The Library of the Unwritten by A.J. Hackwith

Such promise. Another of my declined requests from Netgalley I was able to borrow from my library's expanded digital library in this quarantine. I now must conclude that Netgalley knows best, and I need to leave the declined list alone.

I requested this novel based on "In the first book in a brilliant new fantasy series, books that aren't finished by their authors reside in the Library of the Unwritten in Hell, and it is up to the Librarian to track down any restless characters who emerge from those unfinished stories." Plus the dimension of a battle between Heaven and Hell seemed like it had some of the thought provoking schemes I look for in a novel.

The concepts were all there with some very strong potential, the author just didn't close the deal. The pages were just full of too many attempts of the author trying to be clever with pseudo-philosophical quotes at the expense of the actual narrative.

I wasn't completely disappointed. The multiple realms all existing on the foundations of their followers' beliefs worked. I liked imagining the shape of the afterlife Hackwith painted. I bounced my beliefs around with what I was reading. I consider that the victory of this novel. The f-bombs that started at random in the last quarter of the novel did not work, however, and neither did the incredibly not subtle feminist and sociological grandstanding.

I pushed to the end and found that it was anti-climatic and did nothing to redeem my waning attention. I will not be moving forward with this series.