The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins
This book is: excellent and strange.
Other elements: God(s), destiny, the true power behind the universe, fate, knowledge, fatherhood, love, lions.
Read it: if you like the idea of a really well-written story that is like nothing you’ve ever read before.
Overall rating: 8.5/10
So, this Library at Mount Char is really good. But it is also BANANAS. I knew going into it that it wasn’t just about a library, but it’s REALLY not just about a library.
My husband kept asking me what I was reading and I had to give answers like “I think it might be sort of about…God? Or people who are almost Gods? I can’t tell yet. But it’s good.”
Goodreads has Library at Mount Char categorized as Fantasy, Horror, Adult Fiction, Science Fiction, Magical Realism, Fantasy > Paranormal, Thriller, Contemporary, and Science Fiction Fantasy. I think that those are all fairly accurate.
What’s amazing about Library at Mount Char is that it draws you so completely into this insane story that you don’t even mind that you’re not sure what the rules are. You trust that it’s going to unfold at its own pace, and you want to stay in it and see what happens next. It’s constantly surprising – it’s one of those books where as soon as you feel like you have a handle on what’s going on, the picture shifts slightly and you realize that actually everything has been completely different all along.
It’s a fast-paced, completely whackadoo, excellently executed book that is unlike anything I’ve read before. And I think if a book is unlike any other book – in a good way, like this one is – it’s definitely worth reading.
Warning: not for the squeamish. Violent and dark.
For more reads anytime, check out my Amazon recommended books store. This post contains affiliate links.
 |
It’s funny because I just finished this last night, and even when I was within striking distance of the end, I was trying to tell my boyfriend about it and all I could come up with was “This book is completely bonkers! I don’t even know what it’s about. But I think I really like it!”
Ahaha – sounds exactly like my experience. But still: such a good book, right?
It really was. I finished it and immediately went to bed and spent a night filled with very odd dreams.
Ahaha, I can only imagine. Not a book you want to dream about.