Review: The Library of Amorlin

The Library of Amorlin by Kalyn Josephson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Narrated by Max Meyers, Jesse Vilinsky
Presented by RB Media

This was an interesting new fantasy, but didn't totally sell me.

There's a magical library that is home to a multitude of beasts (as opposed to a multitude of books, which was half of why this title interested me), and a con artist is signing up to be the assistant librarian to escape being sent back to a cell.

Naturally, the head librarian is handsome, looks to be slightly older than our protagonist (though in reality he's really, really old) and is ridiculously powerful. Plus he's brooding and moody and he doesn't trust her but wow she really intrigues him like no one is his hundred years has.

So the cliches bothered me a bit.

The protagonist, Kasira, is not a particularly likeable anti-hero. Her whole thing is how she's a masterful con artist, and she's a brilliant liar, everything is lies, lie lie lie, etc. So much deception (so very 'not like other girls'). To the point that it was like, please show some growth at any stage now. She just stayed in this same character mold for the entire book and it got really tiring. It also, as a consequence, grated on me the longer it lasted and made her a rather unappealing lead.

Allaster, the head librarian, also didn't do much for me, though I liked him more. I think the narrator did him a little dirty because the 'growls' were whispered and in general I feel things were delivered with the wrong inflections. But same kinda deal where there just wasn't a lot of character growth beyond him coming to like (like, like) Kasira.

I DID however love the beasts and the variety of them. I think a read would have given me a better visual of them all, but I still enjoyed their presence in this book. They add a lot of light and heart, and for that reason I do wish they'd been better utilised. They're a fun, unique pull for this story and they would have been a more interesting focus than all the con-artist-this and brooding-librarian that.

As far as the audio goes, I did really enjoy both narrators, though Kasira's narrator was the better of the two. Perfect delivery, excellent inflection, and presented in such a way that I could become absorbed in the story without really hearing the voice as a separate thing. Would happily listen to either of these narrators again.

An interesting idea, but it did feel a little long and monotonous by the end. I think fantasy fans needing a mythical creatures kick might enjoy this one more than the romance fans, as the relationship is VERY slow-burn and PG. Nothing really much there at all, to be honest. But the world-building is pretty cool and the creatures are fun so there's still some points of interest. I'll probably still recommend it, as there's enough different about it that I think it's worth giving a go.

With thanks to NetGalley for an ARC

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