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Ink and Bone (The Great Library, #1)

Rachel Caine

Start date: September 1, 2015

Finish date: September 30, 2015

Discussion: Book of the Month

Why we're reading this: Voted as our "Most Popular Books Published in July 2015" September BOM …more
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What Members Thought

Sep 22, 2019 Midu Hadi rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: missing-shelf, 2015, reviewed, first-in-the-series, dystopian, series, physical-copies, src-read, us-author, books-about-books

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Ms. Caine's writing sucks me in without fail. Whether she is writing about weather-controlling women with a lousy fashion sense or djinn-turned mortal women with ice blond hair, I am willing to listen. This one was no different, even if the premise is nothing like it had been for those other books.

Libraries, for us readers, are bastions of knowledge. Even after those who wrote their phenomenal texts or others acting as scribes preserved someone's memorable words are dead and buried, the librarie
Ms. Caine's writing sucks me in without fail. Whether she is writing about weather-controlling women with a lousy fashion sense or djinn-turned mortal women with ice blond hair, I am willing to listen. This one was no different, even if the premise is nothing like it had been for those other books.

Libraries, for us readers, are bastions of knowledge. Even after those who wrote their phenomenal texts or others acting as scribes preserved someone's memorable words are dead and buried, the libraries guard the work they left behind. Libraries also make it available to the future generations -- both the good and the bad.

Imagine, if all such houses of knowledge united under a central authority and started controlling what they treasure now. We'd have to say goodbye to new inventions because they may threaten the library's station, including mass production of books and multiple copies of the same book. The pleasure of holding a book in your hands or owning it would become a crime. That's the world this book is set in.

This Library did so much more, though. It kidnapped people with rare, special abilities and forcibly bred them. It had an army at its command. It razed countries that dared to question its authority. It punished those who ran rings that smuggled books to collectors, readers, and ink-eaters -- yeah, it is a whole other gross thing. Oh, and as the final nail to a reader's sensibilities, the author set the Library of Alexandria in the villain's role. I lapped it all up greedily.

So far, everything was great. There was even a use of the fact that many human minds come up with similar ideas without having met the other thinkers. Factual case in point, Mendel and that other guy. Fictional case in point, Gutenberg's Press and other characters from this book.

Now, if only I could connect with the protagonists. But I didn't care about which of them died or who survived. To my Potter-riddled eyes, a black-robed professor sounded like Snape Lite. In my defense, that's how he was introduced minus the Rickmanian hair flip. Later, he evolves into someone who gives a damn -- see, very un-Snape-ish behavior! Even then, I found lukewarm concern for him when they arrested him.

To conclude, if you like a good story and think, to hell with the characters, then this book is for you! ...more

4 likes · Like · see review

Oct 04, 2015 Vanessa Gayle ⚔️ Fangirl Faction rated it really liked it

Shelves: young-adult, cover-love, romance, arc, reviewed, fantasy, wish-list-physical, steampunk, alternate-reality

I received this book for free from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

A book about books? Sign me up! I was seriously on board from the get-go. That gorgeous cover is engraved into my mind.

This book and I haven't always been friends. In fact, this is my second try at reading this book. I first tried this book after it was released last year. I got about 1/3 through the book and just stopped reading. It was way too slow for me, I wasn't really connecting, and reading st I received this book for free from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

A book about books? Sign me up! I was seriously on board from the get-go. That gorgeous cover is engraved into my mind.

This book and I haven't always been friends. In fact, this is my second try at reading this book. I first tried this book after it was released last year. I got about 1/3 through the book and just stopped reading. It was way too slow for me, I wasn't really connecting, and reading started to feel like a chore. I hardly ever DNF a book. I decided to give this book a second try. I am so very glad that I did!

By the time that I finished this book I was floored! The plot finally becomes clear and so very exciting. There is adventure, secrets, corruption and political intrigue. I love this glimpse into an alternate reality.

The plot is unique and compelling. While the book is set in the year 2050, it feels very much set in the past. The Great Library controls all knowledge, and without knowledge progress has been stalled. I love this main theme of them book - knowledge is power and the Great Library is in control. This book has a Victorian steampunk sort of feel to it. Trains and steam carriages are the modes of transportation.

I love the group of young adult characters in this book. They are diverse and they each bring something to the group. Some of the adult characters are quite memorable as well. I love Caine's ability to write a character that seems completely horrible in the beginning, but turns out to be one of your favorites by the end of the book.

While you have a general idea of what is to come, you don't really get a great idea until the end of the book. Everything really falls into place at the end. Once you read the last page you immediately lose that disconnected feeling from the beginning of the book and yearn for the next book.

Overall, a great book and I would definitely recommend it to others. Especially book lovers. I would just add that if you pick this up and find it slow in the beginning, just keep reading. Trudge through any boredom you may have and press on. It really does pick up and it turns out to be amazing in the end.

More reviews on my blog: The Alchemy of Ink ...more

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