I found the ending to be rather rushed-not just the battle itself, but the denouement of the story offers precious little resolution, just the promise of more fun for Irene (and, presumably, the reader) in the future. So all of this combines into what I would describe as a romp as the characters move through a series of set pieces-investigations, parties, runaway carriages, airship chases and whatnot-that culminate in quite a spectacular showdown with the Big Bad. While that might change in future books in this series, I think much of Cogman’s plotting decisions in this book make so much sense. So it’s for the best that most of this takes place within a particular version of Victorian London (yes, there are airships, don’t fret), and aside from the beginning and ending of the story, the Library is more of an idea, an affiliation of Irene and Kai’s, than an actual place or power. As I said in my introduction, I think that books with this kind of premise often fail to realize that an interdimensional library is in and of itself a setting, not a story. The plot went in directions I didn’t expect but which only enhanced the story. Similarly, the character dynamics in this book are top notch: I loved how Irene navigates her professional relationship with Kai, and I also enjoyed the way that Vale grows in importance as the story progresses. Irene is a good protagonist: solid, reliable, sassy, but also fallible and prone to enough setbacks that she doesn’t becoming annoyingly invincible.

Cogman balances exposition and narration, letting us in on just enough secrets of the Library without spending too much time showing us how proud she is of this multiverse of hers. It’s a page-turner, with excellent cliffhangers at the end of each chapter. I enjoyed pretty much every aspect of this book.

Meanwhile, a clear but chilling warning from the Library alerts Irene to the presence of a dangerous nemesis-a former Librarian who turned his back on the Library and all it stands for. The book they’ve been sent to retrieve has already been stolen, and as Irene and her protégé Kai try to investigate, they get pulled deeper into this reality’s politics. Hot on the heels of returning from a stressful mission, Irene gets saddled with an apprentice and sent on a dangerous mission to an alternative Victorian London with vampires, werewolves, and Fae. Sometimes this means she is a spy and a thief, if the book is hard to come by. Irene is a Librarian, and her job is to acquire books from alternative realities for the Library. Genevieve Cogman understands how to take the premise of an interdimensional library and wrap it up in enough mystery and intrigue to keep a story going. Books about books and libraries are, of course, like catnip to a reader like me-yet at the same time, they can often be a letdown. This was a lot of fun in exactly the way I needed right now.

The invisible library goodreads