Good Reads Summary:
When Alice's father goes down in a shipwreck, she is sent to live with her uncle Geryon--an uncle she's never heard of and knows nothing about. He lives in an enormous manor with a massive library that is off-limits to Alice. But then she meets a talking cat. And even for a rule-follower, when a talking cat sneaks you into a forbidden library and introduces you to an arrogant boy who dares you to open a book, it's hard to resist. Especially if you're a reader to begin with. Soon Alice finds herself INSIDE the book, and the only way out is to defeat the creature imprisoned within.
It seems her uncle is more than he says he is. But then so is Alice.
Book Review:
The Forbidden
Library by Django Wexler is filled with adventure, a little romance and
fantasy. Alice, the main character in the book is a studious young lady who
after losing her father goes to live with one of her uncles who she has never
met. In her new home, a mansion also known as "The Library" she meets
Emma, a plain looking girl who is a servant on the estate. As Alice begins to
settle in and explore her new home, she starts to question what happened to her
father and looks to the others in "The Library" for answers, this is
where the book gets interesting.
Django Wexler
does a good job describing Alice and the other characters in the book so that
it is easy to build a picture in your mind of what the characters are doing and
expressing. The author chose the right number of characters so that the reader
would not be confused about where they fit in. There are lots of plot twists that
keep you interested. Each twist had lots of detail, and many supporting ideas
that helped you feel connected to the novel. The chapters are the right length
for reading in the car and the right length for capping over what was
happening, enough detail so it was a good story but not too much that you would
lose interest. It was an easy book to read and understand. I liked that the
author put some images in the book. As the book goes on, Alice's adventures
become more extreme. Alice moves into a fantasy world full of fairies, magic,
and monsters. One of my favourite quotes from the book is:
"Ashes," Alice
said, in a tone of extremely strained patience. "Where are we?" He
sighed, which was an odd sound to hear from a cat.
"We're inside the book,
of course. The one you read; The Swarm." Alice laughed.
"You're not
serious."
"Don't ask questions if
you don't want to hear the answers," Ashes said. He swished his tail,
offended, and started off down one of the corridors. Alice, feeling the first
thrills of fear, hurried after him.
"All right, all right,"
she said. "We're inside the book. How did we get here?"
"You brought us,"
the cat said. "You have the gift, apparently. You're a reader."
If you like fantasy
books, action and mysteries, then this would be a great book for you to try to
unravel. Once you begin you won't want to put the book down!
By Jillian (Teen Reviewer)
