#hells library

The Archive of the Forgotten (Hell's Library #2) by A.J. Hackwith

I went into Library of the Unwritten purely guided by the premise of a library within Hell for books left undeveloped and a librarian tasked with keeping them together. I stayed because A.J. Hackwith is an incredible author with an uncanny ability to create something so cosy and sweet based in the depths of Hell. Those who are fans of the found-family trope will love this one. Similarly, if…

(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

Chapter 9 - LETO

we love anxious human-demon Leto!!

Chapter 10 - CLAIRE

Hero is a bisexual mess, pass it on

Chapter 12 - CLAIRE

Hero is a villain, isn’t he?

Chappen 15 - RAMIEL

Andras is extremely sus

Chapter 23 - CLAIRE

Okay so Claire’s tragic backstory is not what I was expecting - did suspect it though when she was talking about Gregor previously

Chapter 25 - LETO

Claire, a badass queer icon!!

do I like Hero or find him annoying? I can’t decide

Chapter 26 - CLAIRE

called it! Hero is so obviously not a hero

Chapter 27 - CLAIRE

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

Chapter 31 - RAMIEL

and now the depths of Claire’s heart is finally revealed

Chapter 34 - CLAIRE

I (platonically) ship one bisexual sarcastic book villain and one pansexual undead librarian

Chapter 36 - RAMIEL

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?

Chapter 37 - CLAIRE

so Walter’s death with a capital D? nice

this whole exchange is kind of hilarious despite the circumstances

Chapter 38 - RAMIEL

Leto is Claire’s grandson?? did not see that coming ngl

Chapter 41 - RAMIEL

I hope this isn’t the last we see of Leto, he’s my fave

Chapter 42 - CLAIRE

“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.”

-

after finishing:

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

-

Hero: bitter and empty, like my soul