Alexandria “Alix” Watson has learned one lesson from her barren childhood in the foster-care system: unlike people, books will never let you down. Working three dead-end jobs to make ends meet and knowing college is a pipe dream, Alix takes nightly refuge in the high-vaulted reading room at the Boston Public Library, escaping into her favorite fantasy novels and dreaming of far-off lands. Until the day she stumbles through a hidden door and meets the Librarian: the ageless, acerbic guardian of a hidden library where the desperate and the lost escape to new lives…inside their favorite books.

The Librarian takes a dazzled Alix under her wing, but before she can escape into the pages of her new life, a shadowy enemy emerges to threaten everyone the Astral Library has ever helped protect. Aided by a dashing costume-shop owner, Alix and the Librarian flee through the Regency drawing rooms of Jane Austen to the back alleys of Sherlock Holmes and the champagne-soaked parties of The Great Gatsby as danger draws inexorably closer. But who does their enemy really wish to destroy—Alix, the Librarian, or the Library itself?

This was my first time reading this author, and unfortunately, it made for a terrible first impression. I know she is well-known for historical fiction, but after finishing this book and seeing how heavily her social and political viewpoints shaped the story, I am honestly not sure I want to read anything else by her. By the time I reached the end, I felt more frustrated than entertained.

Before I completely tear into the book, I will say there were a few elements I genuinely liked. I listened to the audiobook, and the narrator was fantastic. She is one of my favorites, and she brought a lot of life to the performance. Her ability to give different characters distinct voices and accents really helped the story feel lively, even when the writing itself fell flat. She truly carried the audiobook experience.

The pacing also kept me listening. The audiobook was about nine hours long, and I finished it in a single day. The premise initially pulled me in as well. The idea of the Astral Library was incredibly imaginative. Books fluttering around like birds, each with its own personality, was a charming concept. I also liked the idea of ghosts lingering in the library because they died before finishing their TBR piles. As a reader, that detail actually made me laugh.

At its core, the story felt like it wanted to be a love letter to readers, librarians, and libraries. When the characters travel from book to book, there are moments that feel whimsical and fun. They briefly visit worlds inspired by classics like Sherlock Holmes, Jane Eyre, Tom Sawyer, Dracula, Sense & Sensibility, Wuthering Heights, The Great Gatsby, Bleak House, and The Three Musketeers. At times, it even had a bit of a Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure feel, mixed with some Mary Poppins-style magic.

Unfortunately, that magical premise is exactly what makes the rest of the book such a massive disappointment.

This story could have been enchanting, whimsical, and deeply imaginative. Instead, it turned into one of the preachiest books I have read in a very long time. The plot constantly stops so the author can hammer the reader with modern political and social commentary. It felt less like storytelling and more like being lectured.

And it never lets up.

It is not just one or two moments where a message slips in. The entire book is saturated with it. Every time the story started to gain momentum, it would grind to a halt for another obvious commentary about some social or political issue. By the end, I felt completely exhausted.

The story touches on gender ideology, including a bisexual character, a transgender character, and a character using they/them pronouns because the main character does not know their gender. It pushes body positivity through a plus-size protagonist who constantly reminds the reader she is a size 22. It dives into racism, feminism, capitalism, book banning, and more. On top of that, it repeatedly comes across as anti-religion, anti-Christian, and dismissive of parents who want to protect young children from inappropriate material.

At some point, it simply became overwhelming.

This book leans heavily into a woke agenda, and it does so in a way that feels relentless. Instead of allowing the fantasy elements to shine, the author repeatedly pulls the reader back into real-world political debates. I read fantasy to escape the constant noise of politics and social arguments, not to be dragged straight back into them.

The author clearly used this book as a platform to voice personal opinions about gender ideology, removing age-inappropriate books from elementary schools, religion, and various other political topics. None of these moments felt organic to the story. They felt inserted, forced, and often completely unrelated to the narrative.

I do not mind encountering viewpoints different from my own in fiction. That can lead to thoughtful and interesting storytelling. But this did not feel thoughtful. It felt like being scolded. The tone often came across as condescending, and the mockery of religion and God was particularly off-putting.

On top of all that, the characters themselves were incredibly difficult to like. The main character is rude, abrasive, and surprisingly unpleasant for someone the reader is supposed to root for. I never connected with her, and I never felt invested in her journey. The second main character was not much better. Both of them came across as insufferable more often than not.

It is especially disappointing because the concept behind this story had so much potential. A magical library where readers can step inside books should have been pure joy for book lovers. Instead, the author weighed it down with heavy-handed messaging that constantly overshadowed the fantasy.

The structure of the story also felt messy. It often reads like the author was experimenting with different ideas rather than building a cohesive world. The narrative jumps around, and the focus shifts so often that the story never fully settles into its premise.

Going in, I expected a story where the main character spends meaningful time inside different books and explores those worlds in a creative way. Instead, the plot veers in directions that feel unrelated to the premise. The magical concept becomes secondary to the social commentary. It genuinely felt like the story itself was not the main priority. The author’s viewpoints were.

Even small details started to grate on me. The language throughout the book was excessive. There were constant f-bombs and other profanity that felt unnecessary and distracting. Instead of adding emotional weight, it often felt like lazy writing. At least there was no spice.

I also repeatedly got the ick from the nonstop name-dropping of popular, social media-driven authors. It felt like the book was trying a little too hard to be trendy or self-aware in a way that pulled me out of the story.

By the end, I was left feeling frustrated and disappointed. The magical premise was wonderful, but the execution completely missed the mark. What could have been a charming fantasy about books and imagination instead became a heavy-handed platform for modern political commentary.

I rarely give one-star ratings, but I have to be honest about my reading experience. This book simply was not for me.

In fact, it may end up being my worst book of the year. Only time will tell.