The Forbidden Library : Django Wexler

Book review for : The Forbidden Library
Author : Django Wexler
Rating : 4 stars
Series : The Forbidden Library #1 (of 4)

~books about libraries~

There’s a danger in reading.

Alice discovers that fairies are real. Meaning magic is real. Meaning the world is full of possibilities she didn’t even know existed before. Then her father disappears, supposedly dead—but, Alice reasons, because magic is real, so is the possibility that her father is still alive. Alice is sent to live with her ‘uncle Jerry’ who turns out to be the magician Geryon, who wants Alice to be his apprentice, and who has a mysterious magical library full of talking cats. Alice learns what it means to be a “Reader”, how to conquer bits of magic and meld them to her control, and that the community of Readers is a backstabbing untrustworthy lot. She has nowhere else to go, though, so she continues to learn what she can and track down clues to her father’s disappearance. 

I was intrigued by the magic in this story. Magical creatures are trapped in ‘prison books’, and a Reader can enter the book and kill (or subdue) the creature—doing so forges a connection that allows the Reader to summon this creature and/or its power in her world or in others. Alice’s first creature is actually a swarm of rubbery resistant kiwi-like bloodsuckers that she can use to defend herself, jump down the stairs, or spy on people in the mansion. I want to learn more about how this magic works. It’s a lot of fun.

The characters are likable. Alice is rather sensible, the type of person who leaves her shoes behind the first time so as to not make any noise… but remembers to put on sturdy boots the next time, because of how cold and injured she got the first time. She tends to succeed at what she’s trying to do, although she does some silly things and also fails a few times. Ashes the cat was funny, Isaac didn’t have a lot of screen time but he was interesting, Geryon is interesting, even the mean Mr. Black obviously has a backstory. 

I also enjoyed the illustrations. There are a few strange creatures that are fun to try to imagine, but also fun to see on paper. 

I’ve already put the sequel on hold at the library. 

The only reason the book gets 4 stars instead of 5 is that it is… short. That is, it’s written well as a kid’s book, and the story doesn’t seem to take up more than a few days (although you know it’s longer, because Alice is very patient and spends the first two days doing nothing, so it actually could be a few months?). In other words… it’s only the beginning!

Review also posted on Amazon.