Title: Ink and Bone
Author: Rachel Caine
Pages: 352 pages
Published: July 7th, 2015
Genre: Fantasy YA
Source: ARC from Penguin
Rating:
In an exhilarating new series, New York Times bestselling author Rachel Caine rewrites history, creating a dangerous world where the Great Library of Alexandria has survived the test of time...Ruthless and supremely powerful, the Great Library is now a presence in every major city, governing the flow of knowledge to the masses. Alchemy allows the Library to deliver the content of the greatest works of history instantly- but the personal ownership of books is expressly forbidden.Jess Brightwell believes in the value of the Library, but the majority of his knowledge comes from illegal books obtained by his family, who are involved in the thriving black market. Jess has been sent to be his family's spy, but his loyalties are tested in the final months of his training to enter the Library's service.When he inadvertently commits heresy by creating a device that could change the world, Jess discovers that those who control the Great Library believe that knowledge is more valuable than any human life- and soon both heretics and books will burn.
Buy it now!
**I want to thank Penguin for an advanced galley of this book**
The synopsis of this book reminded me of Bradbury's classic novel, Fahrenheit 451 with the idea of knowledge (aka books) being forbidden in the hands of an individual person. I loved Fahrenheit 451 and it was my favorite of all the books I was forced to read throughout the school year. It was a dystopian novel that takes place in the future, as this one is now. The authority of this library kind of reminded me of the power of the Catholic Church and the Pope in history. Sorry, just bringing up lessons from Global.
Sadly but surely, I could not get into this book at all. About 180 pages in, I would stop in between chapters and try to recall what was going on in the past few chapters. After recalling the plot of Fahrenheit, I concluded that this book did not have an original plot and was kind of similar. I was still excited and hyped to read this book because I enjoyed Fahrenheit, which was mentioned before.
The book follows the main protagonist Jess. It starts out with Jess trying to smuggle books for his father because the Great Library forbids the society from having personals books that are not under the consent or knowledge of the library. Basically this sounds exactly like the Roman Catholic Church and how you couldn't read a bible unless it was from the Pope or in the Church. The problem with this is that things can be altered and changed and the people in the society wouldn't even know it! Jess' family, I guess, is enraged by this and feels that people should have their right to owning books and plus it makes good money! Jess himself, though, loves to read and usually sneaks a couple of moments of reading when on the job. His father ends up telling him to compete for a spot at the Great Library.
I hope I'm not confusing you guys with my full explanation of the plot because this book was so confusing at times! I can deal with a fantasy book that has complex and planned twists and turned, but not a book that attempts to be 'intricate' and doesn't succeed.
The characters fell flat for me in this book. Rachel Caine is the author of the infamous Morganville vampires series, which some of my friends have seriously loved. Jess was a booklover, which I could totally relate to but other than that, he had no other shining personalities and highlighted qualities. Jess was like the only character with a 'soul', or in other words, with substance!!! At times, I felt like he was the only character in this book. Well actually, his father was kind of an asshole, so does that count??
And, of course, you probably guessed that I didn't get as far as the romance parts. It was a YA book though so I suppose it had to have a great romance aspect.
This is my first Rachel Caine novel so just because I didn't like this specific book, doesn't mean I won't like any of her others and that you won't like it either. Take this in consideration because whenever I don't like novels 100%, there are so many others that do. I also consider this book as historical fiction, so it was something different.
The book follows the main protagonist Jess. It starts out with Jess trying to smuggle books for his father because the Great Library forbids the society from having personals books that are not under the consent or knowledge of the library. Basically this sounds exactly like the Roman Catholic Church and how you couldn't read a bible unless it was from the Pope or in the Church. The problem with this is that things can be altered and changed and the people in the society wouldn't even know it! Jess' family, I guess, is enraged by this and feels that people should have their right to owning books and plus it makes good money! Jess himself, though, loves to read and usually sneaks a couple of moments of reading when on the job. His father ends up telling him to compete for a spot at the Great Library.
I hope I'm not confusing you guys with my full explanation of the plot because this book was so confusing at times! I can deal with a fantasy book that has complex and planned twists and turned, but not a book that attempts to be 'intricate' and doesn't succeed.
And, of course, you probably guessed that I didn't get as far as the romance parts. It was a YA book though so I suppose it had to have a great romance aspect.
This is my first Rachel Caine novel so just because I didn't like this specific book, doesn't mean I won't like any of her others and that you won't like it either. Take this in consideration because whenever I don't like novels 100%, there are so many others that do. I also consider this book as historical fiction, so it was something different.
Did you enjoy Fahrenheit 451 and are looking for a book with a similar dynamic and plot? Check out Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine!
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