The Library of the Unwritten by A.J. Hackwith (Hell's Library #1)
(finished reading February 5 2022)
link to review (no spoilers)
my annotations (spoilers ahead):
(cw for death, suicide references)
this book has a very cool concept
we love anxious human-demon Leto!!
Hero is a bisexual mess, pass it on
Hero is a villain, isn’t he?
Okay so Claire’s tragic backstory is not what I was expecting - did suspect it though when she was talking about Gregor previously
Claire, a badass queer icon!!
do I like Hero or find him annoying? I can’t decide
called it! Hero is so obviously not a hero
called this betrayal too haha
Claire is just losing friends as fast as she makes them
going off his eagerness to walk into deadly situations and his very low opinion of himself, I suspect that Leto was a teenager who committed suicide
and most likely because he treated the guy who was his friend/brother in the flashbacks badly (perhaps enough for them to kill themselves or end up in a tragic accident) and that guilt has been weighing him down since, so much so that he sent himself to Hell
and now the depths of Claire’s heart is finally revealed
I (platonically) ship one bisexual sarcastic book villain and one pansexual undead librarian
once again, I was completely right about Leto
doesn’t mean I’m happy about it though :(
also does this mean Andras was involved in Leto’s death? was he the one who made Leto act like that to his friend or even the one who made his friend kill himself?
so Walter’s death with a capital D? nice
this whole exchange is kind of hilarious despite the circumstances
Leto is Claire’s grandson?? did not see that coming ngl
I hope this isn’t the last we see of Leto, he’s my fave
“Claire didn’t see books; she saw graves.
She saw a thousand lives on each cindered page. Here, a band of adventurers, suffocating in a forest. There, a pair of lovers, entombed in the moment before a kiss. There, torn beneath the edge of a fallen chair, the teenage outcast that never learns they are something more.”
okay I’m fairly happy with the ending and honestly, I know it’s the first book in a trilogy, but it could honestly be a stand-alone? like there’s obviously things to delve further into but there’s no big cliffhanger and nothing’s really been left unresolved
that being said, I’m going to start the next book pretty soon, if not right away
I’m surprisingly invested in these characters and this world