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

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

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

Paul's The Book of the Night Review and GIVEAWAY

There's a GIVEAWAY down below!!!

Pre Reading

REVIEW: This book! So, I enjoyed the first two in this series. They were nice fantasy stories that involved interesting societies with some cool gender roles. The magic and the science were one in the same. There were "Ancients", but I didn't put much thought into them other than a ruined society of high technology. This book completely blew my mind away!

Before I get to why this book is way more than a solid 5/5, I'll go through the basics. 

The characters are all fully developed. There is not one true protagonist. I loved the way North would switch the perspective mid scene or even mid conversation at some points. You got to see how the other side of the conversation is thinking, even if they are not saying it. 

The story may have not had a linear path, but the storytelling was done so well. Each character had their own solution to the world's problems and we got to follow all the paths. My favorite of the stories was Po's. He had come from this female dominated society and he had learned of gender equality in the last books. He is again in the female dominated society. 

The pen. It is so amazing. The way North revealed what is was and the different ways it was used were so interesting. What would you do if you could write anything down and it would immediately come true?

It is really hard to pinpoint the genre of this. I really like books like that. There's some sci-fi, some high fantasy, some dystopia, and some thought provoking amazingness. 

It is very hard to write this review without spoiling it. I can only say that this book really bends reality. It reminded me of The Neverending Story. It questions the most basic ideas of existence. What is real? Why is it real? 

The only way you can experience such a mind blown feeling, like I had when I finished this book, is to read it! If you haven't read the other books in the Libyrinth series, you should! They are both pretty good fantasy stories, but this third installment blows them away!

If you like reading, and books, and reading books you should read this book series! 5/5

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Now, for the GIVEAWAY!!!

To enter, simply fill out the Rafflecopter below. 

The Giveaway will end on October 7th, 2012. 

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What is your favorite last book in a series?

-PAUL

Paul's The Book of the Night Pre Reading

Title: The Book of the Night (Libyrinth #3)
Author: Pearl North
Year Published: 2012

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

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?: The first two books in this series came out in 2009 and 2010. I have been waiting to read this since the day I put down The Boy from Ilysies. The woirld of the Libyrinth is so unique and different than any other fantasy YA out there. It appears to be set in the future, but has a fantasy feel, and there are modern books like Curious George.

Expectations: It has been a while since I read the other two in this series so I am hoping for some recap. If not, I will be googling some character information. I remember this series has some interesting takes on gender roles. Also, the magic and the science are one in the same. I expect this to be an epic conclusion.

Judging a book by its cover: The cover seems very steampunky and there hasn't been steampunk in the previous two novels so I am intrigued. The cover is in the same style as the previous books.


-PAUL