The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins is about a woman raised by…God? He certainly seems to be all-powerful and all-wrathful. And it’s because of his wrath that someone’s made him disappear. And with his disappearance, Carolyn and her eleven “siblings,” the other children he took for training—each learning one of twelve catalogs that they’re not at liberty to discuss with anyone, even (and maybe especially) each other—have been banished from the library. Now they have to work together to get back inside and find Father, before his rivals take advantage of his absence.
The characters in this book were wonderful. The good guys are also bad and the bad guys are not all bad. It leaves you not really knowing who to root for, which is exactly the kind of story I love. Some parts got a little bro-y and it sometimes devolved into “how much badass stuff can I cram into one backstory,” but I can forgive that because the overall story itself was so compelling. None of it was shocking, but neither was it predictable.
Lately I’ve been reading a lot of novels where I’m ready for the ending when it comes. Not that they were boring, but when they ended, I was like, “yup, OK. Got it.” With this book, I never wanted the ending to come, and when it did I found myself absolutely ravenous for more. I honestly don’t have many criticisms for this book. Loved it from start to finish. 4 stars
TC Martini 