The Astral Library

A Novel

De: Kate Quinn

Narrado por: Kate Quinn, Saskia Maarleveld

From New York Times bestselling author Kate Quinn comes a gorgeously written fantastical adventure which poses the question: Have you ever wished you could live inside a book? Welcome to the Astral Library, where books are not just objects, but doors to new worlds, new lives, and new futures. Beautifully performed by award winning narrator, Saskia Maarleveld.

Alexandria “Alix” Watson has learned one lesson from her barren childhood in the foster-care system: unlike people, books will never let you down. Working three dead-end jobs to make ends meet and knowing college is a pipe dream, Alix takes nightly refuge in the high-vaulted reading room at the Boston Public Library, escaping into her favorite fantasy novels and dreaming of far-off lands. Until the day she stumbles through a hidden door and meets the Librarian: the ageless, acerbic guardian of a hidden library where the desperate and the lost escape to new lives...inside their favorite books.

The Librarian takes a dazzled Alix under her wing, but before she can escape into the pages of her new life, a shadowy enemy emerges to threaten everyone the Astral Library has ever helped protect. Aided by a dashing costume-shop owner, Alix and the Librarian flee through the Regency drawing rooms of Jane Austen to the back alleys of Sherlock Holmes and the champagne-soaked parties of The Great Gatsby as danger draws inexorably closer. But who does their enemy really wish to destroy—Alix, the Librarian, or the Library itself?

Includes a bonus conversation with Kate Quinn, Saskia Maarleveld, and Tessa Woodward (editor of The Astral Library).

Had so much potential

At first I was excited by the direction I thought this book was going to go in, though unlike her other books, I thought maybe it would be similar to a “midnight library” vibe. Unfortunately I was wrong. It turned out to be more of a Cerulean Sea type vibe. If you know that going in, maybe it will be more enjoyable.
It wasn’t a “bad” book, but the potential I had hoped for was lost and the story fell flat for me. I would have LOVED to see more ‘living inside the books’ and less outside adventure. the main character wasn’t redeeming either, which was sad.
She also spun every possible, recent political issue into the story, and even though I align, it was over the top for 1 story.
I felt like this was more of a creative writing project on tackling the importance of libraries (which I agree with) and the political climate, not necessarily a novel.
The narrator did a fantastic job as usual.
And I appreciate the creativity that went into this idea. I’ll look forward to her next book.

Not Enjoyable

I wanted to like this book because I’ve loved all of Kate Quinn’s books. It felt like a big woke lecture. It just wasn’t enjoyable. The reader had a great voice but her mispronunciation of well known Boston places was distracting.

cute read

I love Kate Quinns historical books and was so excited for this one. However, I was a little let down. It was a cute read. I get that any author's beliefs and political views may shine through in their work and thats fine, but this seemed a little more in your face, thrown in there just to throw it in and didnt make it work well. I love the concept of the story. I just dont think it was executed as well as it could have been, especially for a writer like Quinn. The characters reactions to things also didnt seem very realistic to me. I dont want to discourage anyone from reading it, it's probably worth the read, just not my favorite and I expected more.

Very liberal

Not Kate Quinn’s quality of a story. Too liberally influenced. I listened to the entire book but I was disappointed. I usually love her books and recommend them often, but this one fell short.

Stick with it

Stick with it - Kate Quinn has earned this one and while it may have readers used to her more savvy female leads gritting their teeth at times, it is worth hanging in there for the last 25% which was everything fans have come to expect. If you’re on the fence about reading vs the audiobook, this may be one to read - for the first EVER time the incredible talent and exquisite voice of Saskia Maarleveld doesn’t feel quite right for the character whose naïveté is part of the plot. Maarleveld's narration has always radiated competence, something which works incredibly well with Kate Quinn’s historical heroines, but is perhaps miscast here. I understand why Quinn wouldn't hire another narrator, though, since Maarleveld is one of the absolute best. All in all, this one is worth it for any Kate Quinn fans and for anyone who loves libraries.