Scan barcode
jashanac's review against another edition
I did sort of read this, but after 132 pages I HEAVILY skimmed. Barely read the rest of it, just checking ends of chapters and ends of sections to see what major things were happening. I was curious about the big secret that was hinted at, but didn't care about the characters enough to want to actually read.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Infidelity, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, and Suicide
Minor: Sexism and Child abuse
wlreed312's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Upon further thought, I'm bumping this down to two stars.
This is a duel timeline story of two women, working in the same place as a similar rash of thefts happen. Laura Lyons and her husband are living in a small apartment of the newly opened library in New York City in 1913, and her granddaughter Sadie is a curator at the same library 80 years later. In both times, a series of rare books goes missing from the vault of the library. Both women attempt to untangle the mystery as all signs indicate they (or her husband, in Laura's case) are the ones committing the crimes.
I enjoyed it a great deal until the end, but the end doesn't work for me. I enjoyed Laura as a character, and liked her journey as she began to want more out of life than being a wife and a mother. I liked her desire to become a journalist and the description of the classes she took to try to make that happen. I loved her friendship with Amelia, and how it grew. But I had a real issue with the conclusion.When the culprit is discovered in the 90s timeline, Sadie goes to court to argue for a harsher prison sentence because of the damage that they did by stealing these books and trying to keep others from knowing their history or some such crap. Look, I love books as much as anyone, and more than most people. But after revealing the thief grew up in the foster home system and was poverty stricken, I might have actually seen red. Obviously this is a personal stance, but putting a person in jail rarely alleviates any problems and if the thief had had a stronger safety net none of the thefts in the 90s would have happened. So this person goes to prison, and comes out harsher because they thought selling a few rare books would help pave the way to a better life. <i>People are more important than objects</i> and I get irate every time I think about it. And if I don't stop I'm just going to devolve into a rant about the unfairness of the American prison system and how much it needs to be reformed or abolished so I'll stop. . Also the ending seems too quick and parts of it are too tidy but mostly my irritation is about the spoiler bit. The history was very interesting, though.
This is a duel timeline story of two women, working in the same place as a similar rash of thefts happen. Laura Lyons and her husband are living in a small apartment of the newly opened library in New York City in 1913, and her granddaughter Sadie is a curator at the same library 80 years later. In both times, a series of rare books goes missing from the vault of the library. Both women attempt to untangle the mystery as all signs indicate they (or her husband, in Laura's case) are the ones committing the crimes.
I enjoyed it a great deal until the end, but the end doesn't work for me. I enjoyed Laura as a character, and liked her journey as she began to want more out of life than being a wife and a mother. I liked her desire to become a journalist and the description of the classes she took to try to make that happen. I loved her friendship with Amelia, and how it grew. But I had a real issue with the conclusion.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexism, Grief, Homophobia, and Misogyny
Minor: Suicide and Death of parent
kerrygetsliterary's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Biphobia, Death, Death of parent, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Grief, Homophobia, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, and Suicide
walrus's review against another edition
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny
Moderate: Suicide, Homophobia, and Death of parent
More...