Review – The Library of the Unwritten (Hell’s Library, Book 1) by A.J. Hackwith (4/5 stars)

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Length: 384 pages
Publisher: Ace
Release Date: October 1, 2019
ISBN-13: 978-1984806376
Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in the Hell’s Library series
Source: egalley from NetGalley
Rating: 4/5 stars

“Many years ago, Claire was named Head Librarian of the Unwritten Wing– a neutral space in Hell where all the stories unfinished by their authors reside. Her job consists mainly of repairing and organizing books, but also of keeping an eye on restless stories that risk materializing as characters and escaping the library. When a Hero escapes from his book and goes in search of his author, Claire must track and capture him with the help of former muse and current assistant Brevity and nervous demon courier Leto.

But what should have been a simple retrieval goes horrifyingly wrong when the terrifyingly angelic Ramiel attacks them, convinced that they hold the Devil’s Bible. The text of the Devil’s Bible is a powerful weapon in the power struggle between Heaven and Hell, so it falls to the librarians to find a book with the power to reshape the boundaries between Heaven, Hell….and Earth.”

I got this book through NetGalley to review. This is the first book in the Hell’s Library series. This was a very creative and well done book. I enjoyed the humor and wry tone of the characters. I also really enjoyed the idea of a library located in Hell that houses all unfinished books.

This book is primarily about a library located in Hell called the Unwritten Wing where unwritten books are kept. The story jumps between three main POVs (there are a couple others but these are the main three). The first is that of Claire, the librarian. The second is that of Leta, a new demon in Hell sent to help Claire. The last is that of Ramiel, a fallen angel that ends up trying to hunt down Claire and Leto.

In general I liked this book, it did take me quite a while to read though. I think my biggest issue was that I never really felt all that engaged with the characters. I enjoyed the characters and their snarkiness, however neither the characters nor the broader storyline made me desperate to read this book. The writing style, while easy to read, made me feel distanced from the characters and their story.

This book will remind readers of many other books out there that take a humorous look at clashes between Heaven and Hell. It falls under those books that are a bit humorous and are about heaven and hell and the machinations that happen behind the scenes to affect humanity as a whole (think Good Omens, Dogma, etc). I did enjoy the twist of how much influence this Unwritten Library has over leaders in Hell.

Overall this is a creative read. I am on the fence about whether or not I will continue this series. I just felt like I had to actively force myself to finish this one even though I enjoyed a lot parts of the story. I also am not a huge fan of these type of near apocalyptic humourous heaven vs hell types of stories.