Is anyone else a little in love with Kai? Some of Irene's backstory was revealed in this one. I hope we get more details in the next novel.

bruh i honestly never thought i would end up rooting for a throuple ever again (after the holy trinity of infernal devices) but omgggg kai x irene x vale WHEN like COME ON

OFFICIAL LIBRARY TRAVEL ADVICE: CURRENT STATUS WARNINGS
(excerpt)
World B-474: Status -- Personal Vendetta
We congratulate Alastor on having retrieved a copy of Mary Shelley's handwritten and unpublished sequel to Frankenstein. This was discovered in the private library of the Fae known as the Lord Judge. Unfortunately this has caused the Lord Judge to issue a proclamation: that he will kill any Librarian who crosses his path for the next five years. Since B-474 is where the theft took place, all Librarians are strongly urged to avoid this world until further notice. Alastor is going to be staying in the Library for the next five years. He is therefore currently available to any novices or journeymen requiring lectures on Sensible Targets and Rational Theft Assessment.

Irene is on probation after the events of [b:The Masked City|25761086|The Masked City (The Invisible Library, #2)|Genevieve Cogman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1434794736l/25761086._SY75_.jpg|45605935]. While she's still based out of her friend Peregrine Vale's version of London, she and Kai keep getting the "crap jobs." When a door back to the Library from a high order world bursts into flames as Irene tries to open it, and passages from other alternates are being similarly destroyed, it becomes obvious that the Library is under attack. Former Libriarian Alberich is back, deteremined to destroy the Library and wih a special vendetta against Irene who banished him from Vale's world in [b:The Invisible Library|21416690|The Invisible Library (The Invisible Library, #1)|Genevieve Cogman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1416823893l/21416690._SY75_.jpg|40717845]. Irene must find a way to save the Library, while surviving attempts on her life from someone she thought she could trust.

This third installment was back to perfection: more Kai, more Library, a few forays to interesting alternates, and recurring characters instead of new ones. AND Catherine the Great makes a cameo with her guard tigers. Fast paced, whitty, and nerdalicious, this series has quickly become one of my favorites. I can't wait until the next book (set in 1930s Chicago!!!!!!!) comes out in January.

2021 reread: The beginning is much slower than I remember and very little of the action takes place in the high-order world of Catherine the Great.

I love this series! This was another great The Invisible Library book and I’m already looking forward to reading the next one.

Still enjoying this series.

While I'm not ready to declare abandonment of this series, I am going to have to break-up with it for a while. It's not you, it's me. I need to spend some time with other books.

The main issue I have with this book has leaked into a problem I have with the entire series, up to this point: I really want to like it, but between roughly 25-85%, I find the book to be fairly boring and disappointingly predictable.

The premise of the series, the overlay of the project, is—at a distance—so intriguing and brimming with possibilities. The spheres/alternate worlds seem to have such potential, and a seemingly innocuous career choice as a librarian becomes a book thief and spy and transforms that title with a capital L to Librarian. Then add into that both Fae and Dragons, and you've either got a recipe for fantastic adventures or ingredients you don't intend to use properly. Every character, with the possible exception of Irene, seems to have fallen into a slump and become cardboard, one-dimensional and irritatingly predictable. Irene, while not truly one-dimensional and flat, is also predictable and lacking.

Another thing I want to address is this categorization as steampunk. This is my first foray into this genre, but I don't think it exemplifies what defines the genre itself. I'll have to try others. Other than brief mentions of long skirts, fog, zeppelins, and such, I don't get much of a steampunk feel at all. The use of magic and Language seems to push aside any actual need for gadgetry or industrial.

All-in-all, for a book whose action seems to go on and on without pause, this is a startlingly boring and monotonous story.

Every book in the series raises the stakes more than I thought was possible! So far, every book has exceeded my expectations.

I first started reading this series as a teenager, waiting for each book to come out. I feel out of reading before I got the chance to finish it all, so I decided to go back to this one as an adult to remind myself of the joy of books.

The world Cogman builds is increasingly more and more fascinating, and the characters within it all feel so thoroughly thought out. The weaving of magic, the language and the general weirdness of each world really keep you immersed and wanting to know more and the imagery is so fun to imagine that I found myself wanting to know more at every turn.

Compared to the previous two, I do think this one got a little slow in the middle, however this is massively made up by the fast paced action around this.