Reviews with content warning for Violence - Die Bibliothek am Mount Char

Weird, strange, difficult to sum up. I’m still not sure if I liked it but I finished it so there’s something there bc I’m not against DNFing books. Would not rush to read it but also would support anyone wanting to try it for themselves.

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splendidduchess's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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kaydot's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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gillianalice's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This was recommended to me by a friend, and so I dived in without really knowing what it was about. I mean, it has the word "library" in the title, so it's going to be cozy, right? It occurred to me pretty quickly that I should have thought about the kind of books my friend usually reads rather than the title of this one.

That being said, once I got used to the brutal violence and got my feet under me, I was fully invested in the story. I didn't much care for the descriptions of the many ways David liked to kill people, or the various abuses inflicted on the librarians by their father, or Margaret's penchant for talking to decapitated heads, but it was worth reading that to get to the payoff at the end. Watching this insane story come together was incredible.

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somelitreference's review against another edition

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adventurous dark slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Interesting concepts abound, but a lot of loose threads in the world building.

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zephyrlestrange's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Coming back to properly review this book because I needed a few days to recover from reading something so incredibly perfect, it’s cemented a spot in my top ten of all time - along with Clive Barker’s Books of The Art series, Hiron Enne’s Leech and Murakami’s Kafka on the Shore if that gives you an idea of my tastes.

Sprawling doesn’t do it justice - the sheer size and scope of the story is so incredibly impressive for an author’s first book. Every character has an opportunity to evolve and grow and in such a way I feel like this should be mandatory reading for those wanting to write.

It was in all ways the perfect balance of awe inspiring beauty, nail biting dread and bald faced horrific violence - nothing was gratuitous and it all added to the tension of the story. I will say the end of the book feels a little rushed but I could not imagine trying to pull all the threads of this tapestry together with such grace.

If you like strong female leads, sci-fi, mythology, language, absurdism, terror, violence, revenge, you will love this book. 1000000/10

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