Well written and imagined alternative reality. The angst of young love amidst a magical library hidden in plain sight that can only be found with significant effort by those not tied to it. Again, a story of an alternative reality with links to other libraries on different worlds, different rules, etc. A well drawn and amplified picture of what many readers imagine as they read...that they have entered a different world when they read. ( )

I was provided a free copy for an honest review.

This book started off great. A magical library where if you open the books, book characters come to life. Johanna works for the library at first as a delivery person, and then gets to be the new curator.

The stories go on to include Cassanova, Treasure Island and gold dubloons, and more. The last story is strange with parallel dimensions and an evil Lovecraftian race. It drags on forever, and hampers the whole book.



( )

I received an electronic copy of this book in exchange for a review.

This is a most excellent book. I would highly recommend it to anyone who loves reading. It has a lot to appeal to those who don't, but anyone who does love books will treasure this book properly.

There's a library with all of the books ever written. And some of those books become real when you open them. This book is the adventures of the new curator and her assistant as they adjust to the library. Now that I'm done, I'm a little disappointed that the heroine didn't use the library for pleasure. She used it when necessary, of course, and her adventures were marvelous, but I would have liked to see her having conversations with Aslan or dating Lord Peter Wimsey, for example. There's room for so much more to be written yet and I'm glad that the book ends with the words, "The end it is not", because I definitely want more.

Well-written, characters I cared about and an engaging plot. Amazing all around. ( )

A library where an open book can come to life and illuminate your imagination, who wouldn't love that! Johanna is stuck in a dead-end job, the only good thing is that she gets to work with books. When she is asked to make a special delivery to the strange Library of Illumination, she sees way more than she bargains for. Since Johanna seems to be the only one to gain entrance to the Library, she gets more deliveries to the library and gets to know the curator, Mal. Mal trains Johanna to take care of the abundance of books and all the wonders that they contain. As Johanna gains confidence as the new curator and begins to work with curator-in-training, Jackson, she will find plenty of adventure within the books themselves as well as the magical library.

I absolutely loved the concept of The Library of Illumination! Who wouldn't want a chance to see some of their favorite scenes from books spring to life? Or have a chat with some famous (or infamous) people and characters? Johanna's character is intelligent, loyal and most of all, a lover of books. For a woman of eighteen, her character is very mature and shows great problem solving skills whenever she or Jackson gets into a bind. I'm on the fence a bit about Johanna and Jackson's romance right now, it seems a little forced, but it might grow on me. The adventures that can take place in the Library of Illumination are limitless, Cassanova was my favorite and I wish he could have stayed in the Library longer, despite his womanizing ways. I also loved the ideas of the portals, eleven more Libraries of Illumination in different realms. I wish they all could have been explored. ( )