By day, the new book censor spends his days combing manuscripts for anything deemed unfit by the regime; by night, he finds himself drawn into the worlds of pilfered, forbidden books…

I very much enjoyed this one - hardly a surprise given that it’s a book about books, the importance of reading and the human need for storytelling… But it’s also a serious critique of censorship and book-banning and an exploration of the role of literature in resisting oppression and prompting critical thinking - ultimately, one’s inner thoughts can never be fully controlled. (But that can also have consequences…)

I loved the writing - it was immersive but easy to read and entertaining. The strong, satirical streak of absurdity very much worked for me - scenarios are taken to the extreme, and yet…it didn’t feel unbelievable or too far-fetched. It feels like a possible future (sans rabbits). Which is terrifying.

Unsurprisingly, books are referenced throughout, but the complete overrepresentation of the anglophone literary canon was rather unexpected in a translated book and actually a little disorienting - surely works of dissent and critiques of autocracy have been written elsewhere, too? The flip side is that the story lends itself remarkably well to translation for an anglophone audience.

An immersive, absurd and pertinent satire of book banning, the human need for storytelling and the power of imagination.