I never would have picked this one up without y’all’s reviews, which all basically said: this book was weird and violent but I think I liked it? Expandingbookshelf, I believe your review finally tipped me over the edge. So I read it, and I’m here to say: this book was weird and violent but I’m pretty sure liked it.
“For all intents and purposes, the power of the Library is infinite. Tonight we’re going to settle who inherits control of reality.”
Carolyn and her fellow Librarians work for Father — a man who has lived for thousands of years, writing books about every subject known to man (and some a little known). Carolyn and her not-quite-siblings each have a catalog to memorize (she has been assigned language), with absolutely no overlap into the others. One of the Librarians studies war, another heals, another can bring people back from the dead. All of them live in fear of Father, but work hard to follow his rules and master their subject. It’s a hard, violent life, but they’re rewarded in knowledge and power (to a degree). The one day, Father disappears, and Carolyn must seize control of the Library before someone much, much worse does.
Y’all, this book is supremely violent. In a lot of horrifying, creative ways. It sort of gets to the point of silliness, which allows you to continue reading about roasting children in a metal bull (yeah) because you know something worse is probably about to happen so why not? But it’s incredible — the plotting, the characters, the madness. You never know what to expect, and for every scream-worthy scene, I found myself laughing at something else within a page or two. It reminded me of Neil Gaiman — particularly American Gods and Neverwhere — with some Tarantino thrown in. Give it a try. You (probably) won’t regret it.