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MY REVIEW
A librarian, a sorcerer, a demon, and fight against the summoning of evil in the Great Libraries. This was the core of the story.
A debut by author Margaret Rogerson, the story had the right amount of action and emotions working hand in hand to create a passionate plotline. The writing was smooth enough in most parts to evoke goosebumps.
There were moments where I too wanted to raise the sword and fight against the evil. Who wouldn’t love to own a sword named Demonslayer? The author created likable, sometimes enigmatic, but wholly distinctive characters. As the pages turned, I couldn’t help caring for them.
A touch of darkness, real or perceived, was interweaved in them, adding to the rich tapestry of the storyline. The first few pages unfurled its hidden depths, pulling me into this story set in a library, and I must say it was quite a ride till the end.
A couple of niggles, the main character who supposedly read novels along with the grimoires, was still blindingly naive. Luckily, she didn’t grow into a bimbette but armed herself with learned knowledge and a sword to fight the evil. Some sections dragged and were predictable. And a few scenes felt unnecessary. But that was just me being too picky.
Overall an exciting journey from beginning to end where I couldn’t stop reading. Action and adventure, magic and spells, and in the center a child of library, kept be bound to this book. Who didn’t love the trope of good VS evil?
MY RATING
BOOK LINKS
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BOOK BLURB
All sorcerers are evil. Elisabeth has known that as long as she has known anything. Raised as a foundling in one of Austermeer’s Great Libraries, Elisabeth has grown up among the tools of sorcery—magical grimoires that whisper on shelves and rattle beneath iron chains. If provoked, they transform into grotesque monsters of ink and leather. She hopes to become a warden, charged with protecting the kingdom from their power.
Then an act of sabotage releases the library’s most dangerous grimoire. Elisabeth’s desperate intervention implicates her in the crime, and she is torn from her home to face justice in the capital. With no one to turn to but her sworn enemy, the sorcerer Nathaniel Thorn, and his mysterious demonic servant, she finds herself entangled in a centuries-old conspiracy. Not only could the Great Libraries go up in flames, but the world along with them.
As her alliance with Nathaniel grows stronger, Elisabeth starts to question everything she’s been taught—about sorcerers, about the libraries she loves, even about herself. For Elisabeth has a power she has never guessed, and a future she could never have imagined.
BOOK DETAILS
Publication Date: 2019
I received an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher, and this is my journey down its pages, straight from the heart. STRICTLY HONEST and UNBIASED.
All my reviews can be found here.
7 Responses
Ahhh, yay! You read it too! I read this recently and gave it a four as well. Solid fantasy fun. 🙂
Good vs. evil is my favorite type of story. I’ve seen this book and your review has compelled me to put it on my list 🙂
I keep seeing this one and want to get it ever since its release. Amazing review, Shalini!
I’m going to be starting this book soon!!
I naive kickass chick? I think I’d have to give her a few pinches and then run 😉
Great review. Though I don’t usually read that type of book, it sounds good.
I read this one two years ago. I’m usually loath to read standalones because I worry about world-building quality – or that I’ll get too attached and be sad when the story ends – but this book was worth it.