The Library of the Unwritten

First of all, I loved this book! A librarian + Hell’s library = a fabulous time. Not only was the story entertaining, it was well-crafted with amazing characters. I can’t wait for the next installment of this series.

This is the first book in a new fantasy series featuring a Librarian who is in charge of the library’s Unwritten Wing in Hell. In this wing, all stories that are unpublished by their author reside in this neutral space. Claire, the Head Librarian, will sometimes have to leave her typical librarian duties to go in search of characters that have escaped their book. A Hero has materialized and disappeared from the library. Claire, her trusty muse Brevity, and a nervous demon named Leto are on a mission to capture the Hero show more before anything bad happens. Soon, a simple job spirals out of control after being attacked by an angel and finding out that the powerful text of the Devil’s Bible is out in the world. Now the librarians must go after this powerful bible before things get even more out of control.

I won an ARC through a Goodreads giveaway and am providing an unbiased review. show less

The Unwritten Wing of the Library is located in Hell and is run by Claire Hadley. It's her job to care for all the unwritten stories ever created and to track down any books that come to life in the form of one of its characters. When one Hero escapes the Library, it sets of a chain of events involving the Devil's Bible, angels, other realms of the dead, and one of Claire's own unwritten characters.

As a book lover and a writer, I absolutely loved this book. Not only did it offer an incredible adventure, but it also made me look at my own unfinished and unwritten stories in a completely different light. For a writer, I think it offers a good kick to get back to writing. After finishing this gorgeous book, of course, because it's a real show more delight.

The Characters

I loved the characters. I don't think there was one I didn't enjoy. They were well-crafted with motivations and histories that provided a rich tapestry for the story and drove the plot forward. I loved that they showed personal growth and I especially loved watching the bonds form between Claire, Hero, and Leto.

Claire was hands down my favorite. She's a stern librarian who followed the rules and refused to bend. She's protective and head strong with a serious sense of responsibility and duty. I loved that she always seemed to be put together, but was still deeply flawed because of it. Reading her growth was a beautiful thing. Hero, too, was exceptional. A character in an unwritten book come to life, he was much more than he appeared. I must say I enjoyed the development of his character the most. It wasn't completely unexpected, but absolutely added another shade to the novel that deepened its richness. I was a little confused about Leto at first, but it just tied into his own confusion about himself. He tugged at my heartstrings the most and his character arc was simply beautiful.

I think the only thing I didn't like about the characterizations was how human they were. Claire and Leto were deceased human souls, yet they felt like living, breathing people, which felt a little odd for dead people. They breathed. They ate. They slept. It was all very human, even when they were in the various realms of the dead. It was a little weird and kind of had me scratching my head. Otherwise, I enjoyed the characters and really felt like they came to life. Though I probably would have liked it better if they felt more like dead souls moving around in the world of the living.

The Setting

Most of the story took place in one of several realms of the dead, like Hell and Valhalla, but a good chunk of it also took place among the living on Earth and in Heaven. I thought the world building was interesting and unique, especially when it came to the realms of the dead.

I loved that much of this book involved a romp through dead realms. It was interesting to see how they differed and how they were shaped by the mythologies that created them. They were each different and unique and offered intriguing takes on life after death.

As a reader, my favorite place was, of course, the Library. Located in Hell, it simply took up space there and I loved that Claire was able to call Lucifer silly names and get away with it. The Library itself was massive, packed full of books that had not been written. It's an interesting concept, and I'm sure I'd be one of the demons frequenting it if I were there, but I really loved that it also still felt like a normal library.

Overall, the world building was absolutely lovely and provided a great backdrop to the story and characters. It was well-thought out and the movement between the realms made sense to the story.

The Plot

I think my one complaint is that it took quite a bit for the story to really get going. The first half was a little slow, but it really picked up during the second half. I appreciate that Hackwith took the time to really introduce the reader to the Library and the characters, but I kind of forgot what the book was supposed to be about until about a quarter of the way through.

But that second half is really incredible. Most of the story is crammed into that last 50%, but, somehow, it never felt rushed. The story progressed at a natural pace and it was wonderful to see the development of each of the characters. Still, it was an interesting contrast to the much slower first half where very little seemed to occur.

I did love that the story involved books and the tracking down of one powerful book in particular. It kept the story moving and allowed movement through many places. I do think the story took a bit of a back seat to the character development, but the story still managed to move forward in a seemingly organic way.

Overall

This was a great book, perfect for readers and writer. The characters are engaging, the worlds are well-developed without being too much, and the story is interesting. I wish we could have encountered Lucifer, but, if the demon Claire knows is any indication of what beings in Hell are like, then maybe it's a good thing he isn't seen. I loved this book and I'm so glad this is the first in a series. I can't wait to see what the second book has to offer.


Thank you so much to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for a free eARC. All opinions expressed are my own. show less

I typically don't include an official publisher's description in my book reviews, but I can't find the words to sum up this book any better:

Many years ago, Claire was named Head Librarian of the Unwritten Wing– a neutral space in Hell where all the stories unfinished by their authors reside. Her job consists mainly of repairing and organizing books, but also of keeping an eye on restless stories that risk materializing as characters and escaping the library. When a Hero escapes from his book and goes in search of his author, Claire must track and capture him with the help of former muse and current assistant Brevity and nervous demon courier Leto.

But what should have been a simple retrieval goes horrifyingly wrong when the

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terrifyingly angelic Ramiel attacks them, convinced that they hold the Devil’s Bible. The text of the Devil’s Bible is a powerful weapon in the power struggle between Heaven and Hell, so it falls to the librarians to find a book with the power to reshape the boundaries between Heaven, Hell….and Earth.

Sounds quirky, doesn't it? The premise also feels like a crossover of Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next series with Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman's Good Omens. But the similarities are superficial. This is a creative and beautifully strange book. And while the characters are mostly demons, angels, muses, fictional beings and, well, the dead, it is also a very human story.

I've learned that this is the first book in a series, and while I won't be rushing out to read the next book, I will definitely read it at some point. show less

I loved the character development and the way they interacted with one another. The story had a good progression, and it did a good job of having consequences for the characters' actions- both good and bad. Claire is a closed off, human librarian over the Unwritten Library in Hell, and you explore a bit of her past (as well as former librarians) throughout the story. Hero was by far my favourite character, and his development from a two dimensional storybook character was delightful.
My only qualm is the numerous questions that I had, but were not answered. However, this is part 1 of 3.

A great tale for anyone who loves books, but especially for those who fancy themselves future authors, struggling authors, or really, anyone who'd embrace the title of author in any form.

Myself, I've never found the title of author appealing. My love of books is strictly that of the receiver of stories, and as such, some of the rhapsodic odes to unwritten stories was lost on me, though I connected with the idea of potentiality.

Regardless, once I got into the story, which admittedly took awhile, I was invested. I thoroughly appreciated the author's take on Christian theology and judgement, but had a hard time buying into the creative license she took with heaven on several different levels. There's a serious feminist vibe running show more throughout the narrative, which is fine, but for the record: God is no more a 'she' than God is a 'he'; God is Omni; God is all, and while it makes no material difference which gender pronoun one uses, the overt use of "she' has always felt petty to me. It was a small blip, but whenever it happened it yanked me out of the story, even if just for a second.

The author's grasp of the mythology of the underworld felt less formed, but only if you really stop to consider; the logic of the plotting cracks a bit around the edges if you stop to consider how she's got the bureaucracy of Hell set up. Don't think about it too much though and it works well enough.

The characters are well written, though Leto's story is obviously the one that is the most fully developed. This is the character the author thought most deeply about, or had enough life experience that bled through into his creation. Which is both unfortunate and haunting, though the result is a character the reader can care about and cheer for. To use Hackworth's logic, Leto is the character most likely to leave his book.

Overall, an engaging story, an adventure. There's a second book out next month that I'll happily read, and I hope this time around we'll spend more time in the library itself. show less

This was good fun! Fans of the show Supernatural and/or Neil Gaiman will appreciate the tropes of dysfunctional and power-hungry angels, an unraveling Heaven, charitable demons, and confused humans. Claire, librarian of Hell's Library of the Unwritten is a good protagonist: deeply flawed, sometimes likeable, and she develops and grows at a good pace. Brevity, former Muse (ha!) turned assistant to the librarian, is a great character, although I found Lisa Flanagan's otherwise excellent voice characterizations a bit trying here. The secure little world in which Claire has been sequestered gets turned upside down with the arrival of Leto, courier for Lucifer, and one of the most loveable characters in the book. Ultimately the three of them show more are joined by Hero (who probably does the most to help Claire fight her own *figurative* demons), and Andras, Claire's former mentor and a demon archivist. Their travels take them to Seattle, Valhalla, Malta, and beyond in a truly entertaining and multi-dimensional story. The hero's quest, with a lot of switchbacks and figurative boobytraps.

The humor is on point, although occasionally borders on too precious (e.g. "Interworld Loan - IWL" -- library humor!). A minor quibble regarding editing would be the overabundance of the word "worrying" as in "to worry at one's clothes"... it felt like it appeared in every chapter (an exaggeration). While a perfectly acceptable use of the word, there were points where it seemed that most of the characters expressed themselves through "worrying" at their attire. Outside of these minor issues, the writing is solid, and the world-building engaging. I will definitely be putting the next in the series (The Archive of the Forgotten) on my TBR list. show less

There is something about a story in which a library is one of the settings. It doesn’t matter if the library is a fantasy or really exists, the library establishes the tone of the story, one in which the love of possibility and knowledge, as well as a reverence for the written word, are key. A. J. Hackwith puts this auto-generated tone to good use in her devilishly good novel, The Library of the Unwritten.

There is so much to love within the pages of The Library of the Unwritten. Claire is a great heroine. Determined, unafraid, erudite, and exacting, she is exactly what you would expect of a librarian. Except, she is not all rule-following and sternness. As you discover more about her and her past, it makes those moments when she does show more break the rules more impactful.

I also love Ms. Hackwith’s clever approach to the afterlife. In her world, there is no such thing as one Hell and one Heaven. Rather, one goes to the afterlife of his or her religious belief, whether it is ancient Egypt, Buddhist, or Christian. This inclusion is satisfying on many levels, one of which is the fact it is a harmonious approach to the many belief systems that exist around the world. Instead of drawing a line in the proverbial sand that there is only one afterlife option, Ms. Hackwith includes them all to emphasize the point that anything is possible.

As much as I enjoyed The Library of the Unwritten, it is not without its issues. For one, there are times in which the plot becomes a little too convenient to be believable. The identity of one particular character, while interesting and a nice way to tie Claire’s past to her present, does not appear to be necessary to the overall story. There are other instances of situations resolving themselves a little too easily. In addition, some of the imagery is a little clunky.

Those issues are minor, though, and I thoroughly enjoyed The Library of the Unwritten. I am eager to see where Ms. Hackwith takes the story next. In particular, I hope we get to know more of Claire’s backstory. I would also love to learn how people become librarians in Hell and how Hell actually works since it appears a lot more complicated than one might think. One thing is for sure, the sequel should have more of the fantastic character interaction and Claire’s prickly personality to entertain us. show less