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  • The Invisible Library

  • The Invisible Library, Book 1
  • Written by: Genevieve Cogman
  • Narrated by: Kristin Atherton
  • Length: 12 hrs and 2 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (15 ratings)

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The Invisible Library

Written by: Genevieve Cogman
Narrated by: Kristin Atherton
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Publisher's Summary

One spy. One dangerous book. One deadly mission. The first in a delightful fantasy mystery series, The Invisible Library is the astounding debut from Genevieve Cogman.

Irene must be at the top of her game or she'll be off the case – permanently . . .


Irene is a professional spy for the mysterious Library, which harvests fiction from different realities. Along with her new assistant Kai, she's posted to an alternative London. Their mission – to retrieve a dangerous book. But lo and behold, when they arrive, it's already been stolen. London's underground factions seem prepared to fight to the very death to find her book.

In this world teeming with supernatural creatures and unpredictable magic, Irene soon finds herself up to her eyebrows in a heady mix of danger, clues and secret societies. And Kai is also hiding secrets of his own. Yet failure is not an option – the nature of reality itself is at stake.

'It's a breath of fresh air' – Guardian

Continue the journey with the second adventurous title in the The Invisible Library series, The Masked City. Genevieve is also the author of the Sunday Times bestselling Scarlet - which reimagines the tale of The Scarlet Pimpernel, but with vampires, mages and magic . . .

©2015 Genevieve Cogman (P)2021 Macmillan Publishers International Limited

What the critics say

A dazzling bibliophilic debut (Charles Stross, author of the Laundry Files, including The Atrocity Archives)

What listeners say about The Invisible Library

Average Customer Ratings
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Original story enhanced by excellent performance!

I had already read the Invisible Library and decided to revisit it through this audiobook: I am so glad that I did! The performer did not overact the voices, but brought depth and feeling to the characters and moments of suspense. I laughed out loud several times and really appreciated her delivery. Can't wait to listen to the rest of the series!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Captivating!

I’ve read this series of books before but thought to try the audiobook. I’m quite glad I did even though I don’t usually prefer audiobooks. The narration is EXCELLENT! It’s the perfect compliment to the story and brings the characters to life.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

not good

I should never have picked this up.
I did not enjoy it. At all. It was a grating slog. I'm not a fan of fantasy, I will admit, but I'm open to giving any genre a chance if the concept sounds interesting. And it did sound interesting. But good grief, the world building was a hot mess. There was so much going on, but it wasn't cohesive in any way, and, worst of all, it wasn't actually interesting. It was all vague and half-formed and unclear and... boring. Ok, so we have a secret library with magical librarians who are also basically trained like MI5, who go around different parallell universes collecting books. To preserve literature. Which is such an unsatisfying mission statement. Why? Why is it important? What do they do with the knowledge they collect? Nothing, apparently. And then there are dragons and fairies and werewolves and vampires. And did I mention that librarians can live to be over 500, depending on which universe they spend the most time in? Like the villain. Who is just... a villain. The librarians are terrified of him because he betrayed the library and killed some people. But why? Who knows? Who cares? And our leads read like something straight out of Wattpad. You've got a gorgeous dragon in human form, a shockingly boring bisexual "not like other girls" protagonist with no character traits besides being a bit "snarky" (of course), a Sherlock Holmes stand-in, and a gorgeous, amoral, leather clad librarian who clashes with the protagonist but is there also URST? We've got the obligatory sharing a motel room scene, with awkward sexual banter between the protagonist and the dragon. Actually, you know what? This reads like fan fiction written by a precocious 15 year old who is in her school's IB program.
I mean, good for the author for having an idea and seeing it through, that's more than I could do, but... I still kind of hated it.

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