Enjoyed this listen, a twisting and mysterious caper.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for letting me access an advance copy of this audiobook in exchange for my honest feedback.

A truly magical and enchanting book with such a wide scope and I can barely find the words to describe it. To me, this is a book where it’s best to go in blind to discover the winding paths of a story that feels like it should never end. But this I find is always the case when it comes to portal fantasies.

We start following Taryn, a woman broken with grief over the murder of her sister and a successful author of a book about all the things that threaten libraries. But her book attracts all the wrong attention and finds her in the company of daemons, fae, talking ravens and even Odin. Taryn teams up with a strange fae man who can never be seen clearly and holds the key to other worlds. Their quest is for the Firestarter, a scroll that has survived many library fires and one she mentioned in her book. This is a case of a book in a book that I so desperately want to read, and Taryn’s many impassioned defences of public libraries only spur it.

This odd book certainly meanders at times given its length as we go from fae lands, purgatory, and Arthurian legend. It does also feel like there was a lot that I missed on the first read and this wasn’t helped by the fact that I listened to the audiobook. At some point, I want to pick up a physical copy to read and pick up all that I didn’t catch the first time around.

The narration was incredible, and I loved every second of Ann-Marie Duff’s performance. Her accents for the fae characters were dreamy and she perfectly encapsulates each character’s voice. It got to the point that when I was reading other books, I was doing it in her voice because I could not get enough. I look forward to more of Duff’s work.

This certainly isn’t a book for everyone but it’s one that I fell in love with over its long course. A dreamy and at some points nightmarish journey that like The Starless Sea, reveres the power of storytelling. A book of tragedy that will slowly lures you in.

Thanks to Penguin Random House for giving me a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Absolute Book is a very complex story, a difficult one to follow in the audiobook. I've started listening to it when I was on a walk and I tried again also walking, I couldn't. I found it extremely difficult to know what's happening in the story, so the next time I played it, it was when I was at home and didn't need to pay so much attention to the things happening around me. It worked. I finished the book at home.

I feel that the story would be much better if read by several narrators. I've listened to other complex books like The Starless Sea and separating different stories/world/characters by adding more voices worked perfectly there.

If I were to judge only the audiobook, I'd say it's 3 stars. I got lost in the plot many times and I had to go back.
However, the story itself is interesting once you have no distractions and you can focus on it. There are too many topics open in the story, that it's sometimes hard to follow, especially when you listen to it.

It mixes a crime, a thriller, a fantasy and I enjoyed that. I also loved the cover art, it's fantastic.

I feel that I'd like the written book more, and I'd rate it higher. I'd recommend choosing other formats over the audiobook of "The Absolute Book". I'd like to add that I've bought a hardback of it as well, and I plan to read it in the future.

I really like audiobooks, unfortunately this one was a bit too complex for me.

This book has *all* the hallmarks for a perfect read for me as a lover of genre bending lit with a scifi/fantasy edge on the more literary end of the spectrum.

Sadly, it lost me and I did not end up finishing it. It was just too long and took way too long before it decided what book it was going to be.

The narrator was great!

Sorry not to be able to finish! I really did think it was going to be a new favourite of mine.

I loved the narrator and found it very easy to listen to but I couldn't get into the book. It was very slow to start and I found it jumped around a lot and was quite complicated.

I thought for sure this book will be right up my alley: books about books, some magic, some mystery, a little dark, a little weird. It sounded delicious!

Unfortunately, I really didn't gel well with the writing style. I found it way too meandering, with too many info dumps. I'm usually not that mad about info dumps, if they serve a purpose and provide crucial context. I didn't feel like that was the case with The Absolute Book.

Now, there were some admittedly good parts. I really enjoyed the beginning, Tarryn's grief and the narrative surrounding her sister's death was gripping and the tension was very good.

However, the insertion of the supernatural, I found it a touch clunky, for lack of a better world, at times. That whole part where they spent time in that alternate dimension bored me to tears. The whole experience was an ebb and flow for me, some parts were fascinating, while others I found extremely dull, so it's hard to give a definitive verdict.

Overall, I mostly felt frustration which was decidedly not what I was looking for when I picked this book up. I would say, if you can get on with the style, you might enjoy this one because as I said, there were some excellent scenes sprinkled through. However, for me the in-between parts spoiled the overall experience.

Elizabeth Knox’s ‘The Absolute Book’ was interesting but at moments odd narrative. It’s one of those books which I ended up having a little mixed feeling about. There have been moments I loved so much, and others, I haven’t enjoyed as much.

I have listened to the book in the audio format narrated skilfully by Anne-Marie Duff. I really enjoyed the setting and the atmosphere of the book, intensified by the audiobook format, which allowed me to freely imagine the described places. But at moments, I found myself drifting away, and it took a while to get back into the story, especially as ‘The Absolute Book’ is one of those books that requires your complete attention. It’s full of little details and multiple intervening stories, and this something I really enjoyed about ‘The Absolute Book’, however, I found the descriptions sometimes too lengthily, and stories getting sidetrack at moments.

Ultimately, ‘The Absolute Book’ was a complex and fascinating story, and the narration was great and fitting all the characters. The main character, Taryn, was interesting and likeable, and yet very flawed, which made the narrative more fascinating. It’s a rather lengthy narrative, where many relations and plots come together only at the very end, and while I haven’t enjoyed all parts of the book equally, it’s not a book I will quickly forget.

With thanks to Elizabeth Knox and Penguin Random House for an advanced audio copy of this book.

4* Stars

A very enjoyable, but some what confusing read.

I don't I can quote decide what this book is... is it crime, historical fiction, domestic thriller, fantasy, literary fiction? Take your pick. That being said, I is gripping from page one, Knox weaves a beautiful and elaborate prose that keeps you so deeply held within her spell that it's hard to come up for air. I found myself getting lost in the writing and forgetting to pay attention to what was going on, several times I had to restart a section just to refresh myself. It's certainly not an audiobook you can easily multitask with.

The only thing i am sure of is that I need to read this book again.

This book was very confusing, the story line was difficult to follow, the characters were unappealing, the subject matter unoriginal, not enough action and at over 600 pages it's way too long. It could have done with a serious edit to get it down to 400 pages and in the process it may have become more taught and interesting, I listened to this as an audio book and struggled to connect with it or remain focused.
I found myself just praying it would hurry up and finish and at the end I was not rewarded with any kind of understandable conclusion, just a sense of relief that it was finally over.
I cannot understand how anyone has given this dirge 5 stars, I kept asking myself "am I missing something?" I briefly considered re-listening to the whole thing in some vain hope that it would become more enlightening, but I feel I have wasted enough time on it already. At least I finished it, for a while I was thinking it would be my first DNF of the year.
I gave it 2 stars because the writer does have some talent, it rears its head fleetingly throughout this book, just nowhere near often enough unfortunately.

Did I have a clue what was going on here? Nope!

Did I love it anyway? Yes!

This novel is just mad - clever, ambitious, other-worldly and completely brilliant. The reality is that my little brain couldn’t always keep up with what was going on and will probably need to read it another five times to fully comprehend it, but I honestly didn’t care because this is the definition of great I storytelling!

What seems to begin as a simple thriller when Taryn Cornick’s sister Bea is brutally murdered, soon becomes something else entirely - something which will lead her all the way to Purgatory and where she’ll encounter demons, shape shifters, gate keepers and so many other beings, all trying to find The Absolute Book.

Once I got over not feeling clever enough to “get” this, I just let myself escape completely into this story, and just enjoyed the words flowing off the page (and in my ears - the audiobook narration is outstanding!). The writing is just exceptional - almost like a fairytale, but of course much darker.

Readers will love this because there are so many stories within the story - we get whole chapters dedicated to the history of some of these incredible characters, and boy are there some amazing characters!

There’s also a huge focus on libraries and books which will no doubt please fellow bookworms - there’s a fascinating and tragic section about the burning of libraries and books which I assume is factual.

I can’t really try to describe this anymore and I’m sorry that this probably doesn’t do the book justice - the writing, the world-building, the characters and the originality of this story make it so worth reading regardless of whether you fully understand what’s going on, and I have no doubt this is a classic in the making!

I didn't manage to finish this before it was archived unfortunately- I got about 1/3rd through just as it was getting good.

I found the start really slow and hard to get into and then all of a sudden BAM magical world. I genuinely thought I'd skipped a chapter.

Interesting idea and I'll probably finish this book another time.

My thanks to Penguin Random House U.K. Audio for a review copy via NetGalley of the unabridged audiobook edition of ‘The Absolute Book’ by Elizabeth Knox. The audiobook is narrated by Anne-Marie Duff and has a running time of 18 hours 20 minutes at 1x speed.

This is an extraordinary novel that almost defies description. Taryn Cornick’s life changed forever when her older sister, Beatrice, was deliberately run down and killed. The man arrested for the crime was convicted of manslaughter. Yet Taryn was not satisfied and allows a man called the Muleskinner to exact the justice that she feels Bea was denied. An eye for an eye. Yet this act has far reaching consequences for Taryn and others.

Seven years pass and Taryn has written a bestselling work of nonfiction about past and current threats to libraries. Then D.I. Jacob Berger, who previously had interviewed Taryn and her then husband, resurfaces. He is aware that Taryn has been receiving mysterious silent phone calls. Oh and MI5 also are interested in Taryn.

While that sounds fairly straightforward, this is much more than a mystery or conspiracy thriller; its real world aspects intersect with epic fantasy that includes encounters with the Sidhe (Faerie), gods, angels and demons, magical creatures, hidden libraries, forbidden books, and Arthurian lore.

I found it glorious though there is no doubt that it is a complex, esoteric narrative. I feel that it is a novel that like similar long genre-spanning novels I will benefit from rereading to appreciate its multiple layers.

In terms of the audiobook, Anne-Marie Duff, is an accomplished actor who has worked extensively in the theatre and on screen. Her narration was excellent and she handled the novel’s wide range of characters with ease. Such a pleasure to listen to.

I immediately ordered its beautifully presented hardback edition for my library and my own copy of the audiobook.

This is one of my top reads of 2021 and is highly recommended to those looking for something different. Personally I feel that ‘The Absolute Book’ is a masterpiece.

Audio ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review



Audio review - I liked the narrator and despite a few issues I had with the book itself, she did a credible job. I'd like to hear her read something she was really enthusiastic about!





The book - The Absolute Book is a narrative about books, and about narratives. It is first an foremost a literary novel so don't expect it to be anything else. There is a lot of attention to style and prose - which is admittedly gorgeous - with the substance providing a secondary consideration. That said, this swims in the plasma of many other genres including mystery and fantasy. But if you're an avid reader of either of those genres, that's also not the focus of the book. So buyer beware.



There were parts of this book I enjoyed very much. I am absolutely vulnerable to beautiful prose and there was never a moment where I wasn't aware of just how lovely that prose was. However, the story was kind of flat. I think it needed to be at least two hundred pages shorter. It would also have benefitted from more variation in pace - it reads very like the entire story goes at one speed. The character's hold you at arm's length, possibly because they are more personifications of ideas than really people you're supposed to engage with. The whole thing reads like an opiate dream and not always in a good way.



I did find the initial hook compelling. The MC's sister is murdered so she pursues a course of revenge. However when that mingled with the fantasy aspect years later, and the theme of atonement and guilt, it didn't work for me. So, overall a bit of a mixed bag. If literary fantasy that's far more about style than story is your thing, you might really enjoy this. As I said, parts of this were brilliant but overall the whole didn't really hand together for me.

If you liked Good Omens then you will enjoy this book. The narration was excellent and helped at beginning to work out who is who, took me a nearly half of way to get into it and almost gave up. Some really funny parts and then strange things happen which I had to read again. The story was hard to follow as it jumped around through time and across continents and lacked a plot. The characters were interesting and easier to understand than the story itself. I think I need to read the book again to truly understand it. thank you #NetGalley for the audiobook.

Wow! If you love big books with many layers this is the perfect book for you to escape. I listened to this via audiobook. I enjoyed the narrator. It's a mixed bag of genres from murder/mystery to fantasy. I had heard good things about this book and was eager to listen. This story is really deep and complex and sometimes went totally over my head! But on the whole I enjoyed it.

This book was most certainly unique. I have never read a book quite like it, although I do feel it would be perfect for fans of Susanna Clarke's novels. It had that feel to it. It entwines different genres, starting out as a murder mystery and progresses into a fantasy novel, I quite liked how Knox weived the genres together, which also created a fairytale style in writing.

I feel this book is one you need to take your time on, it is complex and should be savoured not rushed. Overall, I did enjoy it.

This is a review of the audio and not the book itself which I am only half way through.

I really tried to get into the audio of this but I really struggled as the accent of the narrator is so strong. This also meant that I couldn't speed it up as if I did I couldn't always tell what she was saying.

I throughly enjoyed this book. Full of magic, drama and wonder, I know this will be a world I return to again and again.
Honestly, I'm not sure what I can say about it without ruining the story but seriously, READ IT!
The narration was gorgeous, I could listen to that voice all day!

‘The Absolute Book’ is full of all the things I love in a fantasy - folklore, Norse mythology, angels and demons and a journey to purgatory! I could have really loved it if all these elements were fully fleshed out and well connected. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the case and the plot felt very disjointed, to the point where I became frustrated following along. The core plot is really very simple, the familiar tale of humans finding themselves in a fantasy world and going on a quest to find a magical item, but along the way the plot becomes incredibly convoluted. There are odd time jumps, motives without explanation, odd leaps in rationale and underdeveloped characters. I suspect some of these were implemented purposefully by the author, and I did enjoy some of the initial misdirection, but this book is long and it soon became quite tiresome. I normally love a long, fantasy epic but I never felt truly drawn into this one.

I listened to this as an audiobook, the narrator was very good but I do wonder if this format is perhaps not the best way to take in this book. It might have been easier to follow along and make connections if I’d been able to easily refer back to a previous section.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Firstly I want to start this review by stating that I am new to the fantasy genre and therefore my thoughts may be impacted by this. Overall I did enjoy this audiobook but don't know if I would have enjoyed it as much if I had been reading a physical copy.

The book starts off with a girl suffering from her sisters' murder and through grief she writes a book about lost libraries and banned and burned books which create a portal to step into a magical fantasy world that was reminiscent of Narnia or something Pullman-esque. - this concept I loved and you were transported to new countries and continents which was particularly fun right now.

The narrative transitions between real and fantasy which at times was a little hard to follow, I don't know whether this was due to me listening to it but it did come across as static at times rather than fully flowing between the two. At 650 pages, I also deemed it to have a heavy focus on description and then important information sometimes seemed to be skipped over.

Overall a really good concept and I'm sure many people are going to get completely lost in the pages of this book. I'll still recommend it to fantasy-loving customers!