Oh my, I was so surprised by how much I loved this daunting book. It’s huge and full of different characters and different timelines and I LOVED it all. I think this may be a contender for my favorite book of the year and may be one of my favorite books of all time.
I read this both in print and on audio thanks to an ALC from Libro.fm. The writing was beautiful and deep and it translated well to narration. I appreciated that there were different narrators because it is a hard shift from character to character, although maybe one more would have made it even easier to differentiate. I adored that all of the characters were challenged, either neurodivergent, physically handicapped, unaccepted within society, marginalized. Their hopes, their dreams, the views they had on the world were intoxicating. Their epic stories were equally devastating and hopeful and how they weaved together was so perfect I gasped, it’s just one of those books that will stick with me for a long time.
I’m not sure I can summarize well in the space I have, but I encourage you to try this one out if you like historical fiction weaved with fantasy and contemporary literature. The story touches on mythology and speculative fiction, both areas I love but you don’t often see together. The importance of books, knowledge and libraries as a theme was so on point for me.
Thanks to Netgalley and Libro.fm for access to copies. All opinions are my own.
Do yourself a favor and check this one out. And please no one ever tell my husband how much this @barnesandnoble special edition cost!
What’s your favorite book of the year so far?
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