The Reader

by Traci Chee

Series: Sea of Ink and Gold (1)

Members	Reviews	Popularity	Average rating	Mentions
847	38	25,748	(3.63)	13
Fantasy. Mystery. Young Adult Fiction. Young Adult Literature. HTML: Instant New York Times Bestseller A stunning debut set in a world where reading is unheard-of, perfect for fans of Inkheart and Shadow and Bone Sefia knows what it means to survive. After her father is brutally murdered, she flees into the wilderness with her aunt Nin, who teaches her to hunt, track, and steal. But when Nin is kidnapped, leaving Sefia completely alone, none of her survival skills can help her discover where Nin's been taken, or if she's even alive. The only clue to both her aunt's disappearance and her father's murder is the odd rectangular object her father left behind, an object she comes to realize is a book�??a marvelous item unheard of in her otherwise illiterate society. With the help of this book, and the aid of a mysterious stranger with dark secrets of his own, Sefia sets out to rescue her aunt and find out what really happened the day her father was killed�??and punish the people responsible. With overlapping stories of swashbuckling pirates and merciless assassins, The Reader is a brilliantly told adventure from an extraordinary new talent. From the Hardcover edition… (more)

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Showing 1-5 of 35 (next | show all)

I didn't actually finish this book. I read about half of it, and I can't say it was bad, exactly, but to me it was clearly missing something. I don't like how the author keeps switching between characters, and never goes in deep enough to help me connect to the characters. The excerpts from The Book only exacerbate the problem, since they are generally boring, they pull me out of the book even more and seem just a contrived way of creating info dumps.

Having said all that, I do think The readerhas its good points. The premise is interesting, and the main characters are sympathetic. The female main character is competent, which is always noteworthy. I can see why some people would like it, but it feels unfinished and young to me. (

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zjakkelien | Jan 2, 2024 |

I actually really enjoyed the world building in this novel. I did at points drag but I think that is largely because of the massive world. I did really loved the various setting we were in and also how many POV we did have. Sometimes i got a tad confused on who was who but it was interesting read. I def grew invested to most of the main characters and overall was excited about the novel. I wish I felt a little bit more invested to the the characters but I am excited for book 2! (

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lmauro123 | Dec 28, 2023 |

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lmauro123 | Dec 28, 2023 |

Ein liebevoll geschriebenes Buch mit interessanten Charakteren und einer schönen Geschichte. Ich mochte selbst den Verliebtheit-Part, welcher für mich oft in den Hintergrund rückt. Es hatte etwas vorsichtiges, zärtliches, und sind wir ehrlich. Slow-Burn ist immer noch einfach nur fantastisch. (

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Hexenwelt | Sep 6, 2023 |

Ambitious. Fully realized world. Multiple narrative threads brought together well. Sometimes gets a little obvious/earnest and plot sometimes predictable. I'd like to read the next books to see if she gets better as she goes along, as Bardugo did with her first series. (

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eas7788 | Apr 25, 2023 |

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Belongs to Series

Sea of Ink and Gold (1)

▾Awards and Honors

Awards

Indies Choice Book Award (Honor Book – Young Adult – 2017)

Kentucky Bluegrass Award (Nominee – Grades 9-12 – 2018)

Kirkus Prize (Finalist – Young Readers' Literature – 2016)

Locus Award (Finalist – First Novel – 2017)

Oregon Reader's Choice Award (Nominee – High School (Senior) Division – 2019)

Soaring Eagle Book Award (Nominee – 2018)

Distinctions

NPR: Books We Love (2016)

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Canonical title

The Reader

Original title

Alternative titles

Original publication date

2016-09-13

People/Characters

Important places

Important events

Related movies

Epigraph

Dedication

For Mom, who always knew

First words

Hello. If you're reading this, then maybe you know you ought to read everything. And maybe you know you ought to read deeply. Because there's witchery in these words and a spellwork in the spine. And once you know to look for signals in the smoke, for secrets in the sea, then you understand what it is to read. This is a book. You are the reader. Look closer, there's magic here.

Quotations

Once there was, and one day there will be. This is the beginning of every story.

But being smart was overrated. Being stupid and brave and curious? Now that's something stories are made of.

"It's the same with stories as it is with people," Meeks said, his brown eyes gleaming in the dwindling light of the sunset, "they get better as they get older. But not every story is remembered, and not all people grow old."

Last words

Disambiguation notice

Publisher's editors

Barney, Stacey

Blurbers

Original language

Canonical DDC/MDS

813.6

Canonical LCC

PZ7.1.C497

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▾Book descriptions

Fantasy. Mystery. Young Adult Fiction. Young Adult Literature. HTML:

Instant New York Times Bestseller
A stunning debut set in a world where reading is unheard-of, perfect for fans of Inkheart and Shadow and Bone

Sefia knows what it means to survive. After her father is brutally murdered, she flees into the wilderness with her aunt Nin, who teaches her to hunt, track, and steal. But when Nin is kidnapped, leaving Sefia completely alone, none of her survival skills can help her discover where Nin's been taken, or if she's even alive. The only clue to both her aunt's disappearance and her father's murder is the odd rectangular object her father left behind, an object she comes to realize is a book�??a marvelous item unheard of in her otherwise illiterate society. With the help of this book, and the aid of a mysterious stranger with dark secrets of his own, Sefia sets out to rescue her aunt and find out what really happened the day her father was killed�??and punish the people responsible.
With overlapping stories of swashbuckling pirates and merciless assassins, The Reader is a brilliantly told adventure from an extraordinary new talent.

From the Hardcover edition

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