[dropped at 46%]

Where do I even start with this one? What a hot mess.

The plot seems fun and interesting at first. A mysterious nameless protagonist gets hired at this huge library that holds all the information and mysteries of the world. I think it was going for a magical workplace type of story. Unfortunately it fell so flat on its face it broke its own nose.

Let’s do things I liked about it first:
-somewhat intriguing worldbuilding and occasionally fun library references

Moving on to things I hated:
-nothing happened??? granted i didn’t finish the book but if the plot doesn’t move a single inch by 46% then it’s already a lost cause
-the main character was the most generic annoying piece of sh*t i’ve ever read
-all the other characters were also generic and interchangeable
-what the hell was going on with all the random gratuitous pornographic bits?
-the “witty” tone was just extremely obnoxious
-“quirky” details just for the sake of being quirky
-things just happen to the protagonist, like getting hired and getting promotions and girls throwing themselves at him, without him ever doing a single thing to warrant it


[thanks to the publisher and netgalley for an advance copy of this book]

(3.5 stars)
""We must keep an open mind and never rush to judgment in the process of collection development, M7. That's the first rule of thumb. Otherwise we might be depriving future generations of important material to reference, analyze, and deconstruct.""

I, like many readers, have a soft spot for fictional libraries. Especially those fantastical and crazy ones that don't quite seem to fit reality and become characters of their own in a way. This library is no different. it is so big and dangerous and holds so many secrets and truths. And we only got to see such a small fragment of it too! I'd love to know what the rest of it holds.

Mostly, this was a delightful read. Maybe there were one or two questionable moments, but overall this was a great experience! I loved the descriptions of the library and despite the hazardous conditions I would absolutely love to work there (even though the bureaucracy seems like a pain - I wonder if its commentary about how "streamlined processes" sometimes just make more work and are just inconvenient for everyone). I enjoyed how humour was occasionally thrown in. It felt very natural and wasn't overdone (I would still love to read "The Journal of Semi-Relevant Ecumenical Oddities/The Journal of Ecumenical Extremism and Folly"). I found the lack of proper character names in many cases (instead we get an identifier like M7) an interesting choice. I think it could have gotten confusing pretty quickly if we were following more characters. It definitely adds to the sense that the employees are just part of a machine though.

This book was nearly a four star, but it wasn't quite there. The main thing that kept it from that were the long passages of short dialogue. There would be a page plus of one line dialogue sentences that are rarely even broken up by dialogue tags or anything along those lines. These felt a bit out of place in the style of the rest of the book and I didn't find them as interesting. They were particularly common towards the start and I found myself questioning what the style of the book actually is. And the thing is, not all the dialogue happens in this way - other parts happen normally and I enjoyed those. These particular ones were just a little bland. I wish they had a bit more added to them.