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?
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I have been a fan of Kate Quinn since I read The Alice Network in 2021. I have read a few of her books since and enjoyed them all. I was excited when she announced Astral Library on Instagram. A library where you can escape into books, that sounds so magical to me. I was eager to see what Kate Quinn would create in this magical world. I enjoyed the book, but not as much as her other books I have read. I liked most of the story and the setting itself; however, it wasn’t what I had expected. It didn’t have the magic that I expected when I picked up the book.
The first half of the book was interesting and had me wondering what adventure awaits Alix next. I liked how she discovered the Astral Library. When Alix discovered the library, I found myself wondering what book she would pick, and if she ended up staying there or choosing a different book. The Astral Library was different from other Kate Quinn’s books, and that was one of the things that I liked about it. I do wish we could go inside the worlds that Alix and the librarian jumped into to explore them further. I also felt that sometimes the transition between the worlds was a bit confusing. I liked that the literary worlds they ended up in were classics; some of my favorites.
The Astral Library sends a powerful message. In general, I enjoyed exploring the worlds of Astral Library. I would like to escape into my favorite book, and escape reality for a while. I’m eager to see what Kate Quinn has in store for us next!
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