So I may be biased but I love books about libraries. Even libraries in Hell. And when the librarian is a stubborn and deeply caring about the books, you've got me. Full of action, adventure and lots of mythology, This book is a fun roller coaster of danger. With a similar feel to Good Omens, this book is just fun to read. Claire, a human soul in charge of the library in Hell, takes her job very seriously but when a character escapes it will draw her into a potential war between Heaven and Hell as she tries to save the human world.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Berkley Publishing Group for sending me a free ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Library of the Unwritten is a clever, original, and humorous story about unwritten books and the librarian currently in charge of them. It’s an entertaining tale written in the form of 4 alternating view points and I could have easily spent another 400+ pages in this world!

I absolutely loved the concept of this book. An entire library devoted to unwritten stories, some which have yet to find their authors and some which never did? Books with minds of their own and characters that can escape from their pages, impressionable to everything around them? Writer’s block appears whenever the library is closed? The world building was clever and imaginative, the characters quickly grew on me, and the story kept me entertained and wanting to read more.

There were only a couple of points in The Library of the Unwritten that fell a little short for me. For instance, sometimes the character backstory wasn’t super believable (especially when the plot hinged on something major that wasn’t even hinted at before) and for a couple chapters the author’s choice of narrator didn’t immediately seem like the natural fit for that point in the story (but it usually worked itself out by the end of the chapter). The overall ending was pretty satisfying, but there were a few loose ends I wish had been tied up better. However, I enjoyed the adventure the novel took me on enough that I was willing to trust the author would eventually explain. I’m excited to see how this series progresses!

The Library of the Unwritten releases October 1st and is available for preorder on Amazon. Thank you again to NetGalley and the Berkley Publishing Group for the privilege of reviewing an ARC.

Claire is the librarian of Hell, overseeing the books and stories that were dreamt of but never written. She’s also not the only librarian that exists in the afterlife as she embarks on a quest that involves demons, muses, angels, lost souls, and unwritten characters come to life. AJ Hackwith has crafted with love a deep and diverse fantasy world where the afterlife is anything but peaceful. The action is well-paced and there are moments of depth and tenderness (without overt romance, which was quite nice), although overall it doesn’t feel as if Claire’s character evolves that much. That could also because chapters rotate among multiple characters’ perspectives, and it is clear this is the beginning of a series. In fact, this is one of the few books which makes me more interested in follow-up stories about Claire, the angel Rami, or other afterlife libraries and artifacts. It is wholly a lot of fun to read, and I found it a bit more enjoyable than another librarian-adventurer book, The Invisible Library.

3.5 stars, really, but I rounded to 4.

*I received a copy of this book from Berkley Publishing Group via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.*

Library of the Unwritten is excellent. The Library is located in Hell. Claire, the librarian, is a bit of a curmudgeon. She cares for all the books that were never written. Sometimes books wake up. It all begins when Claire has to go to Earth to track down an escaped book. An angel with a scrap of the Devil’s Bible (a magical artifact) confronts her. She escapes back to Hell, but adventure, politics, etc. ensue as she tries to prevent a war between Heaven, Hell, and Earth.

I appreciated the variety of relationships/identities (though friendships are foregrounded rather than any romantic relationships) and several revelations and betrayals - all well set up, but with enough surprises to keep things interesting. The author also explores what judgement and redemption mean. Similar in tone to Genevieve Cogman’s Invisible Library series.

I loved this book. The concept of all unwritten stories being held somewhere was awesome. You ever thing about writing a story and guess what the whole book shows up at the unwritten library. For all those ideas to be stored in Hell just made them that much more interesting.

Characters sometimes wake up and come out of their books, and in this case cause havoc. I've already recommended this book to several of my coworkers and put it on the must be ordered when released list at work.

I received an ARC from netgalley in exchange for a honest review.

Amazingly powerful and thought provoking despite the "not of this world" setting. As far as characters go, this was much more literary fiction than fantasy which I have to admit was a strike against it for me. Also I really wish she would have stopped jumping from one characters point of view to another almost every chapter. Otherwise, I will definitely read the next one and recommend this as an interesting work for lit fiction lovers.

I started reading this and thought "this reads like... Terry Pratchett, maybe? But not quite..." I described the concept to my husband--a library in hell, where all the unfinished manuscripts are--and he said "are you reading Jasper Fforde? Because that's his concept."

So there's that. But! This is about Hell's librarian! And the long and perilous journey she undertakes to find the missing pages from a very important book, one that could allow someone to usurp Lucifer's power. She is a little stand-offish, a little bitter. Above all else, she is a Librarian.

I relate to this.

Her foil is, of course, a fallen angel trying to get back into Heaven's good graces. He's on her trail, after the same pages she is. He has Uriel on his side, for better or worse. He wants an end to his exile. She wants to take over for the God who has disappeared and/or abdicated.

Each chapter begins with an excerpt from a previous librarian's logs. I want to know more about each of these librarians, each with their own perspectives and tone. ALL THE LIBRARIANS PLEASE.

Worth noting: Claire (the librarian) is a black woman. A minor demon sent to assist her is also a teen of color. (Her skin is mentioned as dark, his lighter than hers.) Raise a glass to representation! Also, there are many women in the story, several of whom talk to each other about something other than men, so hooray for passing the Bechdel test. There's a place for the Damsels (women who have escaped their books but aren't sent back into them for various reasons), each of whom is distinct from the others (they're not deep characters, but they aren't an amorphous mass of Damsels), and they have agency of their own.

I will read the hell (npi) out of this series, even if the idea was Jasper Fforde's first.

Via NetGalley. Thanks, Netgalley!

Really wanted to finish it. This book wasn’t what I was expecting.

The writing was excellent. I love the idea of this book.

A genre jumping book that's part scifi-fantasy, part horror. Just thrilling, at time a bit gory. A wonderful book. And that title and cover combo is definatly eye-catching!

I have dreaded writing this review because I worry that I don't have the words to do this book justice. The story was fresh and unique. The characters, both real and not, were fascinating. The idea of the Unwritten Wing was such a clear concept of Hell for a librarian that I can't believe it is the first time someone has come up with the idea. The author used such vivid descriptions that I usually forgot that I was reading and not walking about in the story. This is a book for people that love books, stories, or just words. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves to read. I was

I received an eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is the first book in a series by A.J. Hackwith; I believe it's her debut novel as the rest of her works are parts of anthologies.

There is a place for all of your unwritten works. All of those half thought characters, the strewn scraps of scenes that could be cobbled together to possibly become a novel, all of those go to the Library of the Unwritten--which resides in Hell. It's not that the unwritten works are damned; it's just that the Library is a neutral space where the works are placed on shelves in leather-bound tomes. There is a long line of librarians who've tended to the Library throughout the millennia and currently, the Head Librarian is Claire--a no-nonsense sort of woman who catalogs and repairs the books as well as track down the characters when the books wake up. Yes, for various reasons, these unwritten books just give a bit of a stir and the characters spring to life and it's Claire's job to put them back where they belong.

Hackwith's novel starts out as a typical character fetching task. Claire and her assistant librarian, a muse by the name of Brevity, head to Earth to find the character and bring him back to his book. Unfortunately, things don't go as planned. Not only does the character--come to be known as Hero--find his author and try to inspire her to write his novel, but they come across an angel who definitely misunderstands their task at hand.

Ramiel, the Thunder of God, is trying to make amends with Heaven after joining The Coup D'etat (you know the one) and guards the pearly gates, escorting souls into Heaven. A soul comes up with a scrap of paper that was written by the devil himself. A scrap that can lead to a book that's on Earth that can lead to War.

Ramiel thinks the book Claire is chasing is The Book and chaos ensues. The librarian, her assistant, a young new demon, an old grouchy demon in charge of Archives, and Hero, all go gallivanting through the realms trying to find The Book before the angels do. Not to cause War, but because it's a Unwritten/ Unfinished book and it belongs in The Library!

The premise obviously brought to mind Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch, which was why I picked it up to read. I don't think it could be held up to the greatness of Gaiman and Pratchett (what can, honestly?), but it was still a fun read. The idea of a Library in Hell was neat, as well as some of the magic and realms that were visited.

Overall, if you do like Good Omens, give this a try.

I will say that I'm seeing some people put it on an LGBT shelf, but the representation is barely there. There's a mention of a character possibly being pansexual for one scene (it's a term they'd never heard before) and that's about it.

WOW! What a unique book. I absolutely loved every moment of reading it. The premise was unlike anything I'd ever read before. I think I'll be having my library book club read it as I know they'll love it. I was uncertain that I'd like Claire, but I warmed to her very quickly. Great book!

I love this book to pieces. I can't stop talking about it!

It's clear that AJ Hackwith is fond of reading, writing and all the tropes that go with it. Some might find the references to reading and writing very meta, but I loved every minute of it because I felt like I had this connection with the author -- that little side eye-wink when those nods and references slipped out.

Readers who loved Rachel Caine's The Great Library series and Genevieve Cogman's The Invisible Library series, will definitely find a kindred spirits in The Library of the Unwritten.

A very creative premise, that there is a library of unwritten books in a sort of netherworld afterlife (geographically linked to Hell, but not actually governed by it). I love the idea that occasionally the books wake up, manifest themselves as one of their characters, and try to go in search of their authors.

I know a bit about the legend of the Codex Gigas, the Devil's Bible, and enjoyed the way it was represented in this novel. An enjoyable read all around, and I hope to see more - I understand this may be the beginning of a series, and I'm looking forward to seeing where it goes.

This book was received as an ARC from Berkley Publishing Group - Ace in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

This book was so interesting I could not put it down. I love the concept of a library in hell and that there is a space where books go that are unfinished by the authors whom are now dead. Now with the twist of the hero escaping and how they hold the devil's bible which holds the entire force of heaven and hell and how they hold everyone's fate including their own and everyone wants the power. The concept from beginning to end was so breathtaking and enticing that I could not put this book down and it's new and different enough that everyone of our patrons will be wanting to read this book.

We will consider adding this title to our Fantasy collection at our library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.

This was a wild romp of a book that was wonderfully imagined and I’m sure will be loved by many readers. Unfortunately, I am not a member of the target audience and had trouble with a lot of the fantasy elements of the story. It was much more than just a simple chase for a missing unwritten book by a librarian. There were realms and backstories and angels and demons and just a lot to deal with. If this is your thing, you’ll really enjoy it. It was just more “out there” than I was expecting.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I absolutely loved the concept of this book, however I felt the actual story fell short in places. I loved the characters (even the evil ones). The characters were well-developed and each had an air of mystery. Some parts of the story seemed to drag on, but other parts were very interesting. I am curious to see what direction the story goes in.

This book was fantastic! I loved it! The author created a very believable afterlife world and a fun, diverse cast of characters. The main character, Claire the librarian, was flawed and relatable and a heroine I enjoyed rooting for. As a self-proclaimed book lover, I really enjoyed how books and authors played such an important part of the afterlife and the story in general. I'm so glad that it's only the first book in the series and that we'll get to know more about these characters and be introduced to more parts of this unique world in future books. I will be adding this to my top recommendations for the fall and the holiday gift giving season!

Such an intriguing concept: a library for all of the written works that have remained unfinished. To add to the intrigue, the Library of the Unwritten is located in hell, and staffed by people with ambiguous and troubled backgrounds. When Hero escapes from his book, it falls to Claire, the head librarian, to return him to the library and his author's unfinished novel, at the same time that the Devil's Codex must be located and kept from the angels of heaven. I would have appreciated an introductory setting of the scene and cast of characters to refer back to--perhaps then my reading of this novel would not have seemed so choppy.

One of my favorite tropes (is that right?) is books about books. And this being a book about a librarian in Hell, well it was a match made in Heaven! Sorry, couldn't help myself.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, which goes well beyond the provided premise -- that there's a library in Hell where all the books author have not or have not yet written reside, where some times the characters from those books 'wake up' and escape Hell, predictably to find their authors. It's listed as the first of a series, and I'd be curious to see how the characters would progress.

Thank you to A.J. Hackwith, Berkley Publishing Group/Ace, and Netgalley for the pre-publication access to this book.