Reviews with content warning for Blood - The Invisible Library

Reviews tagging 'Blood'

The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman

24 reviews

tarotsystem's review against another edition

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adventurous dark lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

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

4.75

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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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meganpbennett's review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

A fast-paced adventure featuring a semi-mythical Library and its Librarians, who use Language to help them navigate alternate realities. It's part steam-punk adventure, part detective story, part urban fantasy and it works in a way that it really shouldn't.

Irene works for the Library, and after just barely surviving collecting a rare book from one reality, she's sent off on her next mission, with a mentee named Kai. This alternate reality is contaminated with Chaos and has all the usual urban fantasy creatures - vampires, werewolves, the Fae - to make life interesting. Irene and Kai are after a rare and specific copy of Grimm's tales from that alternate reality.

But when the urban legend from the Library shows up and turns out to be both very real and very dangerous, things have a way of getting even more complicated than they appear from the outside.

Edit: August 10, 2021 : A reread of The Invisible Library was very interesting, and the clues left about several things are very, very well done.

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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

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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