2.3 / 5 ✪

https://arefugefromlife.wordpress.com/2019/10/16/

Business Corrupts

Set in a corporate supernatural world, Library of the Unwritten was an interesting idea that in practice just did not work for me. Possessed of an unfulfilling story of loss and redemption, Unwritten tries to fit many different genres but is ultimately fails to find its way. While a decent supernatural adventure, the story was neither mysterious nor thrilling enough to succeed as either. I was never quite sure where the story was going next as it combined uninspired chases and lame battles with the politics of heaven and hell, neither of which ever felt very tangible, and sported plot-holes and inconsistencies.

The Chief Librarian of the Unwritten Wing, Claire Juniper Hadley, has had better days. An Unwritten Tale has slipped out of Hell and escaped to the mortal realm. Worse still, the tale—which has taken on the handsome, winsome guise of Hero—has contacted its would-be author, an event that never ends well for the person involved. And so Claire and her ragtag band of champions must track the tale down and return it to the library before too much harm is done. And yet there is a wrinkle in their plan. For Angelic Warden, and initially dim investigator, Ramiel attacks them, believing the party in possession of a corrupt codex—the Devil’s Bible.

Thus begins an epic adventure to find the real Devil’s Bible before the legion of Heaven can, in order to prevent a war between Heaven and Hell.

Okay, so first: the reasoning of much of this setup is… loose, at best. From Ramiel attacking them all half-cocked at the beginning, from the actions of Hero throughout, even to Claire and Brevity—no character stays “in character”. I mean, they just act chaotically from time to time and then return to normal, with no questions asked or conflicts of identity. Ramiel particularly begins as a patient Watcher, then shows incredible impatience for a chapter, then is back to normal, with nothing more about the lapse said. I feel like the war between Heaven and Hell was meant to lend the text an element of thrill and anticipation, but it really didn’t. The explanation of it made sense, but only kinda, and was readily accepted by everyone as canon.

Speaking of canon, the world-building was sadly incomplete. Though half the prominent characters of Unwritten are deceased souls, they consistently worried about being killed, even though they were already dead. About halfway through it was explained about how and why Hero (as an unwritten story) could die, which was something. I spent the whole thing wondering if this was one of those double-death things from the Sandman Slim universe (which I really hate, btw), but it was never addressed. The logic of Unwritten Wing itself can be pieced together through bits of lore and quotes in the foreword of each chapter, and frequent—if widely spaced—discussions in the text. While I began the story intrigued about the nature of unwritten books, by the middle I was confused and annoyed that it hadn’t been satisfyingly addressed.

The adventure itself is pretty run of the mill. Set in a fictionalized corporate Heaven and Hell, it seems that business has corrupted everything about the afterlife. Much like the middle seasons of Supernatural, the lines separating angels and demons, heaven and hell blurred to the point I would summarize it with the following—“Business Corrupts”. And it seems the afterlife is no different. But when a ragtag band of misfits sets out to save the world… I dunno, it just didn’t bear the weight.

TL;DR

Library of the Unwritten is definitely an outside-the-box idea. It definitely pushes the boundaries—only to fall flat on its face under the weight of expectation. The world-building is riddled with inconsistencies and holes. The characters are somehow neither predictable nor do they develop. Claire’s own arc, which runs parallel to the main story, felt uninspiring upon completion, though it never really grabbed me throughout. It was a thriller I didn’t find thrilling, a mystery I didn’t find mysterious. A fairly run of the mill adventure, found in a certainly new and exotic locale, possessed of a new and interesting idea. While I was initially intrigued at Unwritten’s prospect, it quickly soured. Though in all fairness, I don’t usually go for angels and demons as a genre. And while I’m constantly reminded by others that this is a great book, I just didn’t find it.

Disclaimer: I received an arc of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The book has a unique premise. Books that aren't finished by their authors are sent to the “Library of the Unwritten”. Which also, happens to be located in Hell,
I don’t understand why the library needed to be located in a neutral space in Hell (also, wouldn’t that just be purgatory?).

Our MC, Claire, is the Head Librarian and must prevent the characters of these unfinished books from escaping. That task alone would have made for an interesting plot, but it only serves as a set up for the main plot, which is a power struggle between heaven and hell. The book didn’t end up being my cup of tea.

The Library of the Unwritten by A.J. Hackwith brings characters out of their books and into the “flesh”. Of course, characters are not supposed to wake up from their stories. This only happens in the Unwritten Wing of Hell’s library. The books aren’t attached to Hell, they’re not even influenced by Hell, that’s just where the library is located. The unwritten stories are fiercely guarded by Claire, Hell’s Librarian.

Book characters come to life! It’s what readers have always wanted!
Claire’s job is to protect the stories that can still be written, at all costs. The unwritten stories are sometimes added to the library before their author’s are even old enough to write. Claire is stationed in Hell so you’d think she’d be a dark and horrible character but she’s actually a very caring and loyal person. Nothing and no one is as you’d expect them to be simply because of where they’re spending their after-life.

Let me tell you, there are quite a few characters I’d love to call into reality. 😉
A.J. Hackwith takes readers through a fight between mortal souls, demons, angels, muses, and book characters. It’s surprising how you come to feel for various characters despite which realm they represent. This book is just so imaginative. I was surprised to learn that I’d willingly visit Hell’s Library. It’s just the kind of place a book worm would want to spend their after-life. No torture, no chains, just books. It kinda sounds like heaven, just in different realm.

I had such high expectations. A book about books with queer characters and a library of unwritten books sounded wonderful, and there certainly seems to be a trend of meta-books this year (The Ten Thousand Doors of January, anyone?). Unfortunately, while it was not remotely badly written, I just couldn't connect with it.

Claire is a librarian in hell, taking care of all the unwritten books. In addition to more mundane library tasks such as repairing books, she must find and retrieve any characters that might escape from them before they harm the author. On one of such rescues, not only does the character escape, but an angel becomes convinced they have the Devil's Bible...and would stop at nothing to get it back. So Claire and the ragtag bunch of misfits following her - her ex-muse assistant Brevity, a nervous teenage demon named Leto, the escaped Hero, Hell's arcanist Andras - must get to it first.

First things first: the prose is great. I especially loved the epigraphs at the beginning of each chapter, the little quotes about books and stories. Since this does take place in hell, each characher has a dark past of their own, everyone is a little broken. And my struggle with it baffles the shit out of me because really, it has everything that should have made me adore it. Broken characters, books as a theme, plenty of LGBTQ+ representation, insanely quotable prose - I mean, what else could I ever possibly want?

But the plot just didn't draw me in. At all. I'd say I'm not much for UF and not much for angels and demons, except I loved Los Nefilim to bits. But it just...meandered. And I couldn't get attached to any of the characters either. They all felt somewhat distant and something was missing. And this applies to all of it. This is the sort of book that's the reviewers worst nightmare: I should be the one able to say what, exactly, made it not click, but I cannot.

Do I recommend it? Probably. Those of my friends who have read it don't share my opinion, and I can't find any large obvious gaping holes.

Note: This book borrows a lot from Christianity, but as a life-long nonreligious person, I don't know enough to be able to say anything about the representation of the religious aspects, or respectfulness thereof. If that's an issue, it might not the book for you.

The premise of this new series sounds fantastic. This is book 1 in the Hell's Library series and it introduces Claire, the Librarian of Unwritten Wing and her assistant Brevity. When characters of unwritten books get restless they take human form and attempt to escape. It's up to Claire and Brevity to capture them and return them too their book, especially if the author is still alive. The story is creative and fun to read. I received a copy of this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Anticipation for this title has been high as the buzz surrounding this book is everywhere. I read it immediately after downloading from Netgalley and with gratitude.

Since I read over 500 books a year, I am rarely surprised by new stories. But the Library of the Unwritten completely blew me off my axis.

This is the story of the librarian for unwritten and unfinished manuscripts; some of the writers passed away before completing their books, others just stopped writing them. Claire is the librarian who must be sure that no characters from these works escape the library in a special section of Hell and into the outside world.

On the upside of the world, the fallen angel Ramiel is checking in sous through the pearly gates when one soul offers him a portion of a Codex, supposedly written by Lucifer himself that describes all of his powers. Uriel the archangel and the face of God (who has gone into hiding in an unknown location) decide to track down the full Codex.

Meanwhile, Claire has discovered a rogue character has snuck out of the library and grabs her assistant and a young demon to go to Earth temporarily to find him.

Good and Evil meet up and try to try to find the Codex Gigas in order to prevent an all our war between Heaven and Hell.

A.J. Hackwith has created a magical world with creepy characters including the Hounds of Hell and more. I suspect readers will suspend belief easily as this is one entertaining book which I feel certain is the just the beginning of what will be an outstanding series. Highly recommended.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC!

With an MSIS and a continuing ravenous love for reading, I just need to hear a book is about books or libraries and my interest is piqued. The set-up here is certainly promising. Claire is the librarian of the Unwritten Wing of Hell's Library, similar to the library in Sandman that's populated with books never written. Claire, with the help of her library assistant, ventures out into the world to subdue characters who have escaped from these yet-unwritten books.

Charming, right? I think a lot of people will like this, and there's a lot to like. It didn't grab me though. Hard to pinpoint, but a few of reasons:

1. Low stakes. Character motivations never felt real to me.

2. Exposition dump. There are a lot of rules in this new world, and I feel like most of them were plopped on me with the transparent excuse of telling the demon messenger Leto how things work.

3. We've seen a number of these related concepts before, like the library in Sandman or the Cemetery of Forgotten Books in <i>The Shadow of the Wind</i>. This didn't add anything substantial for me. I liked the idea of Hell owning the library, but it never made sense why.

4. Stereotypes. Claire is a no-nonsense, brusque character, the kind of librarian you were probably frightened of as a kid. She snorts at other people's suggestions. She is super efficient. She is British. All that's missing is a perpetual cardigan and an obsession with cats. Claire didn't seem more complex than this until we find out about HER unwritten book. That was pretty cool, and I hope future volumes pursue this more.

5. Librarians are, and have been for years, about breaking down barriers. In a public library settings, reducing barriers to better outcomes, particularly marginalized and underserved populations. In academic/research settings, that means being a force-multiplier, greatly enhancing research by sharing their expertise, pulling together resources, or improving search strategies. Claire doesn't do any of that, and it seems like a sad oversight.

I don’t normally read fantasy books, but I am SO glad I took a chance on this one-it was terrific!! I loved the characters, who were well developed. The writing was excellent, and the pace was just right. This was a delightful change from my usual reads, and I highly recommend it!

***Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review***

I really enjoyed this library-centric adventure book. The characters form an interesting group and the action is quick.

A different take on mythology and hell, this book was an interesting read. At times, the action was slow and at others it moved at a fast pace. The unwritten wing houses all the books that were thoughts or were unfinished by authors. Characters in those works can seemingly come alive and it's the librarian's job to keep tabs on them.Claire, librarian of the unwritten wing of Hell's library, must go after an escaped unwritten character.

The adventure intensifies when Claire becomes aware that she has a document important to both Heaven and Hell and she is being pursued by both angels and demons. With the help of a couple of characters come to life, she is pursued through various worlds in her quest to return to her library and save the earth, which will be torn asunder if either the angels or demons manage to get the document.

I've been reading a lot of library books lately, while working at a library, and going to school for my masters in library science... but I picked this one up, at the risk of becoming library-ed out.

I'll admit, it started a little "meh" for me, (I'm sure I could pick out a better term, but we've established I have a lot of irons in the fire right now, so meh will have to do) but by the end of the book, I had almost missed my train stop because I couldn't bear to look away.

Overall: an exciting and fast adventure (it all happens over two days!) with dynamic characters and creative use of familiar tropes.

I'll be looking out for book 2.

First off, a huge thank you to Berkley Publishing Group - Ace - for the electonic ARC in exchange for an honest review! All opinions are my own!

*description omitted for NetGalley review*

So Claire the undead librarian has a muse assistant, a demon, and a book's Hero that end up on an adventure together to retrieve this lost manuscript that is apparently the devil's bible. It's a great idea, although the book felt wordy and long in places which might have to do with the fact that per the author's note, this originally started out as a short story. Streamlined, this would have made an amazing novella or shorter book. 384 pages to cover two days is a lot of space to fill!

Other than a few swears and some fighting, this book could be appropriate for any age group. I think it is meant to be an adult fantasy but the language used and casual banter makes it seem like a younger audience was intended. Some of my favorite elements were fighting with words, exploring the other realms, and the pet gargoyle.

I like motley groups, and my favorite character ended up being Brevity, the muse. She had a lot of potential that wasn't tapped in this book, she was hardly featured, but it looks like she might have more time in book two. She is funny and quick thinking and quite a character. Other than her and Claire, I didn't care reading from Leto and Rami's view points.

I also had a lot of questions such as - why are unwritten/unfinished books and other pieces of art in Hell? It seems like a punishment to put them there even if it's neutral territory! Also what kind of weapon is the bible they were chasing, how is it powerful, and how do the different sides plan to use it? Some of my questions were answered right at the end, but not those ones! This book wrapped up fairly thoroughly but it looks like there is going to be a series.

All in all, if you like reading about books and libraries and stories, there are a lot of really interesting concepts here. The book dragged for me but I mostly enjoyed it, and others might love how philosophical it is about stories. I would rate it 3 stars and still recommend to fans of angels and demons and stories. It published on October first so go grab a copy if it sounds up your alley!

The blog link is here at
https://onenursereader.wixsite.com/onereadingnurse-1/post/the-library-of-the-unwritten-by-a-j-hackwith

Unfortunately, I was not as in love with this novel as my colleagues and friends seem to be. Because I'm a librarian, and it's about librarians, I thought this would be my next favorite read. However, as soon as I read the first chapter I knew that the book and I would not be getting on. Hackwith's writing has a juvenile quality to it, and I think that this would be better served as a YA novel. However, I seem to be in the minority with this opinion, and will still recommend it to patrons interested in fantasy.

Thank you to A. J. Hackwith, NetGalley, and Berkley Publishing Group for sending me the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A truly unique and imaginative addition to the world of fantasy. Tackling Hell's library and a collection of all unwritten stories could have become an unwieldy mess, between the (re)creation of a world that most readers are absolutely sure they already know to the how and the why, but AJ Hackwith does it beautifully.

Absolutely loved this book. Blazed through it and would definitely recommend to anyone wanting a adventure that's on the darker side

A library in hell full of unwritten stories. Characters who can escape their pages and run free to seek out their authors. The concept of The Library of the Unwritten by A.J. Hackwith is so utterly intriguing and charming. It’s also the perfect book for readers and booklovers, collectors and writers. Set in the unwritten wing of Hell, A.J. Hackwith introduces us to Claire Hadley, Hell’s librarian. She oversees the collection of unwritten stories, art and books from creators both long dead and living. When a young demon messenger comes to deliver the news that an unruly character escaped the library, Claire and her apprentice, a muse named Brevity, must travel to Earth and drag the character back. Once there, they stumble upon a Watcher Angel, sent to investigate the details of a mystery torn page that found its way up to heaven and find the rest of the book before it brings about an unprecedented amount of chaos and destruction to Heaven, Hell and all the realms in between.

The amount of thought and imagination that went into upholding the concept really blew me away. The world-building was truly fantastic, and I loved every glimpse of the different realms as Claire, Leto, Hero and the Unwritten crew embark on finding the pages to the Devil’s manuscript before the Angels can. The multiple perspectives helped expand the narrative as well, and provided such an interesting dynamic. Ramiel, despite being one of the obvious protagonists as an Angel against the Unwritten Crew, was as much a multifaceted character as Claire, the librarian and first point-of-view character readers are introduced to. It’s as much Ramiel’s story as it is Leto and Brevity and Claire, and I loved the layers that A.J. Hackwith built on.


Ace Books
I could spend hours reading about the damsel wing of the librarian and of Claire’s own unwritten stories, a whole section of books that she banished to a far corner of the library so as not to distract her. I would love to know more about all of the other librarians who came before her, including one of the first librarians mentioned in the epigraphs of each chapter. The ending felt very final but open enough that we could be treated to a companion novel. I would love to see the many ways A.J. could stretch this world, a world that is so brilliant already.

The story does suffer from being a bit overlong. There were a few moments where I couldn’t get behind Claire, who has her reasons for being a bit prickly but comes off a bit distant. The concept and the promise of the unwritten library’s mysteries kept me driven to finish it, even at times I wanted to like Claire a bit more. I definitely sympathized with her and maybe that’s another reason that I wish for a sequel or companion book so that I can read more about her after I’ve grown to like her.

Other than that, all the other characters were fantastic. Brevity, as a bubbly muse, was so fun to read and I loved Leto, a teenage demon’s dynamic with the others. Hero, the character’s escape was the impetus for Claire, Leto and Brevity’s trip to Earth was fun to read about to, another character who had hidden depths beyond his initial cheeky demeanor.

I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it highly to anyone who enjoys wonderful world-building, books about books and characters with a lot of depth. I’ll be thinking about this one for a while and hopefully will have another unique novel to enjoy by A.J. Hackwith soon.

There's a place for stories that aren't written. This concept alone should have this book on your to-read list. But it gets better - turns out those unwritten books live in a library in hell and it's possible for the books to come alive. The Library of the Unwritten has all the things you want in a good adventure - demons, angels, gods, a kick-ass heroine librarian, and stories that grow and change.

"There's more to every one of us than what our story intends,"

AJ Hackwith is able to comment on the power of stories and their ability to allow us to make sense of the world while crafting an adventure worth reading. Thank goodness AJ finished this story. I can't imagine what mischief it would've gotten up to otherwise.

Hackwith has created an imaginative universe in which Hell's Librarian goes on a wild goose chase for Lucifer's book. The novel is fun innovative, but could be a tad more well written than it is. This felt more like a YA novel than an adult novel.

In The Library of the Unwritten by A. J. Hackwith, Claire Hadley’s damnation has sentenced her to serve as the Librarian of the Unwritten Wing in the library in Hell, where every unwritten story in the history of mankind resides, either abandoned by long-dead authors or waiting to be written. Why does Hell need a human librarian? Well firstly, someone has to stop the demons from consuming the human dreams and imagination contained within the books. Secondly, unwritten books have a tendency to wake up, manifest themselves as a character from their story, and go running off to find their authors, which can have disastrous consequences for both author and story. Following just such an event, Claire, her assistant Brevity (an ex-muse), and Leto (a newly-created demon and very confused messenger boy) find themselves in Seattle chasing down a freshly manifested hero who isn’t what he seems, only to be ambushed by an angel demanding that they give up the Codex Gigas, also known as the Devil’s Bible. This sets off a chase across multiple worlds and afterlives as the factions of Hell, Heaven, and the Library race to retrieve missing pages of the Codex Gigas before they can set off a new war between Heaven and Hell.

The Library of the Unwritten is one of those books that almost feels like it was tailor-made for me because describing it comes off as a description of everything I love in a book. The characters are sharp, funny, and full of witty banter. The way the author plays with mythology is fascinating. The author is from my hometown and the one scene set in Seattle actually feels like the city. The story feels a bit like Neil Gaiman had been reading a lot of Rick Riordan, but with more queer characters and an even weirder mix of mythologies and world building. And then there is the main character, Claire. I LOVE Claire. She is confident, competent, snarky, aggressively bad at dealing with people, loyal, stubborn, prone to picking up strays, has no time for bullshit and is utterly unimpressed with Satan, who she refers to by a dazzling array of uncomplimentary nicknames, including “Mr. Pissypants.” Watching her wrangle her assistant, a lost puppy in the form of a demonic messenger, a “hero” who wants nothing more than to escape, a demonic archivist, and the various mythological creatures and entities she encounters along her way is a delight.

Despite everything I love about the book, I had a little trouble getting through it. I want to say that this had more to do with my mood when I picked it up and my overall patience for reading at the time rather than the book itself. Given how much I love Claire as a character, I wasn’t always pleased with the device of switching character perspectives each chapter. It’s an effective way to keep the story moving, cover multiple storylines, and keep readers away from narrative details they shouldn’t know yet, but it was occasionally frustrating to switch to a character whose perspective I was less interested in. I was also very much not in the mood for foreshadowing, and occasionally found myself thinking things like “We get it, the character is lying/has a secret/has a tragic backstory and it’s going to come up later, let’s move on.” That said, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I’m looking forward to reading more of Hackwith’s work.

I recently finished The Library of the Unwritten and found this debut novel utterly enchanting.

I was pretty much sold on this one as soon as I looked at the cover. And somehow the book itself was even better than the synopsis. The world-building was fantastic and so incredibly unique. I loved the idea of a library of unwritten books that can come to life unexpectedly. The characters were also really well developed and nuanced. I definitely got way more attached to them than I had planned (at the end, I sighed with relief when I saw that there’s going to be a sequel)

This book was funny and creative and it had a fantastically entertaining plot. Although they’re not really anything alike, I got a similar feeling from this one as I did from The Rook by Daniel O’Malley (which I also adore)

If you’re looking for a unique adult fantasy novel, absolutely check this one out! I can promise that you’ve never met a librarian or a book quite like those contained in these pages.

*Disclaimer: I received an advance digital copy of this book for free from the publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.