The Library of the Unwritten (Hell's Library #1) by A. J. Hackwith

"A fun and truly unique idea of all of the "unwritten" works, books, art, music etc, that have yet to be or never was created, resting in an out of the way wing of a Library in Hell. The characters all had their charm and though the story was a bit convoluted at times, it was a pretty enjoyable and creative ride."

3 Stars

Pros: Definitely an interesting concept, all the unwritten books/art/creations of a mortal's life are organized within Hell's library, it was unique/Leto was a kind, relatable and likable character.

Cons: In its uniqueness it was a concept that was almost too difficult to grasp/Claire's rigidity got old rather quickly/It would be interesting to learn more of Claire's life/Leto's life as mortals.

Full Review:

Claire Juniper Hadley was mortal, once. She is now sentenced to spend, however long it takes to repent for her sins, as the Librarian of Hell's Unwritten Wing. It's where all works of art, books. paintings, you name it, go when either being created or were dreams that never came to be. Her assistant is Brevity, a failed muse, who is sunny and cheerful, a sharp contrast to Claire's rigid, somewhat cold exterior. Most of their days are spent making sure that all the works are sleeping "peacefully" in the stacks. But everything changes when a young Demon who goes by the name of Leto says that he has a special delivery for Claire's eyes only.

All this, mixed with one character from a book managing to escape from their novel and make it to Earth to meet their author and try to inspire he to get to writing, and everything is flipped upside down. Leto's special delivery as well as one soul claiming that he has pages from the Devil's Bible before entering Heaven piques the interest of Heaven/Hell and all other realms in between.

Though the narrative fun and creative at times, taking you to different "realms" such as Valhalla and the very Greek Labyrinth guarded by the Minotaur, it was also all a bit hard to grasp. The subject itself, the idea, was fun but at times it became a little too ethereal and hard to follow. I think in the end the betrayal and the fighting was all a little convoluted and that's what irked me the most. It held my interest for the most part but I think the other novels, since this seems to be a series, will be borrowed from the library.

I'd recommend this book to anyone who's ever tried to write or create, since it's interesting and a little inspiring to think that all of our unwritten works are just sleeping, waiting to be woken up when we put paper to pen, or brush to canvas etc.

Comments

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