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A review by aethenea
The Library of Shadows by Mikkel Birkegaard
3.0
Wow! It took me a long time to get though this book!
Well, The Library of Shadows has such an interesting premise. The main character's father Luca mysteriously dies. He was an owner of a second-hand bookshop that our main character Jon inherits (oh, isn't that the dream of every bookworm?). But John is a quite succesful lawyer who hadn't seen his father in years and thus has no interest in the bookshop. Soon he finds out that there is much more to books than he ever expected.
In the society there are people that can enhance the reading experience. So called transmitters can influence people who listen to their reading, then we have receivers who can enhance the reading experience of the reader. This is amazing, right?
But I am so sad that the book didn't meet its potential. It could have been such an amazing story but it was a very mediocre story set in an interesting world. I also think the book could have been 150 shorter as it dragged quite a bit but of course, the book was long as heck but the ending was rushed! Just, why??
There was one more problem I had. I didn't get to know any characters, they just felt flat and I didn't feel for them. Besides, Jon is really frustrating, he accepts everything that happens to him... okay, your father died mysteriously... what could you possibly do? You found out that reading is basically magical process. Oh, that seems cool and totally plausible... You lost your job... well, there is nothing I can do about it - HE WAS JUST FRUSTRATING.
On the other hand I have to admit that the idea behind this book is unexpectedly unique for a debut novel.
Well, The Library of Shadows has such an interesting premise. The main character's father Luca mysteriously dies. He was an owner of a second-hand bookshop that our main character Jon inherits (oh, isn't that the dream of every bookworm?). But John is a quite succesful lawyer who hadn't seen his father in years and thus has no interest in the bookshop. Soon he finds out that there is much more to books than he ever expected.
In the society there are people that can enhance the reading experience. So called transmitters can influence people who listen to their reading, then we have receivers who can enhance the reading experience of the reader. This is amazing, right?
But I am so sad that the book didn't meet its potential. It could have been such an amazing story but it was a very mediocre story set in an interesting world. I also think the book could have been 150 shorter as it dragged quite a bit but of course, the book was long as heck but the ending was rushed! Just, why??
There was one more problem I had. I didn't get to know any characters, they just felt flat and I didn't feel for them. Besides, Jon is really frustrating, he accepts everything that happens to him... okay, your father died mysteriously... what could you possibly do? You found out that reading is basically magical process. Oh, that seems cool and totally plausible... You lost your job... well, there is nothing I can do about it - HE WAS JUST FRUSTRATING.
On the other hand I have to admit that the idea behind this book is unexpectedly unique for a debut novel.