The Book of the Night (Librynth #3) by Pearl North - Ashley's Review

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Title: The Book of the Night
Author: Pearl North
Year Published: 2012

My The Book of the Night (#3) Review

My The Boy from Ilysies (#2) Review

My The Boy from Ilysies (#2) Pre-Reading
My Libyrinth (#1) Review

My Libyrinth (#1) Pre-Reading

 

Paul's The Book of the Night (#3) Review
Paul's The Book of the Night (#3) Pre-Reading

Synopsis: The world of the Libyrinth has experienced a series of wrenching changes. After the Libyrarians and their longtime foes the Singers discovered their common heritage, a young healer named Po found the Lion’s Bloom, an ancient and enormously powerful artifact capable of rewriting reality. 

Behind the mysteries of their shrouded past has always been the legendary Book of the Night. Sought for generations, both feared and revered, it is the key to this world of wonders. When vain, grasping Queen Thela steals the Lion’s Bloom and imperils the very reality of the world, only the Book can heal what she has rent asunder. An epic journey through strange lands, a perilous encounter in a clockwork city, and the revelation of the truth beyond reality will lead those who find the Book to a moment when their world will either be saved...or cease to exist.

 

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Review: I honestly do not understand why this series, and this book in particular, did not take the YA world by storm. This is one of those rare series where the books just keep getting better and better, and this last book just totally blew me away! It has everything an excellent fantasy book should have, plus elements of almost every other genre out there. There's sci-fi and dystopia and romance and everything I love about books. 

 

One of my favorite parts about this book was how it was told from so many different perspectives. We see things from Haly, Clauda, Selene, Gyneth, and Po, and sometimes it switches characters mid-sentence. I know that sounds like it would be incredibly jarring, but it really works ridiculously well. We even get a few other characters thrown in there too, and it's really neat to be able to see how everyone ties together to make this world survive. 

All of the characters were developed so well, and I loved getting to know them even better in this book. Even though you'd think there wasn't much more to learn about them, some of them really surprised me and did things I never would have imagined they were capable of in order to save their friends and their world. Some of the things were totally insane, but nothing was ever out of character. 

I also completely fell in love with this world in this book. I mean, I loved it before and I loved how complex the politics and the relationships and everything were, but this book took everything I knew and twisted it upside down. Everything is the same, but somehow this world is now completely different. All of the books are tied together so well, and the story just flows. I was NOT expecting the revel near the end about the world, and I think I enjoyed it even more because of that.

I don't want to give anything away because I think everyone who enjoys any YA books should read this series for themselves and discover the Libyrinth and the Song and the Redemption for themselves. I would love to live in the world of the Ancients for a little while just because of all the technology and magic and everything. Definitely a strong 5/5, and I would totally rate it higher if I could!

--Ashley

The Book of the Night (Libyrinth #3) by Pearl North - Ashley's Pre-Reading

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Title: The Book of the Night
Author: Pearl North
Year Published: 2012

Paul's The Book of the Night Review
Paul's The Book of the Night Pre-Reading
My The Boy From Ilysies Review
My The Boy From Ilysies Pre-Reading
My Libyrinth Review
My Libyrinth Pre-Reading

Synopsis: The world of the Libyrinth has experienced a series of wrenching changes. After the Libyrarians and their longtime foes the Singers discovered their common heritage, a young healer named Po found the Lion’s Bloom, an ancient and enormously powerful artifact capable of rewriting reality. 

Behind the mysteries of their shrouded past has always been the legendary Book of the Night. Sought for generations, both feared and revered, it is the key to this world of wonders. When vain, grasping Queen Thela steals the Lion’s Bloom and imperils the very reality of the world, only the Book can heal what she has rent asunder. An epic journey through strange lands, a perilous encounter in a clockwork city, and the revelation of the truth beyond reality will lead those who find the Book to a moment when their world will either be saved...or cease to exist.

Why?: I read (and loved) the first two books in this series, and so I'm anxious to find out what happens next! Now that Po has found the Lion's Bloom, the Libryarians and the Singers are living together peacefully, and Queen Thela is trying to destroy everything they've worked for, I really want to know how the Book of the Night can help Haly and her companions win this battle. 

Expectations: Since The Boy From Ilysies was even better than Libyrinth, I have really high expectations for this one. Mystery and adventure and everything that the first two books had, plus more explanation of the world and the Book of the Night and everything. I think there will be higher stakes and more danger in this book, so I'm looking forward to that too.

Judging a book by its cover: This cover has a little bit of a steampunk feel to it, which is pretty interesting when compared to the other covers in this series. Instead of magical, will this book be more technological? I really appreciate that it matches the other covers in the series as well. I would probably pick it up if I saw it on a shelf, but I think the darker colors and the girl might make it blend in with all of the other YA fantasy books out there.


--Ashley

The Boy From Ilysies (Libyrinth #2) by Pearl North - Ashley's Review

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Title: The Boy From Ilysies

Author: Pearl North

Year Published: 2010

My The Boy from Ilysies Pre-Reading
My Libyrinth Review

My Libyrinth Pre-Reading

Synopsis: The magical sequel to Pearl North’s critically acclaimed debut novel, Libyrinth

On a world light-years away, Earth is long forgotten, except for the knowledge protected in the vast libyrinth. But that knowledge was threatened by the Singers, who for generations beyond remembering have relied on oral storytelling. They sought to destroy the books in the libyrinth, which they thought would—if read—kill the words they sing, and the knowledge in their songs.

Now a Song has created peace between the Singers and the Libyrarians who work in the libyrinth. However, the libyrinth is quickly running out of food, and the survival of the ancient edifice and those who serve it may depend on Po, a young Ilysian who has had trouble adjusting to life at the libyrinth. Caught between his longings for acceptance and the Machiavellian tactics of his queen, Po is tricked into a crime that causes him to be cast out. 

He may return only if he retrieves a legendary artifact that may be the answer to all of the libyrinth’s problems…or could turn the world into a barren, lifeless ruin. For Po, life has finally become exciting…but the cost may be his life, and the lives of those he loves.

The Boy From Ilysies is an exciting, fast-paced novel about acceptance, growing up, and learning to trust oneself.

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Review: I really enjoyed Libyrinth, and was really excited to read its sequel. And it did not disappoint! If anything, The Boy From Ilysies is even better than the first book. This series does not suffer from second-book-syndrome in any way, and it was very refreshing.

One of my favorite things about this book was that it took a previously minor character and turned him into the unlikely hero. In the first book, Po is the kinesthesiologist's apprentice and just happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and ends up flying with Clauda in the wing. At the beginning of this book, he's lost and homesick and wants to leave the Libyrinth to return home to Ilysies. But throughout the book, he matures and grows and begins to accept the other ways of life as not being so different from the one he knows. He's definitely one of the most well-developed characters in the series and in YA in general I think, and it's a real shame not more people know about him. At the start of this book, I did not like Po at all but by the end I found myself cheering him on.

Another thing that Pearl North does exceptionally well is building a new and fascinating world. I mean, I can't even begin to fathom how she came up with this concept. There are four main groups of people (the Libyrarians, the Singers, the Ayorites, and the Ilysieans), and each group has totally different viewpoints on the roles of men and women, on what/who the Ancients were, on what the driving force behind everything is, and so much more. I could barely keep them straight as the reader, I can't even imagine how North was able to create this world and then expand upon it. I thought I knew enough from the first book, but somehow North gives us even more insight into the world of these books and expands the world so much. 

The plot moves a little slowly at first, but I think it ends up being alright because we get to learn more about Po and his feelings about the Redemption and life at the Libyrinth. Once the group leaves and their mission is underway though, things pick up quite considerably. There is very little downtime, and we find ourselves right in the middle of all of the action. I also thought that switching back and forth between characters as narrators was a really great technique, and is done very well. Not only do we see what Po and his group are experiencing, but we also get to see a little bit of what is going on back at the Libyrinth. 

Overall, I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who read and enjoyed Libyrinth. It's better than the first one, and you don't want to miss this next chapter in the trilogy! I would also recommend this series to anyone who is looking for an excellent fantasy series to start. They're easy reads, but I think they have appeal for both younger and older audiences. Anyone who loves books would love this series, regardless of age. A 4/5! I can't wait to read The Book of the Night!


--Ashley

The Boy from Ilysies (Libyrinth #2) by Pearl North - Ashley's Pre-Reading

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Title: The Boy From Ilysies
Author: Pearl North
Year Published: 2010 

My Libyrinth Review
My Libyrinth Pre-Reading

Synopsis: The magical sequel to Pearl North’s critically acclaimed debut novel, Libyrinth

On a world light-years away, Earth is long forgotten, except for the knowledge protected in the vast libyrinth. But that knowledge was threatened by the Singers, who for generations beyond remembering have relied on oral storytelling. They sought to destroy the books in the libyrinth, which they thought would—if read—kill the words they sing, and the knowledge in their songs.

Now a Song has created peace between the Singers and the Libyrarians who work in the libyrinth. However, the libyrinth is quickly running out of food, and the survival of the ancient edifice and those who serve it may depend on Po, a young Ilysian who has had trouble adjusting to life at the libyrinth. Caught between his longings for acceptance and the Machiavellian tactics of his queen, Po is tricked into a crime that causes him to be cast out. 

He may return only if he retrieves a legendary artifact that may be the answer to all of the libyrinth’s problems…or could turn the world into a barren, lifeless ruin. For Po, life has finally become exciting…but the cost may be his life, and the lives of those he loves.

The Boy From Ilysies is an exciting, fast-paced novel about acceptance, growing up, and learning to trust oneself.

Why?: I read and really enjoyed Libyrinth, so I wanted to continue the series! I've heard that this series gets better with each book, so I'm really looking forward to this one. I'm also really curious about learning more about the world and Po. 

Expectations: I have pretty high expectations for this book because I enjoyed the first one so much. I expect there to be a lot of expansion on the world, as well as on some of the more minor characters in the first book. Also, I expect there to be magic, adventure, and quite a bit of coming-of-age lessons.

Judging a book by its cover: I love this cover! I love the books and how the title stands out against the dark background. I love the stars. I would definitely pick this book up if I saw it on a shelf somewhere. 


--Ashley