Reviews with content warning for Gore - The Invisible Library

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The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman

10 reviews

mattiedancer's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

Writing: 4.5⭐️/5

On the cover of this book, it claims to be a book “in which to wallow.” I would say the writing is a decadence in which to wallow. Genevieve Cogman nails the voice of Irene, a woman dedicated to the study and preservation of language and books. Several moments of the novel were truly stunning in the prose. A few mistakes and awkward moments close to the end of the novel are the only reason this writing is not a five. Well, that and the fact that the plot required more exposition than I might have loved.

Characters: 5⭐️/5

I actually loved nearly every character in this story. I felt the history, the motivations, the development, and deep thought behind each character. Irene was a fascinating character through and through. Kai was interesting as well and I can’t wait to learn more about him. Even **Spoilers** Bradamant was fascinating to learn about and, even as she was betraying our crew, I couldn’t help but like her in an offhanded way.

Plot: 4.75⭐️/5

The world (see below) is nearly as complex as the plot. I was fairly hooked from the moment Cogman had her character’s main mission be all about attaining and retaining one-of-a-kind literature. Where I felt slightly confused, I feel Cogman did a decent job of explaining, even when she had to sacrifice a bit of fluidity in the prose to do so. Thoroughly fascinating and enjoyable.

World 4.75⭐️/5

The world is as fascinating as it is large, complex, and completely weird. I loved the alternate dimensions, loved the state of the library being at the crux of it all, and I loved the fact that the book had everything from fae, vampires, and werewolves to zeppelins, alligators with laser beams, and computers. The breadth of the world was remarkable and always interesting – however, it definitely could feel overwhelming and a bit confusing, which is my only small, wee, teeny-tiny complaint.

Who Should Read This Book?

Fans of fantasy mixed with sci-fi
Fans of complex fantasy worlds
Fans of characters who love (or live in) academia
Lovers of books and fantasy novels
Someone looking for a new, unique read and isn’t afraid of a complex world state.

Content Warnings?

Body horror, blood, death, injury, injury detail, toxic relationship, murder, animal cruelty (minor), animal death (minor), violence, gore, sexual content (minor)

Post-Reading Rating: 5⭐️/5

Pretty much immediately knew I was ordering the whole series. And I’m excited to return to this world.

Final Rating: 4.75⭐️/5

Content Warnings

julesh28's review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

Das Buch hat mir gefallen, meine Überwartungen aber nicht gesprengt. Die Geschichte ist manchmal etwas schleppend und ich habe ein ganzes Jahr gebraucht, um den Roman zu Ende zu lesen, aber es eignete sich gut als Gelegenheitsbuch.

Manchmal finde ich die Übersetzung etwas dürftig. Das macht denn teilweise wirren/umständlichen Schreibstil nicht gerade verständlicher.

Wie dieses Weltensystem konzipiert ist, finde ich jedoch total interessant. Ich bin gespannt, noch weiter eingeführt zu werden. Manchmal ist es mir aber alles etwas zu abstrakt und ich hätte gerne mehr Erklärung.

Ansonsten war der Roman aber an einigen Stellen wirklich ausgesprochen lustig, was ihn durchaus lesenswert gemacht hat. Des Weiteren ist er sehr anschaulich geschrieben und das Leseereignis hat sich angefühlt, als würde ich auf eine Fahrt mitgenommen.

Insgesamt kann ich es empfehlen, aber nur an Menschen, die ausgesprochen gerne lesen und viel Leseerfahrung haben. Ich denke, Leseneulinge hätten keinen Spaß an dem Buch.

—

Meine Lieblingsanmerkung zu dem Buch:
S.194: Imagine, n paar Alligatoren stürmen deine Mittelalter-Fete, du versucht sie mir deinen Elfenkräften zu besiegen, scheiterst und ne gefühlt 100 jährige Lady sagt, sie hätte lieber ihre Pistole mitbringen sollen, als wäre es das Normalste der Welt, dass die Liechtensteiner Gesellschaft gerade Alligatoren schickt

(Die Stelle repräsentiert gut, wie wirr und zeitlich funny dieser Roman ist.)

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fakress's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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katievallin's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny lighthearted mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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doot's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional informative mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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starrysteph's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

This was a fun concept, although a little light on the execution.

We're dropped into the secret society of the Library, which exists between alternate worlds and collects unique works of fiction. We follow Librarian Irene and her fresh assistant Kai as they attempt to recover a stolen book, unravel a mystery, & get out of a whole lot of trouble.

It's a playful mystery story, though it suffers a bit from underdeveloped/simple characters who lack the insight they perhaps should have had. I can imagine it would be more fun for perhaps young readers who don't catch on to the (fairly obvious) clues and suspicious situations.

The worldbuilding was intriguing and I actually liked being dropped RIGHT into the action and catching up as we went along. And of course - as a person who loves to read - a book about a mysterious society of Librarians is a pretty delightful concept. This is a long series with spin offs and I would consider reading more tales set in the world! Maybe the plotting & characterization has greater depth as we go on?

CW: body horror, injury, blood, death, violence, murder, animal death, sexual content, ableism, sexism

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josiewrites's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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dcheers's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

An enjoyable enough read, I liked the premise, the world building, and the characters to an extent, however I found some of the character dialogue, decision making, and descriptions a bit jarring and overly romantisized and out of place.

Though it wasn't a complete page turner, I am still looking forward to seeing what is next for the characters and continuing on in the series!

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columnclub's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

3.5 stars, or maybe a little above. I reread it since I have the next one in the series, and it was as intriguing but messy as I remembered -- there's always so much going on, and there are so many wider groups/forces at play that it wouldn't be possible to develop them all sufficiently. That being said, it's a lot of fun! The characters are likeable (though I kind of wish Irene hadn't programmed herself to be so allergic to feeling or reacting to anything; I actually found Bradamant more entertaining). I'm curious to see if the later series adds depth and clarity to what's already there, or if it's zany fast-paced antics all the way down.

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aplanetarymind's review against another edition

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adventurous fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Fairly easy to get through, but honestly didn't live this as much as I thought I would - even with libraries, magic and alternate universes. I guess a lot of it just came off as flat? I really don't feel anything for the main character, and the way Kai is written/described I just find pretty confusing

Spoiler

also I really feel like the whole dragon thing came out of nowhere, and then wasn't really a major thing for the story/plot until it was useful?

Also: "diversity" was a ? as the way Kai was originally described just give me peak basic white boy character energy, and then there were two throwaway comments about him looking like he could be from Shanghai, so...?

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