The Lost Plot

3,5/5⭐️
Minder leuk dan de eerste 3 boeken doordat er ineens een ander verhaallijn bijkwam. Ik hoop dat het oude weer terugkomt, want dat vond ik echt leuker

This book was on all of my anticipated books lists of 2018 last year but I just lost track of it among all the other hyped novels, but I'm so glad I finally got the chance to get to it. Though I didn't plan this as part of my Five Star Readathon, I thought this would be a perfect book for the “Old Anticipated Book” challenge and it did not disappoint.

It's so much fun to see Irene in her element again. She is so calm, cool, collected and resourceful - it's just damn impressive. Her quick thinking in extremely tricky situations is always a delight to read and I love how she takes charge and everyone automatically listens to her, because she is just that assertive. Despite getting into all kinds of trouble, there is never any question that she is loyal to the Library but I admire that she still tries to make sure there is as less collateral damage as possible. But in this book, we also see a vulnerable side to her, especially when she sees the destruction of an entire library in Boston or while she is struggling with PTSD from the fiery ending of The Burning Page. It was nice to see that despite her confident persona, she is still human.

While the original trilogy was mostly about Irene and Kai trying to steal books and simultaneously dodging the all powerful rogue Librarian, this book finally gives us a better insight into the dragons - how their worlds and courts work, the various rulers and their politics and how best to deal with them. Pitting Irene against two competing dragon lords made for a very exciting story, because I really wanted to see how she was going to outmanuever them all. The setting of the story in 1920s Jazz and Prohibition Era America was a masterstroke - I love the descriptions of Boston and New York and the style and culture of the people. Having dragons, fae and librarians mixed up with police and gangsters made the whole ride quite thrilling. And I have to mention, Irene makes for an excellent badass mob boss.

Irene's relationship with Kai also goes through a lot in this book. Her struggle to remain neutral and not favor the dragons, while also finally acknowledging that she did indeed care for him was done really well. After all that happened in the first trilogy, I thought we would never see their relationship progress beyond friendship, but was I glad to be dismissed of that notion. This is one of the slowest burn ships you will ever read and I have to give it to the author that even now, at the end of the fourth book, she only gives us a possibility but no confirmation. I really hope we'll see more progress on that in the next installment. I really did miss Vale a lot in this book and I wish the 5th book will have more of the three of them.

This is an excellent series of books that any avid reader in love with the written word and a penchant for adventure will enjoy. And I'm even more excited because I got approved for the ARC of the next installment The Mortal Word and I'm ready for some more adventures.

Overview: A funny, yet tense adventure in which world-hopping Librarian Irene has to navigate a version of 1920s New York in an increasingly high stakes investigation stemming from a disappearing colleague.

After 1st Reading: The latest great episode in the ultimate series for book-lovers who like reading about hero librarians that battle to save the multiverse while dreaming of nothing more than waking up to a free day, a pile of books and a decent cup of tea in easy reach.

I'm so looking forward to the next book.

After 2nd Reading: I remembered loving this book, but I think I had forgotten quite what a tangled web Ms Cogman wove. It is handled wonderfully with multiple situations in which I just couldn't see how Irene was going to extract herself, yet each time the resolution was handled in a very satisfying manner.

A really good book in a really good series.

I received this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

I am so glad I requested this book from Netgalley. See, at first I didn't realize it was part of a series, so I groaned about having to catch up in a series I was still on the fence about reading. In the end, this worked out for me, because with each book I've read in the series, the more I love it. Honestly, yes, the first book didn't really do it for me, but the second? hooked me! The third? Had me hanging on every word. This one? Stole my heart.

This book brings us out of Irene's usual world and instead takes place mostly in 1930s America where gangs are everywhere and alcohol is technically illegal. Irene trades in long skirts, veils, and scarves, for short hair, knee-length dresses, and tons of color. I absolutely love all the different worlds Irene goes to and how they are different from each other. The world-building must be difficult to write and explain, but I feel the author does a marvelous job.

The characters, by this point are very much well defined. The new side characters that pop up in the new world are also well done. I felt like there were a ton of new people introduced, but the little confusion I feel is needed to make the story. Yes, there are a ton of characters, but after this book Irene will probably never go to this world again, so we won't need to remember them.... most of them. I did miss some characters from other books. I don't want to spoil too much in case someone hasn't read the first book, but I think the hard part about writing a book about a character that goes to different worlds, is how to include a continuous cast besides your main ones. So, I understand why some people aren't included and hope they are included more next time.

I will say that one thing that bothers me with this series is that there is very time for Irene to think about her romantic feelings for characters except at the very beginning and end of books. And even then, I have no idea who she likes or doesn't and why. This isn't a huge part of the series – very minor considering how romance is practically never brought up, but when it is it irks me.

Also, Kai– KAI!! Ugh. I honestly have no idea what is going to happen in the next book with their partnership, but I do hope things work out.

I am so excited to read the next one!! I hope it comes out soon (you know, before 2020 maybe?).

The Lost Plot is the fourth book in the Invisible Library series, and like the three previous installments, it is delightful! These novels follow the adventures of Librarian Irene Winters, whose job requires using her quick wits to collect books for an organization existing outside of time and space.

In The Lost Plot, a political contest between dragons brings Irene and her apprentice, Kai, to an alternate version of New York City in the 1920s. It focuses on neutrality while delivering an incredibly fun adventure in which Irene contends with mobs, cops, a Fae sharpshooter, and dragons. Though I was a little disappointed it didn't follow up more on the revelations from the previous book, it had everything else I have come to expect from a book in this series and I found it immensely entertaining.

Full Review on My Website