I was really excited for Lawrence’s new book since I’ve been a fan for a long time. There’s something about books about books that always calls to the reader… and lets also don’t forget the amazing cover, it is beautiful. In the book that wouldn’t burn we have a dual POV and a story about the love for stories which totally aligns with the fact that this book is supposed to be an homage to literature, which I can definitely see.

First, we have Livira, a young kid who lives in the Dust and whose family gets attacked by Sabbers, dog/like soldiers that have been attacking human settlements nonstop. She gets rescued and gets to the great city of Crath where the library is. She is our reckless one.

Evar is our second POV, he lives inside the library along with his three brothers. He’s known nothing else besides the chamber inside the library, a library that’s presumably endless. He’s our empathetic one.

This is summary is mostly a set up since the book that wouldn’t burn is actually quite long, and it takes place during several years. I do have to pinpoint that the pacing of 80 percent of it is definitely slow, sometimes even too much. The descriptions are very detail, and the writing style feels like Lawrence is trying to show everything he can do, which makes it at times (for someone whose first language is not English) a bit dense and I kept myself from trying to reach the next paragraph. Having said that we skip some years several times, and though I didn’t really mind it, sometimes it felt like we were cutting a section and then starting a new one, when the previous one was actually in an interesting point, definitely a risky decision, but one that works mostly throughout the book. I might have been a little bit my fault since for some reason I thought this was a standalone, and honestly it could really work as one.
In addition, for a long time our books is mostly character focus so if you are a plot driven reader this book might take you more time than usual to read, but it’s worth the ride since the destination landed really well.

I know I sound a bit negative, but don't be discouraged since even though I need a really strong plot to continue reading I found myself really wanting to get back into reading so that I could learn more about our little mysteries. And having said this I would actually say that The Book that Wouldn't Burn is more of a mystery set in a more steampunk world that a full fledge fantasy. A lot of people might disagree with me in this take but still, I didn’t get a fantasy feel, but more of a sense of machineries with the Mechanism and the Assistants which I think, works for the better, since I wouldn’t say the library is magical but an endless pool of knowledge. (Let’s also appreciate the little mention of Prince of Thorns in the book please and all the eater eggs!)

As a conclusion I would definitely recommend The Book that Wouldn’t Burn but with a bit of caution to some readers. This one is probably going to be a lot of people new favourite book but it’s also going to be disappointed for more plot driven readers. Still, definitely give it a try since in the last 20 percent we have non-stop action and a great resolution. I will be waiting for the sequel patiently.

Now that I've had a little bit of time to think about the book since I finished it, I think it fair to give it a rating of 3.75, since even though my experience was good I feel like some things didn't end up working a few months later.

A few spoilery thoughts ahead.

I’m not sure if I loved the last pages since it felt a little bit rough, like the book ended in the middle of the action which was a little bit annoying. The way the timelines converged was fantastic and not to predictable, but I feel that Lawrence wanted the plot twist and a few things I don’t feel like they fit quite perfectly, especially with the Assistant and the Warrior fighting the three things just at the end.

A story about a boy that has spent his life in a library and a girl who is from a small town. Their stories will intertwine throughout the book. I’d suggest being a big fantasy fan to read this book.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an early copy of this book in return for an honest review.

Unusually difficult to provide a synopsis for this story without spoiling it. There is a lot here - friendship, love, xenophobia, acceptance of the "other", the power of education and knowledge, the scourge of revenge, the beauty of imagination, and the importance of listening and understanding. A library sits at the centre of the story, allowing people, ideas, and timelines to collide, and discover themselves and the world around them. Our protagonists are Evar and Livira, whose stories are majestic and terrifying in equal measure. They grow as the story evolves, and gain increasingly more depth and substance.

I absolutely loved the book. It's a rare fantasy / speculative fiction novel that entertains you, but makes you think and challenge your thinking and assumptions. I already feel echoes of it in my mind, and am sure it will stay with me for a long while. There was a lot here to be impressed by.

More than anything, I found the characters mesmerising. They were so complex and multilayered that one could almost touch them. And not just the protagonists - all the characters that were remotely important had dimensionality, a "soul", and credibility. The book was, first and foremost, the story of their growth and understanding, and I found myself wanting to see how they changed and grew from scene to scene.

I also found the overall concept of the book mindbendingly awesome. In trying to find good analogues, I failed - making this, in my recent memory, a truly unique experience. There is nothing I remember reading that had a similar level of internal consistency when dealing with multi-dimensionality and multiple timelines. The scope of the story and the amount of thought that went into ensuring this consistency are truly awe-inspiring. Nothing was out of place, and every loose end fit together in an almost magical way.

Lastly, I loved the questions that the story raised about the nature of subjective vs objective reality, and the role of perception in shaping the world around us and ourselves. There was so much to consider there, and I don't feel I have digested all of it properly.

Highly recommended to anyone who likes books that don't move in a linear fashion and have an element of confusion (while still being entertaining and internally consistent!). It's not a super easy read, so might not be for everyone. For me, personally, this is the best book of the year so far, by far.

My first Mark Lawrence book - it was really good!

Livira's desert settlement is attacked by sabbers, an enemy species, who kill all adults and take the children prisoner. Soldiers save them and the children are taken to the capital, where Livira manages to secure an apprenticeship in the mysterious and magical Library.

In another p.o.v. Evar and his siblings (not actually related) live inside the huge Library which they haven't been able to leave their entire lives. They are completely alone except for two robot-like assistants.

I will admit that it was a rocky start for me. Not sure if it was just me missing information or getting hung up on minor things that were not clear, but I found it a little bit frustrating at first. Yes, there were a lot of things the characters didn't know or understand throughout the book, but there were also things that they did know and I thought were not explained properly to the reader until much later.

The setting in this unfathomable Library was great, though. Imagine a Library that's basically a city with some elements of magic! I enjoyed Livira's development and growth (her initial 'tiny ball of anger' behaviour was a bit annoying), and Evar was a pleasant, relatable character.

The two povs connected in a clever way and Mark Lawrence explored really meaningful ideas and themes. I was really surprised - I was already invested in the plot and outcome, but then the author took it up a notch.

There were other things I didn't enjoy, though, so it's more like 3.5 for me. I thought the chapters were too short. 70 chapters - that's just over 8 pages per chapter, on average. Perhaps it wouldn't have bothered me as much if there wouldn't have been a quote at the start of each chapter, which always took me out of the story and which I immediately forgot as soon as I finished reading it. Never mind that a couple of quotes were from other Mark Lawrence books... It made me think of Jay Kristoff who inserted his Nevernight book into its sequel.

I was surprised by how many answers we got by the end of the book. There were so many questions and I was afraid most wouldn't be answered in this first book. That being said, there were some plot elements that were a bit far-fetched, or not that believable.

Overall, a very intriguing world and well written story.

I really enjoyed the concept of this story, a book about books and a library that is not set in an academia setting. Sadly, the world-building wasn't as extensive as I had hoped and left me with several questions about certain aspects of the library and its inner workings. I didn't like the repetitive writing and uneven pacing. The prose was good, it was the facts that were repeated over and over that put me off.

This book was interesting, the world-building was fascinating in itself but unfortunately, it didn't capture me almost entirely. I couldn't dive into this book as much as I want to that I get bored after reading 5 pages; hence, reading this became a chore to me more than wanting to enjoy it. The plot itself isn't half-baked at least- but it can be dragging and i wouldn't know what's happening next because my mind would be flying elsewhere when the scenes bore me out. Livira was a character that I enjoyed reading throughout this book, she is dynamic and smart while the other mc wasn't really intriguing for me. Overall, this book had a great setting and good premise, i just hoped it was more interesting than what the cover allures us to be.

This is a fascinating start to a new series. While the prose might not be to my personal tastes, I can see it working for a lot of readers. It reads like a love letter to all things bookish, and lays the groundwork for the story of a civilization in a very compelling manner.

For some reason this book just didn’t work for me, the description and cover were alluring but sadly it didn’t live up to expectations. Despite having some well written descriptions and nice prose, I just felt so disconnected to this book. I wanted to love it, but just wasn’t enthralled with the plot or the characters. Not a bad read but really not for me.

Unfortunately I had to put this one down. It was one of those, it's not you, it's me moments. The writing was great but I just didn't seem to be taking any of it in. I felt like I wasn't connecting with the story, which may have been a case of right book wrong time. Maybe I'll try again one day, but for now I've given it a 3 star, I don't feel it's right to give it any lower because it was well written but I can't give any higher because it just didn't do it for me.

Many thanks for the chance to access it however.

I think I need to be more careful in diving into fantasy books with alluring covers without having read the author previously, as it’s the second time I do this and do not enjoy the book.
It’s not a bad book, it’s just not a book for me.
The main thing I enjoyed was the setting and the dystopia within it. The world was fascinating and the library setting was very appealing to me but this was not enough to make it a pleasurable reading experience.
Despite appreciating the rich and vivid writing style, I found the whole pace of the book completely off. I read mostly slow pacing books but this was very uneven, with two chapters being fast paced and other two super slow and dragged on and so on.

This aligned with characters that I didn’t connect at all, was ultimately what didn’t work for me. Whereas I connected to the female MC in the beginning (and ended up loosing interest), I didn’t connect at all with the male MC.
The climax felt convoluted and over complicated without necessity I found it really hard to follow and this is what makes me not to want to pick up the sequel when it comes out.

‘People die, brother. That’s what I’ve learned. Life’s cheap, easily spent. And if there’s any joy to be had it’s in the moments between. So, when you find something that makes you happy you take it with both hands, and you hold on to it for as long as you can. It’s not going to last. It will be taken from you. But that’s not the point. The point is that you took your chance, you drank the wine, you took what good you could from the world, and you gave it yours.’


The Book That Wouldn’t Burn is not my first Mark Lawrence book, and most probably not my last either. I’ve known his works since before I became a blogger. I wouldn’t call myself his fan, necessarily, but I read his The Broken Empire trilogy as well as his Impossible Times trilogy, widely different as they are. When he first started talking about The Library trilogy, I was intrigued. I couldn’t explain to you why I had this need to read this book. Maybe because we book bloggers are like Pavlov’s dog, but instead of being triggered by the sound of a bell, we react to the mention of a book about a library. I mean, come on! This is like our paradise or hell (depending on your preferences).

So, The Book That Wouldn’t Burn had become one of my most anticipated releases in 2023. And that’s a double-edged blade because on one hand, high expectations are hard to live up to, but on the other, when those expectations are met it’s oh-so-sweet. That said, I tried to go into this book as blindly as possible. I didn’t read the blurb, I only knew what little snippets I picked up on social media from Lawrence. There are only a handful of authors whose books I’m willing to go into like this. And while The Book That Wouldn’t Burn didn’t quite blow my socks off, it still lived up to my expectations. All in all, we are off to a good start.

The Book That Wouldn’t Burn has two POV characters: Livira and Evar who live in different times. Livira is an outsider in Crath City, coming from the Dust after an attack on her settlement. She is like the weed she got her name after: it’s impossible to keep her down. Against all odds, she finds a life for herself within the walls of the library. Evar, on the other hand, was born in the library, prisoned within the walls for generations, and only he and his siblings are left accompanied only by The Assistant and The Soldier. Mysterious beings, or helpers whose job is to look after the library.

While I liked both characters, I connected with Evar more. They have a lot of similarities, having a lonely life for one. But while Evar always feels like he is somehow less than his siblings, and only second to them in anything they have skills for thanks to the Mechanism, Livira is surrounded by friends and tends to be ahead of most of her peers. Evar desperately looks for a way out and longs to find the woman of his dreams, Livira seeks knowledge about the Library to find her way back to the Exchange she stumbled upon one time. Evar comes across as driven more by emotions while Livira is more practical and can come across as a bit cold sometimes. And honestly, the romancey subplot was somehow more heartwrenching from Evar’s POV.

There is also a wide cast of side characters that bring this story to life. Some were a bit less fleshed out than I’d like, but they still were a great addition. I especially enjoyed reading about the guards – the shadow dog, Volente, and the raven. I really hope we get to learn about the backstory of how these creatures came to be part of the Library as we get to learn more about the assistants too. And Yute! The old librarian is sure someone to watch out for 👀.

I’m not going to go into the plot much, because I believe this is something you have to discover for yourself. What I’m going to say is that the concept is quite exquisite. I found myself fascinated by the library and its history, the way Lawrence pulled the layers back one by one for the reader to sit in astonishment by some revelations. I guessed a few but probably that was more intuition than anything else. Still. It was super gratifying to find out I was right, ha! One of my favorite things about this book, apart from the worldbuilding and the library itself, was all the hidden easter eggs. There is a lot of name drops either in the story itself or in the epigraphs, and those were fun to discover.

‘We’re all the story we tell about ourselves, silly.’ Another wave rocked them. ‘THat’s all anyone ever is – the story they tell, and the stories told about them. Fiction captures more than facts do. That’s why the library keeps it. It’s the most important part of our memories.’


The Book That Wouldn’t Burn started out a bit slow, it took some time for me to get into it, partly because it needed time to build up the setting and give us enough insight into the happenings, and partly because I find it difficult to get accustomed to Lawrence’s prose. There were some repetitions too, which I found annoying, but at one point I just found myself absolutely invested in Evar and Livira’s story. I think that was around the time when Livira reached adulthood. I had questions I wanted to be answered. Eventually, my persistence paid off.

As for the prose, it’s entirely a personal taste thing. I generally prefer something simpler, that has a different flow. But if you were a Lawrence fan up to this point, I don’t see why wouldn’t you love his newest book as well. In terms of genre, I think it’s probably slightly closer to the Impossible Times trilogy with the mix of Fantasy and sciencey elements (like time-traveling and the Mechanism).

The Book That Wouldn’t Burn is a mind-bending novel that sets a high bar for the books yet to come in The Library trilogy. Lawrence takes the reader’s hand and leisurely guides them through the many rooms and layers of the library, unraveling a story about books, love, about history repeating itself, and the lesson we take is that too much knowledge can be just as dangerous as little knowledge. That and compassion and acceptance are something that we all should learn, as understanding someone might be much more helpful than jumping to conclusions based on one’s outer appearance. Looks are not everything, my friends. I should know.

All said I look forward to learning what happens next!

I have a tendency to dive into books blindly, and Mark Lawrence's latest release was no exception. However, I had been meaning to read a book by this author for some time, and when I saw the synopsis for his new book, I decided to give it a chance.

At first, I was completely engrossed in the story. The first hundred pages flowed seamlessly, with an engaging plot and vivid descriptions that had me thinking this could easily become a new favorite. However, after passing the 100-page mark, the pacing of the book became uneven. While some sections moved quickly, others dragged on, especially toward the end. In fact, I found myself nodding off during the climax with only a few pages left to go.

Despite the pacing issues, the writing style was one of the aspects that I loved the most about this book, and it remained strong throughout most of the story. Lawrence's writing is rich and descriptive, with an emphasis on creating vivid scenes that transport you to the world he has created in the story. If you are as much of a bookworm as I am, you will absolutely enjoy this aspect of the book. (Hint: libraries, and lots of books)

Another of the book's elements that I enjoyed was its exploration of themes such as power, corruption, xenophobia, and the complexities of relationships. While I appreciated the author's attempt to tackle these weighty issues, I found myself wanting more. The exploration of these themes felt somewhat surface-level, relying on quotable phrases rather than delving deeper into the complexities and nuances of each topic. I would have liked to see a more in-depth examination of these themes to fully appreciate their relevance to the story and our current times as a whole.

Overall, Lawrence has skillfully blended elements from different genres to create a genre-bending story that is sure to appeal to a wide audience. With its engaging plot, vivid writing, and thought-provoking themes, it's sure to gain many fans and followers.

Whether you're a fan of science fiction, fantasy, or literary fiction, this book is worth checking out.

Have you ever wished for a library with more books in it than you and thousands of others could ever read? Well that’s one of the premises of this book and I’ll be honest what sold it to me.

The story follows our two main characters, Evar, who along with his siblings has been trapped in the library for as long as they can remember, and Livira, who has been brought against her will away from her family and friends into this new world of books and learning.

Out of the two main characters I think Evar was my favourite, I’m a sucker for a character who is a little self-deprecating but still willing to give everything a go. Livira to me just seemed a little like everything fell into her lap and was immediately brilliant at everything she tried.

I also enjoyed the side characters, as is so often with me, but I think I wanted more of them. I understand that Evar and Livira are the ones with the mysteries to solve but why not bring a friend along more often?

I would have loved more time spent with the mechanism and what it could do but it did add a sense of mystery and foreboding.

The first third of this book had me completely drawn in and I was so excited to keep reading however the story then went in a direction that I was not expecting and I think that personally for me I would have loved it more if it had stayed in the direction I thought it was going. But that is a personal preference and the book was still a great read albeit with a couple of pacing issues. I did not realise this would not be a standalone but I’m intrigued to see where the story goes from here.

Overall, I really enjoyed my time spent in the library and whilst I saw a couple of things coming there were some real surprises along the way too.

Thank you to @harpercollinsuk and @netgalley for the advanced digital copy

My gratitude to NetGalley and the publishers for a free eARC of "The Book That Wouldn't Burn" by Mark Lawrence.
This is my first book by this author and I am impressed by his thought process and his immagination.
Labytinths are my favorite elements from literature, so as soon as the cover was revealed I knew I needed this book in my life.
A beautiful exploration of an infinite library and its knowledge that will make the reader open up to new ideas, question old perceptions and expand their views.
We see all these through two point of views: Livira, a celever and determined young girl and Evar, a trapped young man. Both are outstanding leads, but I could not help favoring Livira's chapters.
The pace strats slow, but is always filled with misteries and wonders, beautiful prose and at atmosphere that reminded me of Jorge Luis Borges's "The Library of Babel" and Susanna Ckarke's "Piranesi".
And these comparisons are some of the highest praises I can give a book.

Now this will be a separate ramble, but simillary to the main heroine, Livira, I have so many questions for the author, some of them related to his potential intrest in Tracian ( related to Dacia and therefore to Romania) and his views on the cyclic evolution of civilisation, maybe if he is also fascinated by authots like Gregg Braden?

3.5 stars (rounded up)

How does one even begin to write a review for a book that is this mind-bending and conceptually explosive?
In true Mark Lawrence fashion, The Book That Wouldn’t Burn tells a unique and inventive story that defies genres and that will make you question everything you thought you understood about storytelling.

If you’ve read the synopsis of this book, then you’ve probably noticed that it’s rather vague. And while I would love to give you more insight into the plot here, I honestly don’t think that I would be doing you a favour. In my opinion, going into this book as blind as possible and just revelling in the mystery and intrigue of it all is exactly what makes this reading experience so special. Trust the author, let yourself be blown away by all the mind-boggling twists and turns, and just enjoy the wild ride.

All you really need to know is that this story follows two young people whose lives and fates are intricately yet almost inexplicably tied together from the start. Some of the interesting things you will find in this book are a seemingly infinite and labyrinthine library, android-like Assistants, portals allowing you to travel through time and space, (semi?) sentient animals serving as Library Guides, and lots of Easter Eggs to enjoy for us booklovers.

This book started off extremely strong for me and I was hooked from the first page. I personally love slow-burn and character-/theme-driven stories, so I was having a great time just getting to know our two protagonists and exploring the cool and enticing world that Lawrence has created here.
I immediately loved Evar’s POV because I was so enamoured with the claustrophobic yet atmospheric Library setting, but Livira took me a while to warm up to. I think the main reason why I struggled to connect with her at the start is because she is only nine years old for the first half of this novel and I just found that to be a bit unrealistic. She acted much more mature than any child of her age believably should/could have, no matter their life experiences. But then there are some (very smooth, I should say) time jumps and she really grew on me over the course of the story!

Now, I think I am going to be a bit of an outlier in the fact that I preferred the first half of the book over the second half. There are some plot twists around the halfway mark that were undeniably clever and cool, but I can’t say that they totally landed for me. In fact, the sudden increase in the action, pacing and stakes combined with the mind-boggling reveals just gave me a bit of a headache. So even though I can acknowledge that this book is masterfully crafted, I just can’t deny that I personally liked the mystery and intrigue of this story more before we got all the answers.
Also, while I can see that this is first and foremost Evar and Livira’s story, I do wish the side characters would have gotten some more development. To me, they felt either a bit bland or it seemed like they had only one strong character trait that represented their entire personality. So when the supposedly tense action scenes hit, I just didn’t really care because I couldn’t get emotionally invested in the characters.

All that said, I did have a really good time reading this book. I quite enjoyed following these two complex protagonists and loved the development of their complicated yet heartfelt relationship.
Also, it’s really hard not to enjoy a book that just feels like a love letter to storytelling and reading. I particularly enjoyed the way this story explored themes such as the power of knowledge, the evolution of language, racism and discrimination, education, collective memory, censorship, misinformation, and the way history is warped or lost over time. And I know it might sound like this will be a slow or philosophical book when it’s dealing with such weighty themes, but the opposite couldn’t be more true. The themes are seamlessly woven into the narrative and I would actually argue that this is one of Lawrence’s snappiest and fastest-paced novels to date. Depending on the type of reader you are, this story is either going to feel frustrating and slightly convoluted or it will be a challenging and exciting wild ride from start to finish.

So, in the end, I just have to say that I am once again incredibly impressed by Lawrence’s wild imagination and ballsy storytelling. I mean, you have to give the man props for continuing to cook up some of the most inventive, mind-bending and genre-defying stories. This book is a beautiful blend of (portal) fantasy, sci-fi, mystery and dystopia, but probably also has a little sprinkle of just about any other genre you can think of.
If you like stories that keep you on your toes the entire way through, then The Book That Wouldn’t Burn is the perfect book for you.

This was my first Mark Lawrence's book and I didn't know what to expect. The plot sounded interesting, since there were books involved, and I was curious to read it. Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy it as much as I hoped. I wasn't fan of the writing style and the story dragged too much to my liking. I also didn't feel any connection with the characters. The worldbuilding was interesting, though. Maybe other readers will enjoy it more than me.

I have just finished, 'The book that wouldn't burn' and I honestly think this is Mark Lawrence's best book yet. It was fast paced and exciting from the very start and I found that you are instantly drawn in to the characters stories. You think you have just figured out what is going to happen then it hits you with another twist. I hate that I have to wait 2 years to read the next 2 books and find out what happens next. I highly recommend this book and will be suggesting it to my parent book club that I run in school.

An outstanding fantastical romp set in every book lovers favourite fantasy world: a giant, never-ending library.
Following the journeys of two main protagonists, the book is written alternately from their perspectives and ultimately brings them together to sew together a captivating story.
For me, the story was ultimately about Perception and Misperceptions. You could even boil it down as "don't judge a book by its cover". That is true of almost every moment, scene and character in this novel which is a remarkable piece of writing.

Absolutely loved it, when you read it, try to savour it, don't gallop through like I did! You'll miss it when it's gone. My mind is tied in knots, I'm still processing!! Another winner from this excellent author.

You get a lot of book to entertain you. Many books I read in one go. This, however, is a book that took me a long time to read, I picked it up and put it down. But came back each time intrigue to see where the story was going. A young girl is plucked by chance into a journey of discovery inside an ancient library. A young boy has spent years trapped in a library, fighting for his life. These two story lines are twisted together. Where do they lead? Read the book and find out. Thank you to Harper Collins and NetGalley for the ARC. The views expressed are all mine, freely given.