reason. I think I should just grab it from the library and then it's okay if I don't love it. But now I definitely feel better about it!

    ReplyDelete

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