Set in Heaven, Hell, Earth and all realms in between. A new fantasy series led by strong women fighting to preserve untold stories.

Claire Hadley, the head librarian of the Library of the Unwritten located in a neutral part of Hell, has a problem. Hero, a character in an unfinished book has escaped to the real world to meet and hopefully inspire his author to finish his book. Assisted by Brevity, a failed muse, and Leto, a young demon, what begins as a simple retrieval sets in motion a possible coup in Hell. I enjoyed the characters very much in this book! Claire was a tough, no nonsense woman with a wicked sense of humor who rarely smiles but she is dedicated to her job protecting the books. Brevity is her polar opposite seeing kindness and good in all but who also greatly underestimates her own strengths. The plot moved along at a good pace and kept my attention throughout. I look forward to more adventures in Hell's Library with these wonderful characters!

This review was originally posted on <a href="https://booksofmyheart.net/2019/11/15/the-library-of-the-unwritten-by-a-j-hackwith/" target="_blank"> Books of My Heart</a>
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Review copy was received from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
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The first half of <strong>The Library of the Unwritten</strong>, I had first book syndrome. I struggled to assimilate the world, the characters; it was made worse because of the angels and demons. Luckily, there wasn't much in a religious nature and by the second half, I was starting to enjoy the story.

The premise with librarians, books, muses and characters is very clever. After all, who doesn't love books and libraries? It took awhile to become attached, since these characters are in Hell.  Although, my least favorite characters ended up being from Heaven.

There were some scary monsters and dire moments for Claire and her team while on their quest. I loved her practicality, skills of long experience and intelligent determination. She also gains insight into the overall world and more compassion for those in the library. I liked Claire and wanted her to succeed.  The characters' typical greed and ruthlessness because of what are basically politics was not as favorable.

Now that I know the world and characters, I am sure I would enjoy the next book much more.  I'd also recommend, if you are like me,  I sometimes do better with audio if the world is particularly unique or complex.

I enjoyed reading reading this book from the first to the last page. The story of a different kind of library and librarian was imaginative, well written, and stocked with interesting, strong characters. The reader is carried along because the story is unusual and surprising. A.J. Hackwith has crafted a novel world which I would visit again.

I started reading this on a 3 hour bus trip and got roughly 40% of the way through it at that point. I know I enjoyed that 40%, but after that bus trip was done, I just couldn’t get back into this book. Sure, any entertainment you can find during a long bus trip will make your life easier, but I think the first part of this book is legitimately good. It’s setting the scene for its premise— a library set it hell where unfinished stories are left for dead. It introduces our characters of Claire the Librarian, Brevity the former muse library assistant, Leto the demon courier, and our escaped book Hero. Then we are pulled into a plot of retrieving an important hellish book, The Devil’s Bible, as an Angel from heaven was sent down to attack them, believing they have it.

Yeah, all of that stuff is good and interesting and exciting. I enjoy good, interesting, and exciting books. But somewhere past that 40% mark, the book just starts to drag, and I could not get back into it. It took me forever to finish reading it. The plot meanders a lot, and honestly, by the end, I was just skimming. The world building also became confusing. You get 4 character's POVs and it was hard to keep up with and picture everything of what was going on with all four people.

There is still a lot of fun to this novel, as it is playing with the idea of a writer’s hell full of their unfinished works and characters never written. It plays with some troupes, like the Damsel in Distress, and has some strong, well-developed characters. I think this book may appeal more to those who actually enjoy writing, for I myself absolutely abhor it. I still recommend it if the premise sounds interesting to you; you may be able to stick with it and follow through with it until the end better than me.

Books are one of the most magical of mankind’s creations. Our ability to tell ourselves stories, to reshape reality and craft worlds of our own using nothing more than ink and page and the random scribblings we’ve agreed on as an alphabet, is in my opinion one of our most human capacities. Every life is a story, and those who write have been gifted with the rare talent for immortalizing the tales that live inside their minds. But what about the rest of us? What about those of us whose minds are filled with stories that we never find time to jot down, or authors who pass away with a multitude of tales still living inside them that never made their way onto shelves next to their kin? Where do those stories go? Do they die along with us, or does the world find a way to keep them? According to Hackwith, it’s the latter.

Imagine if you will a library of sheer potential. Unwritten tales from the inception of human language all the way through the nebulous future, tales whose authors died centuries ago and have yet to be born. Stories that will be written and those that have lost their chance forever. All of that potential under one roof would assuredly need a guardian. That’s where Claire comes in.

Claire is the current Librarian in charge of the Library of the Unwritten, located in Hell but not technically part of Hell. She is an unauthor, one who had countless stories to tell yet never penned a single one. She died with regrets, and will be in charge of the Library until she can make peace with herself. Her assistant, Brevity, is a former muse, cast out for keeping her inspiration to herself instead of doling it out to mankind. Rounding out the cast of perspective characters is Leto, a fledgling demon who isn’t who he thinks he is, and Ramiel, a fallen angel trying to find his way back into heaven.

We also meet other angels and demons, along with gatekeepers and residents of Valhalla, psychopomps of dead realms and unwritten books made flesh. The compendium of characters is almost as varied as the Library that Claire has sworn to protect. But a quest to locate and protect scattered pages of an insanely powerful text might find the realms, including the Library, falling down around them. If they don’t sabotage themselves first.

There was more action in the story than I expected. Not only was there a constant sense of frantically striving to stay a step ahead of pursuers, there were also duels and rituals that could end in death and a pretty epic battle scene towards the end. My favorite of these elements was a duel between librarians, where words were wielded as actual weapons. Tossing appropriate quotations at your opponent’s head like missiles is one of the best visuals I’ve come across.

I love the concept of this book. A library of stories that never found their way into books, of that have yet to be written? That sounds like paradise to me. Which is why the thought of said Library existing inside Hell threw me off a bit. But once I got past that, I found Claire and her biblio-charges and comrades in arms very intriguing. Hackwith wrote a plethora of snappy, memorable lines about books and stories and authors that I believe will really stick with me. I highlighted and annotated like a madwoman.

There were times when I felt that the author was almost trying too hard to be both utterly original and completely inclusive, and that the two elements were fighting for dominance. This made for some muddy passages that were more difficult to get through than they should have been. However, this could also be due to the fact that I had a lot going on in my life and was unable to find the time to read this more quickly. Overall, Hackwith created something special and new in the form of The Library of the Unwritten, and I’ll be very interested to see where the story goes from here. It’s a series that I will most certainly continue.

I loved this one!! I got Supernatural (the tv show) vibes from it and I am a big fan. I am definitely looking forward to the follow-up!

This book is perfect for book lovers, authors, and librarians. It's a very entertaining tale of a character who "escapes" from the Library of Unwritten books. The characters are interesting and the story is original. I would recommend to readers looking for something different and of course, librarians.

I liked the premise of this book, but some of it was dry. I found myself skimming paragraphs of description to get to the "meat" of the story. The main characters were intriguing enough that I would probably read another.

The Library of the Unwritten is not a book I expected. Initially, I assumed that it was going to be similar to Jasper Fforde's The Eyre Affair or another book where readers interact with characters. Nope. Hold on tight, readers; this is about to get WAY DARK. Claire is the Head Librarian of the Unwritten Wing; a place where stories that were never finished by their authors live for all eternity. Her job is to repair and organize them, but also to make sure that desperate characters don't escape their books and go on a walkabout. However, the Unwritten Wing is in all places, HELL. Yes, that hell. The fire and brimstone kind. Claire is not thrilled to be there and is pretty clear that she doesn't listen to Lucifer or whoever is in charge down there. Her assistant is a failed Muse named Brevity, and they are usually followed by a very anxiety-ridden demon courier named Leto. When a character escapes his book and goes earthside to talk to his writer, Claire, Leto, and Brevity head to earth to find him and bring him back. In true adventure fashion, the mission does not go as planned. One of the fallen Watcher Angels from the book of Enoch, Ramiel, attacks them and claims they are carrying a secret Devil's Bible. This book is meant to be a powerful weapon in the war between Heaven and Hell. 

I was expecting to just enjoy this book, but I adored it. A.J. Hackwith's book is fun and creative, with the concept making the reader do an initial doubletake before diving in headfirst. It feels like Hackwith has created a whole other world and is more than delighted to share the characters with the world. 

The Library of the Unwritten is available now from Ace books and should be read as soon as you've got space in your TBR pile.

I wanted to like this book a lot more than I did. It just did not fire my imagination that way I thought it would. Claire has been named the Librarian for Hell's Library where all the books that were never written go to die. She has to venture out into the world to find a manuscript that will give unimagined power to any demon who finds it. The angels Uriel and Ramiel are also looking for the manuscript. Lots of intrigue ensues. Your mileage may vary.

This Library of the Unwritten is a quirky, fresh, and highly entertaining story about a library from hell. The sheer amount of detail that went into this world is exceedingly impressive and made everything feel so real and exciting. I loved the different rules and world-building components that made this such a compelling story.

Despite how much I enjoyed the world-building, I never really found myself connect very well to the characters and I felt as though they were just sort of chess pieces in this book that moved the plot along. I wish that they had been a bit more developed in ways that would have allowed for me to feel a bit more for them. The other issues is related to pacing, which I think sometimes seemed to meander a bit here and there with info-dumping and the like.

Overall, I had a really great time reading The Library of the Unwritten and exploring this creative and exciting world created by Hackwith. Despite any issues with characters and pacing, I would still absolutely recommend this to anyone that's looking for a fantasy with a great personality.

This book was enjoyable and imaginative, but it came off a bit more lighthearted and "PG" than I imagined a book about hell's library would be. Which, if you're in the mood for something dark and genuinely scary, might be disappointing. But if you're down for rich, intricate world-building, and you love to read books about people who love books and who periodically go on exotic adventures to lands known and unknown, then this might be just the right thing.

DNF @ 33%. I wanted SO BADLY to enjoy this title, as the premise was one of the most intriguing things I'd read in a long time - but it just didn't work for me. The plot seemed overly convoluted and meandered more than I would've liked, as well as finding it hard to relate to any of the characters in a meaningful way (not in a "I totally see myself in them' kind of relatable, but more so "I don't care about any of these characters or their pasts or their futures" kind of way).

I think there's definitely an audience out there for this title, but it wasn't me.

Claire Hadley is the head librarian of the Unwritten Wing in Hell’s library. She is assisted by Brevity, a disgraced muse. Their job is to repair, contain, and monitor all of the unfinished books that their authors have abandoned. Occasionally, a character from one of the books escapes and Claire is responsible for bringing it back to its book. On one such occasion, while rounding up a character she’s named Hero, Claire is confronted by a fallen angel, Ramiel. He believes Claire is in possession of the Devil’s Bible. This is when the true adventure begins, as Claire, Brevity, Hero and a young demonic messenger named Leto (who may not be a real demon) try to find this “bible” and return it to Hell.

Throughout the book the reader will meet a variety of characters…Walter, a monster who is a travel agent of sorts, former librarian Bjorn, one of Claire’s predecessors in the Unwritten Wing, Uriel, one of heaven’s most powerful angels, and many more. All are memorable. With so many characters to choose from, it’s hard to pick a favorite. Leto is a sweet teenage boy who is somewhat confused but, nevertheless, happy to be part of Claire’s rag-tag team, Brevity, light-hearted and determined to be the friend Claire needs, and Hero, a smug, narcissistic cad. Probably my favorite character, though, is Claire, a feisty librarian who is determined to protect the books in her care and the people who depend on her.

I am not typically a fan of the fantasy genre (Harry Potter an exception) and The Library of the Unwritten is well outside my comfort zone. But, I wanted to read it, not only because it deals with libraries and has a strong librarian as a central figure, but also because I want to extend my reading scope. A.J Hackwith’s book provided this opportunity and I enjoyed the experience. I would give this book 3.5 stars. Not to mention that the cover is absolutely smashing!

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a copy of this book for review.

This novel has one of the most original premises I have ever come across, and just based on the blurb alone, I'm sure it will sell like hotcakes. Personally, I was super excited to read it, even though I don't really fantasy, especially, like, the Christian myth inspired stuff with angels and demons, because it's usually so overdone!

This premise is definitely NOT overdone, but other than its originality, it failed to leave a lasting impression. While reading, I was extremely aware that this is the author's first novel; the characters didn't feel fleshed out (no pun intended) and the dialogue was, at times, quite awkward. Ultimately, it just didn't work for me.

I still think people who are more into fantasy will enjoy it immensely, hence, three stars! Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the arc.

This novel is completely original and very entertaining. The concept and execution are excellently done. The quest, journey, betrayal and twist make this a compelling must read.

4.5 stars

The Library of the Unwritten
A Novel from Hell’s Library #1
A. J. Hackwith
Ace, October 2019
ISBN 978-1-98480-637-6
Trade Paperback

In a unique way of looking at what Hell must be like, there are books that never got finished, or even started, by their authors and someone—Claire—has to be in charge of those books. Why? Because the characters in those stories can escape and create havoc, of course 😉

When one particular hero goes on the run, looking for his creator, Claire is in hot pursuit along with her assistant and a demon. They all soon discover they’re really on a quest to find a particular powerful artifact, the Devil’s Bible, that Heaven also wants and a fallen angel is determined to redeem himself by recovering. If Claire and her crew don’t find it first, Heaven and Hell are likely to explode into war with Earth caught in the middle.

To put it simply, I loved this book that’s full of adventure, mystery, humor and a wealth of marvelous beings and, when it comes time to re-read it—and I’m very sure I will—I think I’ll try the audiobook for a fresh take.

Reviewed by Lelia Taylor, October 2019.

DNF at something early percent

Just not feeling it, and it feels too much like a couple other books about magical libraries that I've read, with a heroine who keeps on talking about her damn magical skirts. I. Don't. Care. So your skirt has lots of pockets. Good for you. Mention it once. After that it's overkill.

Also, having blue skin and mint-colored hair is a physical description, not a personality.

Maybe I'll pick it up later when I'm in a better mood, but I doubt it.

I received this ARC from NetGalley for an honest review.

I absolutely love any kind of content about angels, demons, heaven, hell, and the mortals trapped between them. I love written works that are themselves tributes to stories and storytelling. The Library of the Unwritten by A. J. Hackwith boasted all of the above, with an emphasis on unwritten stories and characters by unwritten authors. While I was overall more in love with the idea of this book than I was with the actual execution, there is still a fair amount of good I’d like to highlight with this review.

Our story begins with finding Claire Hadley as the current Head Librarian of Hell’s Unwritten Wing, one of the few neutral spaces in Hell, where it’s Claire’s job to repair and monitor all unwritten books. When a Hero awakens from one of the books and escapes to the mortal world to meet his Author, Claire leaves in pursuit along with her assistant Brevity and a nervous teenage demon, Leto, who seems more human than he ought to. In pursuit of the character and his book, the group runs afoul of fallen angel and Watcher Ramiel, who accuses them of having pages of the elusive Devil’s Bible. Claire and her motley crew, including the Hero and an old demon Arcanist named Andras, must locate the pages and return them to the library before any other angels or demons can get ahold of them—or risk a cosmic war and power imbalance between the realms.

I admit, the plot itself sounds very cool and tense but the execution left me wanting a lot more excitement. The Library of the Unwritten is a journey story, one where the characters must go here to retrieve this, then there to retrieve that, and so on and so forth. It’s also character-driven, the story told between four POVs—Claire’s, Leto’s, Brevity’s, and Ramiel’s—but I have to admit being interested in only Leto of that bunch. The other characters I gravitated to—Hero for his acerbic wit and charm, Andras for much of the same along with his politeness and cunning—were about the only things that held my attention as the story dragged on. They were entertaining if not a bit predictable, but I didn’t mind that so much.

Hero, especially, is just That Kind of Character that I instantly latch onto. Handsome, selfish, sarcastic, mocking—it was so fun to watch him grow as a character while also staying true to the core of himself. He doesn’t suddenly become nice beyond all recognition, which I’ve seen so many authors do with characters like this, so my hat’s off to Hackwith for that. Rather, he finds his tribe, compromises for no one else, and is still a cunning jerk, and I love that.

I could tell I was supposed to gravitate toward Claire in a big way, and I just didn’t. I had nothing against her per se; I was a lot more interested by those interacting with her than the other way around. Brevity, I also know next to nothing about. She’s a muse with blue hair, and that’s about it. I have so many questions about her status as a muse and how she came to be, how she’s an assistant in Hell’s library, and so much more, but very little light was shed on Brevity. She was definitely the weakest POV next to Ramiel’s.

What’s to be said about the angel anyway? He’s the typical lawful neutral trying to get back into Heaven’s good graces, but in this case, Heaven is Uriel, and she’s desperate and corrupt (I swear, if it’s not Gabriel, it’s always Uriel in these stories). I was more entertained by Uriel’s character design than I was by anything the angels were doing, especially once Ramiel starts doubting Uriel and her tactics.

And I mean, really? Veering-towards-evil, power-hungry angels? Now where have I seen that before?

In all honesty, the thing that bothered me the most was how the demons seemed actually good. Like, morally good. For instance, while I liked Leto, seeing him as a demon balk constantly at doing, seeing, or hearing about anything even approaching amoral gave me whiplash, and not in a fun way. In fact, nothing about hell seemed bad at all, and yeah, that’s boring, fam. I don’t read stuff about demons to learn how secretly sweet they are.

There is, however, a fair bit of diversity with the characters themselves. We have some POC characters, and the book is very open and flexible with many of the characters’ sexual orientations, which was great to see. Hero’s fluctuating orientation in particular was excellent; I loved how curious he was. However, there is not much approaching romance in this story; it’s one of those blink-and-you-miss-it situations, so don’t expect much there.

I enjoyed the bits of information I read about the Unwritten Wing; a big problem of the book, however, is that you aren’t there for the grand majority of the book. You learn about it piecemeal through characters asking questions, characters musing about it, and written excerpts from librarians and assistants at each chapter’s beginning. In the end, I have far more questions than I have an understanding about this place. I don’t feel that I have a firm grasp about the Library itself—how it truly operates, how it was established, why it operates in hell, how librarians are actually chosen, how assistants to succeed the current librarian are chosen, the list goes on. The Library feels more like a prop than a real setting in the book.

There are other realms, too, besides Earth, Heaven, and Hell, such as Valhalla and every other known afterlife, but I received little about how everything fits in the grand scheme of each other besides everything being delicately balanced. I got a hint of inter-realm politics and then it was over; the politics between demons and angels were a hint more interesting but barely. The book got going with this best during the climax and then fizzled out because the book ended. Speaking of, there are supposedly more books in the works, and while I can see a few things needing a follow-up, I can only hope Hackwith has more in mind for the plot than was set up here. Perhaps that’s the case, and I can’t see it yet.

I feel that some people will likely latch onto this bunch and the plot surrounding them much better than I did, especially since I was reading this book in-between an out-of-state work conference, New York Comic Con, and a move. Despite the writing and parts of the dialogue (thank you, Hero and Andras) being swell to read, there wasn’t much holding my attention. I had to push myself to sit down and read it versus fighting back the urge to read as I attended to all these adult responsibilities, and that’s never super fun. It felt more like another task on my list than an escape.

I’m going to keep a lookout for the sequel because I am interested in a few characters, but what the plot has in store will likely make or break the deal. The Library of the Unwritten was by no means a bad book; it just didn’t make much of an impression, especially compared to what I’d hoped for.