A review by erika_winters
Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore (10th Anniversary Edition): A Novel by Robin Sloan

adventurous funny mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

3.0

This book was very fast-paced and had an air of mystery to it. I read it in three sittings, and although the secret to immortality interested me, the ending was lackluster and the characters left much to be desired. I never understood why Clay felt compelled enough to go out of his way for his employer; there’s nothing particularly interesting or intriguing about Ajax Penumbra other than the mysterious collection of volumes at the back of the 24-hour bookstore that he runs. I also felt detached from the narrative whenever there was a bunch of tech jargon thrown into the prose; it felt jumbled and way over my head. When we find out what the true meaning of Manutius’s text is, it just made me feel bad for all the scholars who spent their entire life’s work on something super simple; going on a wild goose chase for 500 years to come up with

the power of friendship being the key to immortality.

As my friend stated in the book club meeting we read this book for: the meaning seems very Saturday-morning-cartoon-special instead of a big time reveal at the end of a 288 page novel. The characters overall were pretty average and bland for me; Clay’s name in and of itself being the most bland white man name I’ve ever come across in recent memory. And if Neel said the word “boobs” one more time I was going to scream. All-in-all, I’m not sure why there is immense hype around this book, but to each their own. The only reason why I’m rating this a 3/5⭐️ is due to its readability, and also the questions Sloan most likely asked himself before/during the writing process: what kind of meaning do we want our lives to have/do our lives have any meaning without anything physically produced to ensure a legacy? and, how can we discover ourselves outside of the work that we do? These are lingering questions that the book poses that I constantly grapple with too. I think all of us have thought about these questions in our day-to-day in some way, and although Sloan is onto something here by starting this dialogue with the reader, I don’t believe he succeeded in translating it onto the page and sending these points home.