I DNF’d The Invisible Library: Here’s What You Should Know
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Irene must be at the top of her game or she’ll be off the case – permanently. As a professional spy for the enigmatic Library, Irene’s assignments usually involve navigating treacherous worlds to retrieve rare and dangerous books. Paired with her mysterious assistant Kai, she finds herself in an alternative London, tasked with recovering a pivotal tome already stolen by unknown forces. Yet, despite the city’s chaos-infested streets and the lurking dangers of supernatural creatures, Irene’s mission takes an unexpected turn. The deeper she delves into London’s underground factions and its secrets, the more she realizes that failure isn’t just a setbackâit could unravel the very fabric of reality itself. Amidst the intrigue and peril, Irene confronts startling truths about her new assistant and the clandestine world they inhabit. Despite its promise of adventure and mystery, “The Invisible Library” proved a narrative that I, unfortunately, did not finish.

Title: The Invisible Library (The Invisible Library,1)
Author: Genevieve Cogman
Genre: Mystery, Fantasy, Steampunk
Star Rating: DNF (page 224 of 329)
Spice Rating: 0 chili peppers
Books About Books
I picked up The Invisible Library while working at Barnes and Noble one day. Perusing the shelves (as one does) I came across it. Now as with all my purchases, I knew nothing about it going into the Invisible Library series, let alone the Invisible Library novel. But the title intrigued me so I added it to the stack of “to buy” when I got off of work.
I must admit author Genevieve Cogman’s novel had an interesting premise, in fact, it bordered on fantastic. A mysterious library, with immortal spy librarians, and different realities, it was intriguing. It is a bibliophile’s dream. And when you hear the word Library as a reader you immediately say YES PLEASE! But with the great responsibility of having an amazing concept comes the great responsibility of tacking down execution. And it severely failed at that.
âWe are the Library,” Coppelia pointed out. “What we don’t know, we research.â
With 100 pages left of the book, I had to DNF it. Throughout the novel, I felt like I was missing something. For example, there are dragons and how they like order but it feels like a random dropping a plot point in a field of flowers and then following it as it rolls downhill.
The books FMC Irene and MMC Kai, go on a mission to an alternate world London to recover a manuscript of Grimms. As with any mission, there’s not a lot of initial info and you create the cover story. No one knows if it is the fairy tales that they are trying to recover or not. All they know is that the mission is to go in recover the book and come back to The Library. What Irene finds is that the world is a “chaos” with any manner of supernatural creatures within. But how is it chaos? Why?
Nothing is ever explained on that front other than the dragons are not keeping order and balance the way they normally would. I find it hard to pin down any one plot point because just like the world spy Irene and Kai have found themselves in so is the book.
âShe was a Librarian, and the deepest, most fundamental part of her life involved a love of books. Right now, she wanted nothing more than to shut the rest of the world out and have nothing to worry about except the next page of whatever she was reading,â
It desperately needed another round of edits. With entire random pages being bold type then jumps back to regular face. Words are incorrectly used (like his instead of hers). And you never know what the fuck is going on. It is trying to hard to be a good story instead of just being a good story. Setting breadcrumbs and following that trail unraveling the plot piece by piece. Instead, it throws in randomness to intrigue you.
Is it a story that will keep you turning pages? Yes and no. It is like a trainwreck you can’t look away from. Wanting to know what weird and whacky things will be unveiled next. But you hate the story so much. I kept wanting to DNF LONG BEFORE I finally made the decision to do so but I kept saying to myself “You got to see it through”.
The writing in “The Invisible Library” greatly impacts its appeal. Despite its celebration of literature, the prose lacks beauty and often feels rigid. While some authors bring words to life with elegance and flow, ensuring you in the words, this book struggles to evoke vivid imagery or emotional connection. Descriptions are abundant but fail to paint a clear picture of the worlds or characters. Action scenes lack intensity. With pacing that is uneven, and dialogue ranges anywhere from clichĂŠd to overly formal in the span of one sentence. Creating a lack of distinct speech patterns among characters.
âAnd at that moment the alligators burst into the room.â
The book’s intended mature themes clash with its young adult writing style, particularly evident in awkward references to sex and alcohol. The second major issue lies in world-building. While creativity in fantasy has no bounds, effective writing demands coherent explanations of magical systems and creatures. “The Invisible Library” introduces various magical elements sporadically amid action scenes or lengthy dialogues, lacking a cohesive framework. The absence of substance impedes immersion. Irene is supposed to be the experienced protagonist, while Kai, being a subordinate with hidden knowledge, doesn’t fulfill this role effectively. Again, lacking in the execution that is necessary to pull off a mystery of this level. Only Vale, introduced late as a Sherlock Holmes-like figure, briefly serves to clarify but through exposition-heavy dialogue rather than engaging narrative. Allowing the reader to hear what is going on but not experience it in their mind’s eye.
Ultimately, despite intriguing elements, the world remains inaccessible, with magic seeming arbitrarily convenient to the plot rather than rooted in a structured framework. Feeling like it is trying too hard to be a full-on fantasy novel with hints of science fiction instead of something more suited like magical realism. This time the story just doesn’t work. Hoping that the next book in the series The Masked City has smoothed out its kinks and the author develops her writing.
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