Favorite character: Livira
Three words: complex / mystical / slow
Favorite quote: She had thought before that she had known hatred, but those moments had been like shadows of passing clouds. And this, this was the night.

As a child, Livira lives in a small community secluded in the Dust until they are attacked by the rising enemies, the Sabbers, and everyone except some children, is murdered. Livira is brought to the great city of Crath, the first glimpse of civilization she has ever seen, and her recklessness and curiosity earns her a place in the famous library. Her habit of breaking rules leads to more knowledge and secrets she ever dreamed of discovering.
Evar has lived inside a library, for as long as he remembers, with his three found siblings. He's never seen anything else except the chamber they built and the seemingly endless library, but lately attacks by so called Escapes are starting to take place. While fleeing from one of them, Evar stumbles across a mysterious book along the countless others, and the first page is addressed to him.
The lives of Livira and Evar blur together across worlds and times, the rise and fall of societies connected through an infinite library.

Perhaps night terrors ran from men and horses and swords and bows. Or perhaps the night would stand its ground and make a fight of it.

This was a complex read and it took me a while to get through it. The world building around the infinite library was so interesting and its unknown depth raised so many questions which weren't all answered throughout the book. For me personally, some parts of the complex world building were too complicated and I didn't really understand what was going on.
However, what I really enjoyed were the themes the story dealt with: the power and danger of knowledge combined with corruption, the rise and fall of societies, xenophobia and the differing views on who the enemy is. I really liked the plot and can't wait to discover how the problems of differences and prejudices will be solved by the main characters Livira and Evar and their communities.
My biggest issue with the story was, that the pacing was very unbalanced. The first 100 page were very interesting and I was totally hooked for the last 30%, but in between the story became really slow and dragged on. I really thought about pausing the book for a while. Maybe my problem was that I really don't like it when the main characters are separated for too long. After Livira met Evar, made friends and build real relationships, the story got so much better in my opinion.
Even though I didn't like everything about this book, I want to know what happens next and I will definitely pick up the next book!

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.
DNF @20%
Although I believe this book has potential, I just don't think it'll work out for me. Pretty much nothing has happened so far, and I don't really like any of the characters. I found Livira's POV to be a little better, but Evar's POV is extremely boring. I don't think I'm invested enough in this story. Maybe I'll give it a second chance later this year.

This was my first Mark Lawrence book and I really enjoyed it. It’s a story about books, what’s there not to like?! Gripping storyline and I couldn’t put the book down, highly recommend.

I really liked the synopsis of this book but unfortunately I just couldn't get into it, nothing seemed to happen and my concentration kept wavering and I found I wasn't enjoying reading it.

How could you not love a book set in a Library (especially when you're a Librarian like me?) I loved every moment of this epic adventure - I felt totally swept away by all of it. Do I think it could have been shorter in places? Yes. But overall, a great read!

2.75 stars

"The Book That Wouldn't Burn" just didn't work for me: I liked the idea, but the story just dragged a little too much in certain places and I think the novel could have been quite a bit shorter if the repetitions had been cut.

I don't think I'll continue the series.

I really wanted to read this well firstly, because of the cover it is stunning and a massive congrats to the designer. Secondly, the plot: set in a library, a library that reverends? I'm in. I don't know what happened to me here. But just getting through the first 38 pages took me *checks notes* almost two months. I started it and then saw the word dust and I thought Northern Lights and I was okay so I kept reading and then I read sandy, and I thought to myself: "Dear God, they're on Dune" which makes no sense because Dune is the title and the planet is something else. So I put the book down because Dune was not for me, then I picked it back up read the next few pages and thought 'okay, fear over, onto the book'.

The two main characters are Evar and Liviria. You meet Liviria first (her name means weed) I honestly found her annoying in the first three chapters, I don't really know why but I did. But it got better, I loved the writing and the world building and the way the characters link up at the end. It is slow (kinda) and it sometimes gets confusing and sometimes you feel like you haven't really made any progress, but it's worth it. At least for me it was. I want to read book two and I eagerly await it.

And that's it.

Thank you to HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction, HarperVoyager for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I had to spend two days after finishing this book to mull over what I thought of it. I was attracted to it because of the context - set in a library and the idea of a book which would not burn.

I enjoyed the dual perspectives of Livira and Evar who meet between worlds and explore the other libraries in their timelines to understand their past and possible futures. They learn of the battleground played out in the library and of the conflict between their races - each an enemy of the other. Their relationship - even as they learn that it is forbidden - grows and leads them to give themselves for each other.

The use of the knowledge held in the library to mould society and for political ends resonates with what we see today and raises lots of interesting questions.

A complicated book in many ways and a slow burner but worth the effort.

I have really mixed feelings about "The Book That Wouldn’t Burn". It's a great story with brilliant writing, but I found the characters a little bit hazy. I found myself wanting a lot more of "the Dust" and less of the library - which makes me feel like a traitor. Some parts just seemed to drag, and I think that's down to me and not the book. I'll be eagerly awaiting book 2.

My thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley. This review was written voluntarily and is entirely my own, unbiased, opinion.

Unfortunately I really struggled with this fantasy novel, the pacing after the first action scene (which was amazing) was incredibly slow. Not only that, the moments with Evar were terribly repetitive, and for some reason the sentence structure could make the whole thing even harder to read. I wish most of the novel was told from Liviras perspective (I understand why we couldn't dur to spoilers) because I loved her as a character, although even reading some of her chapters felt never ending. I'm not sure if readily recommend this to anyone, I personally prefer fantasy that's slightly faster and easier to read. But this is obviously a talented author with a brilliant skill for world building.

I was drawn in by the beautiful cover and the interesting premise of this book. A story set in a never ending library - what's not to love. But I found the writing difficult. It didn't flow as well as it could have done and was repetitive. It was hard to sort out what was crucial to the story and what was descriptive and padding.
The characters are interesting. Livira, particularly draws the reader in as you follow her difficult beginning from an existence in the dust to a position in the city library. She is driven and smart and won't be walked over. Evar is more difficult to sus out and I found his family and lifestyle difficult to follow and I didn't connect with him at all.
But, for me the main problem with this book is that nothing much happens for the first two thirds of it. After an initial burst in the first chapter when Livira's home is attacked, there are long periods where not much more occurs until the end third when the action is continuous.
I realise this is the first in an intended trilogy so there perhaps a degree of world building and scene setting was necessary but I fear I'm not invested enough in the story to read the next book.
With thanks to Netgalley and HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction for an arc in return for an honest review.

Well, I no longer want to find myself trapped in a library anymore!! This wonderful book covers so many different topics in it and kept me gripped right up until the last page, This is my first book by Mark Lawrence but it certainly won't be my last.

I can't wait for my pretty sprayed edge copy to arrive for my bookshelf.

Thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

“A good book invites the reader in.” That is exactly what this book does, it invites you into a captivating world full of mystery, turmoil and questions.

The stories of Livira Page and Evar Eventari are intertwined, unbeknownst to them. We follow the story of Livira as she grows from a child into an adult, once from the Dust but raised to become a Librarian and we follow Evar, who has spent the majority of his life trapped in a library chamber with his siblings. And eventually, these two stories become one.

The writing was great, it was very descriptive and created an impressive world, the Library. When I say I want to get lost in a library, I mean one like this book. It has chambers upon chambers, labyrinths, and an endless supply of books. The Library is so massive that people have gone out into the stacks in search of books, gotten lost, lost track of time, and starved to death in the stacks. The world-building is very detailed, I look forward to seeing more of the world and how it works in this series, it’s an exciting world concept.

There was prose, I enjoyed it and found myself highlighting quite a bit. The prose wasn’t overpowering, it flowed well with the dialogue and scenes. I particularly enjoyed the descriptions of the sabbers at the beginning, the author kept it simple, there was no flowery prose, they kept to the facts and it still gave me a very real image of the sabber’s appearance.

It is a, somewhat, slow-paced story, I wasn’t prepared for that however enough happens to keep you engaged and curious which is why it didn’t take me very long to finish it. The romance in this is so subtle, but it is done so beautifully. Honestly, I didn’t really recognise it until I found myself getting swept up by it, it’s like a river where you dangle your toes in and then slowly but surely that water is flowing around your calves, it’s so soft and gentle.

“The world has never even noticed them. That is about to change.”

“Give her an inch and she would take all the miles you owned.” Livira is probably up there with my favourite characters, I love that throughout the course of the book, we see the change from child to adult. I’m pretty sure she stole my heart with the Dust Bear scene if you know you know. She is full of questions, always asking questions and it makes it easy to lose myself in her chapters as she hunts for answers because Livira is not the type to sit on her hands waiting for the answer to come to her. She finds the answer herself. Her chapters come with a whole cast of characters, if I spoke about them all this review would be a lot longer than it is, I loved a lot of the characters.

Evar is an interesting character, it took a while before I started looking forward to his chapters. As we read on with Evar, his character becomes more interesting and that’s not to say he isn’t interesting from the get-go, he is, however, I think due to his situation it makes sense that his character feels kinda empty. He is, in a way, empty himself then as his story progresses those empty parts of him become more full which brings him to life. I liked his siblings, all of them come with their own stories and I hope we learn more about them in the second book.

There was something about Malar that had me along for the ride, from his very first appearance, I knew he was going to be important. Perhaps it was the bluntness of his character, he felt real in a world of make-believe. I found him funny, I got excited whenever he would make an appearance waiting to see what we could learn about him. It’s a struggle to speak on Malar without spoilers, I had to include my thoughts on him because he’s my second favourite after Livira.

“All books, no matter their binding, will fall to dust. The stories they carry may last longer. They might outlive the paper, the library, or even the language in which they were first written. The greatest story can reach the stars…”

How many of us have dreamed about being trapped in a library? Well, you might think twice after this one 😂

Ever since I saw the cover and the title months ago I wanted to get my hands on this book so thank you so much to netgalley and the author for a copy 🙏

This book is not just a romance story, but a story about friendship, fate, destiny, legacy, and time. It gives ode to the phrase "knowledge is power" and champions the social cycle theory - that civilisation is doomed to repetition of growth and eventual collapse. This book will throw you through a loop and make you cry.

Evar and Livira are our main characters. Evar is a young man who was transported to and trapped in a seemingly endless library with no usable exits. He is surrounded only by his "siblings" - four others who were also transported to the library and who possess deadly skills - and two guardians called the Assistant and The Soldier. Both of who are almost porcelain robots, designed to protect the library as well as Evar and his siblings from Escapes - dark shadows manifest to kill them all.

We meet Livira as a child in a small village in a place called the Dust which is essentially a desert landscape where all that can be found are tumbleweeds. She has dreams to travel to the city she has heard about growing up and when her village is attacked by dog-like creatures called sabbers, her dream comes true in a bloody way. Here, she is introduced to the life of Crath city; its library, and as a inquisitive child is determined to discover its secrets.

Livira and Evar face, witnesses, and harbour all types of discrimination that is present in our own world. Knowledge is hoarded by the high society of Crath and utilised as a weapon against those they perceive as "other". The King picks and controls what material is available to be read based on his own ideas. Livira is condemned for being from the Dust while condemning others for being apart of a certain race. An essay could be written on the multitude of themes that Lawrence has included in this story.

The library itself I consider a passive character in this story and the book is worth reading for the descriptions of it alone. The library was a place available to all but due to wars and conflict became sectioned off with doors where only assistants of the library or members of certain races can open certain chambers. The library is a victim of the characteristics of men, it simply presents the information that it holds but is unable to control whether this is used for good or bad means - yet it feels the consequences of these actions nevertheless. Due to this, the library which should be a place of peace becomes the grounds for physical conflict.
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My expectations for the book from reading the blurb versus the actual story were completely different and I was continually surprised at the way the story went. I wasn't sure how I thought it was going to go but it wasn't like that 😝 This book was so exciting to read because it introduced a new premise which was so fresh, I was in awe at the levels of creativity and plot-weaving from the author. The ending revelation had me in BITS and throughout the whole thing I kept going OH! 💡 as a new revelation was revealed.

I think that today, there are so many books we want to read that we rush through them in order to reach the next one and its always present in the back of our minds to hurry up, but I found with this story that I did not care how long it took me because I was just so engrossed in the book and in love with the environment and characters that I could have kept reading it forever. This was a very special and magical read for me and ill definitely be thinking about it for the rest of my life.

I would like to end by thanking the author for writing this book. Its so magnificently written, I cant sufficiently put into words how much I loved it but I hope I did it a bit of justice. I cant wait for the physical copy to come out, I just want to hug it close and squeal in contentness/happiness 😂 Its definitely my favourite read of the year so far and I cant wait for the follow-up!

I was once again lured in by a beautiful cover. This book was a weird one.

Nothing really happens until about the 70% mark but at the same time things do happen. It just doesn't really click until the last like 15% of the book. Even then I was sort of wondering what just happened, where did I go and how did I get here?

The writing was a bit difficult. I've not read any other Mark Lawrence work so I can't say if this is a style thing of his or not, but it just felt overly wordy and as a result confusing. Like it took me a fair while to realise that sabbers, dog-warrior or wolf people or whatever it was, were like actually dog/wolf people. And someone is going to see that comnent and wonder how I didn't realise that. The answer is simple: There was so much over-wording happening I didn't realise what was literal and important.

As for the weird library that straddles time and space, if you accept the Doctor Who 'wibbly wobbly timey whimey stuff' as the explanation, it becomes easier to follow.

I'm in a weird mindset finishing this. On one hand, it might be nice to know where things go next in the following book. On the other hand, if I didn't ever find out I think I would be ok.

None of this is to say the book is bad. But its left me with conflicting feelings of how I feel. The characters were interesting, but then also don't matter in some cases unless we learn more about where they ended up in the next book. Things happen but also they don't so the story is simultaneously making progress but has a lot of dead, unnecessary air. It's very wordy and overly descriptive but I also didn't know what was actually going on all the time. Also references to Wizard of Oz and Rapunzel left me confused because why were those necessary?

I didn't hate it. I'm not sure I totally liked it though. I am so conflicted and confused.

'The library is our memory. It's all that survives.'

Livira, a prodigious child living in a remote location, narrates the story, which takes an intriguing turn with the arrival of anthropomorphic dog beings. The book's strength lies in its gradual revelation of the world-building, which keeps the reader captivated. The epigraphs at the beginning effectively hint at the significance of the library and its role in shaping the world's history. While the book seems to celebrate the value and influence of literature, its primary focus is on the two central characters.

The book's success can be attributed to its remarkable treatment of multiple themes. It not only expresses admiration for literature but also delves into compelling subjects like the evolution of language, the cyclical pattern of history, racism, autonomy, misinformation, education, and community. This broad range of topics adds depth and richness to the overall narrative.

This latest by the fabulous Mark Lawrence has a fantastic premise, is extremely well-written and introduces us to two memorable characters who I immediately became invested in. I was fascinated by the world, the politics and the library. But the reason this is only three stars for me is because I felt like this book was one very long introduction that did a lot of meandering after the initial burst of action. I understand that this is the first of a trilogy (and I am excited for the sequels) but I honestly think some of the padding could have been shed to help with the pacing. Though I recognise this is just my personal preference and I tend to find most epic fantasy series overly long.

Review posted to goodreads and instagram @ellasbookishwonderland April 28th 2023
I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

The Book That Wouldn't Burn is about Livira, a child from the Dust who through traumatic events end up in the city, and Evar, who has spent his entire life trapped in a library with only his adoptive siblings and two mechanical people for company. It's a complex, ambitious story about space and time and how knowledge is power, as magical as it is dystopic. It's also my most recent favorite book.

A big portion of this book takes place in the library, a vast (eternal and infinite) and mysterious world of books and half magic, half mechanical wonders, reminiscent of The Starless Sea or Piranesi in its dreamlike atmosphere. I would like to visit, or maybe move in. That'd be nice. I was very impressed with the world building from the very start, and even more so as I got further into the political intrigue and the way it is entwined with the world itself.

I definitely think you should go into this as blind as you possibly can, so even though I would like to discuss, in detail, every single aspect of the plot I'll try to stop myself. I will say though, that the political intrigue is fascinating, the general mystery surrounding what is actually going on adds another dimension to it, and the use of knowledge and information in politics is just brilliant. There was one major plot twist that absolutely FLOORED me in its implications. It, surprisingly, reminded me a lot of the Licanius trilogy by James Islington in terms of structure, and it kind of felt like epic fantasy even though it's really not. Even after finishing this book, I have endless questions I need answers for, and I have no idea how I'll survive waiting for the sequel.

I also ended up being really attached to the characters, they all have very distinct personalities, and both Livira and Evar, although very different from each other, are excellent protagonists for the story. Some of the side characters are almost even more interesting, and the depiction of friendship and family dynamics is great. So many fantastic supportive side characters, and just in general, so much love. It also makes for a really emotional aspect to this otherwise quite plot-driven book.

There are so many different sides to The Book That Wouldn't Burn, from the dreamlike library to the harrowing political intrigue, and all of them are so fascinating. I was so attached to the characters, the world building is the coolest thing I've ever seen, and it is just wonderfully crafted through and through. Read this book.

DNF @27%

This book just wasn’t for me, didn’t mesh with the writing style, couldn’t get into the story or invested in the characters, found the pacing weird & everything was weirdly repetitive.

Such an interesting idea that just didn’t pay off for me!

“All books, no matter their binding, will fall to Dust. The stories they carry may last longer. They might outlive the paper, the library, or even the language in which they were first written. The greatest story can reach the stars..”


Picked up this book and was just gripped until the very last page. I absolutely loved it. The writing is beautiful. Mark Lawrence gets better and better with each book. So many yes's to everything in this book. Can not wait for my physical copy to arrive.