I started reading this and it was beautiful. It was also sad, and her missing her mother hit too close to home for me to continue... I lost my mother not too long ago, and right now this book will make me too sad.
Thank so SO much for sending it though. BEAUTIFULLY written what I did read!

First of all I really want to thank the publisher providing me with an e-arc of this book to review! I was astonished by the cover of the book. Just amazing! I love the concept and the way it fits with the storyline. Next, the description also really got my interest. I was very surprised by how easy this book was to read. The writingstyle is very nice and interesting. And the storyline evolved quickly. From the moment Bea sets foot in Zweeshen, a lot of information is shared. The author knew how to spread all the rules and information about this world through the story, but yet there was a lot to learn. Sometimes it was a little overwhelming. The characters and the plot on the otherhand were amazing to read about. There are quite a few characters that Bea gets involved with, but it wasn’t that hard to keep them apart. The worldbuilding is very extraordinary. The concept of a world where you can meet all characters of all the books ever written is amazing. But Bea’s purpose of being there is a little unclear at the beginning. She needs to decipher a message and it takes quite some time. But the story never got boring or something. There were enough happenings and at the end a few plot twists. The end was very surprising and makes you wonder about the next part in this series.

It did take me awhile to get into this book, but once I did I discovered a cast of likeable characters, and a complicated yet fascinating story with a very surprising twist.

I had to DNF this.

I feel like the world building was lacking, could not keep terms straight (when they were explained at all).

The premise was very interesting and the writing itself was decent. I just couldn't get into the story.

*This eARC was provided by the publisher in exchange for and honest review.

First of all, thank you to NetGalley and INtense publications for the eARC. My opionions on this book and my review are wholly my own.

I wanted to love this book. In reading the book description, I really thought I would . The author, Alicia Novo, has writing talent and there are some beautiful sentences and phrasing in the book. However, I fell victim to being confused and a bit befuddled during the world building process. The pacing was also slow for me and made it hard to become engaged with the story. I have read other new triologies that had their own languages, words, terms, etc. but the use of them in this book felt more clunky to me.

Beatrix Alba is living a fairly unhappy life where she is not treated well at home and outright bullied at school. The recent loss of her grandfather, who seemed to be her only ally, has made things even worse. He was the one that understood that books whispered to her and that she had a power that they named the Furie that needed to be cloaked and hidden. When this cloaking fails, she is then sent to the world of Zweeshen where books are alive, there are biblioworlds and you may bump into the characters you have read about. This is where it all got murky for me though. It was difficult to follow the characters, their quests and also difficult to connect with them as well. Also felt like the book concluded and there were still unanswered questions.

I unfortunately have to mark this book as DNF. Did not finish, I read until the middle of chapter 7 before I could not continue reading it. Though I regret not being able to.

It has a very interesting premise but fails to grab my attention very quickly. But the book feels drawn out, the main action doesn't even begin until at least chapter 5. And that is just the beginning of the story, The length, or at least the length as it is presented in ebook form of NetGalley is does not feel like it makes up for the slow pace of the book.

I love the idea of the main character being part of a book herself. What reader doesn't wish that they themselves are part of their favorite book. The world-building that I did get to see is very fun and magical, I hope one day I can come back to it and read it properly. Maybe once it is out in physical form, it will a bit easier to digest and keep reading.

A solid YA portal fantasy that builds on the idea of book characters having their own lives outside the pages (similarly to Jasper Fforde or a few other authors).

While it occasionally strays into cliche (for example, in the final villain confrontation), at least nobody has green eyes. The worldbuilding is original, though it provides more questions than answers sometimes, and (as you perhaps might expect from a world based on books) the magic and technology appear to be able to do whatever is plot-convenient. The world ended up, for me, feeling a bit like a movie set that's only finished where the camera is pointing, and would be revealed as just bits of wood and canvas if you went round the back. But that's a complaint I often have; truly immersive worldbuilding is hard to do, especially if you're attempting something original, and I'd rather someone attempted originality and ended up slightly less than acing it than that they built the whole thing out of prefabricated parts.

The main character starts out as the usual uniquely special, socially outcast young woman with missing or abusive parents who's angry and impulsive and can't control her powers; but she's not a whiner, she doesn't instantly slobber over the love interest, and she does have a character arc that involves her exercising some agency and having some personal growth. So, better than average.

The secondary characters are perhaps slightly too numerous, and several of them (maybe as a result) are underdeveloped, but at least they don't help the MC for no reason. There are a number of useful minor antagonists - she's not one of those heroines who everyone inexplicably loves and goes out of their way to assist - and, while a bit of realistic dystopianism makes its way into the setting, it's not a political screed. I spotted the main villain slightly ahead of the reveal, but only slightly. <spoiler>I'd been successfully red-herringed before that into thinking that one or another of the secondary antagonists might be the villain in disguise. </spoiler>

There's a mystery plot (decoding a message) which helps to keep things moving and provides interim goals, and it's handled with variety, not just the same kind of solution over and over.

Overall, then, pretty solid, though with a way to go before it's truly excellent. There are some cliche elements, the worldbuilding is not always the clearest, some of the minor characters I found forgettable and hard to distinguish, and (in the pre-publication version I had from Netgalley), it suffers from some not-quite-right idioms and vocabulary choices. It definitely shows potential, though, and I found it above average for the genre.

This book is a delightful journey into the unknown. It is populated with beloved book characters and elements but in a unique world with more than an undercurrent of danger. This book hooked me immediately and I am sure book lovers will be charmed.
How can you but immediately adore our heroine who hears books! As soon as she asked to be called Anne with an E I knew I couldn’t be more smitten with her. Very quickly Beatrix finds herself off on a very unexpected adventure in a very strange place. The beginning of the book is strong but I do think it loses itself as it goes on. While I liked the slow reveal as the reader is as much in the dark as Beatrix as to what is going on I do think the author needed to give us more information and world building. Far too often chapters end with mysterious uttering and happenings that are never explained. Beatrix is far too stubborn and it’s annoying when she makes no effort to get the help she clearly needs. It’s frustrating that we never get answers to why she is such an outcast at home and the many questions about her family.

I found the strange names of the places off putting and hard to keep track of which is also true of the side characters. Some have similarly confusing names but there so many of them it can be hard to keep straight who everyone is. The most important are the adorable feisty sidekick Emma and the mysterious William. In my opinion too much time is spent on extraneous characters without fleshing them out. In many ways this book feels incomplete and could very much have used a revision and more details. Despite these complaints the story while rough is charming. I wanted much more of the story, it’s characters and it’s world. I really did like it and I hope the author is writing a sequel because there is so much here it would make a great series.

For those wondering about the YA classification while Beatrix is 16 the writing and tone do not feel juvenile. It’s a very tame book that could be read by a teen audience. There is some violence referenced but it’s mostly in a tone downed way even while it’s happening. It was more bothersome to me that it was just accepted and not acted upon in the main scene it happens in. There is more violence against citizens by those in charge but again brief. There is some very brief kissing and a character wakes up alone missing someone which struck me as odd because it certainly wasn’t written as if anything happened. It could have been a character staying to comfort an ill character more than a romantic situation.

This book is a huge slap in the face for every writer out there that hasn't finished their WIPs

I mean...a world where book characters exist and go on with their lives?????

What can I say?This book has a cast of likeable and great characters,a great atmosphere,mystery,a complicated yet fascinating story,a plot twist

Speaking of the plot twist,man,I never saw that coming.It definitely gave the "Reiner/Bertholdt vibe" from AOT that I've been into ever since I watched it.

Though I have to admit at first I wasn't that into the story but honestly this faded away as it progressed.Also not a fan of the love story 😬😬

All in all,I can't wait for the sequel!! I think this is the author's debut novel? Wow,if you're thinking of reading this,it's definitely worth it!!

I just have to say, that this was an extremely creative story! The plot was unique, I don’t think I’ve seen any other books like it, and I really enjoyed going along for the ride!

This book was not like what I was predicting but I really enjoyed it. I have never read a book like this and I flew through the pages. The main character was a very interesting person and I enjoyed learning more about her. Great book!

This story was magical all the way through. It was easy to read and easy to get lost in. I'd say it is a combination of Melissa Albert's "The Hazel Wood" and Erin Morgenstern's "The Starless Sea" for young adults. There are so many different worlds to get lost in all within one book.