Reviews with content warning for Blood - The Invisible Library

Reviews tagging 'Blood'

The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman

15 reviews

mattiedancer's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

Go to review page

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.)

Content Warnings

cwerber's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

Content Warnings

katievallin's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

Content Warnings

doot's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

Content Warnings

leeang's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous hopeful lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

This was a fun book that was a quick read and a wild ride! A wonderful concept for anyone who has ever identified as a bookworm or thought librarians were the coolest of people!

A twisting (albeit not very surprising) mystery plot line with lovable characters! There ARE some whacky surprises in store though.

Spoiler

I did not see the alligators coming!

The ending leaves a bit to be desired, but with subsequent books in the series it was satisfying enough!

I just enjoyed this book! It was fun and easy and I’m honestly looking forward to book two.

Content Warnings

littlewishling's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous funny mysterious fast-paced

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

4.5

A really fun read with excellent world building and fun characters. I can’t wait to read more.

Content Warnings

starrysteph's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

Content Warnings

stwriter92's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous 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? Yes

4.0

I bought this book on a whim back in 2019 and did not think to pick it up until this year. I've always adored books about books and this was no different. I was drawn to the idea of librarians that are super badass and travel to alternate worlds as spies to ~~steal~~ acquire books to keep in the Library, which is a place that exists between worlds as a sort of archive for said books. When I bought this book (and then started reading it three years after said buying), I did not realize that this was a part of an eight book series. However, after reading this book, I am definitely justifying myself buying each subsequent part of the series as needed.

The Invisible Library introduces us to the world of the Library as well as the politics involved. We are introduced to the Librarian Irene and her new, mysterious assistant, Kai. They have been sent on a seemingly innocuous and mundane mission to retrieve a book of Grimms' Fairy Tales from an alternative Victorian England. However, once they reach their destination, they realize that they are working with forces far stronger, darker, and more dangerous than they had expected. With the help of a (very Sherlock Holmes-esque) detective named Vale and Bradamant, a rival Librarian, they must work together to go up against a mysterious and evil adversary.

We get a good introduction to the world, but a lot of it went wanting. However, I think this will probably be rectified in the rest of the books, which I look forward to reading. There were some parts of the book that fell a little flat for me, but there were far more that had me having a physical reaction of surprise, amusement, and shock. I finished reading this book in a cafe and immediately went to the bookshop round the corner to get the second one, which I intend to start reading as soon as I finish typing up this review.

I really look forward to seeing the characters develop and I really really look forward to learning more about the Library. It is obviously more than just an archive for books from parallel worlds and I can't wait to uncover all the mysteries that lie in its corridors.

Content Warnings

jessitheblonde's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Content Warnings

More...