The Astral Library by Kate Quinn

Blurb:

From New York Times bestselling author Kate Quinn comes a gorgeously written fantastical adventure which poses the question: Have you ever wished you could live inside a book? Welcome to the Astral Library, where books are not just objects, but doors to new worlds, new lives, and new futures.

Alexandria “Alix” Watson has learned one lesson from her barren childhood in the foster-care system: unlike people, books will never let you down. Working three dead-end jobs to make ends meet and knowing college is a pipe dream, Alix takes nightly refuge in the high-vaulted reading room at the Boston Public Library, escaping into her favorite fantasy novels and dreaming of far-off lands. Until the day she stumbles through a hidden door and meets the Librarian: the ageless, acerbic guardian of a hidden library where the desperate and the lost escape to new lives...inside their favorite books.

The Librarian takes a dazzled Alix under her wing, but before she can escape into the pages of her new life, a shadowy enemy emerges to threaten everyone the Astral Library has ever helped protect. Aided by a dashing costume-shop owner, Alix and the Librarian flee through the Regency drawing rooms of Jane Austen to the back alleys of Sherlock Holmes and the champagne-soaked parties of The Great Gatsby as danger draws inexorably closer. But who does their enemy really wish to destroy—Alix, the Librarian, or the Library itself?

Review:

Alexandra (Alix) Watson has not had an easy life. Pushed around in foster care until she was eighteen, she’s scraped by on a life renting an apartment with her friends and working a set of jobs she loathes–and which seem to loathe her more. Her only escape has been in books, a series of places she has always escaped to when life got too hard to handle. Determined to make a life for herself despite knowing college is a dream she will never achieve, Alix finds reprieve from her woes in the Boston Public Library, reading her favorite fantasy novels and dreaming of lives far from her own. She never expects to lose everything and then stumble through a hidden door and tumble into a realm where she meets a woman called the Librarian: an immortal, acerbic guardian of a concealed library where the desperately lost can escape into new lives through their favorite books.

Showing empathy for Alix, the Librarian takes her under her wing, but before she can choose which book to vanish into and remake her life, an unknown threat emerges to overwhelm the library the Librarian protects (entitled the Astral Library) as well as the people sheltered within the stories throughout it. Recruited to put a halt to the rising and furtive enemy, Alix and the Librarian hunt through the stories where those who’ve been saved are hidden to protect them from the world outside of them. They need to figure out what exactly the disguised threat wishes to destroy if they wish to save themselves–as well as the library which is a refuge for so many others.

I didn’t know what I expected when I started to read The Astral Library, but it exceeded every expectation I could’ve possibly had. It’s such a comforting, immersive, and heart-warming story despite its high stakes and thoughtful characters.

The protagonist, Alix, is especially engaging. Broken in a way the best protagonists are, she is the kind of strong main character you don’t often see in fantasy narratives. Coming from a background not often explored in fiction, her growth throughout the story is both authentic, pacey, and strong, and makes her all the more relatable as a narrator.

An enlivening mix of low and high fantasy, The Astral Library brings together the best parts of both genres to create a world I didn’t want to leave. The setting of the novel was especially interesting in that it’s a dreamlike space that truly feels like an escape in the ways novels themselves are.

Everything promised in the narrative was paid off at some point during the novel in the most satisfying way possible. The climax was especially compelling, and the stakes rose and rose in a way that is difficult to achieve in what is otherwise a cozy fantasy story. I was on the edge of my seat and desperate to see what happened next with every page I turned.

An absolute masterclass of diversity and intrigue, The Astral Library touched on some of the most classic tales and shed new light on how they’re interpreted by readers. Although I haven’t read some of the classics mentioned in the story, it made me want to dive in just to see how they relate to this novel.

This novel is truly a perfect escape for readers who long to immerse themselves in the stories they read. It touches on a silent longing we don’t often see in stories, for the fear of being too “meta”, and makes the untouchable feel possible. It’s a true calling card for those who read to escape and free themselves from the difficulties of life, and I can’t wait to see what Quinn writes next!