The Wren in the Holly Library

 

Blurb:

Can you love the dark when you know what it hides?

Some things aren’t supposed to exist outside of our imagination.

Thirteen years ago, monsters emerged from the shadows and plunged Kierse’s world into a cataclysmic war of near-total destruction. The New York City she knew so well collapsed practically overnight.

In the wake of that carnage, the Monster Treaty was created. A truce...of sorts.

But tonight, Kierse―a gifted and fearless thief―will break that treaty. She’ll enter the Holly Library...not knowing it’s the home of a monster.

He’s charming. Quietly alluring. Terrifying. But he knows talent when he sees it; it’s just a matter of finding her price.

Now she’s locked into a dangerous bargain with a creature unlike any other. She’ll sacrifice her freedom. She’ll offer her skills. Together, they’ll put their own futures at risk.

But he’s been playing a game across centuries―and once she joins in, there will be no escape...

Review:

What drew me to this book was its uniqueness. Not often are fantasy books set during the modern age. I liked the premise of monsters always existing in the shadows and then choosing to emerge into society with ramifications. I feel like K. A. Linde did a good job with issuing a semi-realistic description of the event if it did in fact take place. 

The book definitely felt like an easy read. It was fast paced and there was no need to fill in details on your own. K. A. Linde described sights and events clearly. At some points it did feel like more telling than showing, however, it didn’t draw much attention. 

I really liked the inspiration of Irish mythos. As a lover of the mythology behind the Tuatha dé Danann, I was tickled pink with all of the allusions and direct conversations in the book.

This leads into one of my biggest complaints about the book. There was way too much going on. When drawing on inspiration for a fantasy book from other fairy tales, legends, or mythologies, you need to stick with one or two. K. A. Linde didn’t just include the Irish mythos and its key figures, she included warlocks, werewolves, witches, merfolk, nymphs, vampires, wraiths, and the list goes on. It was too much and too messy. Alongside this there is the feeling of more than one storyline happening in the book. While having subplots is to be expected in a book, especially an adult book, these didn’t feel like subplots. It was like there were two stories being told at the same time in a not so cohesive way.

Thus enter Ethan and Gen-- two side characters and the best friends to the protagonist, Kierse. Obviously they’re painted as important to Kierse at the beginning of the book, however, they don’t hold any weight for the rest of the book until the very end where they play a massive role. When they do enter at the end of the book, and have this great ta-da, it is awkward, jolting, and confusing. If they were so important, why was that importance not carried throughout the whole book? I don’t mean importance to the protagonist, but importance to the plot. I understand that there is most likely going to be a series built out of this book, but I felt left feeling empty with the ending. It wasn’t sufficient in the way things played out. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for a cliffhanger, but this wasn’t that. It was a “oh, I want these characters in the next book so I’m going to shuffle them in at the end with this major revelation that makes absolutely no sense with what else has been going on except for one hint a few chapters before.” If K. A. Linde wanted Ethan and Gen to be as important to the ending as Kierse, then they needed to be more present and active in the rest of the story.

I give this book a 3 out of 5 stars because of the plot holes, inconsistencies, overwhelming pace, and character developments. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t good either. I recommend this book to readers 18+ because of sexual themes and disturbing imagery. In the words of today’s youth: it was mid.