The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman is a thrill-ride for book fans. It follows Irene, who works at the mysterious “Library,” a space between dimensions that is designed to store all of the greatest works of literature from a range of different dimensions. Irene and her companion, a junior librarian named Kai, are sent to steal a first-edition of Grimm’s Fairy Tales from a steampunk-fantasy London, where zeppelins are the primary mode of transport and fairies and magic are real. Here, they meet the third central character, this world’s equivalent of Sherlock Holmes: a London detective named Vale.

Irene immediately dislikes this mission. The world she has to enter has been ‘tainted by chaos.’ Chaos acts as a counterbalance to the power of the Library, and the two forces are constantly at war across all the different worlds, mediated by the dragons. This isn’t the only issue. The previous owner of the book was murdered and Irene’s goal stolen by a shadowy thief known as Belphegor. Plus, the Iron Brotherhood, a powerful faction of anti-fae guerilla soldiers, are also pursuing it, while their shadowy leader pulls the strings from behind. All the while they hear rumors that Alberich, a disgraced Librarian turned chaos’s greatest agent, has entered that world.

This book is set up like a classic action novel. We get a cast of characters with shaky motivations and generic backstories and a constant barrage of excitement and well-choreographed action scenes. The motivation of the book was a little shaky. Why did they need this particular copy of the book? Why couldn’t they simply grab any old copy? This question is partially addressed (in a spoiler), but never fully answered.

While I would call many of the characters generic, I didn’t dislike Irene. She was born in the Library to become a Librarian, unlike her coworkers. This makes for an enjoyable rivalry between herself and another Librarian, named Bradamant. Unfortunately, this is where Kai comes in. He is as clichéd as he is flawless. Irene describes him as “incredibly attractive,” and he doesn’t mess up, ever. He has a mysterious and troubled past related to his family. One surprise was that he was not, in fact, the love interest. While it is fun and easy to write a character like him, it doesn’t make for a lot of investment. I thought he had no personality beyond a lost-puppy kind of loyalty to Irene and an obnoxious air of superiority around everyone else. Vale was funny, and enjoyable to read about. Unfortunately, there’s not much more to say about him. He had literally no reason to be pursuing Grimm’s Fairy Tales, and he didn’t play a particularly important role in the story. He provided some information about the world to the two librarians. Unfortunately, thanks to Kai, my patience for quirky characters with little personality was quite low.

Despite all of this, I still enjoyed reading the book. The world was very well developed with tiny details and history, and the writing was good enough to carry it. The action was fabulous, and the pacing kept me invested. The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman wasn’t necessarily good in all departments, but where it excelled, it exceeded expectations. I would recommend this book for people who are looking for a fast-paced story with a unique world.