Magical scarves, secret libraries, missing kids.

In an alternative slightly dystopian future, Ropa is a poor girl living in the slums of Scotland. Ropa works as a ghosttalker, passing on messages from the deceased to the living, helping the dead move on. and occasionally stopping violent hauntings, when paid to. After being asked by a spirit to find her missing son pro bono, Ropa runs into a magic, a secret library, and a nefarious scheme involving dark magic and kidnappings.

Ropa dropped out of school in order to eke out a living to support herself, her sister, and her elderly grandmother. She may be dirt poor and living in a trailer park, but Ropa is extremely intelligent, and I really liked that about her character - breaking a stereotype that one's intelligence should be judged by their wealth and life situation. Her daily struggle to survive and support her dependent family was heartbreaking, but her optimism & strong will made her a character I greatly admired.

The story flows beautifully. I would've read the book straight through if I could. Life's tough, and there were several dark moments, but overall, it was a great book. Magical, slightly dystopian, and with lots of action. I got some Hunger Games vibes while reading this. Probably because both have a strong female lead character struggling to survive another day of poverty while also looking out for her friends and family. But there are no big rebellions. Just some different methods of magic and some kids who need to be saved from evil magic practitioners.

There was supposed to be some Zimbabwean culture here. Personally, I had no idea what culture the few Zimbabwean (I guess) words were supposed to be from until I read the summary. I wish there had been more references to the Zimbabwean magic and culture, not just the handful of foreign words that only added a bit of color without any explanations.

The world building was nice and atmospheric. Slightly dark and dystopian, a world that went backwards from our highly technological one to one where only the rich can afford those conveniences while the rest of the world is lucky to have at least a cell phone. It was an interesting mix of modern and pre-tech days.

Ropa made an excellent main character. Life constantly pushes her down, but she's got a lot of spunk, respects her elders, looks after her family, and does her best to continue her own education even as she works long hours. I really admired her and enjoyed her perspective.

Urban fantasy, ghosts, secret societies, Scotland...yes, please. This book was engaging from page one and created a world I didn't want to put down.

Thank you NetGalley and Tor Books for the opportunity to read an advance reading copy.

I went into this knowing absolutely nothing but that somehow there was a library involved somehow with this story and now this is slowly becoming one of my favorite series of all time.

We follow Ropa who is a ghost talker, who speaks to Edinburgh’s dead delivering messages to the ones they left behind.Until one day, she meets a ghost whose child goes missing along with other children in Edinbrugh and the story takes off from there.

The writing style and world building are fantastic, you get this feeling that you’re just walking along the streets of Edinbrugh and she’s just talking to you as she’s going through the story. I found myself laughing at alot of her one liners she says to some of the side characters.

The side characters like the ghosts and Ropa’s Grandmother and little sister really bounce off the page and have personalities all their own which is something you really don’t find that much in young adult these days.

The story is really slow moving in the beginning but you get to know Ropa a little bit before it takes off and believe me. you will not be disappointed and not to mention the “villain’s” in this story are actually scary.

I can’t recommend Library of the dead enough and need everyone to read it. So if you have made it to the end of this or have already Library of the dead. Comment down below or message me on instagram! i would love to discuss this fantastic story.

Being a messenger for the dead is not an easy task, for one thing you need to get paid and THAT can be tricky in itself. The dead can be rather aggressive in getting their messages out to those left behind and being able to strike a deal needs finesse and impartiality. In order words, get it done and get those spirits on their way. No time to let your feelings interfere, it's not good for business. At least that's the general consensus. There are ghosts though that just won't let things lie, that persist in harping on and demanding to be heard. In that case you wind up having to help cause if there's one thing that can't be looked past it's family. In a Scotland of the future where the world has drastically changed for the worst, you do what you have to do to survive and not even the toughest can ignore the pleas of a mother to help save her child. Something wicked this way comes, and it looks very familiar.

The beginning of a new series that features a heroine who is just out to keep her and hers afloat in a world full of lost memories and sorrows. Shot through with a core of steel and the heart of a lion, she's determined to find out what's going on in her hometown. Magic and sorcery are coming together in Edinburgh and the story they tell is gonna leave you wondering what exactly was that bump in the night after all. Would definitely recommend.

Very fast paced novel. Intetesting characters and world dealing with ghostalking. Loved the setting of exploring underworld Edinburgh. Loved the main character and the situations she was put in. Highly recommend

Dystopian world with a ghost talking, magic learning protagonist?? Sign me up!

This book immediately gave me The Last Apprentice vibes by Delaney and I'm not mad about it! Gosh, those books are amazing! And this series I can tell is going to be a new favorite for me also.

It took me about a 100 pages or so to really get hooked, but once I did I couldn't put it down. Halfway through I let out an audible gasp! This book just turned spooky?! I'm loving it even more now. I know what you are thinking..."It's about a girl who can talk to the dead. It's literally got dead in the title. You weren't expecting spooky?". Well no, not really! Not on this level.

It starts out fun, witty, and with a mystery the protagonist is attempting to solve to give a dead mother's spirit some peace about her missing child, but I wasn't expecting nail-biting Stephen King-like or even Hill's NOS4A2 anxiety ridden intensity!

I'm excited this will be a series and I highly recommend to fans of the above mentioned authors.

***Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me an advanced copy of this book!

I would give "The Library of the Dead" 3.5 stars!

After dropping out of school to help support her grandmother and little sister, Ropa has leaned heavily into her skills as a ghosttalker; spending her nights delivering messages from the recently deceased ghosts who still roam the streets of Edinburgh, to their family and friends. After agreeing to help a ghost who's son vanished before she died, Ropa must enlist the help of her best friend Jomo and her newly found friends at the Library of the Dead, in order to find the missing boy and get to the bottom of who is kidnapping a bunch of young children, and what exactly do they want with them.

I found this book to be very entertaining and original. It grabbed my attention immediately and had me engaged until the very end. I think author T.L. Huchu has a very strong voice, and this book had a lot of character. It's a sassy, funny, energetic story filled with magic and tales from the beyond. I would say it is a great start to the beginning of a series, and would recommend it to anyone looking for an easy, entertaining story that's sure to let your imagination run wild.

I will check out the next books in the series for sure. I am hoping that we get to explore the library a lot more in the following novels. I felt like for a book called "The Library of the Dead" we really didn't spend much time there, nor was it really integral to the plot. So hopefully on the next go, its a bit more prevalent. I also hope that the author keeps the voice of Ropa similar to how she was at the end of the book. I will be honest, at the beginning she was extremely irritating. She is 14 years old, so the author really leaned heavily on her using slang and speaking improper English. The first chapter was really hard to get through because of it. But as the book goes she changes a lot, and by the end actually feels much older and more mature in her speech and inner monologues. I am not sure if that was done on purpose, or if it was just something that author ditched along the way. But I much prefer the Ropa at the end of the story, to the Ropa of the beginning.

I want to thank Tor books and NetGalley for the advanced copy!

The Library of the Dead is the first book in the Edinburgh Nights series, and I guarantee that if you read this book, you will be dying to read the next!

Fourteen-year-old, Ropa sees dead people! No, she is not that kid from The Sixth Sense, she is a ghostalker. What!?! Yes, she does not just see them, she communicates with them as well. Ropa has dropped out of school and speaks to the dead of Edinburgh with the help of her Mbira (African Musical Instrument). She carries their messages to their living relatives who pay her for her services. Sounds easy enough right? Wrong, there are obstacles in her way and she often has to leave her physical body behind to travel to other realms.... How!?! You will need to read to find out more! Why drop out of school to become a ghostalker? Why not? No, seriously, rent is expensive, and bills must be paid! Ropa pays for the caravan that she, her Gran and younger sister live in.

When the dead begin to whisper about someone taking children on her turf, Ropa feels obligated to investigate. If you think this is going to be an easy feat - THINK AGAIN! Along the way she will journey deeper into Edinburgh’s underbelly, visit an occult library, rely on Zimbabwean magic, and rely on her courage. She will come up again things that will make dementors look docile. She is on the hunt for answers but along the way will the hunter become the hunted.

This was such an immersive and fun book. If you read the synopsis and think that this might not be your cup of tea, please stop and reconsider this book. Ropa is such a spunky, tough, sarcastic, funny and street-smart character. She thinks fast on her feet, shows bravery and warmth. This book is also full of interesting and quirky characters -including her Gram, her fox (YES!), her friends and even the not so pleasant characters.

The Author builds mounting tension at the same time building alternative realms. This book is atmospheric and dark, yet not too dark. It will please both YA and Adult readers. This book is interesting, and I could not quite figure out when it takes place, is this an alternate Edinburgh or Edinburgh set sometime in the future after a catastrophe. Either way, when Ropa mentions old movies it is hilarious. Her sarcasm and whit really bring some light and fun to this darker book. Another plus of this book is how the Author was able to create the location and other realm without being too wordy or losing me in the process. I could imagine just what the author was describing in chilling detail.

I read most of this book in one day as I did not want to put this book down. It is a little bit different, who am I kidding, it is a lot different, and I loved turning out my world to enter this one. Imaginative, creative, dark, creepy and sinister. What a great start to a new series! I cannot wait to see the main characters of this book again! If you don’t want to start a series, this book does work as a standalone.

This book was highly entertaining and pray you do not get lost in the alternate worlds as you leave your world behind to enter The Library of the Dead!

Thank you to Macmillan - Tor and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

Ropa has a career in the family business – and that business is talking to ghosts. She acts as a messenger between those who have passed on and those whom they left behind – for a fee, of course. Ropa dropped out of school to provide for her family and she doesn’t work for free. That is, until a desperate and recently-deceased mother comes to Ropa because she can’t move on to the afterlife without finding out what happened to her missing son.

The Library of the Dead takes place in a postapocalyptic, alternate-reality version of Edinburgh. What cataclysmic event took place to change the world is not entirely clear, but some kind of catastrophe is mentioned in passing. Smartphones are common in a world where horses and bikes are more common than cars. But this world seems to be set apart from our own by more than just some sort of apocalypse - it combines familiar pop culture references and technologies with a world where things like ghost-talking seem to be known and understood to be real, if not completely commonplace, and the study of magic has a long history. The magic systems are interesting, with ghost-talking facilitated through music and magic being treated like a branch of science by scholars. I’m very interested in learning more about both as the series progresses.

Ropa, who was raised in the slums of Edinburgh and comes from a Zimbabwean family, is a fantastic character, with burgeoning magic powers and a strong focus on taking care of her family. She is just 15 years old, but that shouldn’t keep adult readers from enjoying the book. I believe pretty strongly that a teen protagonist does not automatically make a novel “Young Adult,” and also that both adults and teens should read whatever they are interested in, regardless of the age category a book is assigned by publishers. In my opinion, this book would be good for either adult readers or teens who are comfortable with strong language and dark themes. The characters use quite a bit of slang, and I can’t always tell what’s authentic modern-day Scots and what’s made up as a part of this alternate reality. I can generally catch the gist, but there are a few scenes and characters that are so slang-heavy they are hard to follow.

Overall, I really liked this book and the fascinating world that T.L. Huchu has created. I’m looking forward to the next one!

This is a wry and witty book that plays with the scrappy-young-girl-saves-the-day trope delightfully. Ropa is a ghostalker, a person who is able to communicate with the dead and run messages to their surviving loved ones (for a price) eking out subsistence while living with her grandmother and younger sister in a post-apocalyptic alternate Scotland. Pressured to take on a ghostly client for free, Ropa begins the search for a missing child unearthing a host of secrets and horrors along the way, including the most gothic of gothically haunted houses and the eponymous Library of the Dead.

It is a good and enjoyable novel that, perhaps, would work even better as a graphic novel--the plot ambles along a little disjointedly and it's not clear whether this is a novel about a young adult, or a young adult novel. However the world is lushly imagined (and horrifying), the mystery is compelling, and Ropa is a character you can't help but root for.

In short: WOWOWOWOW!!!

Slightly longer: If you're a fan of sharp urban fantasy, ghosts, and secret societies? You won't want to miss THE LIBRARY OF THE DEAD.

I don't think I've read anything like this before, and I'm so excited to recommend it to all my friends who read SFF/urban fantasy. Ropa is smart, funny, and so believably a cynical teen. Huchu offers just enough of history and structure to this other-Edinburgh that you can't help wanting to know more. There's mentions of a great catastrophe, and a blend of "old" and "new" tech that signals this is not the Edinburgh you may know, but Huchu does offer just enough to help pull you along. Others have mentioned that unfamiliar slang was a huge barrier to reading, but I think it really shows that Ropa is a fully shaped character in a world that is fundamentally different than our own.

It's interesting to see some people are shelving this as YA - even though Ropa is "almost 15," I imagine that younger YA readers would struggle to keep up with the narrative, and some of the imagery might be a little intense for them. I would have loved this around 14/15, though, so I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to readers who are looking for an inventive urban fantasy read.

I really enjoyed this book. I love books where the main character sees dead people from all walks of life and historical eras all around them. The slang was a little hard to follow at first, and there was a lot of set up thrown at you at once, but highly recommended for a first novel. Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book!

The cover and summary drew me in, but I struggled through the entirety of this novel for a few reasons. The writing style lost me quite quickly. The language/slang of the characters seemed very convoluted and descriptions, rather than pulling me in, had me puzzling through what I was trying to imagine. It seemed like several elements were skipped over and I lost the patience to try to figure out what was occurring. At first I thought this was a middle grade read, but the further into the book the more it seemed written for adults based on the language and structure; yet, the protagonist was a young girl that I struggled to relate to or like. The story was so promising, but it did not connect with me and provided more work than enjoyment. I am sure others would enjoy the book if they like the author’s writing style.

Excellent start to a series

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Character development and world-building are excellent. I don't normally enjoy reading dystopian fiction, but in this book it was incorporated into the setting creating the mood but not overwhelming the story. The magic system is also excellent, having at least a scientific veneer. I am generally not fond of mixing science with magic, but this story did it very well. It is at least as good as the blending in the Prospero's War series by Jaye Wells. I found the book hard to put down, because I loved the characters and wanted to know what happened to them. I recommend this book for anyone who likes urban fantasy. Thank you to Netgalley and Tor Books for the advance reader copy.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Books for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I liked it, it didn't wow me, but I didn't dislike it either. I had a hard time getting in sync with the writing style for the most part (and considering how much of a personal preference that is I can see how a lot of people will be just fine with/really enjoy it). I don't know if it was some of the slang as the protagonist was a 14 year old Scottish girl living in the, what seems to be, the near future, or just in general. There were, what was supposed to be, intense scenes that as I read through them I didn't find myself as involved, or caring as much as I should have. I do feel like there was a lot about the world that wasn't discussed that I would have liked to know about (and maybe would have made me feel more invested) but perhaps that will be in forthcoming books in the series. It just didn't quite hit the mark for me.

A unique take on ghosts and mediums a bit of a mystery with an angry young girl. Fast paced and hard to put down, great world building.

It starts off slow and kind of dense, but once the action begins, it's hard to resist the story as it drives forward. It reads as a true epic, one that makes you feel the world really has been reshaped as you read it. Would recommend.

Ropa Moyo is a breath of fresh air. Her unique voice drives this storyline and was thoroughly enjoyable to read.

Ropa lives with her Gran and little sister Izwi in Edinburgh, Scotland in a post-apocalyptic/dystopian landscape. Food and shelter are scarce, there is some king that everyone refers to, but remains unseen, and Ropa and her Gran communicate with the dead and act as a conduit for the living, sending snd receiving messages for cold hard cash.

One of these dead, Nicola, enlists Ropa’s help in finding her missing son. Soon, Ropa is caught up in a magical library with her friend Jomo and a mystery involving children with kid bodies and geriatric heads.

Definitely a fun read and a memorable cast of characters full of snark. Highly recommended for fans of magical realism and urban fantasy.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ebook ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I received this book as an eARC from NetGalley! All opinions are my own!

Ropa can talk to ghosts, and that's how she makes a living, delivering the messages of the dead. But when a late mother implores Ropa to search for her missing son, Ropa is thrown into the world of deeper magic than she's ever known.

Before I begin this review, I wanted to that my real rating is more in the range of 3.5 stars!

I think the thing I loved the most about this book was the writing style! Because Ropa was younger, the writing really tuned into that and was more casual and really more of a stream-of-consciousness type. It was really refreshing to read because of this style, and that made it more entertaining and funny throughout. It made Ropa really relatable and likable from the first page, and I loved reading about her. It was not only Ropa, but all of the characters were so lovable and entertaining to read about!

The issue I had with this book was that the plot felt really disjointed. It almost felt as though there were two different plot lines. There was the plot with the Library of the Dead, and then there was the mystery of the missing children. And those two things never seemed to solidly connect to me. It almost seemed as though the library could have been removed from the story and it would have been just fine without it. I often struggled to see the "point" to some of the plot lines.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and the unique style! It also delved into some more unique topics, such as Ropa using Zimbabwean magic, and I enjoyed the new perspectives. If you're looking for a fun and unique read, this is the book for you!

WOW, what a WINNER! Favorite book so far of 2021, I'm calling it. Spiritual successor to Sabriel by Garth Nix.

Post-catastrophe Edinburgh feels so fully realized, even though it happens somewhat in the background, and Ropa has an authentic, unique voice--I thought I wouldn't like a younger teen protagonist, and she would come off as over-the-top, but her attitude and smarts are just so endearing and believable. The author's writing is really well-controlled, I think, so Ropa's personality shines through with her quippy, cynical language, but it's not rambling or childish or gimmicky. The setting is perfect and the magic is interesting and fully-formed, super compelling and just fun to get absorbed in.

The plot was actually my least favorite part of the book, but as the first entry of a series (that I hope will continue indefinitely, thank u), I was just excited to root for Ropa. I can't wait to read more. Write more, please.