The Invisible Library

The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman is the first book in The Invisible Library series. Irene (not her real name) works for the Library. The Library is a special place and it is hidden from most people. Irene gets sent out on assignments by Senior Librarians. She obtains books from alternate worlds or realities (there are many different versions) for the Library (books that are special and unique). Irene just returned from a three-month assignment and is being sent out immediately by Coppelia (Irene's supervisor and mentor). Irene is also getting an assistant to help her. Kai is an apprentice in the Library and this is his first fieldwork assignment (he is anxious to escape the confines of the library). Irene and Kai are going to London (actually London parallel B-395). This is going to be a dangerous assignment though. It turns out that this London is infected or contaminated by chaos. They have to be careful that the chaos does not enter the Library. Their contact in London is Dominic Aubrey. Aubrey guards the entrance to the Library (which is housed in the British Library) and will provide assistance to the pair. Irene goes to retrieve the book from Lord Wyndham's safe and discovers that it is gone. Someone beat them to it. Irene and Kai need to obtain it and get back to the Library as quickly as possible. They are not, though, the only people after this special book. Will Irene and Kai succeed in their mission? They will have to battle Fae Folk, a cat burglar, a former librarian that sold out to chaos, and Bradamont (a senior librarian with her own agenda) to succeed. Join Irene and Kai on their adventure in The Invisible Library.

The Invisible Library sounded like a fascinating story, but it does not live up to its description. There is way too much going on in this novel (especially for just the first book). You know the phrase "they put in everything but the kitchen sink"? That phrase definitely applies to The Invisible Library (and I believe the author threw in the kitchen sink as well). It is hard to get into this story because of all the activity, descriptions, etc. (too much). We have dragons, Fae, vampires, books, steampunk devices, Victorian-type England, Zeppelins, and strange magic (this is not all). I think if the writing had been better (instead of bland), the author could have pulled it off. Instead of being fascinating and spellbound, I was bored and uninterested (the book just dragged because of all the details and descriptions). The Invisible Library is convoluted and confusing (Irene spent too much time speculating—pages and pages). It made for a hard to read book (which made it is difficult to enjoy). I give The Invisible Library 3 out of 5 stars. It was just okay for me. I like the concepts but not how it was put together. The Masked City is the next book in the series (and I will not be reading it).

I received a complimentary copy of The Invisible Library in exchange for an honest evaluation of the novel.