Fast Paced and full of action. Once again old enemies are out to bet our friends from the Library. As they are drawn into another mystery and as people are again trying to kill them they have to move fast to stop disaster. In the end another mystery appears - one just for us the readers.

The Dark Archive is the seventh book in this series, and I didn't realize that when I requested, so I read the entire series in preparation. At the end of the sixth book, I felt fatigued at this series, but The Dark Archive came along and breathed new life into this series. 
Irene's position as a spy for the Library and as a representative of the treaty between the Fae and the Dragons have her dodging an assortment of assassination atttempts that doesn't just place her life in jeopardy, but the lives of everyone she cares about. When she discovers who is behind the attempts on her life, Irene discovers old enemies of her past have returned and teamed up in a dastardly plot that could destroy the fragile piece between the worlds that she has worked so hard to preserve. But to defeat her enemies once and for all, Irene must decide what lines she is willing to cross and who she's willing to betray to survive, and whether she can bear the truth that the secrets of her past will reveal. 
I didn't have super high hopes for this book as I didn't enjoy the book before it, but The Dark Archive took me by surprise by being everything I loved about the first 3 books. I haven't enjoyed this series quite as much after the Alberich storyline came to an end in book 3, and I am delighted that that storyline has made a return in this book. I love the intrigue and the mystery between the connection and villain/hero relationship between Irene and Alberich, and there's a twist towards the end of this book that I really really loved and that reinvested me into this series. I enjoyed the ways Irene was challenged in this book, and the deeply personal those challenges were, forcing her to question everything she knows about herself and the Library. This book also has better pacing than the last 3 book in this series, the intrigue and the action capturing my attention from the start. As always with an Invisible Library novel, the world-building was impeccable, but this book was much more character driven than the best. The Dark Archive is a story about the lengths a person will go to for love, revenge and power, and how the journey to do so can test long-held truths we hold about identity and duty.

I am a fan of this series and though I have not read all of them I had no problem being able to immerse myself in this latest installment. Our usual cast of characters are again involved in mystery and intrigue but this time something is different. This time the dead seem reluctant to observe the niceties and stay dead. Lord Guantes has returned and so has his lovely wife. Creepy crawlies are creating deadly zombies, and plots to assassinate the treaty representatves are in the works. And just to make matters worse someone has an eye on our lovely Librarian and they are very interested in her capabilities indeed. Being popular is becoming more deadly by the day and when history begins to repeat itself its up for grabs exactly who is betraying who for what purpose. All roads lead back to the library and the Librarian.

Another great book in the series! 
I loved this book from cover to cover. 
Great plot with plenty of paranormal themes. 
You need to start reading these series from book one. You won't be disappointed!!

This book was a phenomenal touch to this series! Everything I was expecting and a whole lot more. It was nice to revisit the world and characters i grew to know. Will highly recommend this book.

Irene and Kai have just survived securing a peace treaty between the Fae and Dragons. Kai is no longer her apprentice, and the Fae are up in arms about not having a Fae in the library. Fae is chaos-driven, so they’re complicated to bring into the library. Never the less Irene has been granted the opportunity to train Catherine and has two years to get her into the library. As a fae, Catherine takes on her narrative, and it is not seeing being a librarian as Irene the spy librarian does. She wants to be a librarian who shares and stores books in a library. Though I suspect by the end of the series, she will be changing and adapting that narrative.

As usual, irene is on a mission off to fetch a rare document, and Irene is tasked with the librarian who can do anything. While on a mission, some old enemies come to light under the control of a Dr. Bartumus rather odd experiments. Some science fiction added into our fantasy world where these experiments can take over bodies and clone them. The idea of an experiment attacking a central nervous system and controlling made for some exciting chapters.

As always is the case in this series, as we move through the book, we gather more clues about Irene’s past, and now that we know she was adopted, some real earth shattering truth bombs explode toward the end of the story. You need to pick this one up as it becomes an eye-opener to what we witnessed over the last few books.

This is a fantastic addition to the invisible library series! I absolutely adore Irene and Kai and loved seeing them "parenting" Catherine! I do wish there had been more group scenes together but I also love all the individual quests the characters went on. ALSO who know that villian was coming back?? I knew it and I loved the twist so much. Can't wait to read the next one!

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for providing an arc for an honest review!

I will continue to read everything Genevieve writes! I love her storytelling and character arcs. Fairies, dragons, and libraries, oh my! It's just wonderful. I'll be sad to see the series end.

Genevieve Cogman continues the high fantasy Invisible Library series with The Dark Archive.  Irene, the Librarian, is teaching her fae apprentice Librarian skills when she falls down the rabbit hole of assassination and kidnapping attempts against them and her ally the dragon Kai.  She discovers Alberich the traitor Librarian and other evil actors are trying to subvert the treaty between Dragons and the Fae.  Danger, intrigues and books. What a great combination.

I received a free copy for review from NetGalley. I have really enjoyed this series, and they are generally delightful. There's just something about an action Librarian that really appeals to me, and this book does not disappoint. From the very beginning, Irene and her crew of dragons, fae, vampires, and detectives hit the ground running with the action, and the mystery literally begins with a bang. The story is well paced, and the characters are given enough time to show some new facets of their personalities. While the mystery was not completely surprising, the variety of adventures the characters encounter kept the story going. There is a good twist at the end, and I cannot wait to see what the next book holds.

I loved this latest addition to Cogman's Invisible Library series! There was quirkiness, wit, and a return of our favourite group of characters. And I thank god that I don't work with Irene. While I've definitely muttered "I didn't become a librarian for this" it has never been because of murder.

The Dark Archive picks up fairly quickly after events of the previous book and readers are immediately thrown in the action as our indomitable heroes have all been experiencing assassination attempts, except, quite curiously, for Irene. After the return of an old foe, Irene and co. find themselves embroiled in another intrigue with the fate of the Library-Fae-Dragon treaty on the line.

The novel moves at a breakneck pace with much to love for those who enjoy action-based stories. For me, what I really loved about this novel was the author's choice to include more from Kai's perspective. I love shifting point of views and for me, this really made The Dark Archive all the more entertaining.

Given the revelations at the end of the book, there is no way that I won't be back for the next (and final?) book in the series.

In my review of the last book, The Secret Chapter, I hoped we'd see more of Vale in the next book and while Vale was in this book, I'd still like more of him. Maybe he needs his own short story. Although, he did provide a crucial revelation late in the book. It was one I'd already guessed but it was good to see it out in the open, and whoo boy, it is going to have ramifications. One thing about these stories is they are not stagnant; every book moves the overall series arc along. Developments in one book are seen and felt in the following books. Cogman is an incredible plotter; details are rarely unimportant or minor. She reminds me of Seanan McGuire in that regard. They both build complex, rich worlds where events have consequences and everything matters, nothing is unimportant.

In addition to the usual cast of Irene, Kai, and Vale, we see Inspector Singh but not Lord Silver. I actually missed him. Silver's niece Catherine, however, is Irene's new apprentice and ooo, she was annoying; so rude, and impatient, and entitled. I warmed up a bit during the story but she's not a favorite, not yet. We also have the return of several villains who kept Irene and companions busy trying to stay alive and mostly unharmed. It felt, this time around, as if Irene and gang were more reactive than proactive and when they were proactive, things did not go according to plan. Although, to be fair, they rarely do. Irene's life is spy first, then thief, then librarian, something that Catherine complains about extensively. Being a Librarian is not what she had imagined. Honestly, it's a lot more exciting that I ever expected, lol. 

The story was exciting, with lots of action, some twists, intriguing characters, and politics, though less of that than usual. The epilogue was full of twists and I am anxious for the next book to see how they play out. I expect it will play out over several books. Cogman is keeping the series fresh and interesting. I'm looking forward to more.

Librarian and spy Irene, her new Fae assistant, friend and Detective Vale, and her lover and dragon Prince Kai have had repeated attempts upon their lives. When those attempts escalate to include kidnapping they must do everything to find out who’s responsible, including unlocking secrets that could change their lives forever.

The above synopsis is a bit short but is the gist of the novel. What it leaves out are all of the murder attempts, escapes, and revealing conversations. The only certain thing for Irene is that she doesn’t want anything to happen to those she cares for and she’ll upend multiple world to keep them from harm.

The Dark Archive is not fluff or filler in the storyline of Irene’s life, instead we find out some of the delicious details that we’ve been dying to know. How is Kai’s standing in his family, does Silver’s niece really want to be a librarian or is this just part of a Fae plot, and who are really Irene’s parents? We have been leading up to some of these answers for quite a while and whereas I like a good adventure as much as the next reader I was getting tired of being led by a carrot through multiple books. In The Dark Archive, we finally find out the answers and unfortunately that leaves me little to talk about in this review. What I can say is that this novel was interesting, it was filled with multiple twists, and Irene and Kai’s relationship seems to include a lot of feelings that Irene may be slightly uncomfortable revealing. After all, she is a spy and needs to keep some things close.

If you’re a fan of this series you’re not going to be felt let down by this novel. Finally, you’ll receive some of the answers you’ve been looking for, but unfortunately this series is not wrapped up yet. Or is that fortunately? Hmmm. In any case, this is not the end for Irene, Kai and her friends. There are more secrets yet to be revealed!

❤️❤️❤️❤️

I received a copy of this ARC through NetGalley for my honest review and it was honest.

The Invisible Library series could also be titled, “The Perils of Irene” – without any sort of a stretch at all. Irene’s adventures aren’t just “out of the frying pan into the fire” but frying pans and fires all the way down. Until the last jump lands Irene (and company) straight into a pit where it’s always darkest just before things turn completely black. Then a light shines at the end of the tunnel and it’s always an oncoming train.

Which Irene and her friends manage to board and escape – only to have both the train and the station it crashes into transform into another frying pan and another fire. Each and every one bigger and hotter than the last.

And so it goes with this seventh book in the series, as Irene and her friends are still dealing with the fallout from the previous adventure in The Secret Chapter, only to discover that the mess that they thought they’d wrapped up hasn’t really begun. It’s just moved itself to a new home. Theirs.

Irene’s adventures tend to be caper stories. Well, they at least begin as caper stories. The opening scenes are of Irene sent somewhere questionable and doing something slightly dodgy, in order to “acquire” a book that the Library needs and that Irene has been ordered to get.

Sometimes (rarely) Irene’s methods of acquisition are on the relatively up and up – either an exchange of money or an exchange of more-or-less above board favors. When this story begins, Irene is in Guernsey in her analog of Victorian London intending to buy a copy – or possibly THE copy, of Le Morte de Merlin by Thomas Malory. (If the title sounds familiar, that’s because it’s this particular world’s foundational book of the Arthurian legends – except they’re based around Merlin instead. As if Mary Stewart’s The Crystal Cave were both rare and historical canon.)

Howsomever, as so often happens in the parts of Irene’s life that we are privileged to witness, the slightly clandestine but otherwise above board goes pear-shaped. The meeting place is attacked, the sellers are assassinated and Irene and her new apprentice escape the clutches of evil by the skin of their teeth – WITH the book firmly in hand.

While the beginning of this story is far from atypical for the series – and very much part of the reason that I love it so much – the farrago of death, danger and derring-do that Irene and her friends find themselves in this time turns out to be a walk through some very dark places.

Because it’s not just a book or even the future of the Library that’s at stake this time. What opens as just another one of Irene’s “little” adventures turns out to be the opening act in a fight for her very soul.

Escape Rating B: This turned out to be more of a mixed-feelings read than I was expecting. Because I absolutely adore this series and have been waiting all year for this book, so I expected to fall into instantly and love every minute of reading it.

But, but, but, it took me a while to get stuck back into Irene’s world, longer than usual. That may partly be ‘tis the season as well as ‘tis the year 2020 and everything is weird. I think it was also that the opening of this story reads like so many of the other books with tiny variations, that it felt like it started a bit in the middle – as in the opening is very dependent on events in the previous book – and that this book represents a change in direction for the series – or at least an expansion in scope as well as a contraction in focus – and it took a bit to switch from just another caper to “the end of the world as we know it” to “the end of Irene’s world as she knows it”. Which is not the same thing at all.

Also, Irene spends a lot of this story not just being reactive instead of proactive – because that’s normal – but because she’s reacting in confusion and obfuscation to the point where I as the reader felt more confused and obfuscated than I either liked or expected. Irene has a reputation for “getting shit done” but spent the beginning and middle of this book flailing around and worrying about her new apprentice instead of just dealing with shit.

At least it felt that way.

Then all of the various enemies’ schemes collapsed into (finally) one big ball of wrong instead of a whole lot of bouncing little balls of wrong and the whole story took flight even as Irene’s life crashed and burned.

The ending pushes the whole story off the original “light” rail and onto a much deeper and darker track. It’s going to be marvelous and probably heartbreaking and I can’t wait until this time next year when we’ll probably (hopefully) get book 8 in the series.

One final note, when I saw the title of this entry in the series, it sounded familiar – only because the title is oh-so-similar to another book that came out this fall, written by a real-world librarian and archivist. That similarly titled but not similar in subject book is Dark Archives: A Librarian’s Investigation into the Science and History of Books Bound in Human Skin by Megan Rosenbloom. You’d think it wouldn’t be remotely relevant. But it sorta/kinda is in a much creepier way than I could ever have expected.

Read this series, starting with The Invisible Library, and you’ll see.

This review was originally posted on <a href="https://booksofmyheart.net/2020/12/29/the-dark-archive-by-genevieve-cogman/" target="_blank"> Books of My Heart</a>
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<i>Review copy was received from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.</i>

<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/series/145608-the-invisible-library" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em><strong>The Invisible Library</strong></em></a> series is a favorite series with its adventures and the continuing development of some characters.   While Irene and Kai are now on the treaty council, <strong>The Dark Archive</strong> is one long escape from assassination attempts. Of course, they can't just run, they have to figure it out so they can go on with their work and so humans won't be injured. Who better to investigate and solve a mystery than Vale?  I was so happy to see him again, more active in this story.

There is also the matter of Irene's new apprentice, the Fae representative, Catherine.  Catherine is Lord Silver's niece. She is young and idealistic and very annoying.  More than once, she disobeys orders and causes trouble. No Fae has ever been able to enter the library with their chaotic natures so that is one of Irene's challenges because Catherine wants to go to the Library.  Her ideal is to read books, care for books, and recommend books to others.  She is dismissive of Irene's normal duties.

The investigation, constantly interrupted with assassination attempts, seems to point towards old enemies who are dead. But there does appear to be a revenge aspect because it is Irene and Kai as well as their friends targeted. So relatives of their former foes could be involved.  Irene does an amazing job as usual in outwitting threats and saving her life and others.  Although, things are dire more than once.

I highly recommend this smart, high-action series (read them in order).  The romance is definitely in the background and not a focus in any of the books which is just the way I like it. Both Irene and Kai learn more about their families and each other in the continued development of their characters.  I'm always fascinated to learn more about the library, the fae and the dragons who make up the primary aspects in these worlds.

Comme d'habitude, Kai and Vale and Irene are in pursuit of a Book on Vale's home, and Irene and Kai's adopted favorite base-world, B-395. New character Catherine (where's Heathcliff, Author Cogman?) is a Fae (and the niece of powerful adversary Fae Lord Silver) who is to be trained as a Librarian. Hence her presence here.

But, I hear fellow fans complain, Fae can't go into the Library! They're Chaos on legs, they would be extinguished or combust or something! And you're correct, they can't. Catherine's tried with no success and a good deal of pain. Now she's on a Librarian spycrafty expedition, nursing a distinctly adolescent sense of being Hard Done By and making poor Kai pay for her inner crappy mood. Irene and Vale? Elsewhere. Being, in fact, booby-trapped into a submarine explosion and a major, major discovery. A Certain Someone is not as dead as Irene left him, and his Lady Wife seems to be ready to take on the Library to get revenge for Irene's dastardly nerve in killing him in the first place.

These are but the opening notes of the symphony. And I can assure you that the pace doesn't slacken, the chases are truly cinematic (one B-395 London library is *begging* to be filmed with its multi-story Guggenheim-esque open atrium architecture, only 18th century and marble not 1959 concrete), the characters constantly going to extremes in service of their families, their peoples (Fae, Dragons, Librarians...the odd human tempest-tost in the deep end of a cosmic pool they never suspected existed), and the Treaty that our intrepid gang damn near died to bring into effect. After all, a multiverse of opposing sides defined by antithetical modes of being needs rules or there's going to be lots of casualties.

What I look for that Author Cogman delivers book after book is a group of people whose honor is stronger than their fear, whose shared values hold them up when they're so battered by enemies they just want to lie down and rest, and whose relationships adjust to Earth-shattering new information.

That last one? That's the Big Reveal. You'll think, "oh THIS is what he was on about!" And it will most definitely NOT be. And you won't know it until a book falls on your metaphorical head and rings your bells.

It's worth it.

This request was made before I realized how far along in the series this novel was. So this is entirely my fault and will not make this mistake again in the future, therefore I am unable to review this book properly  and had to DNF it - however I did purchase the first book in the series and have started reading it! And am rating this book based on my current feelings towards the series and will come back and edit this when appropriate!

My thanks to NetGalley for making an eARC copy of this book available to me.

A welcome return to the Invisible Library series, this book continues the conflict between order and chaos, with Irene the Librarian stuck in the middle.  This time she also has to deal with the extremely irritating Catherine, a young Fae Librarian-in-training.  There was a nice reveal at the end of this adventure, something I'd been expecting for a while and glad to have it pulled out of the shadows.  Now we just need to determine what is behind the plot behind the plot behind the plot that continues to plague Irene and her little gang.  Something to look forward to!

What I Absolutely Loved:

Catherine, the fae librarian. Catherine has one of the most fun character arcs. As the niece of Lord Silver, Catherine was introduced in the end of book six as Irene’s new apprentice. Not much was know about her other than that she is fae and Lord Silver wanted her in the Library somehow (a feat never accomplished prior), so naturally, I assumed she would be as deliciously depraved as the Lordship himself. However, I was unpleasantly, then pleasantly surprised to realize Catherine is nothing like Lord Silver at all. She is young, earnest, and wants to be an archetypal librarian with a lower case “L” – not a kick ass, espionage riddled Librarian like Irene, just someone who loves and nurtures a love for books and shares knowledge. While at first, Catherine is whiny and I was unsure of her motivations, the longer I “got to know” her, the more she becomes a valuable member of Irene’s “team” and the more I grow to like her, despite being a pawn in the Dragon/Fae/Librarian treaty. I also empathize with wanting to be a quintessential “librarian’s librarian”; who among us wouldn’t?!

The Action Scenes. Say what you want about the Invisible Library series, but there is always fun and thrilling action, with Irene, Vale, and Kai getting into sticky situations and coming out guns/magic/fire/waterworks blazing. The Dark Archive was no exception – within the first 50 or so pages there is already two assassination attempts with poison, parasitic brain eaters, disappearing doors, and shoot ’em ups. There is a kidnapping, blazing buildings, tightrope walks, and magical scientific experiments. One of the best parts of this series is seeing the creative ways that the trio survive in world(s) where most people want them dead. Cogman really amped up the pressure in The Dark Archive, bringing even more thrill than normal.

The Twist. It is impossible for me to expand upon this for obvious reasons. I will just say, for fans of the series, this was a bombshell. The past couple of books have had a feeling of tension leading up to something big, and I am excited to see it come to fruition.

What Didn’t Work *as* Well:

Kai’s brother Shan Yuan. In The Dark Archive, we are introduced to another one of Kai’s siblings (as royalty of a long lived race of dragons, Kai has a lot of siblings) – Shan Yuan, a tech obsessed dragon who is somehow both incredibly jealous and weirdly protective of Kai. Yuan inserts himself into the gang’s activities when Kai needs to bring him in on a laptop project, and from there, Yuan screws up everything he touches. He is that coworker that you reluctantly bring into a project for the help 75% of the way in who then tried to change how it is run and loses you the client. In this case, Yuan almost gets one of the gang killed, and has no idea because he is an arrogant dragon princeling. Yuan is not supposed to be likable, but I felt it was a step further and he actually muddled the story up and didn’t provide value, as compared to the last appearance of Kai’s siblings in prior books, which was well executed.

The (lack of) Kai/Irene action: Make no mistake, the Invisible Library series is not a romance series. There is no steamy scenes for the most part, and Irene and Kai have a loving relationship that is not generally at the forefront. However, I love their dynamic in both the platonic and romantic sense, and he fact that Irene and Kai spent so much time apart this installation really, for lack of better term, bummed me out. They are better together. I did love that Vale was more active, though.

That is really it. While The Dark Archive wasn’t the strongest in the series, it is another great book in a long line of great books in the Invisible Library series.

Conclusion:

One caveat: This series is not the type to read as standalone (it is hard to fit that much worldbuild that would allow readers to read out of order). However, the series if five stars for me, four stars for this book.

I was lucky enough to get an advanced copy of The Dark Archive by Genevieve Cogman (agented by Lucienne Diver) and I've never said this before but the Epilogue is amazing. 
The whole book is good, but the EPILOGUE! 
Also, I'm huffed that I can't get a copy of the purple cover in the USA.  I love the purple cover. Why is the US cover green?
Read this series people. I've said it before and I'll say it again. You are missing out if you aren't. 
Start at the beginning with The Invisible Library. These books do build on one another. The main character is a Librarian. She's a spy for The Library and she gets into many adventures. She's one tough cookie. She's named after the One, the one woman who went up against Sherlock Holmes and won, and there is a Sherlock Holmes like character in the books named (so good) Peregrine Vale. She even has a secret Library language.