Ash and Quill (The Great Library #3)

Synopsis

Hoarding all the knowledge of the world, the Great Library jealously guards its secrets. But now a group of rebels poses a dangerous threat to its tyranny. . . .

Jess Brightwell and his band of exiles have fled London, only to find themselves imprisoned in Philadelphia, a city led by those who would rather burn books than submit. But Jess and his friends have a bargaining chip: the knowledge to build a machine that will break the Library's rule.

Their time is running out. To survive, they'll have to choose to live or die as one, to take the fight to their enemies-- and to save the very soul of the Great Library . . . 

Loved

• The crew. By now we've really come to know these characters, and they are the best part of this series. This crew is diverse, fierce, and devoted to each other and their cause of making the Library great again. We get a little more development from some of the characters in this book, and their relationships with each other really solidify as they fight and sacrifice for each other. Their banter and devotion to each other is why I stayed with this series for so long!

• The world. This world is so unique and creative- I'm still fascinated by the idea of the Great Library and its tyranny. Although the "magic" of this world is labeled as "alchemy," there really is a magic feel to this world that gives it a charm and coziness.

• The writing. Caine's writing is very engaging and fluid as it propels the story along. Her strong suit is writing heart-pounding action scenes, and she's good at inserting these frequently throughout the story to keep readers on their toes.

Didn't Love

• I love the idea of this series, but I just still struggle with some things: mainly the plot. I felt starting in Paper and Fire that the plot was very lacking and felt stretched out- and after having it stretched over two extra books and knowing there were two more books to come, I decided to quit this series for now after this third book. The plot is fast-paced and interesting, but it feels like the same thing keeps happening: the crew gets captured, held ransom, almost dies, then miraculously escapes. This exact thing happens so much that I could predict what was going to happen throughout this book.
• Another issue I have with this book is that the characters are so fun and lovable, but we know hardly anything about their background, and there is little, if any, character development throughout the series. These characters grow closer together, but we don't get to see them grow into themselves very much because we don't know anything about how they were before the story began.
• Other major issue with this story: the romance. In this third book it did get better, but I still feel the romance is very forced, immature, and shallow.
• The final straw with this story that made me decide to be done with this series is the ending. I won't spoil it, but I was very annoyed and dumbfounded by the ending because it could have been prevented so easily. I think the author was going for something unpredictable, which I appreciate, but this felt extreme and out of place for the story. I found myself annoyed with many of the characters at the end because I felt the whole disaster could have definitely been prevented.

Content

• Language: 
• Frequent uses of "damn," "hell," and "ass."

• Sexual content: 
• Some kisses between m/f couple. The boy thinks multiple times how he would like to be in bed with the girl.
• More passionate kisses between m/m couple- sexual relationship implied.

• Violence
• Many people killed through gunshots and knives.
• A whole city is burned with "greek fire"- thousands of people die and this is traumatic for main characters.
• Dead bodies of burn victims are described.
• Lots of fighting with fists, knives, guns.


• Other themes:
• LGBTQ Rep: Male/male couple are some of the main characters. They share some tender kisses and a sexual relationship is implied.

Overall Thoughts

I'm glad I experienced this world. I loved the magic, the setting, and the idea of a world revolving around books. I also adored the characters- their diversity, their fierce courage, and their seemingly rough, but very loyal relationships with each other. The writing of this series is also very engaging and fast-paced. I just wish this story had been told in two, maybe three books, instead of being spread thin over five books. It felt at times that the author was filling time by having the characters get captured by a different party, and having to get out of that mess. I also wish the romance had been deeper, or that there wasn't a romance between the main characters at all. And mostly, I wish the book had ended differently. But overall, I'm glad I gave this series a try and I think other people might completely love it. I just found myself bored and frustrated reading it, and decided I might be enjoying something else a little more, so I'm going to drop this series for now.  But I definitely recommend trying it, because the world and characters are very vibrant and lovable.