noori86's reviews
142 reviews

This novel started out PAINFULLY slow! but as I reached half of it, events started picking up and it kept a fast pace till the end. It was beautifully written and shed the light on many aspects such as racism, religion, and feminism. The novel kept the mysterious atmosphere till the end, the characters had many layers that we discover as we read, I was heartbroken by their fates but it would've been unrealistic otherwise. All in all, it was a nice read, it held my interest and while it left some questions unanswered I was content with how things ended.

This novel was just what I needed right now, it was sweet, fresh, full of hope and beautiful relationships. I liked that it did not revolve just around romance, it highlighted the importance of friendship whether it is between spouses or friends. I fell in love with the four life long friends Sugar, Dotty, Flossie, and Lucy... they are so cute with their ways of handling crisis and their way of "intervention" to deal with problems.

I really really enjoyed this book... I just finished it and I feel so sad that I did! I did not want to leave its world just yet and for the first time in a long time, I wished that thus wasn't a stand alone novel. I appreciated the new world that Margaret Rogerson created... loved how the libraries and the books are treated as characters and had a life and mind of their own.
I liked how the auther showed the importance of broadening one's prospective and that life cannot be lived and fully experienced through a single lens, it's not black and white, almost always the line is blurry and what seems black to some might not be so for others depending on their backgrounds and the way they were raised and taught.
Elizabeth, our protagonist, is a bright, free- spirited young girl who tends to see the good in people. Being raised up in The Great Library of Samershall made her fear sorcerers because she was taught that they are dark and corrupt and highly untrusted, and demons? well if she even talked to one she will be banished from the library with no hope of ever working in one ever again. But fate has other plans for her. When her library goes under attack, she gets accused of killing the Director of the library and is sentenced to be sent to the Magisterium to be dealt with, That's when she gets to know Nathaniel Thorn, a young, handsom sorcerer and his demon servant Silas and her life changes forever.

I Loved it! It exceeded my expectations and lived up to the hype... this novel is now high on my favourite books read in 2019