Book Review: The Astral Library
Here’s my review of The Astral Library by Kate Quinn. Leave a comment if you’ve read it, plan to read it, or have any book recs to share. And don’t miss today’s writing prompt.
The Astral Library by Kate Quinn is a love letter to booklovers and librarians everywhere. And it’s so fun to read, as it has a bit of everything for anyone who has ever used books as a refuge or escape or wondered what it would be like to literally live inside a book. The main character goes on an important quest and ends up a heroine. And as readers follow her quest, they will have mysteries to solve, swashbuckling drama and action to experience, villains to slay, fantastical elements and entities to master, and a bit of romance to enjoy. But most importantly, they will be reminded of their own relationships with books and libraries and how sacred those are, especially in today’s world.
The novel opens with Alix doing ‘poverty math,’ enduring one catastrophe after another in her real life as a twenty-something trying to hold down multiple thankless menial jobs in order to survive. And when she eventually has no other place to go, she visits her one constant refuge, the Boston Public Library, which ends up serving as her portal to the Astral Library.
Once inside the Astral Library, we experience Alix’s awe firsthand as she takes in its beautiful shelves and decor, magical books, and ghosts who stay to read all the books they never got around to reading while they were alive. Then we’re introduced to a 200+-year-old Librarian who is in the middle of explaining the basics of how the Astral Library works to Alix when an emergency arises and Alix finds herself inadvertently inside a book with the Librarian searching for a Patron who is in mortal danger, until she finds herself in another book, then another, and another…
As Alix bounces from one book world to another, she learns more and more about what and who is putting the Astral Library and its Patrons in danger, and what she must do to save it and them when the Librarian/Book Dragon is suddenly out of commission. Bookworms will have a blast bouncing from the worlds she visits— from the world of Sherlock Holmes to the Regency backdrops of Austen to the lavish parties of Gatsby to the chivalrous world of Dumas to other notable works in the public domain.
Alix is an ideal heroine to root for through it all, given her background and love for libraries and books. She’s relatable, funny, witty, scrappy, and willing to let Patrons and books have the freedom they need to fight back against those who want to destroy them and the magic of libraries. She is the heroine most of us Millennials who grew up in public libraries have needed and wanted for a long time.
Overall, this novel will remind readers and booklovers of the ineffable value of reading and books and libraries, on both deeply personal and societal levels. And above all else, it will remind them of the power and magic behind the proverbial phrase, “Once upon a time…”
Here are some notable passages from the book:
“What book would you choose? Because you’ve thought about it, right? Everyone with a library card has daydreamed along those lines at some point. Except when it becomes real, something you can do and not just daydream about, you realize the catch: most of the books you love aren’t peaceful places. You love them because of the drama, the gore, the heartbreak . . . But how many of us want to live with that kind of drama, gore, and heartbreak? I thought about that, sitting at one of the long library tables beside an emerald-green lamp, tracing the cover of the new George R. R. Martin book. Did I really want to go live in Westeros, even if it had been in the public domain? With all that rape and famine and war? No. But I didn’t want to go live in Horton Hears a Who! either.”
“The Librarian gave me a cool look. ‘If the Library offers a child a door, it’s because that child has nowhere else to go. Or because whoever might come looking for them is not someone who should be trusted with a child.’”
“‘I walk into the world of a book, just like every reader has wanted to do since the dawn of time, and all I can do is fantasize about finding my mother. How much of a bad Freudian cliché is that?’ ‘I don’t know.’ Sarah sounded thoughtful, shifting her carpetbag from one hand to the other. ‘I think these book worlds are very good at showing us what we really want.’”
“‘A coalition of angry, self-righteous men happened,’ said the Librarian. ‘Who else is responsible for so much of the world’s violence?’”
“‘Libraries are full of ideas—perhaps the most dangerous and powerful of all weapons.’”
“...Because a lot of men claimed the right to sit around a table and bring exceptionally evil things into practice, while pretending to be polite, civilized, and moral human beings. Boards, committees, legislatures’—Beau’s hand encompassed all of them, and more— ‘can be the ultimate gaslighters and normalizers of the inhumane.’”
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© This work is not available for artificial intelligence (AI) training. All Rights Reserved by K.E. Creighton; Creighton’s Compositions LLC.
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Today’s Writing Prompt
Writing Prompt: Book World
Write a fictional scene in which you are living inside a book. Or write a journal entry about your favorite book and why it’s your favorite book.
Writing Tip:
Before you begin writing, consider what book’s world you want to be in and why. Consider its setting, characters, and what happens inside the book and why you’d want to be a part of its world.
