BOOK TOUR – The Library of the Dead by T.L Huchu – Page 2

Review

Thank you so much to Pan Macmillan and Black Crow PR for the review copy ready for this tour!

For starters, look at that cover! I think we can all agree it’s stunning! I love the map details and the colour – the naked hardback itself is a lovely green colour. Described as Stranger Things meets Rivers of London I read those words and knew I wanted to read this book!

The Library of the Dead comes from a fresh voice in fantasy. I really enjoyed the setting – Edinburgh! And the concept – Ghost talking! … Plus – a mysterious library!

Ropa is our narrator and she is pretty young, which definitely shows and did throw me off occasionally because of the situations she found herself in and how she handled them. She has sassy street smarts which come across in the slang language she uses throughout – again, this could be an issue for some people – luckily I am familiar with a lot of the terms that were used due to my personal friendships. My favourite term that Huchu snuck in is ‘fanny-flutter’ which I found hilarious!

In terms of plot, The Library of the Dead covers a lot of ground. The first third of the book is spent setting up the characters and the location ready for Ropa’s main adventure, this build up is quite long with the middle third giving the set up for the big bad and the final third giving Ropa a mini adventure and the final clash. If this had been set up as a stand alone novel this structure would have been frustrating but I think it’s a good recipe for a first novel in a series. I’m hoping for a more meaty storyline in the coming books now that the stage is set and a bigger enemy appears to have been introduced by the final pages. A few things that weren’t really expanded upon will hopefully be explored more in the coming novels including the nature of the circumstances Edinburgh finds itself in and the reasons the characters refer to a King throughout – I’d really like some context for it!

This is a book for those of you who want the creepy vibes but in a non-scary story!