3★ // In this fantastical world where magical beasts roam and spellbook librarians protect the people, troublemaker Yan - on his way to take the spellbook librarian examination - helps out and befriends the mysterious young boy, Tohru. With their combined knowledge and wit, they pass the examination and enter into the world of the Spellbook Library: a place where something magical is sealed into the very pages of every book.

Give me a manga about books and magic, you KNOW I'll pick it up! However, as much as I love stories on these subjects, this sadly didn't exceed expectations. I had some issues with the pacing, where some plot lines were resolved too easily, or just went by too quickly (like the examination, for example). I'm not sure how many volumes are planned, but I would have liked the opportunity to explore the story a little deeper.

As for characterization... they kept mentioning that Tohru is mysterious and that the princess shouldn't be concerning herself with the Library. Repeatedly. Telling, not showing, is a huge pet peeve of mine in writing.

Overall, the concept of the story is interesting, and I actually finished the volume wanting to read more of the story ("That's it?"), so there's that at least!

Thank you to NetGalley and Publishers for allowing me to read this ARC copy.

Yan always finds himself in trouble. When he was younger he was attacked by a beast and the Spellbook Librarians saved him. Now he is wanting to work for the library. When he goes to the employment exam he meets Tohru who also wants to work at the library.

They end up teaming together to accomplish the first task. The Princess who happens to work at the library feels something familiar in one of the boys and is happy when they make it through the examination. The only two to make it. They both get assigned to PR and Yan is not to happy but figures he can always transfer later.

This was such a cute quick read. The art was well done and now I must go and find the others to read.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

🔮Fantasy Manga
👾Pokemon-like Spellbeasts
📚Magical Library Setting
🌎Strong Worldbuilding

What I Liked
1) The spell beasts really reminded me of Pokemon and I thought the illustrations were gorgeous

2) I loved Riki's character and how he was so obliviously obnoxious.

3) I'm really intrigued into where the plotline of the princess and the kid is going

4) I thought the whole magic system was super cute

5) The setting of the library was immaculate

6) The dry humour in this book is exactly to my taste

What I Disliked
1) I wasn't really invested in this manga until about halfway through but I thought the second half was so strong that I may continue in this series.

Overall, I would recommend this if you love Shonen manga that has a fantastical setting and deals with magical creatures. I think this is a solid start to this series.

Thank you to Netgalley and Kodansha Comics for this eARC in exchange for an honest review

This story was so chaotic and I love that. Tohru and Yan are both working toward their dream of working in the Sprllbook Library. This massive library houses books with trapped Spellbeasts and information. Emel works in the public relations department of the Spellbook Library attempting to shake her royal title.

These three end up as unlikely allies.

Just OK. I felt like the artwork was a little more chaotic than was necessary. It made it harder to follow the story. But I also found the first 2 chapters of the story pretty tedious. It finally started to pick up in chapter 3, but by that point I still hadn't connected with the characters or the point of the story. I doubt I'll continue the series.

I did not finish this book, and quite partway through. It just didn't make any sense, and the characters didn't interest me in any way.

As someone who has read Is Love the Answer and thoroughly enjoyed it, I was super excited to read another of Uta Isaki's works.

The first volume of their first straight-to-English shonen series The Spellbook Library does a great job of leaving the reader wanting to know more. Why is Princess Emel working for the PR Department of the Spellbook Library? Who is Tohru, what is the source of his mysterious powers and what connection does he have with the spellbeasts? What did Yan do that has everyone hating him so before the series even started?

I just have so many questions! This review copy did its job in making me want to purchase future volumes to find the answers.

I don't typically read manga, but the cover of The Spellbook Library caught my eye, and the premise sounded like it would be up my alley. This is definitely a fun first volume! You're thrown right into the action on page one, and there's a pretty heavy focus on the world-building throughout. You're left wanting to know more about the characters and their motivations and goals, which I think will entice people to continue with the series and read the second volume. If you like interesting fantasy worlds and books about books, this might be something you'd enjoy!

3.75

Honestly, I think this was a solid first volume.

I loved the main characters! I can already see their bond forming in future issues (maybe even a ship?) I really want to know more about them, a lot mystery around their backstory and motivation, kinda has me wanting to read more ngl...

The world and magic was good, I wish more was shown to really understand how things work in their world. This is only Vol. 1 so it doesn't really bother me that much as I am more drawn to character-driven stories when it comes to fantasy. The little I got had me wishing it was an animated series

I really enjoyed this manga. It fosters a love of libraries and the magic they can creat while also urging you to ask for help and use their resources (which we can all use a reminder of).

This was such an unexpected read. The story picks up right away and takes off full speed ahead! I loved that! Coming from long form books into the manga world it was refreshing to get to the plot and carry on. Tohru and Yan seem like such a great dual with their differences in upbringing and ways of thinking and problem solving. I especially appreciated the message of when you reach a goal and it doesn’t feel how you expected or didn’t go according to plan, that simply means you have the space to create a new goal to try. I am looking forward to reading more of this series in the future!

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Thank you NetGalley and Ink Monster, LLC for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

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I picked this up for two reasons: I love libraries, magic, and magic libraries, and I deeply appreciated the author's manga about aromanticism and asexuality, Is Love the Answer?

So far this is a pretty intriguing shonen setup, with one piece of advice I found poignant: "You can't overly focus on not failing, instead focus on recovering when you do inevitably fail at something." In other words, the ability to pivot and adapt is more important than constant perfection. Overall, I love our deutagonist Yan. He's very fun, a bit reminiscent of Joey Wheeler/Katsuya Jonouchi from Yu-Gi-Oh.

There's also something mysterious about the main character Tohru that hasn't been explained yet, so I'm looking forward to the next volume!

Although I always associate Uta Isaki with LGBTQIA+ manga (and more specifically manga about asexual characters), they're a much more varied creator. (Official translations use they/them as Isaki's preferred pronouns.) After Is Love the Answer? and Mine-kun is Asexual were released in English, Isaki's action fantasy series Sayabito followed, and now their newest The Spellbook Library is not only debuting in English, it's doing so as part of Kodansha 's Portal initiative, meaning that it's being released in English translation before Japanese. It's an interesting situation, because, as Isaki puts it in their afterword, they're essentially creating a shounen manga for American readers.

Fortunately for all of us, The Spellbook Library doesn't read that way. Instead, it feels like a shounen version of Magus of the Library , another library-based fantasy novel. It's much less serious and less racially problematic than Magus of the Library, but that shouldn't deter fans of the one from enjoying the other, because both at their heart are about a love for books and what they hold. It's just that in Isaki's story, “what they hold” is actual spellbeasts, and like any other monster, those can be dangerous. Yan, one of the protagonists of the piece, wanted to become a librarian because he was rescued from a spellbeast as a child by the library's specialized sealing branch. He's come to the city to apply for a job based on his desire to thank the people who saved him and join their ranks, so he's less than thrilled when he's assigned to a different department.

I think, however, that he ought to table that concern because while he does mess up on one of the tests, his partnership with Tohru, another librarian hopeful, can be more of a boost than he assumes. Tohru is outwardly much less driven than Yan, but there's something about him that worries Princess Emel, and she's keeping a very close eye on him. Tohru is almost definitely more than he appears, and there's at least one hint that he may be a spellbeast himself, or at least partially one. (The fact that he wears a tiny book in a pendant around his neck certainly bears watching.) Tohru is an intriguing blend of innocence and determination, and while he's just happy to be in the library, something about him feels a little off. Yan hasn't noticed, of course, but that may turn out to be for the best – he's getting to know Tohru, not whatever Emel thinks he might be.

As always, Isaki's art is clean and easy to follow, with some excellent detailed backgrounds of books and library stacks that are frankly breathtaking. Yan's not all that interesting, but I'm very invested in Tohru and whatever his truth turns out to be, and if you're a bibliophile or a fan of other library-based manga, I think this is worth picking up.

The Spellbook Library is charming, blending magic, mystery, and self-discovery.
The artwork by Uta Isaki is beautiful, soft, and detailed. While the plot is engaging, it can drag a little at times imo. The characters are likable, though I think some could be more developed (but, to be real, this is only the first part).
Overall, I really liked it, and since this is only the beginning, I'm curious to see how the plot will develop. I recommend it!

The story follows the troublemaker and mysterious MCs that applied to spellbook library as a new entree. In this world, books contains magical beings that can be tamed or sealed (in the book).

The artwork is really cute, both magical beings and humans! It looks like the beginning story of a hero’s journey, I can’t wait to read the next book!

Volume 1 of The Spellbook Library is an excellent start to a manga series. It provides enough intrigue about our main characters that you want to know more about them without overshadowing the necessary world building. I'm looking forward to continuing the series.

Non posso negare di aver richiesto questo manga perchè trattava di bibliotecari!
Impossibile non essere attratta da una storia che li inserisce come protagonisti!
Devo dire di esserne rimasta piuttosto soddisfatta, anche se essendo solo il primo volume, viene solo data una presentazione generale della figura del bibliotecario, delle varie specializzazioni e della sede della biblioteca, dove vengono custoditi tutti i volumi magici in cui sono sigillate creature magiche.

I protagonisti sono abbastanza variegati e sembrano nascondere tutti qualche segreto particolare.
Son curiosa di scoprire cosa gli aspetta e sopratutto se Yan, dopo la delusione ricevuta nell'incontrare il suo idolo, troverà un nuovo obiettivo per la sua vita.

Ci dovrebbero essere veramente più storie con bibliotecari come protagonisti! Perchè siamo superfighi e risolviamo tutti i vostri problemi!

Grazie Netgalley per avermi permesso di leggerlo in anteprima!

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I can't deny that I requested this manga because it was about librarians!
It's impossible not to be attracted by a story that features them as protagonists!
I have to say that I was quite satisfied with it, even though since it's only the first volume, it only gives a general presentation of the librarian figure, of the various specializations and of the library's headquarters, where all the magical volumes, in which magical creatures are sealed, are kept.

The protagonists are quite varied and they all seem to hide some particular secret.
I'm curious to find out what awaits them and especially if Yan, after the disappointment he received in meeting his idol, will find a new goal for his life.

There really should be more stories with librarians as protagonists! Because we are super cool and we solve all your problems!

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read it in preview!

I think this story was really cute. The first part of the book focused mainly on world-building so the plot was slower to start, which is understandable given the world that needed to be explained. I'm excited for future volumes to see where the story will go and how the characters grow throughout the series.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for a review!

1 word for it: Hypnotic!
The story follows about two kids who want to join this magical library and meets by accident. Yan who is a troublemaker while Tohru who is quite mysterious and we know very little about him. Vol 1 focuses on how they enter the library as they attempt to pass the exam for different reasons and hidden truths.
Overall I love the magic system, the story, and the plot. The drawing style is beautiful and the magical beasts are just attentively drawn. I sometimes found myself drifting away because of the pacing of the story as there are some characters which are just quite annoying but they are meant to be so. Overall Vol 1 ends on a cliff hanger and I cannot wait to read vol 2 to read what happened.

Thank you to #NetGalley and #Kodansha Comics for providing a copy for review.

A very solid 4.5 stars ⭐️

I happened to be scrolling when the cover caught my attention. I’ve enjoyed a fair share of manga before, but my experience with shonen has been hit or miss. While some have caught my interest, others started to feel like variations on the same formula. But reading the synopsis, I had to give this one a try -- it seemed to be a lovely tribute to books and book lovers.

And I wasn’t disappointed. This is a shonen with librarians!

Overall, I enjoyed the worldbuilding that was revealed so far. The different departments, the entrance exam, the training. All were pretty fun to learn about and had me wondering what's to come next.

The characters, while so far very formulaic and predictable, have potential. I am curious about Yan and Tohru specifically, while really not caring for the princess. The side characters seem like they could be interesting too, but we haven’t seen quite enough of them yet to form strong impressions.

The art style is cute and expressive, and I loved the sketches included at the end of the volume. That said, I did find some of the action panels a bit hard to follow. The scenes often felt crowded with onomatopoeia that could be repetitive or confusing, so I sometimes skimmed these parts, hoping the dialogue would fill in the gaps.

If there’s one thing I’d like to see more of, it’s a sense of urgency. By the end of Volume 1, I still felt unclear about the main characters’ goals. We have one character who seems to be mostly mysterious (and probably has a hidden agenda), another whose simple ambition doesn’t require much to achieve, and a third who seems content just doing her job. While the worldbuilding definitely shines, this lack of drive makes it a bit harder to feel truly invested in the characters. At times, it felt like they were simply going through the motions.

Overall, I enjoyed this. The concept is delightful, and as a tribute to books and libraries, it has plenty of charm. I hope we get to see more of the characters and the worldbuilding in Volume 2.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this!