bittertea reviewed The Library of the Unwritten by A.J. Hackwith
None
2 stars
This is one of those books that has a fun premise but it’s like the author presumed that “interesting premise” was all that was needed to carry a story. There was a lot to it that felt like I was supposed to enjoy it solely because it contained things I enjoyed, if that makes sense. Library! Supernatural! Gorgeous ancient-looking books! Yes, I like those things, that’s why I checked this book out, but that isn’t a story that’s just...things I like.
I got about halfway through, trying to finish it just to finish it before I realized I was no longer paying attention to anything that was happening, and was mostly bored. I didn’t particularly care about any of the characters, and found the premise of “books come to life” in-the-flesh and sentient and autonomous but also possessions to be confusing and mostly weird. The worldbuilding just didn’t hold for …
This is one of those books that has a fun premise but it’s like the author presumed that “interesting premise” was all that was needed to carry a story. There was a lot to it that felt like I was supposed to enjoy it solely because it contained things I enjoyed, if that makes sense. Library! Supernatural! Gorgeous ancient-looking books! Yes, I like those things, that’s why I checked this book out, but that isn’t a story that’s just...things I like.
I got about halfway through, trying to finish it just to finish it before I realized I was no longer paying attention to anything that was happening, and was mostly bored. I didn’t particularly care about any of the characters, and found the premise of “books come to life” in-the-flesh and sentient and autonomous but also possessions to be confusing and mostly weird. The worldbuilding just didn’t hold for me, nor the logic of how any of this worked.
Maybe these were the kinds of things that would be later established, but by halfway through the book it felt already way too late to continue to establish how the rules of this world works. It was an interesting premise, but a slough to read.
