I have mixed feelings about this book.

Thank you NetGalley for giving me an arc in exchange for my honest review.

3.5/5 stars

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher, and Alex Evans for allowing me to read and review this book.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It has such an amazing premise, with interesting characters, and is extremely well written. However, it was way too short in my opinion. If this was a full length novel it would be perfect. With the length that it is it feels rushed and underdeveloped. I would have loved to see more of the world building, character backstories, and plot line throughout this story.

If you are looking for a quick and short read about hunting for long lost books, this is the story for you.

I was rather disappointed in this novella. The blurb sounded excellent but the reality was less exciting and I've read better variations on this theme.
I do like a grimoire hunt normally but this didn't deliver for me. Too short and not complex enough.

The Book Hunter by Alex Evans is a 18000 words novella. Bored by a PhD on a mundane topic, Cassa takes on a side job: investigating the whereabouts of the Call to the Elders, a mythical grimoire, lost centuries ago. Despite her initial skepticism, she becomes increasingly intrigued by the challenge. Her investigation brings her to the ancient city of Gandarah, but other, more sinister individuals are after the book. Soon, tracked in the undergrounds of a city on the brink of a revolution, Cassa discovers the secret behind the Call to the Elders.

The Book Hunter is a short read, with a great deal going on. I liked the set up and the majority of the story. However, since it is a novella there is not a whole lot of room for world and character building, which I rather missed. I think I would have been happier if this was a longer book, with the connections and backgrounds of the characters more fully fleshed out and detailed. That being said, I think the author did a good job with the plot and main character in such a short time frame. I understood her thought process, motivation, and desire for knowledge. I will admit that I had to double check which characters were interacting on the page more than once, but I think that was a me problem with my attention span rather than a book issue. My biggest problem was just that I wanted more. I want more back story, more world building, more character building and connection. I knew I was not going to get that in a novella, so I will be on the look out for more from the author set in the same world where I might be able to get that itch scratched.

I really enjoyed this novella and its definitely one I will be recommending!

After reading the blurb for the book I was intrigued, and I read it within a few days of it landing on my Kindle and I was really pleased with how much I had enjoyed it

I thought that the book had plenty of content and it was a well written novella with a good flow to it, it was quite fast paced. The story could easily have been expanded to be full length novel and I would also be really keen to read a follow up or another book with the characters as I think this could be a great start to a series.

There was certainly quite a lot going on in the book but I found it easy to follow and I liked how the story progressed.

It is 4 stars from me for this one, a good novella and really enjoyable!

The Book Hunter" is a promising novella. Although short it builds on adventure in a unique fantasy world. If you are looking for a quick, entertaining read you may find it enjoyable. However, if you are seeking a deep dive into characters and lore you might find the novella's length leaving more to be desired. Of this got turned into a proper series, there is so much that can be done with the story. Thank you to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Magic, archaeology and a feisty princess turned explorer (or should I say book hunter)! This was a quick fun read that I really enjoyed despite a few disappointments.

I loved the magic system and worldbuilding in this book. I also really liked the main character. Where the book fell short for me was in the last few chapters. The first part of the book is such a great buildup, setting the scene, introducing the world without info dumping but then all the action is crammed into the last few chapters and it just felt really rushed. When the ending came, it was a little jarring. I do realise this is a novella, set in the same world as the author's larger novel(s) but all the same, it did feel rushed. The same then goes for the romance. It just appears out of nowhere and felt very out of place in the story. But otherwise, I did enjoy the book and would like to read more of the author's work.

Besides all the punctuation and spelling issues, the book was fine. Interesting to me, because I enjoy the ideas of a book following someone who isn't a hero at the start, just someone who was sort of bored with their studies. I think because the story is short, the plot is rushed and a lot of the scenes didn't hit as hard as they should. I think if the story was longer, even just with more transition scenes and making the original scenes more fluid in their timing, this book was be a lot better.

Lots of information and story packed into this novella. It starts off with a lot of information as the author and character Cassa bring you into this new world of rules and education. The scenes are fantasy and interesting even if they move quickly. Loved reading about an academic character who gets drawn into the adventure of it all.

As a novella this is obviously a quick read but that doesn’t stop it from being a rip roaring story. If you enjoy fantasy, mystery and pageturners you will love this book.

"The Book Hunter" by Alex Evans is an engaging, fast-paced novella that dips its toes into a unique blend of genres. With its central theme rooted in fantasy, Evans adds a refreshing touch of contemporary realism through the characters' language and attire.

Our protagonist, Cassa, is an intriguing figure, deviating from her mundane Ph.D. work to chase the enigmatic grimoire, the Call to the Elders. The quest takes us to the ancient city of Gandarah, where mystery, intrigue, and looming revolution abound.

However, at 18,000 words, the novella's brevity is its Achilles' heel. The intriguing premise and plotline and the potential for a richly layered narrative and character development call for more extensive exploration. Evans crafts a narrative brimming with potential but stumbles in its hasty execution, resulting in a story that feels somewhat rushed and characters who need more depth.

"The Book Hunter" is a promising, albeit hurried, adventure in a unique fantasy world. Readers looking for a quick, entertaining read may find it enjoyable. However, those seeking a deep dive into characters and lore might find the novella's length leaving more to be desired. Thank you to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Quickly weaving a complicated world of impending magic resurgence, and the same suspicious trouble that accompanies it every 400 years, The Book Hunter was a quirky story about a nobody who's bloodline used to be royalty, but instead, is now an under-advantaged university student studying the most controversial subject in the world: magic. The story was interesting, and I liked the world, but I felt the characters were a bit forced, especially near the end, where, unfortunately, everything seemed to take an unscripted turn and reveal.

This story has such potential. Cassandra takes on a mission to find a missing grimoire, a mission complete with mystery and danger. Mysterious benefactors, adversaries out to get her, magic and more. And yet….aside from being far too short with numerous spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors, the story felt incredibly disjointed as if the author had almost finished one scene when the idea for the next occurred to them. A little bit more ‘flesh’ to the story would have gone a long way.

Still, the potential was there and I was mildly entertained for a whole 48 pages.

I found this to be a very enjoyable quick read. For such a short novellla, it packed a punch. Yes lots of scenes felt like they jumped quickly from one to the next, but it was expected. I would have happily read this as a full length novel.

This story was right up my alley, but it is way too short.
I had the feeling we were jumping from one scene to the next. And the relationships between the characters were absolutely not believable.
According to me, the problem really is the length of the book. Everything happens way too fast, and I had no grasp of the world we were in.
A lot has been explained in this short text, but still I was not immersed one bit.
It had twists and turns, surprises and betrayal... But it is not shocking, since everything is crammed into this short novella.

I would have loved this story, if it was a 300-page book.
If the author were to write another book set in this world, I would definitely pick it up, because I found the set-up really interesting. I just want to know even more.

The story itself was enjoyable, Alex has a knack of creating a clear picture of the world, but because this novella was fairly short and there was a lot worldbuilding it could feel like info dumping at some points.
The writing also sometimes pulled me a little out of the story. The overuse of adjectives like "everyone privately argeed that his humor lacked subtlety" makes the sentence less fluent. Another example would be "she sat down heavily". Let her sit down and then show me why she feels heavy, don't tell me.

I rather enjoyed the story itself, Alex Evans has a lively imagination and does a good job in describing architecture and places especially.
Other than that, though, I found the writing a bit stuffy. I think less adjectives and more showing than telling would make for a more fluent reading process.