#hells library

[12carrierpigeons]

the plot devise of someone being coded as inherently bad and someone else as inescapably good, and then the story allowing them to break from their narrative and be a secret, third thing (absolutely heartbreakingly human) slaps and I wish people would do it more

[annafromuni]

A Comfy Demonic Autumn Read

I went into Library of the Unwritten purely guided by the premise of a library within Hell for books left undeveloped and a librarian tasked with keeping them together. I stayed because A.J. Hackwith is an incredible author with an uncanny ability to create something so cosy and sweet based in the depths of Hell. Those who are fans of the found-family trope will love this one. Similarly, if…

[quotes-from-the-bookery]

Only books died in Hell. Everyone else had to live with their choices.

[not-joan-of-arc]

The Library of the Unwritten by A.J. Hackwith (Hell's Library #1)

(finished reading February 5 2022)

link to review (no spoilers)

my annotations (spoilers ahead):

(cw for death, suicide references)

this book has a very cool concept

Chapter 9 - LETO

we love anxious human-demon Leto!!

Chapter 10 - CLAIRE

Hero is a bisexual mess, pass it on

Chapter 12 - CLAIRE

Hero is a villain, isn’t he?

Chappen 15 - RAMIEL

Andras is extremely sus

Chapter 23 - CLAIRE

Okay so Claire’s tragic backstory is not what I was expecting - did suspect it though when she was talking about Gregor previously

Chapter 25 - LETO

Claire, a badass queer icon!!

do I like Hero or find him annoying? I can’t decide

Chapter 26 - CLAIRE

called it! Hero is so obviously not a hero

Chapter 27 - CLAIRE

called this betrayal too haha

Claire is just losing friends as fast as she makes them

going off his eagerness to walk into deadly situations and his very low opinion of himself, I suspect that Leto was a teenager who committed suicide

and most likely because he treated the guy who was his friend/brother in the flashbacks badly (perhaps enough for them to kill themselves or end up in a tragic accident) and that guilt has been weighing him down since, so much so that he sent himself to Hell

Chapter 31 - RAMIEL

and now the depths of Claire’s heart is finally revealed

Chapter 34 - CLAIRE

I (platonically) ship one bisexual sarcastic book villain and one pansexual undead librarian

Chapter 36 - RAMIEL

once again, I was completely right about Leto

doesn’t mean I’m happy about it though :(

also does this mean Andras was involved in Leto’s death? was he the one who made Leto act like that to his friend or even the one who made his friend kill himself?

Chapter 37 - CLAIRE

so Walter’s death with a capital D? nice

this whole exchange is kind of hilarious despite the circumstances

Chapter 38 - RAMIEL

Leto is Claire’s grandson?? did not see that coming ngl

Chapter 41 - RAMIEL

I hope this isn’t the last we see of Leto, he’s my fave

Chapter 42 - CLAIRE

“Claire didn’t see books; she saw graves.

She saw a thousand lives on each cindered page. Here, a band of adventurers, suffocating in a forest. There, a pair of lovers, entombed in the moment before a kiss. There, torn beneath the edge of a fallen chair, the teenage outcast that never learns they are something more.”

-

after finishing:

okay I’m fairly happy with the ending and honestly, I know it’s the first book in a trilogy, but it could honestly be a stand-alone? like there’s obviously things to delve further into but there’s no big cliffhanger and nothing’s really been left unresolved

that being said, I’m going to start the next book pretty soon, if not right away

I’m surprisingly invested in these characters and this world

-

my annotation system

[unabridged-adventures]

Im about 75% of the way through The Archive of the Forgotten and I'm continuing to fall in love with this series! My new mission in life is to get more people to read the Hell's Library trilogy

Its got dark academia vibes with an actually morally grey main character, found family, a polyamorous relationship, and discussions of humanity's relationship to the stories we tell

[unchartedthelostlegacy]

i love graffiti. "comics and jazz are the only american art forms" you forgot graffiti. did you remember graffiti? That art form birthed in Philly and NYC in the early 70s by poor Black kids. that art form that spread all over the world and influenced so many. that's used without irony in commercials when they're trying to appeal to a "young urban" customer.

did you forget graffiti? that racism broken windows theory victim? that reach the establishment takes claiming that it's exclusively violent gang members throwing up those full-color pieces and wildstyle tags in the middle of the night outsmarting fifty security cameras because the billboard was ugly anyway. as if, even if it was, it wouldn't be impressive as all hell. risking brutality and fall damage so your art can occupy the space a gentrified condo named something like "Coluumna" took away from you. proving that despite only assholes affording to live here anymore there's still a soul beneath it. an animal with dripping stripes and teeth that go clack-clack tsssss

[anotherpapercut]

yesterday I went to a little meeting at my local queer community center and I was admiring their bookshelves and mentioned that I work at the public library and someone said "well I bet they don't have any [LGBTQ+ books] at our library" and I was like um. yes we do. we have tons of them. half of our employees are queer leftists so they said "oh well I bet they don't in [nearby rural county]" and I was like uh once again yes they absolutely do. gay people live and work there as well

so here's a quick reminder that if you don't think your local library has enough queer centered materials you should actually check before assuming, and if you're not satisfied with their collection you should submit a request for more such books. I don't know what the political landscape of libraries looks like outside the us rn, but within the us no matter where you are, I promise you there are employees at your library fighting for inclusion and intellectual freedom and they can't win without vocal public support

[supitsgdo]

Book review: Hell's Library trilogy by A.J. Hackwith

Rating:

The Library of the Unwritten - 4⭐

The Archive of the Forgotten - 3⭐

The God of Lost Words - 3⭐

I really liked the first book. The concept was pretty interesting. The classic trope Hell vs Heaven mixed with other realms from other mythologies, and a library filled with unwritten books. Claire is it's protetor, serving her punishment in Hell, with the company of Berity, a Muse also serving punishment. During their daily work, they are assigned a task to retrieve an unwritten book that had gone upstairs. Little did they know that their journey is about to take a BIG turn.

I enjoyed the characters immensely, all of them. The story is different from what we usual read. However, there's a lot happening in the first book. The events are soooo fast paced, and we know why (because of the condition to go upstairs), but once they get past that time limit, I was expecting the events to slow down. So I understand if some people get confused about that part. Although I had a good impression in the first book, I got slightly detached from the story after the second book.

In the second book we have the miscommunication trope and I instantly got bored. I'm sorry but I really hate it. Also, the romance started. I was already expecting that to happen but the build up/foundation was nowhere to be read. Maybe it was me and I didn't notice it, my bad. But the relationship felt weak. At least, the plot was ok and the things we discovered were really surprising.

In the third book, well I just wanted to finish at this point. The romance increased to a polyamorous relationship of three (again, I don't have any problem about that), but creating a relationship where even the characters don't have romantic thoughts towards each other, it's... Idonno, eh for me. At least, I was satisfied with the ending. It felt appropriate.

I think you should give it a chance anyways!

[shisasan]

John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book 1 [originally published 1667]

[moist-von-lipwig]

the realest Discworld reading order is simply 'whatever the hell the local library has available, in whatever order it becomes available'

[loktauri]

Tma au where nothing is wrong ever and Jon gets to pet as many cats as he likes

[thegirlthatcriesacademia]

Tito Merello Vilar // Richard Kadrey, Aloha From Hell

[liquidstar]

im afraid i may have i classically conditioned myself. i have a space heater in my room, the kind that makes fan noise when i turn it on. i think ive come to associate that sound with being warm, because i recently got a mini fridge that also makes fan noise, and now i keep feeling hot even though its the same temperature its always been (which is usually cold for me). my fridge makes me warm. thats all backwards. damn you pavlov.

[bizarrelittlemew]

Our Flag Means Death 1x4 | 1x6 | 2x6 | 2x7 ⇉ if the bed nook could talk...

[yuri-hell-world]

Eulogistic Lullaby

[nsfwbible]

A 15th Century tour of Hell

Medieval monks had themselves one hell of a time imagining the demons awaiting sinners in Hell. The illustrations are from Livre de la Vigne nostre Seigneur (Bodleian MS. Douce 134), a treatise on the Antichrist, the last judgement, and Heaven and Hell.